DiNardo took the I-Bone to Nashville and led the Commodores of Vanderbilt to a successful stretch in the competitive SEC. Vandy was 5 -28 the 3 years prior to DiNardo’s arrival and 18 -28 with I-Bone with 2 upsets over top 25 teams.

The next stop was Baton Rouge to bring back the sagging LSU football program. DiNardo had immediate success and went to a bowl game in his first year. LSU had suffered through 6 straight losing seasos prior to DiNardo’s arrival. Gerry went 20 -4 in his next 2 seasons including a huge upset over #1 Florida.

Dinardo’s last stint was an short-lived shot at turning around Indiana in the Big 10. Dinardo was making progress but patience was not in abundance in Bloomington and Dinardo was dismissed after only 3 seasons. Ironically Bill McCartney during CU’s turDeptnaround was 1-10 in his 3rd season with the Buffs, but the administration stuck with him & it paid off in a National Championship.

Gerry is now involved in head-hunting for Universities’ Athletic Department searches. He’ll bring a great perspective to a very inexact process.

Tony: Gerry who were the three biggest influences in your coaching career?

Gerry: Ara Parseghian at Notre Dame. I saw Ara at his best. He was very charismatic and a great motivator. Bill McCartney was a first time Head Coach and I saw first hand how to turnaround a football program. Vinny O’Connor and his staff at St. Francis Prep were also big influences on me.

Tony: What was your Offensive Philosophy?

Gerry: It depends on the situation. If I am coaching at a “have not” situation like Vanderbilt, I like the Option, but if I’m at “have” school like LSU, I like a more traditional offense, because you want to attract potential NFL quarterbacks and skill players. I think the option hurts your chances of landing those type of recruits. At Indiana we ran a 2 back West Coast offense with a great OC, Al Borges but we should have been running the option. Not being an option team at IU was a mistake.

Tony: You are the architect of the I-Bone Offense, how did this happen?

Gerry: The I-Bone is a combination of The Wishbone Option Attack and the “I” downhill power attack. At Cu we had a spring where our starting Wishbone QB was out and our back up couldn’t run the option so we put in some “I” plays for the spring. When our option QB returned in the fall we had the option and the “I” package. We felt that if a team was playing soft vs. the option we could run at them with ISO & if they were pinching vs. the ISO we could run option. This gave us a great attack to the 3 & 5 technique side. I was always concerned with attacking the 3 & % technique side with just the triple.

Tony: This was prior to the coming of the mid-line.

Gerry: Mid-line hadn’t come along yet so we liked to attack the 3 & 5 with ISO. Our Philosophy evolved as the year went on & really came to fruition in Iowa City vs Hayden Fry & his Iowa Hawks. We upset Iowa and after the game Coach Fry said they couldn’t stop both the ISO and the Triple. So our philosophy of” easy to read, hard to block and hard to read, easy to block” came to be. The Iowa game was really our turning point at CU. If the defense was getting upfield we ran ISO & if they were pinching we ran option. It was a simple but great combination.

Tony: The thing I liked about the I-Bone is that you could feed the ball to your feature back inside or outside.

Gerry: You get the ball to a guy like Eric Bienhemy 30 times. You couldn’t do this in the Wishbone. Plus you attack the shade side or the eagle side of the defense.

Tony: With Paul Johnson’s success at Georgia Tech, do you think there will be a resurgence of the option?

Gerry: A.D.s will hire spread coaches who run the option but stay away from pure option guys. But if Paul Johnson is really successful, he might change the thought process.

Tony: What are the trends you see in college football?

Gerry: I see the Spread losing popularity because it is not good training for the NFL. If the NFL shuns spread QBs then it will be harder to recruit them. I see Florida going to a more conventional offense after Tebow leaves. I see teams going back to a 2 back West Coast passing game and a power run attack with the emphasis on being efficient on first down.

Tony: Great catching up & thanks for your input.

Tony: Who were your three biggest influences in your career?

Frank: The first would be Lou Holtz in regards to motivation and organization. Also Coach Holtz was influential in the development of our Split Back Veer. The second was Bo Schembechler who’s philosophy of: “run the ball and stop the run”-+ was our overall program philosophy. And I really enjoy John Wooden’s philosophy and his “Pyramid of Success”. I adopted the concept of worrying about your team first.

Tony: What is your Offensive Philosophy?

