HookemHorns Coryell Offense

[HookemHorns]

The Basics of the Coryell Offense

This article discusses:


How the Coryell offense differs from the West Coast offense.
A brief history of the Coryell offense.
What are the personnel requirements for the Coryell offense.
What are the advantages of the Coryell offense.


How the Coryell offense differs from the West Coast offense

The WCO has the following characteristics:


It is a “ball control” offense, predicated on the ability of the QB to achieve a high completion percentage.

The receivers often run precise short-to-intermediate routes and a lot of crossing routes and slants. The receivers are expected to pick up yards after the catch.

The QB takes more 3- and 5-step drops as opposed to 7-step drops.

When the QB and WRs are on the same page, it can be difficult to disrupt the rhythm of the offense.

It relies heavily on the receiving skills of backs coming out of the backfield.


The Coryell offense has the following characteristics:


It is a “stretch-the-field-vertically” offense, predicated on the complementary effects of throwing deep and running the football.

The receivers often run intermediate-to-long routes.

The QB takes more 5- and 7-step drops.

It emphasizes maximum pass protection, to protect the QB until the receivers get open downfield.

It is committed to the power running game. The running game opens up opportunities for big downfield completions, and vice versa.


A brief history of the Coryell offense

The Coryell offense didn't start with Coryell. Sid Gillman was the innovator of the vertical game back in the 1960s. Many members of Gillman's staff, including Al Davis and Dick Vermiel have been adherents to the vertical game ever since. Coryell adapted Gillman's ideas into the system that now bears his name.

There are several notable implementers of the Coryell offense in the league today: Joe Gibbs in WAS, Mike Martz in DET, Norv Turner in SD. Many of these coaches are connected in the coaching tree, starting with Gillman or Coryell. Gibbs served on Coryell's staff in SD and brought the system to Washington. Turner served on Ernie Zampese's staff on the LA Rams and brought the system to Dallas. Martz served on Turner's staff in Washington.


What are the personnel requirements for the Coryell offense:


QBs must be able to throw deep with accuracy. They are typically pocket passers with big arms.

WRs must be able to stretch the field. The name of the game is speed and separation.

RBs carry a heavy load and tend to have good power.

TEs tend to be strong blockers; they are relied upon heavily in pass protection and in paving the way for RBs in the ground game.

OL tend to be big and physical.


What are the advantages of the Coryell offense:

Run correctly, it is simply an explosive offense, capable of big plays at any time. It puts opposing defenses in a bind: does the defense defend the deep ball, thereby weakening its run support, or does it defend the run, thereby leaving itself vulnerable to big plays downfield?

Next up playbooks.

[HookemHorns]

Playbooks that fit the Coryell system:

Conneticut
Iowa
Kansas State
Louisville
North Carolina
Northern Illinois
Oregon State
Pittsburgh
Syracuse
UCLA
Wake Forrest
Washington State

As you can see there are many variations of the Coryell offense. You can be more of an I-formation team like what Norv Turner runs and use playbooks such as Iowa, Kansas State, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, UCLA and Wake Forrest. You can run a two tightend system like what Joe Gibbs runs with the Conneticut, Northern Illinois, Oregon State, Syracuse and Washington State playbooks. If you want to be more like Mike Martz's greatest show on turf offense you could use Louisville's playbook.

Just make sure you stay true to the basic principals of the offense: power running, max protection and vertical passing game.

One other thing to add the passing game is built around timing, read the defense while you are dropping back and get rid of the ball quickly.

Next up I'll go over the best teams that fit this style.

[Ducks09]

Excellent post Hookem'! I was looking feverishly through the playbooks for this system to use with oregon on my dynasty. Nice to have a good list...:) I'm looking forward to seeing more.

[HookemHorns]

Best teams to use:

Alabama
Arizona State
Arkansas
Auburn
Boise State
Boston College
Clemson
Georgia
Georgia Tech
Illinois
Iowa
Kansas State
LSU
Maryland
Miami
Michigan
Michigan State
NC State
Nebraska
New Mexico
Notre Dame
Ohio State
Oklahoma
Ole Miss
Oregon
Penn State
Rutgers
San Diego State
South Carolina
Tennessee
Toledo
UCLA
USC
UTEP
Vanderbilt
Virgina Tech
Wake Forest
Wisconsin

Yes, there are a lot of teams but the Coryell offense can fit so many different styles...so it really depends on what you are most comfortable with.

Up next playbook breakdown.

[Catch28]

Yes, there are a lot of teams but the Coryell offense can fit so many different styles...so it really depends on what you are most comfortable with.

im curious what criteria you used to come up with that list

just interested

[HookemHorns]

im curious what criteria you used to come up with that list

just interested


Powerful runner, good offensive line and atleast one fast reciever.

Some teams have better quarterbacks than others, but the primary focus of this offense the running game. Everything else plays off of that.

[Catch28]

Powerful runner, good offensive line and atleast one fast reciever.

Some teams have better quarterbacks than others, but the primary focus of this offense the running game. Everything else plays off of that.

k cool, i'm kind of interested in tryin the greatest show on turf style

[soonerstud07]

I was always under the impression that Martz kept no one in to block, and never really established a "power" running game. I never really placed him in the Coryell mold, but I see that he on that tree.

[Catch28]

I was always under the impression that Martz kept no one in to block, and never really established a "power" running game. I never really placed him in the Coryell mold, but I see that he on that tree.

Marshall Faulk getting 5+ ypc is a pretty good running game :)

[HookemHorns]

I was always under the impression that Martz kept no one in to block, and never really established a "power" running game. I never really placed him in the Coryell mold, but I see that he on that tree.


Martz's offense is pure Coryell, however he does seem to let the QB fend for himself a little more than Gibbs or Turner would.

Here is a quote from Martz:

That's another thing that's critical to the system. Power running. You've got to be able to run the ball when you go to a three-wide receiver set, and you've got to run with power. By that I mean behind zone blocking, which is a big departure from the San Francisco system. Theirs was man-blocking, with a lot of cut-blocks and misdirection. Ours is straight power. Not many people realize this, but if we hadn't have gotten Marshall we were prepared to go with another excellent zone-blocking runner, Robert Holcombe. It takes a certain type, a guy who can run with power, who's good at picking his way through. Stephen Davis is doing that in Washington now, and that's a big reason why their offense is so good...The good thing about zone-block running is that you can keep pounding away. You don't have the negative yardage plays.

[HookemHorns]

Before we learn how to run an offense we must first learn how to build and structure an offense, in the next few posts I will lay out everything that is involved in building an offese.

A Method For Game Planning
BILL WALSH
San Francisco 49ers

(MID 80's LECTURE TRANSCRIPT)
Planning for a football game today is somewhat different than the original concept of the game in which the quarterback was the field general and saw weaknesses during the game and called his plays accordingly. Obviously the game is much more complex today. I was fortunate to be involved with some of the great football coaches and programs. I have been afforded the experience that allowed us to conceive an offense, a defense, and a system of football that is basically a matter of rehearsing what we do prior to the game.

What we do is call the plays. When I was with Paul Brown and the Cincinnati Bengals, his trademark was sending in messenger guards. He had great success. Paul Brown was the man that changed the game from one that was a rugged, slugging it out type of play, to a more sophisticated method. The advancing of teaching techniques, coaching techniques, the use of teaching aids, the use of film, the black board, etc. All were originated and developed by Paul Brown just after World War II. Part of his concept was a strategy in which virtually everything was spelled out. It was a system in which the plays were called from the sideline. He was criticized for it at the time, but today it is virtually done by everyone. One of the problems you have today is that you don't have trained quarterbacks who can call plays because it has always been the coach who called the plays. At Cincinnati we had a young quarterback, by the name of Greg Cook, who had a short career, but may have been the greatest single talent to play the game. It became my responsibility to call the plays from the press box. Paul would always ask, "What are your openers?" He wanted to know how we were going to start the game. He was thinking about two or three plays that he would start the game with; an off tackle play, a pass, etc. So we began to develop our franchise. When I left in 1975, we had a 11-3 record and the number one offense in professional football. A lot of it was related to disciplining a quarterback. At that time it was Ken Anderson. It was disciplining an offense to know what to expect when we called a play. Consequently we could call a play with the assurance that we could get something done.

My next employment was with the San Diego Chargers and I was fortunate enough to have someone like Dan Fouts to work with. Now the list of opening plays began to number 10 and 12. In other words, we began to plan the opening sequences of the game. From there I went to Stanford and the list went to 20. We would have our first 20 plays to be called. Now with San Francisco we finally stopped with 25. What we have finally done is rehearse the opening part of the game, almost the entire first half, by planning the game before it even starts.

Now why would you do such a thing? I know this, your ability to think concisely, your ability to make good judgments is much easier on Thursday night than during the heat of the game. So we prefer to make our decisions related to the game almost clinically, before the game is ever played. We've scouted our opponent, we have looked at films, we know our opponent well. If you coach at the high school level, often you are in the same league with the same coaches and you know them like a book. With out question you can make more objective decisions during the week as to what you would do in the game than you can spontaneously as the game is being played. To be honest with you, you are in a state of stress, sometimes you are in a state of desperation and you are asked to make very calculated decisions. It is rarely done in warfare and certainly not in football; so your decisions made during the week are the ones that make sense. In the final analysis, after a lot of time and thought and a lot of planning, and some practice, I will isolate myself prior to the game and put together the first 25 plays for the game. They are related to certain things.

What are the reasons for pre-planning your offense before the game?
1. ESTABLISH FORMATIONS to see the adjustments the opponent will make. You can't wait to find out when you are on their five yard line. Early in the game you are going to show certain formations to see what adjustments are. The coach in the press box knows what formations are coming up, so he knows what to watch for concerning adjustments.

2. BASE OFFENSE. You have to establish in your own mind how you are going to handle a base offense. In other words, you want to have certain plays to start the game in which you take on your opponent physically, man to man, and the coach upstairs as well as the coach on the field, is observing that. You get a better feel which way to run and what kinds of plays work best. Part of your plays are where you attack your opponent physically and find out where your matchups are. You want to find that out early in the game, so that some time later you have an idea of just what you want to do.

3. SET UP CERTAIN THINGS. In our case we will run a given play so that later we can run the play pass that can win the game for us. Occasionally we will play an opponent in which we will run the play pass first, faking the run and throwing; so that later we can run the running play itself. In our case we want to set up the play pass.

4. SPECIALS. One of the interesting things about Paul Brown Football is that he would always be terribly upset if someone would run a reverse before we did, or a run pass before we did. He would grab the phone and scream in my ear, "They did it before we did!" This was very distressing because it sounded so dated. But you know something, over the years, I found that Paul was 100% right. If you run your reverse first, and you can make 5 yards or more, the other guy won't run his. If you have a special play of any kind, get it into the game quickly. How many of you have had a ball game and you have practiced two or three things that you thought for sure would work. The game is over and you didn't try them or you are so far out of it, it doesn't matter whether you try them or not. Paul was right. Set up your special plays early and run them early. Get them done, it affects your opposition.

This approach to the game has a good track record. When I was at Stanford, I was told by our student manager that in seven straight games, we scored on our first drive. This year in virtually every game, we scored early. Against the Raiders, a game we lost, in 17 plays we had two touchdowns. Our problem was later on. The point is that in every game, we will move the ball early. A year ago we moved the ball throughout the game. Last year, we just moved it early. Planning can make the difference. Those first twenty five plays can make the difference.

5. ESTABLISH SEQUENCE. If you have running plays with any sequence to them at all, you will want to start the sequence so you can establish something to work from. If you can do this at home, or in your office, think and visualize yourself how you would like to see the game develop. Write down your plays and the corresponding formations. Believe me, it takes tremendous pressure off of you. If you feel confident going into the game, it makes you that much more confident. If you have the feeling that a lot of us have had before a game, that you are going to lose the thing, you are out gunned, etc., it certainly takes a lot of pressure off the out-gunned coach to know that you have done everything you could before going into the game. If you want to sleep at night before the game, have your first 25 plays established in your own mind the night before that. You can walk into the stadium and you can start the game without that stress factor. You will start the game and you will remind yourself that you are looking at certain things because a pattern has been set up.

6. ISOLATE THE SECOND HALF. In our particular case we have already gone into the second half, not in the detail that we did at the start of the game. In our particular level, every game is a tight one. If you win a game by a big score, you never expected to. If you lose by a big score, you never expected to. There is just never a game that you can count on. You might as well plan part of the second half. You hold certain things back that you think will be effective in the second half. Some are related to your original plan, others are related to your opposition in regard to what adjustments you think they might make. I will tell you this, I think we can do a better job with halftime adjustments on Thursday than we can at halftime the day of the game. It's that simple.


SITUATIONAL FOOTBALL

The question comes up how can you have 25 starting plays when you don't know what the down and distance will be or where you' 11 be on the field, etc. Let's get into the other part of the plan because that's the difference. We have 25 plays we have basically decided upon. We have talked to the line coach, who may handle the running end of it. Basically you look for a formula to win in those 25 plays. Let's talk about things we seldom practice but they win or lose a game.

1. BACKED UP OFFENSE. You won't worry about it until you are backed up, but one of the things we do as part of our plan, the offense will run any where from your own one foot line out as far as your own 8-10 yard line. What are you going to do when you look down at the far end of the field, you have the ball, your players seem like they are a mile away from you and you have to drive out. The defense certainly has a feeling about that. They feel if they have you in the hole, the defensive charges are going to be lower and harder, you know the Opposition is going to be blitzing. You know that who ever is supporting sweep plays is going to be up near the line of scrimmage. You know that the linebackers are ready to plug as quickly as they can because, obviously they have you in a jam. There are certain factors such as that that you look for when you scout the Opposition. In our case, we have probably four runs and two passes for the backed up offense. The passes, you hate to think of throwing, but you may be behind and have to throw. You do certain types of passes from that situation. Things that you can do the best with very little chance of interception.

We know when we are backed up, we can't fumble the ball. Certainly when we are backed up, we can't take a loss. We know that when we are backed up, a penalty against us is far more damaging, and we know when we are backed up we have to have room for out punter to punt the ball with a certain amount of poise. If he doesn't have the room, the ball is snapped very quickly to him, it's a bad punt, the return is good and it means 7 points for the Opposition. So backed up offense means something to us in our game plan, but also it means something when we practice. This all comes from experience, men. It wasn't ordained to me or any one else. It came through 25 years of coaching and some bad experiences with it.

Generally when you practice this kind of work it has to be contact. It does not have to be scrimmaging where there is tackling, but there has to be full speed blocking where everybody gets a feel. You take your offense to the goal line, put the ball on the six inch line, offense huddle up in the end zone, defense huddle up and wait. Now the offensive coaches and the defensive coaches will discuss backed up football. The defensive coach will talk about the advantage they have and how to maintain it and what you must not allow the opponent to do. The offensive coach talks about the things I just mentioned. Now, the team has been spoken to, here are the plays we will be running, probably all year, we are going to fight our way out of here. And so you will practice it. You may be able to get that done twice or three times during the first two weeks of practice. What you are going to do is to back up your team to the six inch line, move the ball out to the two yard line, move the ball out to the four yard line, and in each case, talk about the things you are going to do and how to practice them. The defense, of course, is doing the correlating thing. Each week in practice when you play a given opponent, you have four plays, line up your team on its own one yard line and you run four plays to remind everybody if the backed up offense and what the problems will be.

Most often the problem comes just inside the tight end. The linebackers or ends as you may call them, come underneath the tight ends. Often we will go to two tight ends, as part of that offense. But we practice it. Believe it or not, when your team is on the field and somebody punts the ball out of bounds, of some other disaster occurs and your offensive team runs out there, you can hear them talking about the backed up offense, what they have to do. When that starts to happen, your team is prepared to play football. You are doing the best job you can do, a thorough job.

2. 3RD AND 3 OFFENSE. The next thing we talk about is the 3rd and 3 offense. Naturally this is in your game plan. 3rd and 3 is a tough situation. We will practice it. We will allow certain amounts of time in our training camp for 3rd and 3 football. We set up the down markers, we line up the defense, offense, we have lectured it to our team as part of our situation football. Most often you are going to go to your best back with your best running play and you are not going to fool anybody at that point. You are going to depend heavily on that running back to get the extra yard or two with his ability, figuring that the block for the first two yards of it. 3rd and 3 to us may mean a pass in our style of football. We may throw 3 to 1 over running the ball because of some of the defenses we face. 3rd and 3 means something and you practice it. The first two weeks of practice you will hit on that. You will say, one of the toughest situations we have, men, is when it is 3rd down and approximately 3 yards to go. The opposition is not in their short yardage defense at that point, but they are going to come after you and it is a critical down. Occasionally the defense isn't quite as aware as the offense of how important it is. In our 3rd and 3 offense we will probably have four runs. They may be the same as your backed up offense, and in our case, we will have two or three passes. You will practice those each week. You will say it is 3rd and 3 as part of your situation practice. We are going to have four plays, defense get ready. It will be live, not tackling. We are going to block it and we are going to make it. The runner will have the feeling of what he is after. He will come out of the huddle and see those 3 yards are the difference in this ball game, we win it or we lose it. He will learn how to control the ball, not take any silly chances, stopping, dodging. He has to bust up in there, use his blocking and get his three.

3. 3RD AND SHORT. 3rd and short can mean anywhere from 1-6 inches all the way to 2 yards. In this situation the 6 inch play may be different than the 2 yard play. Often there are plays that are somewhat different than your other plays. Most teams will stay in their same defense but they will have a way to play it. Everybody will pinch down, linebackers scraping, corners at the line of scrimmage, safety at the line, whatever. As we list our short yardage plays, we will list the play and we might list the formation, a 16 Power for example, may be the play that we use from 1 inch to 1 1/2 yards. Often 6 inches to go, we are going to quarterback sneak. Often 2 yards to go is too much for a sneak, who are we kidding, we are going to run an off tackle power with double team blocking. I really don't worry much about the play because everyone runs a slightly different offense. I do know, that you as a coach better anticipate the degree of what we call the short yardage situation. Again, you talk to your team during the two week period before your first game, you are probably only going to get about 10 minutes of it, and you are going to practice it. You are going to line up your team, you're going to have your down markers, you are going to show right now, we've got 2 yards to go and it is 3rd down. Here are the things we do, here's what to expect from the Opposition. We are going to move it right up to the tip of the ball on that yard marker. Meanwhile, the defensive coach is doing the same thing. Talking about it. Each week you are going to get four short yardage plays. To be honest with you, it would be more than that for us.

4. SHORT YARDAGE PASSES. One, naturally, is the one you try to score a touchdown on. The short yardage situation is the only time you are sure what the coverage is. Teams won't play around with it. If you are sure of the pass coverage, the time you might be able to score is on 3rd down and one yard to go and your team knows it. This is where we have them, they know the coverage, we know who is going to be blitzing and how to block it. We will also have a play, most often with the quarterback rolling out, running or passing to make the yard or two as one of our passes. So we have a TD play and we want it every week and we practice it every week. You may not use it for 7 weeks and you will win a game with it the eighth week.

OPPONENT'S 20 YARD LINE (PLUS 20)
By and large, if you have gotten to your opponent's 20 yard line with one or two first downs, the opposing head coach is desperate. The defensive coach is trembling because the head
Coach is walking toward him. The head coach says, "Blitz, stop them now. Blitz, they are killing us." The defensive coach doesn't have time to explain that they have only made one first down and it was the silly offense that got them there. Most people get desperate, some people panic. Teams go to a man to man coverage, teams will blitz. So, on the plus 20 yard line, we are going to throw the ball and make a touchdown. Now we have a better idea of what the pass coverages are. We know the man to man coverage is far more likely than a pure zone coverage. We know that teams are more likely to blitz 50 we are looking to throw for a touchdown. I don't recommend that unless you have a skilled quarterback One week it may be the 18 yard line or the 25 yard line, but that part of our football is special. We will have four passes that would be scoring passes. You might go the entire game and not use them because that situation doesn't come up. You move the ball from the 45 down to the 2, you are never there. You have passes and you are looking to break man to man coverage. You may have some special runs because a blitzing defense, if you trap it just right, you can score against it. Again, the first two weeks of football practice, you show your team. You show your team what you think is best in this situation. We will use the same ones all year, but we are going to practice them. You talk about it for ten minutes, you practice it offensively and defensively. During the week of practice before a game, there is situational football. You move the ball to the plus 15 or plus 18, wherever that breaking point is for you and your opponent and you run those passes. Now when your team comes out of the huddle on the 18 yard line, the guys are saying, "Look out for the blitz, here's our chance to score." The receiver is saying, "Throw the ball out front of me, don't make me stop for it." Whatever it is, you have those plays. In our case, most of our touchdown passes will come from this area. If they want to zone you, we have outlet people who we would throw to against the zone. We know that it gets tougher and tougher to score as you go in closer.

PLUS 8 TO THE PLUS 3 OR 4.
This is when your opponent hasn't got into his goal line defense. Often you will go to your backed up football. There are certain base block run plays against the three man line that you are going to run right at that point. You are looking to see if they have substituted their goal line defense. If they haven't substituted their goal line defense, you are looking for your 8 yard line or your close offense. You have certain plays that you would run. Again, going back to your two weeks practice before your opening game, you talk about it. "Men, there is a point from that 10 yard line in that they are going to stay in their basic defense. They are going to blitz us and we are going to have certain plays that we are going to run." We know that people can get underneath the blocker and make the stops. We know that we don't want to lose yardage.

GOAL LINE OFFENSE.
In this phase they have substituted their goal line defense. I suppose there are teams that don't substitute, but by and large, let's assume they do. They use 6 linemen and the gap charge. Often you have to make a change in the blocking patterns that you'll use to face up to that goal line defense. Like our short yardage offense, when we talk about our goal line offense, we are talking about what we need. Certainly there is certain situation where we need inches. So we would start our list with those plays where we need inches to score. We would move our list down to let's say the six plays we might run if we are sitting with 3rd down and 3 on the 3 yard line and they are still in their goal line defense. You will see varied charges. When we get to the six inch line or the 1 foot line, we are going to see everyone in the gap, coming straight ahead. When we are on the 3 yard line with 3 yards to go, often there is an out charge. There is a substitute man coming in for one of the linebackers. There is a free safety back in the game, those kind of things happen. We have to account for those situations. You can't account for these situations if you haven't planned to do it because you will look down at that far end of the field and you will just see a bunch of bodies and rear ends facing you. You can't tell where you are. You have to have a method you have worked with and your coach in the press box has to tell you just where you are. We talk to our quarterback about signaling distance. He will put up his hands and you think it is something that it is not. He will signal and it looks like we need 3 yards and later you will see the film and we only needed 1 yard. You have ways to talk to him about what that means to you and then you have that part of your football developed. The first two weeks of practice you have to have some goal line football. Every week you have a certain number of plays. You place the ball on the 3 yard line, the 2 yard line, the 1 yard line, the 6 inch line, and the 1 inch line. Bring it out to the 3 and it is 3rd and 3 on the 3. Here's what we are going to run. Practice it that way and often these plays run together. Your players have so much more confidence, coming out of the huddle knowing what they have been in those situations before. Obviously, line splits make a difference. Hopefully there is an extra blocker on the weakside, the tight end or some big wide rear ended guy, to help protect his gap. But whatever you have, if you have planned it and fail, you can't blame yourself for losing your poise. You can't blame yourself for panicking if you have planned these things and they fail. You may really search yourself for the kinds of decisions you made on Thursday night, but you certainly can't make the decision during the game. As a coach, one of the things you are always fighting during the game is the stress factor, breaking your will. The stress factor will affect your thinking. I have been in situations where I could not even begin to think what to do. From that point on, I knew that I had better rehearse everything.

END OF THE GAME (LAST 3 PLAYS).
To save your own sanity, you'd better practice the last three plays of the game. I don't worry so much what they are. Don't get yourself in a position to try to think of something to do with just a few seconds left because you will always wonder why you didn't do something else. Through experience we said that we were going to have 3 plays. Often they are the kind of plays with a very low percentage. I have seen the Atlanta Falcons win their division in three consecutive games, I think it was, throwing the ball way down the field on their so-called planned play with a tipped pass. I won't talk about those plays in detail, but certainly one would be catching the ball and lateralling it. Our team has practiced those last three plays and when it gets down to that point, they go in the game knowing just what they are going to do. I say, "Good luck" and amazingly enough, a couple of those have worked. We walked off the field with our heads up. "My God, we almost pulled it out." Rather than throwing the ball up in the air and having it intercepted and humiliating you.

3RD AND 8 YARDS TO GO (OR MORE).
You have plays that you are going to call for that kind of situation. A lot of high school teams will run the ball on 3rd and 8. If they can run it, they should run it because it is certainly the best way to attack somebody. 3rd down and 8 should mean something to you. Number one, the best single pass in Football is the hook. It's not an out. Percentages throwing an accurate out drop considerably compared to a hooking pass. Obviously, a receiver can adjust to a hook. The receiver can see the ball leave the quarterback's hands and the receiver can adjust to coverages. You will need some type of a hook pass that gets you 8 yards on 3rd and 8. You hear the sportscaster comment that the receiver did not run the distance he needed to make a first down. You have to school your team on the fact that half of the yardage you make forward passing is after the catch. If we have 3rd down and 15 yards to go, it does not mean we are going to run a 15 yard pass pattern. We will generally throw the ball 10 and get up into the 20's. We remind our team, it is 2nd and 20, 3rd and 25, we are going to run a basic pattern, get all we can out of the completion and run for the rest of it. We are constantly reminding our receivers what their stats are running after the catch. Dwight Clark might be 4.2; Fred Soloman might be 9.3. This is one way you measure a receivers performance and his contribution to the ball club. 3rd down and 8 does not mean you have to throw an 8 yard pass.

LONG YARDAGE - LAST THREE PLAYS.
What are you going to do when you have 15 yards to go on a given down? You count on your best receiver catching the ball and then have running room to make the yardage. In each of these situations, you will practice them.

TIME FACTOR.
The next thing you talk about is the time factor in a game. There is a dramatic difference for example, between the end of the first half and the end of the second half. Obviously at the end of the game if you are behind, you are not going to be very cautious. You have to do certain things. Some of the gross errors are made at the end of the first half.

So often teams leave the field after attempting to drive and score with time outs remaining. I suggest, if you have a so called two minute offense, you first decide whether you are going to score or run the clock out. You can run the clock out in a way that your principal and students won't notice. You have to call certain sweep type plays, but you are looking at the clock and you want to get the heck out of there. We know, we may try to go for it with a two minute offense, but the minute I see the odds start to turn the other way, I signal to our quarterback and now we watch the clock run. We want to get out of there. Let's say that we feel we can get into position to score and we have been a reasonably effective team in doing that. We are a team that uses our time outs. We want to use our time outs even if it is at the wrong time as far as the clock is concerned. What we really need to do is discuss strategy with the quarterback. We will give the quarterback two or maybe three plays to call. We will talk about what the defense is doing, what defense they are in, remind him what our game plan was. We are not going to be able to send plays in at that point. So we will set our strategy at the expense of the clock. We know that with a minute and 20 seconds left in the half, call your time outs if the clock is running because if that clock is running with a minute and 20 seconds, if you have any kind of play, by the time you run the next play you have probably run 20-25 seconds off the clock. You do that twice and it is now third down and you are really in trouble, because the other team is going to get the ball back. I say use your time outs and don't wait too long.

Almost the first day of practice you install your basic running game. It might be a 16 Power or a 17 Power, whatever it is, you simply talk to your team in a meeting and tell them that we are going to call two plays. The quarterback is going to call the formation, the plays are going to be on a certain snap count, for us it is on set which is the second sound, and the quarterback is going to say "two plays" 16 Power twice. You come up to the line of scrimmage and you run 16 power on set. You don't jump around, you take your time and run it again. If you will do that in your early camp once or twice a day, just a couple of plays, you have established a system in which you can call your plays. Most two minute offensive plays are not elaborate plays. You can repeat the same one three or four times. It could be a very simple hooking type pass or an out. The point is, all you need is the facility to do it. You simply say, two plays and name them. The next thing you might do is call your formation Red Right, check with me, you come to the line of scrimmage and say 16. Now you can run two plays. Remember if you huddle up it could cost you at least 25 seconds. The two minute offense is related to one, being able to call two plays in the huddle; two, to use your time outs; three, know when you are not going to make it. Those are the key things.

FOUR MINUTE OFFENSE.
Four minute offense does not mean you are trying to score. In the two minute offense you want to score points. Four minute offense, you want to use the clock and control the ball. This was brought home in 1972 when I was with the Cincinnati Bengals. With four minutes left in the game, we had an 11 point lead and had the ball. We lost the game. We know this, we can use 35 seconds on the clock by simply not going out of bounds, not throwing an incompletion and not being penalized. But 35 seconds is 4 forward passes that your opponent can get if you don't use it up. In a four minute offense, every play can use 35 seconds. All we really have to do is make a first down and we are going to win that thing. You must practice the four minute offense. It has to be live, you don't tackle people necessarily because you can blow the whistle when you think the man would have been stopped. You have to talk to your team about it. You are going to win the game and here is how you are going to do it. You are going to have the lead with four minutes to go and you are going to have a first down. You will win if you can maintain control. You know you have 35 seconds if you don't go out of bounds. You know the clock will stop on a penalty. You know that a fumble is disastrous, that if you can just squeak out a first down by good play calling and aggressive blocking, you will win.

Always feel that when you go into a game, the other team has a one point edge on you. As a coach even if they have a 40 point edge on you, don't think about that. You figure every time you play, you are a one point underdog. They are one point better than you are. You will be a little more alert about it. If you think the opponent is one point better, you have to control the ball. We have plays that we are going to run. We are looking at the clock and unfortunately, we may have to throw a pass to get that first down, which we have had to do and have been successful. But we have practiced it and our quarterback knows the fears he can have with a mistake. Your four minute offense can win you the game. If you will talk about it, you will be surprised. If you practice it each week, four of five plays. You can say, here we are, on our 30 yard line, four minutes to go, let's see what we can do. Let's see if we can get a first down and how we will use the clock. Throughout much of this situational football, there is pressure on the offense.

SNAP COUNT.
One of the big mistakes you can make is to play around with the snap count. Any time we are backed up, we are going to snap the ball on set. Any time we are sitting there in short yardage, we are not going to play around with the snap count. We have seen teams try to draw teams offside and one of their own linemen moves and then it is 3rd down and 6 to go. We are going to snap the ball on the regular count that makes sense. Paul Brown has a certain snap count for every play and Paul was right because with certain plays it makes a dramatic difference in the way you use your cadence. The first thing you remind yourself, don't outsmart yourself. Give the offense every chance to come off the ball together. Further down the list you might say, let's disrupt the defense by getting them off balance. Your snap count is very important to you.

If you are talking about offensive football, the running game is the most vital part of the game, but when you talk about your running game, what you are saying is you have to be able to run when you are backed up. You have to be able to run on 3rd and 3, you have to be able to run on short yardage. You have to be able to run through tough situations. In the professional level, the forward pass dominates the rest of the game. But if you can't run in tough situations, your chances of success are minimal.

So what do we do? We take a sheet and list our first 25 plays. We keep a sheet and on one side of it are listed 25 plays that we are going to run. We have one square accounting for the second half of the football game and we have a block where we write in our adjustments at half time. I will show you two charts at the end of this talk.

You start the game with the first 25 plays, but now it is 3rd and 3. You turn the sheet over and go to the 3rd and 3 list. You have listed the plays in the order that you would call them on 3rd and 3. You take it; turn the sheet over and go to your next play. Trouble; long yardage, you turn the sheet over and go to the long yardage category. Punt; get the ball back. You have your first 25 plays listed, but of course, somewhere in here you are going to be backed up. You have the ball on your 1 yard line; so don't fight it. Turn over the sheet and look at your BACKED UP OFFENSIVE PLAYS. You make a first down, turn the sheet over and now we are on play number 5. It works; go to number 6. It works; go to number 7; we are in pretty good shape. Oh, you got to the 20 yard line. You have another choice now. You can stay with your original list which might have been a basic run; or you can decide to try to get into the end zone with a pass. Say you don't quite make it and you are on the 8 yard line. You are on the 6 inch line. You look at these categories. You score a touchdown. By the time you get back to the sheet, you are behind 21-7, but don 't worry about it. You have a lot of plays on your list to call. So continue to go through your list.

[HookemHorns]

BASE DROPBACK PASS SYSTEM:

PERSONNEL GROUPINGS = 2 TE/2 WR/1 RB, AND, 1 TE/3 WR/1 RB (both from 2x2 & 3x1 configurations):


2 PASS PROTECTIONS at most (7 man pro = 3 free releases and 8 man pro = 2 free releases)

3 THREE STEP dropback passes (I.E.: "HITCH"/"SLANT")

5 FIVE STEP dropback passes (I.E.: "SMASH"/"CURL-FLAT"/"DOUBLE OUTS"/"POST"/"POST/CORNER")

7 SEVEN STEP dropback passes (I.E.: "VERTICALS")

At least 1 SCREEN, & 1 DRAW.

Be able to handle: BLITZ-MAN/3 DEEP/2 DEEP (I KNOW there is more - but it all boils down to THIS).

QUALITY (execution) of the above = more important than MORE quantity!

SIMPLE READ CONCEPTS FOR QB (based upon "progressions of reveivers):



INSIDE/OUT HORIZONTAL STRETCH (3 vs 2 or 2 vs 1) WORK 1/2 of field horizontally.

OUTSIDE/IN HORIZIONTAL STRETCH (3 vs 2 or 2 vs 1) WORK 1/2 of field horizontally.

LONG TO SHORT VERTICAL STRETCH (3 vs 2 or 2 vs 1) WORK 1/3 of field vertically.

OBJECT RECEIVER READ (looking for a specific receiver for a specific reason).



PHILOSOPHY VS BLITZ IMPORTANT (BELOW):



PHILOSOPHY VS THE BLITZ IS TO CALL PLAYS IN ONE OF TWO CATEGORIES THAT ARE GOOD EITHER VS:



BLITZ MAN, AND COVER 2 (MIDDLE OF FIELD OPEN - MOFO), OR

BLITZ MAN, AND COVER 3 (MIDDLE OF FIELD CLOSED - MOFC).



AVOID “HOTS” BY USING 7 OR 8 MAN PROTECTION.

MENTAL APPROACH VS BLITZ:



NOT “OH, NO – THEY’RE GOING TO BLITZ – I’M GOING TO GET HIT”, BUT:

“OH BOY” – IT’S A BLITZ – WE HAVE A CHANCE FOR A BIG PLAY”!!!


SUMMARY: “KISS” (KEEP IT SIMPLE – THE MORE EFFICIENT YOU ARE, THE MORE YOU MOVE THE CHAINS AND SCORE POINTS)!


Dropback passes are set to attack MAN/BLITZ along with either Cover 2 or Cover 3. THEREFORE, all passes have to be good vs: A) man/blitz AND 3 deep zone, OR, B) man/blitz AND 2 deep zone. SOME passes can be used vs all 3.

Of course, in addition to the above dropback passes, you will naturally have SOME play action.

NOTE: Here are some tips from the greatest passing game mind that ever live (IMO) - Sid Gillman. HE felt that you do not necessarily have to attack an ENTIRE COVERAGE, rather - areas of the field.

FIRST:

MIDDLE OF THE FIELD CLOSED - THROW OUTSIDE
MIDDLE OF THE FIELD OPEN - THROW INSIDE

SECOND:

Everything in throwing to the WR's is based upon rather they are playing vs. "FREE ACCESS" CORNERS, OR NOT!

THIRD:

There are really ONLY two types of coverages - MAN & ZONE. The CORNERS will tell you the difference!

Game planning was based upon the 3 factors above - irregardless of the coverages!

SID GILLMAN PASSING GAME THOUGHTS

ATTACKING DEFENSES:


You must know the theory of all coverages. Without this knowledge, you are dead.

You are either attacking man for man, or zone defense.

Vs. Man for Man Defense, you are beating the Man.
Vs. Zone Defense, you are attacking an Area.

Not knowing the difference will result in stupid interceptions.

Study your coverage sheets so that by merely glancing at a defense you know the total coverage design.

Man for Man Defenses



Hit the single coverage man. This will keep you in business for a long time.

Stay away from receivers who are doubled short and long.

Do not throw to post if weak safety is free unless you are controlling him with another receiver, and even then it can be dangerous.

Flare action is designed to hold backers. If backers are loose, HIT flare man.

The secret to attacking Man for Man is to attack the single coverage man who is on his own with no help short or to either side.

You must know the individual weaknesses of our opponents and attack them.

There are many methods of dropping off by deep secondary men. Each method provides a weakness – know them.



Zone Defenses



To successfully attack zone defense, concentrate on attacking the slots (X-Z Curl, Y Curl, Cross Routes).

Flare action is a must to hold the backers close to the line to help open up the zones behind them.



Exact knowledge of defensive coverage and the patterns to take advantage of these is a must.


SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPLES SID GILLMAN LIVED BY:


Spread the field horizontally and vertically with all 5 receivers

Pass to set up the run (NOT the other way around)

One-Back formations are a MUST!

[HookemHorns]

PRE-SNAP COVERAGE READS


Scan the formation for uncovered receivers.

Find the Weak Safety for PRE-SNAP read.



If the W/S is low – check other coverage keys for “Cover 0”.

If the W/S is high – check other coverage keys for “Cover 1” or “Cover 3”

If there are 2 safeties and they are both low – check other coverage keys for “Cover 0”.

If there are 2 safeties and they are both high – check other coverage keys for “Cover 2”, “Cover 2/Man”, or “Cover 4” (1/4’s).

If there are 2 safeties and they are staggered – check other coverage keys for “Cover 1/Robber” or “Cover 3/Robber”.


NOTE: QB must be aware of the following actions from a well “disguised” secondary in the dropback passing game:


If there is 1 safety and he rolls down hard after the snap – HAVE A PLAN VS. PRESSURE!

If there are 2 safeties and both roll down hard after the snap – HAVE A PLAN VS. PRESSURE!

If the W/S or 2 safeties maintain their alignment after the snap – execute your progression reads with an awareness of where the weaknesses are in the coverage and which coverage defender we are attacking.



POST-SNAP READS (“READING THE SQUARE”):

One of the most important areas in determining secondary coverages is the middle of the field about 15 to 25 yards deep and about 2 yards inside of each hash. We call this area the “square”.

We normally read the “square” in our drop back passing game. Reading the “square” becomes necessary when it is impossible to determine what the coverage is before the snap or to make sure of secondary coverage after the snap.

In reading the “square” the QB simply looks down the middle of the field. He should not focus on either Safety but see them both in his peripheral vision.


If neither Safety shows up in the “square”, and both are deep, it will indicate a form of Cover 2. A quick check of Corner alignment and play will indicate whether it is a 2/Man or 2/Zone. If neither Safety shows up in the “square” and both are shallow, it will indicate a Cover 0 (blitz look).

If the Strong Safety shows up in the “square”, this will indicate a Cover 3 rolled weak or possibly a Cover 1.

If the Weak Safety shows up in the “square”, this will indicate a strong side coverage. It could be a Cover 3 or a Cover 1. If the coverage is Cover 3, it could be a Cover 3/Sky (Safety), or a Cover 3/Cloud (Corner), depending on who has the short zone.


NOTE: When either of the Safeties shows up in the “square”, the best percentage area to throw the ball in is the side that he came from! If NEITHER of the Safeties show up in the “square” – throwing the ball into the “square” is a high percentage throw.


DISCUSSION OF PROGRESSION READS AND COVERAGE READS

I. PROGRESSION READS: A progression read is designed to have two or three choices of where to go with the ball. It is important to pre-read the coverage to give you an indication of the coverage, but more importantly, it’s knowing where the receivers are going to be with a progression read pattern called. This kind of read calls for throwing the ball with rhythm drops. You might get to the third receiver in the progression as soon as you hit your fifth step on the drop. So when you are stepping forward to throw, you can hit the third receiver in the progression on the same rhythm you would have if you were throwing to the first.

The limitations of progression reads are:


There is a tendency to stare at the receiver that is first in the progression attracting other defenders;

It is frustrating for coaches to watch because they could see the receiver you didn’t throw to was wide open. (Coaches need to know the progression of the play as well as the QB);

You will lose patience or think that because you hit the first receiver in the progression he won’t be there when the play is called again. You must have patience and not make up your mind before the ball is snapped.


REMINDERS:


Have a plan when you get to the Line of Scrimmage.

Stay with the progression.

Don’t stare.

Progression reads are thrown with rhythm drops.


II. COVERAGE READS: Reading the coverage is normally done in the NFL looking at the pictures that are taken upstairs during the series (when the QB is on the sidelines). In High School & College – the Press Box Coaches do most of the work here. The QB can pre-snap read and get an idea of what might happen. He can see rotations and drops of defenders at the snap of the ball, but may not know what the coverage was. Reading the coverage is really looking at a defender or defenders. Based on what they do you will get to the correct receiver.

THE ADVANTAGES OF THIS KIND OF A READ ARE:


It eliminates the struggle of the progression read trying to determine who was more wide open;

It eliminates the QB from making up his mind before the snap. Read the defenders to get you to the right receiver in Coverage Reads.

It keeps the QB on the same page as the Coach because they both know the read and the goal of the play called.

It doesn’t matter what the coverage is because when you are reading properly you will be hitting the correct receiver.

You will not have to stare at your receivers (it will give you natural look offs).

You don’t have to know what the entire coverage is (you don’t have to see the whole field). NOTE: In our reads – “Progression” AND “Coverage” – we only read ½ the field Horizontally, or 1/3 of the field Vertically.



QUARTERBACKS VITAL INFO

I. DIRECTIONAL READ (ELIMINATE ½ OF FIELD) BY EITHER:


PRE-SNAP LOOK (PREFERABLY) OR,

POST-SNAP “TRIGGER” OFF DEFENDER (BY 2nd STEP) (ON “50’s” ONLY – NOT “60’s”)


NOTE: IF THE DEFENSE IS BALANCED & YOU CAN’T DETERMINE BEST SIDE TO THROW TO, STAY CALLSIDE BECAUSE WE WILL HAVE MORE RECEIVERS OUT TO THE CALLSIDE.


II. PROGRESSION OF RECEIVERS READ: IN STEPS A & B BELOW - READ 1/2 FIELD CHOSEN HORIZONTALLY; IN STEP C READ 1/3 FIELD CHOSEN VERTICALLY):


INSIDE-OUT (HORIZONTAL STRETCH)

PROGRESS INSIDE-OUT IF THE WR RUNS AN INBREAKING ROUTE!

OUTSIDE-IN (HORIZONTAL STRETCH)

PROGRESS OUTSIDE-IN IF THE WR RUNS AN OUTBREAKING ROUTE.

LONG-INTERMEDIATE-SHORT (VERTICAL STRETCH)


III. OBJECT RECEIVER READ (LOOKING FIRST FOR A PARTICULAR
RECEIVER OTHER THAN NORMAL PROGRESSION). IF OBJECT RECEIVER ISN’T OPEN – GO BACK TO WHAT IS LEFT OF PROGRESSION (GIVE OBJECT RECEIVER AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE THE COACHES “SEE SOMETHING”!).


QB TIMING (ON “TIMING ROUTES”)

3 STEP DROP = SET IN .8/THROW IN 1.3 (6 YD BREAK)

5 STEP DROP = SET IN 1.3/THROW IN 1.8 (12 YD BREAK)

NOTE: THIS IS BASED ON GIVING A RECEIVER 1 SECOND TO GET OUT OF HIS STANCE, AND 1/10th OF A SECOND FOR EACH YARD RUN IN THE ROUTE. THE QB GETS .5 SECONDS TO GET THE BALL OUT WHEN THROWING ON THE PLANT.

[HookemHorns]

It's only 38,000 characters.

[rhombic21]

I get some of the basic concept behind this, but I'm not really clear on how to translate it to the game. Are you planning on covering that next?

[HookemHorns]

I get some of the basic concept behind this, but I'm not really clear on how to translate it to the game. Are you planning on covering that next?

Yes, I am not only going to cover it in the play diagrams but also when I do the videos.

Is there anything in glaring that you want clarification on?

I know a lot of this is real world stuff but a lot of it translates to the game in regards to passing game reads.

[rhombic21]

I'm just looking for some examples about route combinations to use and formations to operate out of.

[HookemHorns]

I'm just looking for some examples about route combinations to use and formations to operate out of.

I will be getting to that next, I don't use hot routes since its not 100% (especially on the road) but there are a lot of plays to choose from that have some nice combinations and I'll be going through all of them. Most of the plays look pretty basic once you see them, but once you understand how to use them and make the correct reads they are there all day.

[CincyBuck32]

This is really interesting because it is always how I have loved to play NCAA, grinding it out and passing downfield. I am not one to think things through this thoroughly at all, so someone putting what I am thinking into writing like this is really sweet, and I bet I will learn a lot.

[HookemHorns]

This is really interesting because it is always how I have loved to play NCAA, grinding it out and passing downfield. I am not one to think things through this thoroughly at all, so someone putting what I am thinking into writing like this is really sweet, and I bet I will learn a lot.

Glad your liking it so far, I should have more up tomorrow it's been a really hecktic weekend.

[HookemHorns]

Basic Formations:

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/599/basicformationsja8.jpg

[STARTER]

Basic Formations:

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/599/basicformationsja8.jpg

First let me start that you need compile this stuff and take it to a publisher.

This is the exact offense I run. Even these formations are the formations I look for in a playbook. (Alabama xbox360) I believe Norv Turner offense with the Cowboys is the perfect style of play. I have my own wrinkles, but the overall concept in the same. Great Job.

[STARTER]

In the future, could you create a "hookemhorns shutdown defense" write up?

[HookemHorns]

In the future, could you create a "hookemhorns shutdown defense" write up?


I'll see what I can do but I am more offensive minded.

More info coming right up.

[HookemHorns]

I wasn't going to add this but since it was discussed over on the VG boards yesterday (djwill13's passing concepts 101 (http://www.vgsportsinc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88085)) I figured I would add more information on the subject here.

Organizing Pass Plays as Concepts

Here are the basic passing game concepts, I will then add more as I go along:

You have Horizontal Stretches (Inside/Out, AND Outside/IN) with either 2 on 1, or 3 on 2 (USUALLY in 1/2 of the field - deep OR under).

You have Vertical Stretches with 3 on 2, or 2 on 1 (USUALLY in 1/3 of the field).

You have "Objective Receiver Concepts" (which is with ANY pass in which a specific receiver is primary - such as "OPTION ROUTES", ETC.).

You have read concepts (below) to facilitate the above: NOTE: "MOFO" = MOF OPEN; "MOFC" = MOF CLOSED).

QUARTERBACK READ SYSTEM:
KNOW THE SITUATION
PRE-SNAP LOOK THE DEFENSE – ANTICIPATE
READ ON THE DROP – ADJUST
THINK: PROTECTION/ADJUSTMENTS/PROGRESSION/TIMING/OUTLETS
BEWARE OF THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD LOOKS – MOFO/MOFC
KNOW THE COVERAGE ELEMENTS:
ZONE 3 DEEP MOFC/2 DEEP MOFO, etc

Horizontal Stretch:

Think of a football field as a flat, two dimensional plane. You attack a defense "horizontally" along a line on this plane. For example, in the All-curl, you are horizontally stretching 4 underneath defenders with 5 receivers all looking back at the QB (versus 3-deep. Versus cover 2 they now have 5 underneath defenders: one for every passing lane). Technically some of these receivers are at 3-5 yards and others are at 10, but it constitutes 5 passing lanes for only 4 defenders to cover.

This is what would be a called a "short [or intermediate] in-out horizontal stretch". The QB is reading inside to out (sit route to curl to flat), on a short horizontal stretch. The key is that you have isolated those 4 underneath defenders in a game they can't win: 4 vs 5.

