The DC Run and Shoot

The Problem: This offense is intended for a small, fast team that lacks the ability to power the ball downfield. I put it together for a squad of 12 1! year olds with two 11"s playing up. These kids were small, starting at #$, #%, &$, and %! pounds and these became our trips recei'ers. The () was a 1!! pound 1! year old. The running back position was shared by two 12 year old studs, one at 11% and the other at 121 pounds. *hen one was playing +) the other played center. This insured a good snap and a block from the center. The other four linemen had ne'er played football before. ,laying T- was a 11$ pound speedster who alternated with a tall target of 1!. pounds. )oth had hands. This offense was chosen because these little guys simply could not be e/pected to block any sort of a running game. They lacked si0e, e/perience, and strength 12ne was a girl.3. The Solution: 4efenses in our league primarily, if not e/clusi'ely, run 5 6 down linemen. The +78 is specifically designed to attack a 5 6 man front. The line uses angle blocking to achie'e hits on the side of the defenders to le'erage them away from the () on the play. *e use tight line splits to reduce penetration. *e use our best running backs as blockers 18ince someone has to do it and there isn"t anyone else.3. *e make our catches behind the other team"s linebackers 9 or their best athletes 9 in order to nullify them. *hat is currently an athletic mismatch against us in front of their linebackers becomes an athletic mismatch against them when we catch the ball behind their linebackers. 2ur little guys can really scoot. The number of passes completed for T4"s is 'ery high. The rest are completed for either & yards or 2.. Implementing the Solution: The focus of the offense is two fold. They are 13 To train the () to throw away from the :ree 8afety 1throw to open area3 and 23 to train the recei'ers to run to open area. 8o long as these both occur passes will continue to be completed and the team will keep mo'ing the ball. *hen one or the other fails, then unhappy results will be achie'ed. ;nhappy results leads to the coaches wanting to change back to a tried and true power running attack. 8ince that is already known not to work with small players, there is no alternati'e but to make this offense work. *e were at this offense for a reason. There was no other alternati'e. Therefore, if the offense does not work for whate'er reason, we will not change it. *e may fi/ it but we will not change it. <or will we create a backup offense using a different formation. There is no high school or college ace backfield passing team using a backup offense or power formation. They don"t need it and neither do we. They are running what we"re running which is proof that it works. Thus, if we get

stopped it is by our own ignorance. In that case, we are not really stopped. *e are simply temporarily delayed. Running the ball: *e all think we should be able to run the ball. =ost of us ha'e noted that third and two is a passing down for tele'ision passing teams. :ortunately, it"s not that way for us. If one remembers >ohn +iggins of the *ashington +edskins 8uper )owl team, he was seldom stopped for less than a 5 yard gain. *e use the >ohn +iggins running game. ?ere is how it works. If the linebackers are up close, throw behind them. *hen the linebackers back up to defend the pass@ run. *hate'er depth they line up at is always wrong. <ot only must the linebacker come forward but he is coming forward towards a blocker coming at him from the side. This allows our runner to cut outside of his blocker. *hen this happens, the linebacker misses the tackle altogether or must make it from the side or from behind. :rom our coaching 'iewpoint, if the linebackers are 5 yards or more off the ball, we will run. )ut, if they are less than that, we pass. *e want to run the ball in this situation because the linebackers at 5 yards or more become part of the pass defense. Pass Protection: 2ur pass protection scheme is known as gap slide protection. It is used for picking up blit0es and requires minimal talent and instruction. The instruction is =an 2'erA=an 2n. It is shown belowB

) 2

) 2 2

T < T 2 2 . 2 2 2 2 2

This is a block left. The blockers are all blocking =an 2'erA=an 2n to their left e/cept the +T who is blocking =an 2n, =an o'er. ?ere it is against an e'en front.

) 2 T C C T 2 2 . 2 2 2 2 2
2

2 2

If your center cannot pick up the C, then let e'eryone block =an 2n and ha'e the center back up after snapping against an e'en front and pick up the left 4-. In blocking =an 2'er, the blockers simply aim a raised forearm at the near bicep of the man o'er 1some blockers will use both hands3 and sho'e him away. This is all that is needed. )ut in =an 2n, we will cut block an aggressi'e defender or dri'e block 1with hands3 a passi'e defender. The center will always dri'e block a =an 2n while looking for a blit0ing linebacker to the called side. If a linebacker shows, he will cut him. *e always cut linebackers. They are all bigger, stronger, and faster than we are. The blocking scheme is always called towards the tight end 1T-3. IndeedD The center calls out the side of the line for the T- to line up on, calling Tight +ight if he sees the ball is on the right hash mark or Tight Eeft if the ball is anywhere else 1left hash or in the middle of the field3. The line will pass block in the direction called in =an 2'erA=an 2n or any unco'ered center 1or EC3 will back up and block left. <otice that in our illustration, the left tackle is blocking flat down the line and not at an angle. *e actually want him to get a step back deep as he blocks the 4efensi'e -nd 14-3. This is because 4-"s line up wider and take an outside rush in order to reach the passer. )ecause they get deeper, faster, our blocker must get deeper, faster too. The running back 1+)3 blocks the opposite way of the call, or always towards the trips recei'ers. ?e will attack his man on the inside shoulder and collision him hard. *e were ha'ing the +) holding his block only briefly and then releasing downfield as a dump off or safety 'al'e recei'er if the ()"s primary recei'er is co'ered. )ut we found that the 4- might bat the pass and so now the +) holds his block and the () takes off and runs inside him if his recei'er is co'ered. The QB: The () has three duties. :irst, he is the huddle. Flthough we run a no huddle offense, while the referee is setting the ball the () will remain stepped back. Fny player may stand directly in front of the (), with his back to the defense, and gi'e the () a play. The () will then come to the line and audible the play. F play can also be called from the sideline which the () will repeat for the team at the line. In the absence of an instruction, the () will come to the line and e/ecute our +78 attack. ?e will first look for an unco'ered 1hot recei'er3 and hit him as his first choice. If all recei'ers are co'ered he will look for the :ree 8afety 1or safeties3 and look to throw to open area away from them. If there is open area, the () will check to see which recei'er is running to that area. That recei'er becomes the primary recei'er. If he is somehow co'ered, the () will run. *e ne'er throw to anyone else but the primary recei'er. This is because, if we threw to anyone else, he would be in non open area and we would be subGect to an interception. *e would rather ha'e a two yard run gain by the () than an interception run back for a T4.

If there is no recei'er running to the open area, the () raises his T- side heel and puts the +) in three count motion past and outside the T-. This will create a recei'er 1the +)3 running to open area. Fnytime the () puts the +) in motion, he will make a one second throw with no drop. The throw will be either to the +) if no one follows the +) in motion or to the T- or slot if someone does follow the +). Blitz: *e ha'e si/ pass blockers. The typical defense we will face can bring se'en rushers by blit0ing the inside linebackers. *hen the linebackers come up, that is a one second pass situation for the (). ?e must either find a recei'er on a one second route 1slant3 or create a one second recei'er by raising his T- side heel and putting the +) in motion. <ormally, he will ha'e an automatic, one second, slant recei'er in the T- against a blit0. The Tight End: The T- operates in a two point stance, ne'er a three. ?e lines up with a full, one yard gap between his feet and the 2T"s feet. Ffter signaling his route he watches for a linebacker to mo'e, pre snap. If such a linebacker mo'es 1-ither to blit0 or follow the +).3, the T- will change his patter with no signal and run at the position 'acated by the linebacker and e/pect a one second pass. If the T- signals deep, he will look back o'er his outside shoulder for the pass and drift towards the sideline in order to stay away from a Ho'er 2 safety. F pass to the inside shoulder of the T- can be intercepted. If the Tknows he can get open, he can tell the () this while the ball is being set and then signal his route. The () should look to hit him. Fll signaled patterns e/cept slant and comeback are e/ecuted after the T- has run 5 steps straight up field. In most cases, the T- will get a deep read but he should signal comeback if the safety can come o'er and co'er him deep If the T- calls a +) di'e 12!A2$3, he is to slap the near offensi'e tackle 12T3 on the back as he heads for his position on the line as a reminder to open a hole and cross block. ?e is in a two point stance. Strong Tackle: The strong tackle has one Gobs. ?e has to pick up the 4- outside the T- on a pass play. ?e does this with a bucket step back and to the outside. ?e lines up foot to foot or within 6 inches of the guard"s foot. ?e will line up on the same side of the field the center calls to. Strong uard:

The strong guard checks to see if there is no one within his area. That means the 4T is on his outside shoulder or further and the nose guard is shaded away to the far side of the center. If so, we ha'e a potential run hole, pro'ided the linebacker is not up too close 1less than ! yards3. If the linebacker is three yards or further off, the strong guard is to tell the () to call a trap 121 or 223. ?e lines up foot to foot with the center. If he calls the trap, he is to increase that split by one foot. ?e lines up on the same side the center calls to and blocks in that direction. Center: The center will stand o'er the ball as the referee sets it and Gudge which side is the short side of the field and call. The trips recei'ers all line up to this side along with the weak guard and tackle. If in doubt as to the wide side of the field, he calls Eeft. If right handed, he is to hike with his left hand up, palms up, or 'ice 'ersa if he"s left handed. ?e calls no plays. !eak uard:

Flign foot to foot with center or si/ inches ma/. ?is front toes will be e'en with the center"s heel. ?e has no calls. !eak Tackle: Flign foot to foot with center or si/ inches ma/. ?is front toes will be e'en with the guard"s heel, making him a recessed tackle for pulling. ?e is to look for a run opportunity between himself and the slot back. If he sees the 4T opposite him shading inside him or taking an inside rush, he is to tell the () to call 16 1or 153. The Slot Back: The slot back aligns one yard outside the weak tackle and one yard off the E28. ?e runs a signaled pattern but checks the depth of the near inside E)er. If the E)er is 5 or more yards back, he is to call 2$A2! di'e and slap the weak tackle on the back as he comes to the line. If the E)er is up tight to the line and blit0ing and the slot hasn"t yet signaled his pattern, signal slant, and get behind the E)er for a one second pass. )ut do not change signals if one has already been gi'en 1,ossible motion penalty3. Running Back: Flign four steps behind (). 2n base pass, block the weak side 4- out. *atch for () to raise his heel. If he raises his T- side heel, on first hut go in quick motion in the direction signaled and look back for pass. If the pass comes to him and pressure comes too fast, throw to the T-. If () raises his trips side heel, block the 4- on his outside shoulder. If the +) sees the flats are open and the () is not raising his T- side heel, the +) may stand in front of the () between plays and tell him to raise his heel.

T"E R#$$I$

%&E

The running game can be called by either the players or from the sideline. To get a run call in from the sideline, the coach would call, for e/ample, $#D )lock your manD and the () would repeat $#D )lock your manD To the defense, it seems we told a player to block his man. Fctually we Gust called a slot back run play to hole # 1The first digit of the number called, in this case the $ of $# is bogus.3. -/cept for a +) requesting the () to raise his heel, the system is such that no runner can call the ball to himself, although the running back can complain to the T- or slot if the E)ers are deep and they won"t call his number. The () doesn"t get to ignore the call he"s gi'en. ?e will audible the call he"s gi'en at the line. :or a 2! call, the () could audible !!D Cet you man 1or any other two digit number ending with !3. The () can also audible a run. *hen the distance is short for a first down or we"re running an e/tra point, he can audible the $5 1$63 toss. F () wedge is another possibility. -ach player who gi'es a call has already determined that the run is open. . The plays areB

$ 12$3B

) -

) 2 2

T < T 2 22.2 2 2 2 2

The two wide recei'ers are slanting out to force an immediate co'erage response before their defender can look inside for run or pass. The weak side tackle and guard are cross blocking and the tackle has taken an e/tra foot split 1)eing reminded to do so by the slap on the back3. The weak tackle is blocking from nose to backside backer. The Tis lead blocking on nearest, deepest safety. Ffter handing off to the +), the () sets and throws an imaginary ball outside. The right guard lets the tackle go first. Things that can go wrongB

*eak TackleB If the tackle doesn"t go through the nose guard"s near buttock, the nose could make the tackle. If the play side backer came up to blit0, our slot back would miss his block. If the backer does come up on this call, the () would ha'e to audible away. Halling %%D would put the slot behind the blit0ing backer for a one second pass.

! 12!3B

) 2 2 2

T < T 2 2 2.22 2 2

8ame as $ only +) takes a misdirection step weak and then takes the handoff. The slot is helping to keep the backside 4T out. The +) will be matched up on his own against whoe'er is co'ering our T-. This requires the +) to be ready to fight, and fall forward, for yardage.

