Denying the Defense What It Wants
Jul 27, 2023 2:37 pm
Coach ,
All offenses that flourished in the past had look-alike plays
-Homer Smith
The late, great Homer Smith talked about “look-alike” plays in one of his manuals, and in a section titled “Denying the Defense What It Wants” laid out specifically the things that defenders wantto see in an offense because it allows them to be able to quickly diagnose what is coming at them.
A defensive player wants:
- A tendency in the down-anddistance situation
- A tendency in the lateral or vertical field position
- A tendency in the formation or personnel unit
- A tipoff in some player’s alignment or stance
- A verification of what he thinks is coming
Most of all, he wants verification of what he thinks is coming, verification by the initial action of the play. Look-alike plays deny him quick verification.
Chris Foerster of the San Francisco 49ers presented at the 2023 C.O.O.L. Clinic, and the common thread running through his presentation both was the application of schemes used with techniques that again and again made all of their plays feel like outside zone to the defenders.
For Coach Foerster and the 49ers, everything is built off of a single scheme - the outside zone. He started with sharing how that scheme works for them and then explained how it is the basis for everything else. He explains it in this video:
In using principles that allow for the teaching of “same as,” he gets their players very skilled in their ability to execute a play because they get so many reps at their technique and assignments. That coupled with the defenders feeling the technique of outside zone is the same on other plays does what Homer Smith explained as taking away their verification of what play it is.
As an example, Coach Foerster showed how the teaching of outside zone carries over to other schemes like the power and counter gap schemes. Because they want everything to cause a reaction to the outside zone in order for the other schemes to be complementary, they do not use the tradition techniques in all regards.
Coach Foerster illustrates their version of Power in this video:
On Power for example, some teams teach getting that deuce block vertically displaced. For Coach Foerster and the Niners, they want everything to get on the same angle as their outside zone, so they teach it differently. You can see it in thise drill video.
Here’s a highlight from last night’s clinic where Coach Foerster shows the oustide zone, then shows how their power works, and finally shares a creative version of their counter play. The creativity in their offense is generated by having a thought process that begins with the outside zone.
Video: Chris Foerster COOL Clinic Highlights
If you ave watched even a little of the Forty-Niners then you know how creative they are.The creativity is the product of having look-alike as the main feature of there schemes with it all starting with the outside zone.
How can you better create the “look-alike” aspect of your schemes? Doing so may pay huge dividends in the success of your offense.
Always be growing!
Coach Grabowski
P.S. To celebrate the beginning of NFL Training Camp, all clinics by NFL coaches will be 32% off beginning tomorrow. You can find the entire list here at midnight.
Also, the C.O.O.L. Clinic monthly membership "Mushroom Society Monthly" is now available.