Simple For You - Tougher on Them
Sep 13, 2022 5:13 pm
Coach ,
As we approach the mid-season in high school football and go deeper into the college season, looking at how we can enhance what already exists in our offense should be a focus.
Small adjustments or tags to scheme or dressing up or using concepts in a different look are effective ways to add some wrinkles and fortify the attack plan. Today we will look at four ideas for this.
#1A) Help the OL - Remain Sound in the Run
As the season wears on, being able to find ways to run the football, no matter what the defense does provides you an advantage. It’s easy to generalize and say 2-high run the ball/1-high pass the ball.
Throwing in the 1-high scenario successfully requires many variables in your favor:
- Wind, weather, and field conditions aren’t working against the pass.
- The QB has the talent to make the throws they are giving
- The receivers are beating the defensive backs on a consistent basis
If those things align in your favor, by all means, fire away with the pass.
If only things were that simple! Years ago I was at Ball State spring ball and the late Stan Parrish was the offensive coordinator. He let me be right there in the heart of it, hearing all his calls, and even discussing what he was thinking.
During a competitive team period, Stan was unhappy with what was going on with the passing game. Though they had talent, things weren’t clicking and the defense was shutting them down. As we walked back to reset a series, he said to me something like, “When things aren’t going well, just go back to running the ball.” He believed it settles things for the OL, and begins to get the offense in a positive rhythm. And it did despite some loaded box looks.
The lesson I took away from that weekend was that I would find a way to run the ball against every look regardless of what numbers showed pre-snap. From that point on, I started every game plan with the premise of we will find a way to run the ball.
This is something LSU assistant Dean Pettzing presented on in his talk at the Louisiana Football Association Clinic. In this video he explains the premise of sound defense and what they are trying to do to “gap out” the offensive formations (click on image for video):
With that in mind, he said that you have to find ways to run the ball. He uses the inside zone read as an example of how they look to give the advantage back to the offense. While you may not run zone read, the premise holds true in finding a way to run the ball with the schemes you use (click on image for video):
#1B) Giving the Center “Block Back” Assignments Relieves Pressure on Him
The other aspect of running the ball is to be able to call plays that give some relief to your center. Former FBS OC Jeff Mullen (WVU, Wake Forest, Ohio) brought up this concept on the OC Office Hour series. He said, “You always have to give the center an out with a block back. If you are asking him to reach the frontside A-gap with inside or outside zone all day, you are really putting a lot of pressure on him.”
In my experience, the counter is a scheme worth having in your playbook because of the versatility it provides as well as creating the block back for the center.
The more a play can create multiplicity the more value it has within a system. Coastal Carolina OL Coach Bill Durkin explains what the counter play is to them here(click image for video):
For a scheme to be good against modern defenses, it better be sound against the odd front. Coach Durkin begins his teaching of the play against odd. With an uncovered guard, he will make a “cargo” call which gives him the assignment of blocking down, and the center will come around. Both the C & BST will skip pull for second-level defenders. He explains here: (click image for video):
In the example, Coach Durkin points out the footwork of the running back and the quarterback. This allows them to hand off, read, or run an RPO. These tools provide some of those answers for defeating the loaded box. Here are some examples of the Counter vs. the Odd Front (click image for video):
#2) Use formations that require defensive adjustments - example: Quads
Kevin Kelley gave defenses nightmares are both the high school and college level with his unique approach to the game and by using what he terms “unstoppable plays.”
One of those plays is from Quads. Defending Quads requires an adjustment by the defense, and most defenses carry just one, so having a package of plays that can attack using quads puts the defense in an uncomfortable position.
In this video Coach Kelley teaches his unstoppable quads passing concept. This is a high percentage throw for them which primarily targets their outside receiver and clears out the underneath zone for him (click on image for video):
Attacking defenses with the Quads formation
#3) Unbalanced
Unbalanced formations provide some potential benefits for any offense:
- Creating 3 and 4-man surfaces
- Force the defense to communicate - increase the chance of error
- Easy for O to implement but will steal time from the opponent
The first thing to think about is how you place your personnel. What Coach Scott Girolmo shares here give you an example of a thought process for placing the OL (click on image for video):
Video: Unbalanced 5-Man Surface
Start with the long side and run in that direction. After placing your personnel then it’s about planning the schemes you use, of course, a lot of this should have been considered as you placed your personnel. For Coach Girolmo, it starts with Wide Zone which is a very adaptable scheme for Unbalanced (click on image for video):
Then think about how to attack the short side. The Wide Zone fits for Coach Girolmo here as well (click on image for video):
Of course, play action out of what appears to be a run-heavy formation is advantageous as well. Building those off of the run-blocking schemes that are being used would be best.
In summary, find ways to relieve stress on the offensive line while ensuring you can run the ball against any front. Utilizing unusual formations like quads or unbalanced provides advantages as well.
Be sure to check out presentations from coaches of the top-performing offenses below. Good luck this week!
Always be growing!
Coach Grabowski
FBS Top performing offenses
Minnesota #1 Total Offense, #2 Rushing Offense
Brian Callahan Minnesota OL Fundamentals, Techniques and Drills
USC #1 Scoring Offense, #3 Completion %
Lincoln Riley - Y Cross, Trail, and QB Run Game
Lincoln Riley - Offense Weekly Plan
Mississippi State #4 Completion %, #5 Passing Offense, #5 3rd Down Offense,
Mike Leach - Bulldog Air Raid Practice
Kansas #1 3rd Down Offense, #4 Scoring Offense
Andy Kotelnicki - Developing an Offensive Game Plan
Andy Kotelnicki - Distorting a Defense with RPO
Miami #4 3rd Down Offense, #5 Completion %
Josh Gattis - Build an Identity
Alex Mirabal - The Gallop Technique in Wide Zone
San Diego State #4 Rushing Offense
Jeff Hecklinski - Building RPO
Maryland #2 Completion %
Mike Locksley - Maryland Terps RPO Game
Brian Braswell - Pass Pro Fundamentals
FCS Top performing offenses
Fordham #1 Total Offense, #2 Passing Offense, #6 3rd Down
Joe Conlin - Attacking the Blitz with Inside Zone
Art Asselta - Spread Offense Read & RPO Progression
North Dakota State #5 3rd Down
Tyler Roehl - Offensive Coordinator
Montana State #3 Rush Offense, #5 Total Offense
Brian Armstrong - Montana State Power Read
Davidson #2 Rush Offense
Scott Abell - Building Base Triple Run Game from Shotgun
Scott Abell - Building Secondary Concepts in Option Offense
Scott Abell - Creating a Dynamic Gun Option Attack
D2 Top performing offenses
Shepherd #1 Total Offense