Frank: We want to shorten the game and keep our defense off the field. We want to avoid turnovers and win the kicking game. The Split Back Veer was the answer for us. In 1984 we went to The University of Houston and met with Bill Yeomen and Larry Zerlein and they taught us The Split Back Veer. Then we incorporated Homer Rice’s passing attack. I really enjoyed Coach Rice’s book: Homer Rice on The Triple Option Football. We liked his 3 wide receiver formation and that became our base formation. Then I added some of Lou Holtz’s philosophy of high percentage passing of screens, and delays. We also liked Coach Holtz’s Play action Pass ideas.

Tony: How big an ingredient was The Split Back Veer in your success at Mt. Carmel?

Frank: It was a major part of our success especially in the playoffs. This is a unique offense that our opponents only have 3 days to prepare for. Also by running the option we can run the ball and control the clock against bigger defensive lines. The Veer also keeps our defense off the field and shortens the game.

Tony: The option really is an equalizer because you turn the game into a fast break style of football and you get speed in space and takes the size factor out of the game.

Frank: The Option is all about ankles and numbers so it gives a disciplined team that can execute the ability to move the ball against a good defense and thus control the clock.

Tony: What wrinkles have you used in during your 25 year marriage with The Veer?

Frank: We’ve used 3 wide receivers and the dropped our HB down to get into a one back set. We also used the 2 TE set popularized by Jim Wacker. And we really adopted the use of motion to create a numbers advantage. We also developed the Wide Veer into our best play, and added Mid-line to compliment the inside veer. The mid-line really was a nice addition.

Tony: What are the trends you see in football?

Frank: I think more people are running some option. I also see that coaches are looking for athletic quarterbacks that have “escapability” The QB has got to be able to get you out of a jam.
Offense is very cyclical thinks go in cycles.

Tony: Do you still think Chicago Pizza is better than New York Pizza?

Frank: Absolutely! There’s no doubt about it, but I’ll give you cheesecake. New York cheesecake is better than Chicago cheesecake.

Frank was a very successful HS coach before becoming an assistant for Tom Osborne where he help guide Nebraska to 3 National Titles and 11 Conference Championships. He took over for Osborne in 1998 and led the Cornhuskers to a 58-19 record. He had more wins in his first 6 seasons than either Tom Osborne or the legendary Bob Devaney.

After his run at UN Frank took over the Ohio University football team in 2005 & gave the Bobcats instant credibility and led them to a bowl game in only his second season. His overall record as a Head Coach stands at 81-45.

Frank Solich is probably the most underrated football coach in the history of college football. He was light years ahead of his time in running the ball from the shotgun. I know I borrowed many ideas from Frank that we use in our Triple Gun Offense. His offense at Nebraska combined elements from many styles of offense that he married together into a diverse offense that could attack a defense many ways. He was also an outstanding play caller with a knack of dialing up the right play at the right time.

Tony: Who were the biggest influences in your coaching career?

Frank: I had 2 high school coaches that were both big influences on me. The first was Jack Zebcar who was well ahead of his time as far as weight lifting is concerned. That became a big part of my philosophy. The 2nd coach was Carl Falavine who also had a positive influence. Bob Devaney was a great communicator and a great person. Tom Osborne had a completely different personality but was just as effective. I admired Tom for all he was and all he stood for. The biggest lesson this taught me was you could be effective regardless of your personality and to be yourself. The other person who really influenced me was Wally McNaught who was the head basketball coach at the 2nd high school coaching job I had. He really taught me about being a head coach. He was really dedicated to the kids and committed to the program.

Tony: That’s really interesting Jim Valvano was a big influence on my coaching career. What’s your offensive philosophy?

Frank: It starts with a toughness mindset. You have got to be able to line up and make the tough yards. The kids have to believe in it. I believe in being multiple with a strong running game and a complimentary play action passing attack. You have to also develop a drop- back passing game. A running Quarterback is a key ingredient to successful offense. He has to have mobility.

Tony: You were the first coach to really make The Shot Gun a running formation. And you had a very diverse attack at Nebraska that could attack you in many ways, how did you get it all practiced.

Frank: Reps, we had enough players to get two stations going at once and we just a tremendous amount of reps. We try to practice our whole offense every day. We also relied on banked reps from having the same system in place. You can always add things to the passing game; a new route or pattern, but you must master the run game. That really takes a lot of reps.

Tony: I always considered you a great play caller, I used to love watching your Huskers against Oklahoma and you’d come up with a naked or a reverse at a key point to get a big 1st down. What is your approach to calling plays?

Frank: The first thing is to study tendencies and try to find an opponent’s weakness or something you could exploit. Then pick out something from the playbook that will take advantage of that area. Then we decide if there’s a wrinkle we could add and if it fits our scheme we might add that. We try to install a big enough play list that we have answers available to us so we don’t have to keep adding things every week and we can get good at what we do. We try to always have wrinkles available to keep a drive alive. Against those Oklahoma teams you couldn’t just line up & run the ball down the field so you had to have some variety in your game plan to keep them off balance. But we always stressed a physical downhill running attack. You have got to be able to run the ball to control the clock.

Tony:What trends do you see in college football?

Frank: Coaches do a great job in developing new ideas so offense is always evolving. The shot gun option game has really emerged. The option game has really come back. Paul Johnson’s success at Georgia Tech has really opened some eyes and Cal Poly did some amazing things last season. Even non-option coaches are including some option into their package. There is a very multiple approach to offensive football in today’s game.

Tony: The only people that ever stopped the option was ESPN. Frank thanks for your time and good luck next season.

Frank: Thanks Tony

Tony: Who were the three biggest influences in your coaching career?

Ted: Of course Tubby Raymond would be number one, then Dave Nelson and Jim Camp who gave me my 1st job at George Washington University.

Tony: What’s your philosophy of offense? I know the Wing T would be the base but what was your overall offensive philosophy?

Ted: We always wanted a run/pass balance. We were Wing T based but looked for a 70/30 run/pass ratio, maybe even 65/35. We always looked to create defensive conflicts; plays that appeared to be the same but were different. I look to create blocking scheme conflicts to the front seven, so a blocking scheme may look like the same scheme to a defender but instead of kicking him out you log him.

For example on the Belly G and the Buck Sweep the blocking looks the same but attacks different areas. I like to use influence blocking like on the “gut” play where you pull both guards as you would on the Buck Sweep then give the ball to the fullback up the middle. When you create defensive conflicts the defense can’t play as fast and you don’t have to have a great line to move the ball. The other part of my philosophy is sequence – sequence in blocking schemes and backfield action. Misdirection disrupts a defenses run/pass keys. We also liked to create flanks where we could out leverage the defense to get outside.

Tony: Many Wing T principles are key parts of today’s “new age” offenses. For example Herb Hand the OC of the high powered Tulsa Attack told me the Buck Sweep was their best play. The Wake Forest Orbit Attack has Wing T elements. What was the evolution of the Delaware Wing T?

Ted: Well we started with the basic wing T with the Buck Sweep series and then gradually evolved from there. We brought you in to put in the option game. This was an easy addition because you were in 3 backs and we were a 3 back offense. This was a great combination the triple option with our basic wing t package. Then we added some of the West Coast Passing game. We used their quick game to open the offense up, we used a simplified modified version but it was very effective. Then the last element we added was the Jet sweep which we added to be able to get outside without running the option. So we could run wide without involving the QB. If I was coaching today I would add the Rocket Toss play that Paul Johnson runs. Both the Jet sweep & the Rocket are easier to run than the Buck Sweep and still give you the opportunity to attack the perimeter. I still love the Buck Sweep, Gut and waggle sequence.

Tony: What are the trends you see evolving in today’s game?

Ted: I think defenses have caught up with pure one back zone attacks. So now teams are going back to more 2 back Power & Iso Attacks but now they are doing it from different formations and with different personnel. For example Nevada is doing it out of the “Pistol” Formation using an “H” back as the kick out guy instead of a fullback. The emergence of hybrid players is a trend. The Tight End/Fullback or what you do using wide receivers as running backs these are hybrid positions that allow you to get in a lot of formations without substituting. This can be tough matching up on defense. So a guy with an imagination can cause a defense fits by just lining up. If I were coaching today I would recruit: an athletic QB, a proto-type TE, a Wing T fullback (a runner who could execute a kick out & Iso block) and the rest of the skill to be WR/RBs.

Tony: With the success Paul Johnson has had do you think the option is making a comeback?

Ted: I think it was making a comeback but Paul has speeded it up. The DC’s worst nightmare is an athletic QB because they can’t account for him. In the Pros they don’t have to worry about a QB running so they can play man under & zone blitz. A three back offense is a huge advantage as far as sealing the edge so the Georgia Tech style offense is going to look good to a struggling program. But today an athletic QB is a must.

Tony: What advice would you give young coaches?

Ted: Coaching is a tough demanding job but also very rewarding. Develop fundamental principles of how you interact with others. And develop your own philosophy and stick to it. Don’t go with the latest “hot” new thing, don’t be a fad guy. Develop a system and stick with it.

Tony: Who were the three biggest influences in your coaching career?

James: Denny Douds at ESU was my coach and 1st big influence, then Ralph Friedgen, and Mike Sherman at Green Bay.

Tony: What is your offensive philosophy?

James: It’s The West Coast Offense organizationally but it has pieces of Don Coryell and Ralph Friedgen in it. I believe in the Power Run Game from one back or two back formations. My two favorite run are the Power O play & the Zone play with a lead blocker. My favorite passes are Four Verticals and the Flanker Drive Pass which features the Z doing a shallow cross.

Tony: What are the trends you see developing in college football.

James: I see the end of “pure systems”. Teams are combining parts of different systems to come up with hybrid systems. For a while everyone was in love with the Spread but as defenses saw more of it they started to defend it much more effectively. Now with the success of Paul Johnson at Georgia Tech you’ll see a lot more teams returning to the option or at least having it as part of their package. Things are very cyclical.

Tony: How do you see the role of an “athletic quarterback in college football today?

James: There is no doubt that having a QB that can make plays is a tremendous asset to an offense. Even if he’s not a great runner if he is mobile he can extend plays & buy the receivers time to get open. It also really helps the offensive line with their pass protection.

Tony: What if you don’t have an athletic quarterback?

James: Then you have to surround him with guys who can make plays. You have to surround him with playmakers and coach him up to make good decisions.

Tony: How did playing quarterback help you as a receiver coach and how did coaching receivers help you as a quarterback coach?

James: Playing QB helped me in decision making. And coaching receivers helped me learn the game from their perspective. I learned how to get open against various coverages. Then I learned how it all fits together. How the pattern and the protection must all fit. Timing & precision are keys to the pass game.

Tony: How will the “coach in waiting” status affect you?

James: It makes me see the big picture. Sometimes OCs are so interested in gaining yards & scoring points to further their career that they are too aggressive and actually hurt the team. As a head coach you have to take the approach of how can we win not how many points can we score or how many yards can we gain.

Tony: Any advice to young coaches?

James: #1Have a great work ethic – you are in control of how hard you work. #2Always have a positive mental attitude no one likes being around a complainer. #3Be competitive – compete in everything you do. #4 Sacrifice now for things you want later in life. The position & the experience are more important than the pay.

Tony: James thanks for the interview & best of luck this season.

James: Thanks for having me on your website.

Tony: Who were the three biggest influences in your coaching career?

Hal: Lavelle Edwards at BYU, Bill Yung who I worked for at West Texas, and C.M. Newton who gave me a chance hiring me at Kentucky from Valdosta State.

Tony: What is your Offensive Philosophy?

Hal: Throw short to someone who can score. Spread the ball around to people who can put it in the wend Zone.

Tony: I always loved your screens, was that a substitute for your run game?

Hal: Not really, we’ve always had a very productive running attack. We usually had a 1000 yard rusher but if not our Tailback position always rushed for 1000 yards. Mike (Leach) has had 1000 yard rushers at Texas Tech. We just try to adjust to our personnel.

Four out of the five years we were at Valdosta we had a 1000 yard rusher. We really try to get between 100 to 150 yards a game. .

Tony: I’ve known you for a long time and never realized that you ran the ball that much. What about your screens, how do they fit in?

Hal: We like to get the ball in a talented guy’s hands on the perimeter. It’s kind of like the old John Robinson sweep when he was at USC – student body right and student body left. We really started running them at Coppras Cove HS in Texas. When Mike Leach and I were at Iowa Wesleyan we would go anywhere to learn about throwing the ball and we went to Eastern Illinois to see Darrell Muddra and picked a lot of our screen game from him. We want to stretch the defense and make them chase us from sideline to sideline. It’s like making them do pursuit drill. You do that with the option. The more they chase the more tired get.

