Coach ,

When RPO’s first became the rage, many coaches abandoned their play action. “Why use play action when every play can be a run or a pass?” was the thinking. 

That probably worked early on, but defenses have become smarter and now they are making it more difficult on RPO offense, and at the very least they are getting better at making hits at what used to be a void receivers could run through for big gains.  

If a defense isn’t stressed vertically, then they can be better at sitting and breaking up or taking away those second level throws. The fact of the matter is that a good play action game along with RPO can stress the defense much more than only using RPO.  

Mark Solis is the head coach at Olentangy High School in Ohio and he identifies play action as the biggest part of their passing game.

He starts by explaining the run game that they use and that they can create play action off any run. He discusses how they set up their play action.

An favorite example of this is a concept that he likes into the boundary called “Cincy.”

He diagrams it here:

Coach shares video of the play as well:

Play action should be a part of every offense. It gives you a tool to attack the defense and keep them honest on the run as well as the RPO.

To learn more study Coach Solis’s clinic “Play Action Passes.” He’s been on the clinic circuit around the country pre-Covid days and he’s planning on sharing more on CoachTube.

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowski