A Tidbit published a few days ago described how American football transitioned between 1906 and 1912 from requiring teams to gain five yards in three downs to ten yards in four downs. Some prominent coaches argued that teams should gain eight or fifteen yards in four downs, but they adopted the four downs to gain ten yards approach, which remains the rule today.
While footballers then argued the merits of various down and distance combinations, Eddie Cochems (pronounced COKE-ems) proposed a different approach. Cochems played football and baseball at Wisconsin when the Badgers went 34-4-1 over four years. After graduating, he coached at North Dakota State, Clemson, St. Louis, and Maine, but it was during his time at St. Louis that Cochems left his mark on football. Cochems devised the first offense that effectively used the forward pass, including throwing the ball using the overhand spiral technique. His 1906 St. Louis team threw the first legal forward pass in college football and went on to an undefeated season, outscoring opponents 407-11.
Besides the frequency of use and throwing technique, Cochems employed pass routes, unlike other teams. Whereas Harvard, Yale, and others tossed the ball high into the air to a receiver encircled by blockers (pass interference did not yet exist), Cochems generally sent multiple receivers downfield running routes approximating button hooks. Interestingly, as the receivers ran downfield, the passer yelled, "Hike," which told the receivers to turn around and look for the ball, foreshadowing the timing routes that emerged decades later.
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