“SEC Storied: Wishbone” will debut on the SEC Network at 7 p.m. July 17, it was announced Friday.

Directed by Chip Rives and executive produced by Alabama native Keith Dunnavant, the documentary will tell the story of how dynamic wishbone triple-option offense helped salvage struggling programs at Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama in the late 1960s and early 70s. Texas offensive coordinator Emory Bellard invented the offense in 1968, and Longhorns head coach Darrell Royal later shared it with the coaches at Oklahoma (his alma mater) and Alabama.

“When we first started the journey of Wishbone, I thought I knew it all, well most of it at least,” said Rives, a longtime documentarian who directed the ESPN 30 for 30s “Brian and Boz” and “Phi Slama Jama” among other projects.

“I grew up in Texas, have lived in Oklahoma and through sports osmosis, knew a great deal about Bear Bryant and Alabama. Turns out I knew very little about the Wishbone!”

“SEC Storied: Wishbone” also includes interviews with former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer and Super Bowl-winning coach (and former Alabama and Mississippi State assistant) Bruce Arians, plus Wishbone-era players Ted Koy (Texas), Spencer Tillman (Oklahoma) and Major Ogilvie (Alabama).

It’s the latest SEC football project for Dunnavant, who was heavily involved in ESPN’s 2019 documentary series “Saturdays in the South” on the history of SEC football and also produced and directed 2013’s “Three Days at Foster,” the story of the integration of Alabama athletics. He has also written several books, including The Missing Ring (about Alabama’s “uncrowned” 1966 championship team), Coach (a biography of Bryant) and America’s Quarterback (about Bart Starr).

“The Wishbone was a strategy of last resort for three of the greatest programs in college football history,” Dunnavant said. “So, in that sense, you can feel the desperation pulsating through our story. It’s interesting to wonder what might have happened at Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama without Emory Bellard’s history-bending invention.”