1 1213B

) 2 2 2

T < T 2 22 .22 2 2

The +) runs 2$ but then cuts back hard on the handoff. *e pull the tackle instead of the guard in case the nose is shaded o'er the center"s hiking hand for quick penetration 12ne of the reasons the strong guard called this play.3. Flso, it"s an easy seal on the 4T by our slot. This same play can be run as $1 to the slot.

#1$#3B

) -

) 2 2

T < T 2 22.2 2 2 2 2

The slot is the ball carrier. ?e has his choice of running inside or outside the +)"s block but he ne'er gi'es up yardage to get around the 4-. This works 'ery well with a fast back at slot. I ha'e played 4- against this and it happens fast. ;sually good for 5 yards, it"s a good way to get off the right hash mark if you only run trips to the right.

& 15&3B

) -

) 2 2

T < T 2 22.2 2 2 2 2

' ()'*:

) -

) 2 2

T < T 2 22.2 2 2 2 2

This is the famous counter trey play used by +78 teams in the 1%&."s.

&

T"E P%SSI$

%&E

The trips recei'ers line up appro/imately # yards apart and ha'e fi'e routes. They read their defender to determine their route. The base route is to run 5 steps straight ahead and then e/ecute a change of direction. ?ere are the four rules for running the base routeB 13 "e near+ me ,arB The defender is less than 5 steps away. +un a stop and go 1:ar3. 23 "e ,ar+ me nearB The defender is more than 5 steps away. +un a come back 1<ear3. !3 "e in+ me outB The defender is aligned inside you. +un down and out 12ut3. $3 "e out+ me inB The defender is aligned outside you. +un down and in 1In3. If the defender is head up on the recei'er and 5 steps off him, the recei'er will run a slant inside, releasing at a thirty 1!.3 degree angle or slightly higher. If the defender is gi'ing two reads, that is, he"s both near and to the side or far and to the side both, the recei'er will combine both routes. 8o if the defender is near and outside, the recei'er would run far and keeping in on his stop of the stop and go. Fnd if the defender were far and in, then the recei'er would run near and hook back out. The signalsB -ach of the three recei'ers has his head turned slightly in to be able to see and hear the (). -ach of the trips recei'ers will read his defender, decide his route, and signal that route to the (). These are the signalsB 8lantB Inside hand on inside thigh. InB Inside hand held at $5 degree angle away from body, fingers pointed down. 2utB Inside hand held chest high with fingers pointing outside. :arB Inside hand with elbow cocked, fingers pointed straight ahead. <earB Inside hand with elbow locked straight back, fingers pointed back. +ecei'ers on slant must e/pect the ball to come :F8TD This is our one second pass route. 2nce the ball is caught, the other recei'ers do not become blockers. Iou can get clips. The T- has the same signals. If any recei'er can"t see anyone on him, he signals deep if it"s open or near if it"s not 1safety too near3.

D-#B.E P%SS: The outside flanker can request a 4ouble pass. ?e will drop three steps backwards, take the pass from the (), and throw deep to any of the other three recei'ers. ?e calls this if the defense gi'es him a soft cushion. The QB %udible: If the () calls a run, the split end 18-3 and flanker 1:E3 run outside slants.

-PE$ %RE%
The () will look for un unco'ered recei'er first and then downfield for open area second and then check the recei'ers to see which is running to that area. That recei'er becomes his primary recei'er. If there is no open area or no recei'er running to that open area, the () will put the +) in motion to create open area and either throw to the +) or to the T- 1*ho will run at any position 'acated by a defender following the +)"s motion.3. If the () sees the inside linebackers showing blit0, he can check for slants from the wide recei'ers, throw hot to the slanting T-, or put the +) in motion for a one second pass. *hat is 2pen FreaJ F football field is di'ided into se'en defensi'e 0ones known as four under, three deep. They are shown belowB

5 2 22.22 2 2 2

6 2 2

Kone 5 begins two yards outside the outside foot of the T- and ends two yards outside the outside foot of the slot. Thus, both the T- and the slot are in Kone 5. If the defense can place a defender in each of these 0ones, our recei'ers will simply run from co'erage to co'erage. ?owe'er, to qualify as a defender one needs to be at least 5 yards off the

1.

E28 1unless in bump3. Therefore, a linebacker in Kone 5 in pass co'erage would not also be in run co'erage. If he mo'es up to stop the run, we can throw behind him. ?e mo'es back to defend the pass, we can run under him. To fill all se'en 0ones would require se'en pass defenders, meaning the defense can only play four down linemen. This is why you see so many four down linemen against passing teams. :urther, the linebackers would all ha'e to be 5 yards back to defend their 0one. -'en this co'erage is inadequate because there are open areas between the 0ones. ;nfortunately, we don"t ha'e the time to hit these types of patterns. *e can, howe'er, flood 0ones with two recei'ers. :or e/ample, if the slot entered Kone 6 on out, it is unlikely that the Kone 6 defender could co'er both the slot and the 8-. IndeedD If the slot and 8- recei'ers found themsel'es co'ered by the same defender, the slot would simply look at the signal the 8- is gi'ing and then gi'e the e/act opposite signal. 8o if the 8- signaled far, he would signal near. Fnd if the 8- signaled in", he would signal out or, if the 8- signaled out, he would signal in. The same problem occurs for the defense if one defender tries to co'er both the 8- and the :E. The 8- would look at the :E signal and signal the opposite. The () can look at this and decide which one he wants to hit. 8o let"s begin with what the () is looking for. ?e wants to find an unco'ered 0one or one defender on two recei'ers. *e begin by teaching him how the 0ones are numbered. That way, we can quickly discuss where the open area is without ha'ing to point it out or draw it up 1*e can e'en scream the 0one L from the sideline if we want.3. In the game, he checks the deep 0ones first, beginning left to right. ?ere is an e/ample of unco'ered 0ones. *8 H ) T < T 2 22.22 2 2 2 ) 88 2 2 H

This is called a rotated 0one. The defense has mo'ed three pass defenders o'er on the right to counter our three recei'ers. The () will immediately see, checking the deep 0ones from left to right, that L1 is empty. ?e has found open area. If the T- is signaling far or near he has his primary recei'er. ?owe'er, he still must check all se'en 0ones. If he stopped checking at Kone 1 and simply threw to the T-, he may find that a blit0 was coming from 0one 5 and be sacked. 8o he progresses 1In this e/ample, the T- may be signaling in anyway since the H is outside him.3 and thereby checks 0one 5. The ne/t open area is 0one # and the :E will be signaling near meaning he is running to

11

that open area. The :E becomes the primary recei'er if the linebackers in 0one 5 are deep. )ut, if the linebackers were up close to the line, e'en if not blit0ing, the () also has the choice of throwing to the T- on his down and in route. )ut, if they"re 5 yards back, as in this case, the :E still becomes the primary recei'er. *e should, of course, teach the T- to look for the deep 0one in front of him being empty and he may 'ery well be signaling deep. Ci'en his choice of throwing to a deep or short 0one and, with no blit0 showing, the () should throw deep. <otice that, unless the defense plays three defenders deep, we"ll always be throwing deep unless they show a blit0 from 0one 5. Therefore, we need a fast, sure handed T- who can block on runs in this position. *e must also be able to hit Kone 2 although Kone 2 is the least likely 0one to be left unco'ered. This would either be the 8- or the slot. 8ince the 8- position is a non blocking position, we can play our worst blockers here. The only way the defense can try and co'er all three deep 0ones with fewer than three players is to go co'er two. In co'er two, two safeties play at 1A! the width of the field, or right on the di'iding lines of Kone 2. This is shown belowB *8 88

H -

) ) T < T 2 22.22 2 2 2

H 2 2

)oth of these safety players would ha'e to be e/tremely good to pull this off but it can be done. *hat can"t be done is for both of them to co'er three recei'ers deep, one in each 0one. Iet our () can"t know, in ad'ance, which of our three deep recei'ers will be the unco'ered one. 8o, in this case, he looks to throw short. Fgainst this, our T- would be signaling far or in, our slot far or near, our 8- near, and our :E slant. If 0one 5 shows a blit0, he"ll either hit the T- or the :E on slant. 2therwise, the 8- is in the open area 1<o defender in Kone 63 and is the primary recei'er. To sol'e this problem, the defense must mo'e a linebacker from Kone 5 to Kone 6. <ow all 0ones are filled. )ut now the single linebacker left in Kone 5 must defend the T- on in and the slot on near. ?e can"t do both. Mery soon, either the T- or the slot will be standing in front of the () saying I"m open.

12

Flthough this is the trained response for this situation, the () should recogni0e that, when all 0ones are filled, to raise his tight end side heel, sending the +) in fast motion outside the T-, creating new open area. If no one mo'es, the () throws to the +). If anyone does mo'e, the T- will run directly to where the defender mo'ed from, thereby entering an open 0one. Thus, e'en when the defense fills all the 0ones, we can still create one more. To take our chances deep against one or two safeties, the () raises his trips heel and rolls wide to the outside in order to gain more time 1>oe Theissman of the +edskins did this, running all the way to the sidelines before stopping to throw.3. The ()"s first choice is to run. This is an easy 1. yards. If no one is rushing the (), he keeps 1..N of the time. ?e only throws if someone comes up and then throws deep. This places the short 0one defenders in conflict. Home up and ha'e the () throw behind them or drop back and ha'e him throw long. *hiche'er they do, they"re wrong. *e practice this a lot. This brings us to four down defensi'e linemen. The best run defense $ $ looks like thisB H ) 8 ) 2 2 H

) ) - T T 2 22.22 2 2 2

Fgain, the () will read Kone # as unco'ered and the :E will be signaling near, making him the primary recei'er. In theory, they ha'e enough defenders to co'er our +) in motion, but their positioning is wrong. If the outside ) follows the +) in motion, the T- will come open in front of the corner. If the corner follows the motion, the T- will go deep into the 'acated Kone 1. <otice, in the abo'e, that our left guard is getting a trap read. There is a hole in front of him. The 4T on the other side of the center is the same as a shaded nose. *e would want to practice our strong guard at recogni0ing this and calling 21. Ffter this, the defense must go to a $ !B *8 H ) ) ) 88 2 2 H T T 2 2 2.22 2 2 2

Immediately, we see two deep 0ones open, 1 and !. :urther when the () sees all four short" 0ones 1$ #3 filled, he knows he must roll out towards the trips and throw on

1!

the run. <otice how the slot will come open on his out pattern as well as Kone 1 and Kone 2 as he does this. To fill the two empty 0ones, the defense would ha'e to remo'e two linebackers from Kone 5. If so, the remaining inside linebacker cannot co'er the Ton in and the slot both at the same time. The open 0ones may mo'e, but the solutions remain the same.

SI&P.E S-.#TI-$S To remain successful, we must stay with simple solutions when problems arise. :or the defense, their simplest solution is to get to our () and sack him before he can throw by ball by the rush of a down lineman. This could occur if a 1! year old is matched up against one of our 11"s or our center can"t snap and block at the same time. 2ur solution to this would be to put our () in shotgun, pro'ided 1of course3 that we ha'e a long snap center. If we do this, it interferes with our running game. To compensate, if we ha'e to go to shotgun, the () backs up 5 steps and the +) lines up on the trips side of the () and blocks outside shoulder of 4-. Fs the () takes the snap, he"ll roll wide behind the trips and the come running straight up field, and either keep the ball or throw on the run. The theory is the same as before 9 roll the () to get more time. It looks like thisB

2 22.22 2 2 2

2 2

The () now skips his re'erse pi'ot and becomes our running game. The goal here is if the defense finds a way to create a problem for us, we want our solution to create a problem for them. The () can simply tell the center he"s changing to shotgun and the +) mo'es o'er 1still playing $ steps back3. )y calling any number that ends in 6, the () can run the 6 hole from shotgun with the +) kicking the 4- out. ?e can still hand off on # to the slot in front of himself. The () rolls out because he won"t ha'e found the laces on the football from shotgun before the rush arri'es. 8o he must find them on the run. )y running towards the line, he"ll throw accurate bullets and threaten the run.

