My high school football team in western Pa. ran it well, and I’m thrilled to see Warsaw employing it on Friday nights.
Warsaw coach Bart Curtis brought the offense, dubbed “the Tiger bone,” with him when he took the helm this season.
What is the triple, you ask? As the name suggests, it’s a predominantly running offense that features three options on each play.
There are several variations of the offense, but in Warsaw’s case, the quarterback lines up directly under center.
The fullback is right behind him, and two halfbacks line up on either side of the offensive line.
The QB takes the snap and has three choices: handoff to the fullback, run the ball himself, or pitch to one of the halfbacks.
“If you watch Navy, Army, or Georgia Tech, that’s kind of what we’re trying to emulate,” Curtis said.
Sounds simple, right? With proper execution, it is harder to defend than Jared Allen’s mullet circa 2009 (Talented player, but come on).
The operative word is “execution,” to which I can personally attest.
We got a new head coach my senior year, the formidable Mark Soboleski.
Coach Sobes brought with him the triple option, and the McDowell High School coaching staff drilled us incessantly on the same five or six plays.
By the time the season started, we could have run those plays in our sleep, which led to an 8-4 record and a trip to the state playoffs (an accomplishment, since in Pennsylvania not everyone gets into the state tournament).
Sobes said over and over, “You can score from any point on the field in this offense.”
That’s technically true of any offensive scheme, but it’s moreso the case with the triple because of its tendency for big plays.
“It forces the defense to try to play some type of assignment football,” Curtis said. “It limits some of the blitzing, because if you do get out of position, some of those plays, instead of three yards, will be 30 yards.
It helps that a lot of defenses don’t get much exposure to the triple, and struggle to adequately prepare for it in a week’s worth of practice.
Like I said, the only way the offense will work is with practice.
“Repetition is the mother of execution, and execution is the mother of excellence,” Curtis said. “You can’t do something incorrectly over and over again. You’ve got to make sure it’s precise and exact and correct.”
Just as crucial is the offense’s emphasis on team-first football.
“The reason I love it so much is because it is truly a team offense in the ultimate team sport,” Curtis said. “If one guy breaks down, you could have all other parts working great and you’ve got a bust.”
All that preciseness requires patience.
“If you get bored easy, this is a not a mode of operation you should explore,” Curtis said.
There is one major drawback to the triple, though. The offense eats up clock, which is great if the team running it is ahead.
However, this also makes comebacks difficult to pull off. If you’re down by a few scores and aren’t pulling off the big plays, a comeback will be more time consuming and leaves little margin for error on defense.
“Don’t get behind,” Curtis said.
It also puts a lot of pressure on the quarterback to make quick decisions.
“On many, many plays, you’re leaving two (defenders) unblocked,” Curtis said. “The quarterback is actually blocking them with his split-second decisions.”
Senior QB Josh West is running the offense, and Curtis is impressed with him so far.
“He’s got the athleticism, he’s got a good arm, he’s a competitor, (and) he wants to win,” Curtis said. “We just gotta have that all together in that he’s confident in what he’s doing, and he actually takes ownership of things.”
Curtis has had a lot of success with the triple. He adopted the offense in 1994 at Maconaquah, and in 25 years has won eight sectional titles, a regional championship, and led Mishawaka to the Class 5A state finals in 2012.
It’s early, but it looks as though Curtis is going to continue his winning ways with Warsaw.
The Tigers are 4-1 for the first time since 2012, and Curtis commended his players for how quickly they’re adapting to the triple.
“My son (offensive line coach Michael Curtis) keeps reminding me that we’re further ahead (in) Year 1 here than we were in 2008 at Mishawaka, as far as implementation of the system,” Curtis said.
Curtis went 7-4 that first season at Mishawaka.
Four years later, the Cavemen made it to the state championship game.
If the Tigers stay faithful to the triple, one of these years they might find themselves at Lucas Oil Stadium in late November.
