Texas coach Mack Brown's dilemma of how to get sophomore QB john chiles in the backfield without taking colt mccoy out of it is not a new one.
his problem brought to mind an anecdote i once used in a story about the late tcu coach jim wacker, as colorful a character as i ever came across in this business. as i remember, this was way back when wacker was coaching at a lutheran high school somewhere in oregon. wacker was always looking for an angle of some kind, and whether two talented QBs sparked this move or whether it was just that, i dont recall.
anyhow, wacker came up with this scheme. as the team broke the huddle, two players lined up side-by-side, right behind center. at the snap, both would take off in different directions, each moving down the line as if he were running the basic veer option. only one, however, would have the ball. he would have slipped in to take the snap just before the center's motion. i think wacker got away with it for a game at least before an opposition coach called the governing body and asked if this was kosher. turned out it wasn't and wacker had to ditch the scheme.
just for fun, i checked with walt anderson, big 12 football officials coordinator. turns out, you still cant do that. so..ball's in your backfield mack. sorry.--mike jones.
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