1$

T+FI<I<C 8H-<F+I28 H ) : ) 2 2 $$ Kone # is Oopen. The H in Kone ! is inside shaded. The :E is getting a double read, ?e far and ?e in. 8o the :E will run a curl, and curl out. The 8- is getting a slant read. The 8lot is getting a near route read. The T- is also getting a double read, both ?e far from the H and ?e out from the ). The far read tells him to run near and the out read tells him to hook back in behind the inside linebacker. This is a fine e/ample to the () of why we don"t throw to co'ered 0ones. If the () tried to throw to the T- on his hook in, the left inside linebacker in 0one 5 could intercept. )ad things happen when we try and force a throw. )y comparison, the :E pass is quite safe. ?ere are some Ho'er 2 scenariosB *8 H ) T < T 2 2 2.2 2 2 2 ) 2 2 2 88 H H

) ) T T 2 22.22 2 2 2

Ho'er 2 situations are seldom co'ered by professional articles because college and pros so seldom see it. )ut it"s 'ery common at the youth le'el and we are likely to see it. In the situation shown on the pre'ious page, the slot would signal near and be the primary recei'er. ?owe'er, in this situation, the slot would also ha'e the option of looking at the 8-"s signal and signal the opposite. The 8- is also getting the ?e far read and will signal near. The slot signals far. <o matter which way the ) mo'es either the slot or the 8- will come open. ?e can"t co'er both. The (), of course, won"t know which of them it will be and, not knowing who is co'ered, he"ll raise his trips side heel and roll

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hard right to hit the open man or run. *hiche'er recei'er did come open on the play, the slot or the 8-, can now report I"m open to the (). The ne/t play, the () can hit him. 8ometimes a recei'er needs to gi'e a false report to the (). That is, he should stand in front of the () and report nothing 1then lea'e3. This keeps the defense from figuring out that whene'er a recei'er stands in front of the (), he"s calling a pass to himself. *8 H ) T < T 2 2 2.2 2 2 2 ) 2 2 2 88 H

This time the slot knows ) has him 1?e"s within Kone 5, if only on the line3. ?e runs in. Kone 6 is open area and the () will hit the 8- on near. F hard rollout is not needed because of the empty 0one. *8 ) - H T < T 2 2 2.2 2 2 2 ) 2 2 2 88 H

The T- is being crowded 1near read3 by H and will run far, breaking to the outside. The slot is getting a slant read. The :E has an in read. Fgain, open area is 0one 6. The () will throw a ! second pass to the 8- on near. The () would ha'e also seen 0one $ was empty but no one signaling to it.

In our own scrimmages, we found the defense often went to this lookB

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8 ) 2 ) ) ) 2 H 2 2 H

T T 2 2 . 2 2 2 2

2ur solution to this was to either send the +) in motion or roll the () out with runAthrow option. 2ur instruction to the () became rather simple. If you see a defender 5 yards o'er e'ery recei'er, raise a heel. It doesn"t matter which heel he raises. 8omething bad is about to happen to the defense either way. Coaching errors: I saw this error made se'eral times by one of our coaches 1Fnd it cost him a game3. :or some reason 1probably to gain T-Asafety separation3 he split the T- out as a wide out. T?I8 *IEE <2T *2+PDDDD The 4- to the T- side will mo'e in closer, bringing him at least 2 yards closer to the () on his rush. This is an open in'itation to your () to be 8FHP-4 from behind. :urther, you"'e now eliminated the +) as a motion recei'er. If he went in motion towards the T- 1now an 8-3 he"ll be running towards co'erage 1The man co'ering the T-.3. 8o, bad things happen when you mo'e the T- out. ?owe'er, you can deliberately create this 4- rush situation and split the T-, mo'e the 4- in, and call $#. The +) will load the 4- and the slot will get by him.

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I had one opponent co'er the +) in motion with the 4- on the T-. If the () sees the 4- run with the +) in motion, the () is to sweep at the spot the 4- 'acated. If your Tis intelligent, you can teach him to block nearest E)er when the 4- goes with the motion man.

4+IEE H2<-8 I set up cones on the field to gi'e the () landmarks during practice. The cones 1c3 look like this on the fieldB c c c c c c c

2 2 . 2 2 2 2 2

2 2

Fs the defenders line up, the () looks at the cone that doesn"t ha'e a defender on or near it. ?e then looks for the recei'er signaling to this cone. If no one is signaling to the spot, he puts the +) on motion and throws to either him or the T-. I like to gi'e the +) at least ! seconds of motion before snapping. I also found that, when the 8- was unco'ered completely, it was not wise to ha'e him signal deep 1It takes him too close to a safety3. I had him signal near instead.

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