Coach ,

When speaking with long-time college offensive coordinator Charlie Eger, now XFL Vegas TE Coach, he explained the hidden third-down yardage that many teams lose.  

Dropping back and throwing intermediate routes with a young line or young QB, may not be in the best interest of the team over the course of a game.  A team can go from being 3&6, dropping back, and getting sacked, and now they are 4th and 14. Repeat that three times in a game and the yardage piles up which affects field position and stress on the defense.

Today we will share a few ideas that provide an alternative approach to getting the yards necessary or at least a positive gain so that the team can be in a better position in the fourth quarter.

#1) Misdirection with a receiver as a runner 

Many teams have a player who is a threat at the receiver position. Utilizing this player in motion as part of the run game, or coming back inside on a counter is a way to get him a touch and to open up a running lane that may be enough to get the distance on third down.

One play that you can count on Wing-T teams running in third-down situations is the Counter Criss Cross. In this play, the ball is handed to the running back who then hands it off underneath to a slot going back the other way and getting behind the G/T pulling on the counter.

This strategy has made its way into the NFL with teams utilizing the slot on counters.

In this video, Adam Mathieson explains the coaching points on the Criss Cross (click on image for video):

Video: Criss Cross

#2) Get the ball to a runner in space 

Don’t have a screen concept in? Not a problem. The shallow screen can provide huge benefits without having to involve your offensive line.

Josh Herring, the offensive coordinator at Jones County High School in Georgia (2019 state semifinalist), utilizes the shallow screen which they call “Police.” It’s a concept that was popularized by Oklahoma State about a decade ago and is based on a basic shallow utilized in the air raid offense.  

The Benefits of Shallow Screen

• It’s a throw that is short and requires no read. That means it’s good for the experienced quarterback as well as the backup who might have to come into a game unexpectedly
• To a defense everything initially shows that it is a drop-back pass. There are no linemen releasing to get downfield, so there isn’t a key to defeat a block to beat the screen so it doesn’t even matter that the defense is yelling “watch the screen.”. 
• For the quarterback, the thinking is out of his hands. He needs to get eyes downfield first and then throw underneath. The complicated reads are removed, allowing for a dynamic player to have the ball in space with blockers.
• This is an effective strategy when facing teams who get into their drops well, even teams that play drop eight.

Key Coaching Points

• The wide receiver should aim at the feet of the defensive line and come straight down the line. He will “flush” at the center going behind the line of scrimmage. The key to any variation of this is that the blocks are legal because the ball is thrown to a shallow runner behind the line of scrimmage.
• The quarterback is looking at routes downfield to be sure defenders are moving, then he can come down to the shallow runner for the throw.
• Three of the receivers have specific blocking points and assignments which springs the shallow runner into space where he can make plays. The assignments are explained by Herring in the video.

Video: Police

#3) Broken or unusual formations

Getting into an unusual formation to do something simple can provide an advantage. It can be a simple yes/no for the coach on the sideline that either tells the QB to run the play or shift everyone back into a traditional formation to run a play that they can execute.

The defense is affected because they need to adjust to the odd formation and communicate, and then on the shift, re-communicate everything again. It can slow them down in their attack because they are thinking.

Brandon Bailey, Head Coach at Richland High School utilizes this approach. An extreme example would be his use of the Lonesome Polecat, a formation created by Tiger Ellison in 1958. 

He illustrates how he uses the Lonesome Polecat here. Though he shows it in the Red Zone, it certainly is a play that can be used to stress a defense on 3rd Down. One benefit is that it takes your five skill players and puts them against their 5 skill players so the effect of pass protection and pass rush is taken out of the play. (click on image for video)

Video: Lonesome Polecat

If the Polecat is too exotic, utilizing Quads can help you to identify where you have an advantage, whether it's to the 4 receivers, the single receiver, or in the box.  While he does not talk about it, signaling your QB where to go would be pretty simple so that he does not have to make the decision himself. He explains their Quads attack here (click on image for video):

Video: Quads

Those are just a few ideas to spark your creativity in helping to find a way to get a first down. Whether it’s a struggle or concern against a tough opponent, or if it’s been a struggle all season long, winning back some of this hidden yardage, and keeping the defense from always pinning their ears back can be an effective way to improve third down conversions and stay in a game.

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowski