Coach ,

You don’t have to be complex to have a successful offense. Some of the most successful at the highest level use a system that is based off of one fairly simple play, and the play action off of it.

Mike Shanahan has left a legacy in football with the coaches he has developed and the scheme that is propelling a young group of coaches to early success.  The outside zone play married to play action creates a system that systematically moves the ball down the field with the run game and takes big chunks in the passing game.

Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, and Matt LaFleur are disciples of Shanahan and continue to utilize the offense that they learned under his guidance.  It’s proven to be successful with McVay and the younger Shanahan reaching the Super Bowl within three years.  LaFleur just missed with the Packers in his 2nd year losing in the NFC Championship game.

There are many common threads between the three, but the core of the offense is what can visibly be seen on game day propelling all three of their teams to the top early in their tenures as head coaches.

Arizona’s new head coach Jedd Fisch was part of the Super Bowl team with the Rams and knows the system well.  He will implement it with the Wildcats in 2021. He shared how the outside zone and accompanying play action is utilized from multiple formations in a clinic talk “Marrying the Run Game and Pass Game” just after he took over at Arizona.

Here he talks about it from a snug 2x2 formation (click image for video):

As Coach points out, it is easy to create opportunities to make huge plays by taking simplistic looks and giving the illusion of complexity.

There are two approaches you can use understanding this core principle which Coach Fisch illustrates in his clinic talk:

1. Adopt the wide zone play and build an offense off of it.
2. Find a play that gives you your starting point for your offense and build off of that.

Either approach can work.  Understand, as I have shared in our R&D series, that your personnel has a certain skill set and physical attributes which dictate the schemes that are best for them.  

Regardless, starting with one concept, finding a way to create explosives off of it, and then creating the illusion of complexity will pay huge dividends for your offense.

What is that starting point play for your offense?  Do you have one? Going through this simple process is well worth your time.

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowski