You want to talk option football? Good luck finding it anymore. I grew up watching us run the wishbone in the late 70s under Dave McClain and that triple option was a thing of beauty. Three backs in the backfield, the quarterback reading the end man on the line of scrimmage, and if he made the wrong read you were gone for six. Now everything is shotgun RPOs and these fancy spread concepts where nobody blocks anybody and the quarterback throws 50 screens a game.
The 1981 team that went 7-5 and beat Tennessee in the Garden State Bowl ran the wishbone so effectively that we controlled the clock for 38 minutes. We didnt need four receiver sets and tempo to move the football. We just needed a fullback who would run through your face and a quarterback who could make one read and pitch it. Watch any film from the 1993 season when we started incorporating that power I-formation with the option keep. Barry Alvarez understood that you dont need to be cute. You just need to make the defense wrong.
Now everything is about NIL and flashy skill guys who wont block for each other. This new generation has no idea what it looks like when a quarterback puts the ball on your hip and lets the fullback take a linebacker's lunch money. The portal killed development and the option requires development. You cannot plug and play a transfer into a triple option system. It takes three years of reps and trust and loyalty that just doesnt exist anymore.