Tony: Both you and Mike are big advocates of big splits, why do you see this as an advantage?

Hal: It’s just like with option teams you create natural running lanes and also passing lanes for the QB to throw. The big splits stretch out the defense and make it tougher to rush the passer and the big splits make it easier to recognize what the defense is doing. It is more difficult for them to stunt. But your linemen must be more athletic to protect the gaps so you might recruit a smaller more athletic lineman. If your linemen are having trouble you can cut your splits down. Start with basic three foot splits and work from there. It also helps a short QB see. Chris Hatcher was 5’10 at VSU and did a great job.

Tony: So your system doesn’t require as big an offensive line as some of the Zone teams and you can use smaller athletic kids that are a lot easier to recruit. This also is similar to an option team how did you come up with this idea?

Hal: We got the idea from Roger French at BYU and Mike Leach was my offensive line coach and he really liked it and developed it.

Tony: What are the key passes in your offense?

Hal: The number one pass in the offense is the “Mesh Pattern” (the double crossing routes) this is the pattern you have got to make a commitment to. It takes a lot of work for your QB as well as your receivers and it takes a lot of practice time but you can throw it over and over again. This NOT an “add on” route, if you’re not going to commit to this pattern don’t do it at all. A few years ago there was a High School in Kentucky that just ran this route and a draw and had a great year

Tony: That’s like the Triple Option in our system. What are the other essential passes in your offense?

Hal: The “Shallow Cross” is a big pass for us. You know a shallow coming from one side and a 10 yard hunt route on the other side. That isn’t as difficult to get as the “Mesh”.

My favorite Quick route is the “Stick & Flat combo to one side and a double slant to the other. You could also use a fade and stick away from the stick and flat side.

Tony: What trends do you see in offensive football?

Hal: Well everybody is starting to use their QB as a runner. The Zone Read has become a big trend. The Single Wing style running QB like Tebow is a trend. But basically people are spreading people out to run the ball. I think it’s really going to come down to the QB’s decision making whether in the passing game or the option game. You’re going to see more running QBs who can run and throw the downfield play action pass. I hate the new clock rules. The college game is a better game than the NFL & we should stay as far away from the NFL game as possible.

Tony: Hal thanks for your time and best of luck.

Hal: Looking forward to seeing it on your website.

Greg, though well known for his expertise as an option coach, has evolved in a multiple style of offense with an emphasis on balance.

Tony: Who were the three biggest influences in your coaching life?

Greg: The first is my Dad, Buddy Gregory who was a high school coach in Virginia. The second was Jim Young who I worked for at Army. Coach Young was really my mentor in my coaching career he really showed me the ropes. And the third was Bob Sutton who I also worked for at Army.

Tony: What is your offensive philosophy?

Greg: Balance. We want to run and pass from multiple formations and to be able to do either at any time from any place on the field. I’m not into throwing a certain number of times or gaining the same amount of yards running and passing. To me balance is running when you want to run the ball and throwing when you want to throw it.

Tony: You started out as a Wishbone Coach at Army, how did this evolution of your philosophy take place?

Greg: At Army we ran the Wishbone as a personnel choice. I have always liked to be balanced and throw the ball but the Wishbone at Army gave us the best chance of winning. Our goal was to shorten the game as much as possible and make it a one quarter game. We had to limit the number of possessions our defense had to play. So controlling the clock with the “Bone gave us a chance against superior talent.

Tony: Army was very successful using that strategy and really fell off the map when they abandoned it. What are some of the current trends you see in offensive football?

Greg: In college football, the trend seems to be to spread people out & have an athletic QB make plays. The college game is getting your playmakers the ball in space. The Pro Football trend seems to be a move back to a two back power attack using multiple tight ends. The emphasis seems to be protecting the QB and not having a lot of “hot throws” The NFL is using a lot of hard Play Action passes to bring the safeties down in the box. The college passing game is more about match ups and getting the ball in space.

Tony: With the success that Paul Johnson and his staff have had at Navy and this past year at Georgia Tech, do you think there will be a resurgence of option football?

Greg: If Paul and his staff can keep it going at Georgia Tech I think you’ll see a lot of teams going to some form of three back option football. By succeeding at Tech they will have shown that the option is not just for service academies.

Tony: Greg thanks for your time.

Greg: Thanks for having me on your website.