Over a decade or so, football fans have watched the importance of running the ball diminish while the value of passing soars to an all-time high. Gone are the days of seeing teams start the season without at least one RB with decent pass-catching abilities. A complete overhaul of the game is taking place. Football games simply can’t be won by having below-average passing or heavy reliance on the ground. You can think Hal Mumme for that.
Hal Mumme got his start in 1976 at Corpus Christi Moody High School, where he coached the offense. It didn’t take him long to move up the football ranks, and by 1982 was serving as the offensive coordinator at UTEP. He made many stops throughout his 24 years as a coach, but perhaps none meant more to Mumme’s legacy than his stint at Iowa Wesleyan University. That’s where he met Mike Leach. Little did anyone realize what future impact these two coaches would make on not only college football, but football as a whole.
Side by side, these coaches crafted an offense unlike any we had seen to that point. The coaches pieced together the concept that would define their legacies; the Air Raid. Designed around five receiver sets and passing at a much higher rate than anyone had ever even thought about. The scheme was made to spread out the defense and pummel secondaries by finding the inevitable empty spots created by having too many players downfield to pay attention to. It was entertaining, forward-thinking, and truly unique. So, it obviously got some hate.
“Hey Hal, you know you’re ruining football, don’t you?”
Those words came straight from the mouth of legendary coach Howard Schnellenberger. He wasn’t a fan of how Mumme and company were attempting to phase out “smashmouth” football. The game was built on heavy run concepts and blitz packages, and many others were against the change. It took people out of their comfort zone and forced them into calling plays that they didn’t feel comfortable running. Mumme found a formula to piss coaches and analysts off while putting on a show that made it hard to change the channel. But while it was Mumme’s creation, Leach and his other disciples were the true ambassadors to the Air Raid’s sustained success.
Across the football landscape, you can see the impressions that the two coaches have made. Direct descendants of the Mumme coaching tree include Leach, Houston HC Dana Holgorsen, SMU HC Sonny Dykes, WVU HC Neal Brown, and Matt Mumme, Hal’s son who now runs the offense in Nevada. Leach also has some very impressive names in his tree, with the likes of former Baylor HC Art Briles, Arizona Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury, and Oklahoma HC Lincoln Riley being the most notable ones. They’ve taught some of the best coaches in football today. Not too bad for “ruining the sport.”
While Mumme wasn’t a great head coach, his impact in the world of football is undeniable. When you look through his sub .500 record, you can see the floor plans for what would go on to completely reshape the game on the gridiron. Many people won’t know who truly started the wave, and that’s a shame. Because in 1989 at Iowa Wesleyan, football’s new era was being born. We were just too close to the puzzle to see the whole picture.
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