Coach ,

At one point or another we’ve all played Madden or EA Sports NCAA Football, or for you older guys (like me), Nintendo Tecmo Bowl. If you played it against a kid who was really into it, he’d probably pull out some cheat code to beat you…and if you were playing Tecmo Bowl, the cheat code was to give the ball to Bo Jackson!

In offensive football today, Play Action is a Cheat Code. The impact that play action has on pass production is undeniable. It alleviates pressure rate. It adds to expected points added per play as well as yards per attempt, and done on early downs it creates a massive advantage. While many offenses view RPO as a play action, there’s distinct advantages to calling play action to take a chunk out of the defense. 

Here’s three to give you a few ideas on how to create a “cheat code” for your offense.

#1) Punch

Jeff Behrman is in his sixth season as head coach of the Union College football team and in a very short time has completely rebuilt the program into one of the top teams in the region and the country. 

He built his offense on a strong zone running game with play action.

A key to hitting deep shots is to isolate an area so that the defender has no help and another defender is occupied in order to keep the area clear.

That’s exactly what Coach Behrman creates with his split zone concept which he calls “Punch.”  It has options to take a big chunk of yardage against multiple coverages. He illustrates it in this video (click on image for FREE video):

#2) Boundary vertical concept “Cincy”

Formation into the boundary seems like an unlikely way to create space, but the way the play is designed it opens up windows for a shot and provides a check-down as well.  

Mark Solis, head coach at Olentangy HS (OH) likes it off of an inside zone look with the TE pausing for a second to create a multi-level stretch. Coach Solis also explains their “X” adjustment when the defense decides to get deeper and exchange routes. Both of these provide a shorter throw for the QB and thus a higher percentage opportunity for the offense.

He explains it in this video (click on image for FREE video):

#3 Post and Cross

DePauw Head Coach Brett Dietz has created a high powered offense at D3 DePauw University. In this video he explains one of his favorite concepts which he utilizes off of the inside zone:

In watching how offense has evolved, play action seems to have taken a back seat to RPO, but an offense can exist with both. Having play action can provide the cheat code for your offense, so be sure to take advantage of it!

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowski and the Coaches Clinic Community

P.S. We’ve put together the three clinics highlighted here to give you a resource to create your own cheatcode. Be sure to check it out: Cheat Code for Your Offense