However, to further facilitate reading these things easily, a coach will integrate a coverage key (here the drop of the middle linebacker) where he will then isolate himself into 1/2 of the field. Then, 5 on 4 becomes the more manageable 3 on 2.

Vertical Stretch:

A good example of a vertical stretch concept is corner/3-vertical route.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2441/366/320/cover.gif

First, it is an example of a "deep out-to-in vertical stretch". You want to run this versus 2-deep, so you are stretching 2 deep defenders with 3 deep receivers. The QB would then pick a side based on the safety key, and read outside in (corner to post). Again, if you can isolate the defenders at this level, it becomes the classic game they can't win: 2 covering 3.

Further, making the play effective is it is also a "hi/lo vertical stretch". In this case you hopefully, on each 1/3 half of the field, can isolate a single sideline defender (the squat-cornerback versus cover 2) who you can attack both high and low, or "hi/lo" with your corner route and your flat--both sideline routes. Essentially this is a 2 on 1.

The point here? You do not win football games and complete passes by creating "one-on-one matchups" unless you have superior talent at each position. You win them by getting a numerical advantage, where it is 5 on 4, or 2 on 1.

I prefer 2 on 1s and they are easier--simply look at the movement of one defender--but the practical problems of properly identifying that key defender and being confident no one else will get into the passing lane are not easy, so you go for 3 on 2, 4 vs 3, or 5 on 4.

[HookemHorns]

Now that we know how to game plan, read a defense, and basic concepts of the passing game next is to try and figure out exactly how much offense you need to have. I don't know about you but I don't have enough time to practice all the passing plays in my playbook in order to perfect them so I must find a handful of plays I am comfortable with.

How many concepts do you need in your passing game?

There are several questions you must ask when talking about "more or fewer" passing concepts.

1. How much will you put the ball in the air?
2. How many kinds of passing actions will you use?
3. How many concepts or schemes do you need under each?

How much do you want to put the ball in the air?

The first is the most important question. This is often a function of talent as much as anything else. To simplify, let's assume that you would always throw more if your talent could handle it. To me, the important question is not how good your receivers are. They are a concern, but more important by far is:

(a) How good are you at protecting your QB?
(b) Your ability to read defenses and issues of accuracy, timing, and arm strength.

Thus, Receivers are a secondary question. Typically, if you can protect and have a good QB, receivers will take care of themselves. If you have game breakers on the outside but cannot handle much of the 5-step stuff, then you still can work to get the ball to them on screens, quick’s, etc.

This is important because you do not want to practice and do not want to waste time installing what you won't run. So before you know "how much 5-step" or "how many concepts" you need to know how much you'll be putting the ball in the air, since the #1 rule of offense is to not practice what you don't use and do practice what you do run, regardless of what you carry in your playbook.

How many kinds of passing actions will you use?

The second question is what kinds of passing actions. Are you a drop back team with draws and screens as your counters (Airraid/Texas Tech/Hal Mumme style), or more action passes, boots and sprint outs (spread teams, some run-oriented team), or maybe just a few pop passes and quicks from your veer sets. This depends on your types of talent and what will be your staple runs, etc.

How many concepts or schemes do you need under each?

Finally, you've got some kind of rough breakdown of what will be your strengths. Week to week it will vary based on defense and opponents' weaknesses. Over time this breakdown should correlate with what your strengths are. So let's say you're a 50% passing team, with about 40% of your passes being quick 3-step, 40% play action or sprint outs and bootlegs, and 20% 5-step passes. You can assume somewhere like 50 plays a game.

This means you're only going to throw 5-step passes about FIVE times a game (50% of your plays = 25, 20% of this = 5). You certainly don't need more than five 5-step concepts for a given game since you don't want to practice passes you won't run. More like you only need two or three at most.

What about colleges and other passing teams?

It's helpful to think of the Airraid guys, they supposedly run about seven or eight, but really more like 12-15 concepts. Looking at Texas Tech with Mike Leach, who throws 55-60 times a game, still has a similar ratio of running each play 3-4 times. So by that math, about 3.5 pass attempts for every one pass concept, if you throw it 25 times you should only have SEVEN total passes, including boots, 3-step, and 5-step.

So, the short answer if you're extrapolating from Texas Tech, less is probably more. The R&S guys have like five passes. Of course, each R&S package is like 4 or 5 plays; each Tech play is just one.

Conclusion

If you work backwards from your ability to protect and ability to throw, next to the types of throws that will work, then when you have a rough idea of how much you'll throw the ball and how many times you'll run boot and how many times you'll drop back for 5-step, you can then use a ratio of 2-3 attempts for every one pass play as a metric to give some guidance.

Note: The 2-3 times is over a season. For example if you play a Cover 2 team, you'll throw smash, 3-verticals, and double slants maybe 4 times each in a game and Curl/flat and all-hitch almost never. Then versus a Cover 1 and Cover 0 man and blitzing team, you'll run mesh 4-6 times that game, and then versus a zone team you'll only use it a few times. So it's not a hard and fast rule that you'll run each concept 2-3 times each game, just over time.

Further, this too is better suited to its own discussion, but the other concern when answering the question "How many pass concepts do I need?" is you need answers to everything you are likely to face. You typically need a Cover 3 beater, a Cover 2 beater, and a Cover 4 beater, some man beaters (2 and 1) and some anti-blitz (both screens and upfield "take-a-shot" passes).

Lastly, my two favorite pass plays are absolutely integral: draw and screen. Find any way you can to run them.

[HookemHorns]

Another GOOD perspective on "PASSING GAME CONCEPTS" is from Gene Dahlquist (fine QB Coach at U of Texas under John Macovic - who also coached the KC Chiefs, & now coaching in NFL Europe - I believe):

CONCEPTS:

#1 - "PROGRESSIONS" = Reading progressions of receivers only;

#2 - "ONE ON ONES" = FINDING the BEST one on ones thru various types of pre-snap & post-snap reads.

#3 - "ISLOATIONS" - Just isolating 1 receiver on 1 defender on a PARTICULAR route.

#4 - "OPTIONS" - Prime receiver runs an "Option" route vs a defender (with a 4 or 5 way go).

#5 - "TWO AGAINST THE SIDELINE" (Hi/Lo off flat coverage). What I call a "2 Level Vertical Stretch".

#6 - "THREE AGAINST THE SIDELINE" - what I call a "3 Level Vertical Stretch"

#7 - "WORKING THE LEVELS" - three receivers vertically in the middle of the field (also a 3 level vertical stretch, but in mid 1/3 rather than outs. 1/3).

#8 - "THREE DEEP RECEIVERS VS TWO DEEP DEFENDERS" - horizontally stretching a 2 Deep Zone defense.

#9 - "FOUR DEEP RECEIVERS VS THREE DEEP DEFENDERS" - horizontally stretching a 3 Deep Zone defense.

#10 - "TWO RECEIVERS VS ONE DEFENDER UNDERNEATH" - horizontally stretching 1 undercoverage defender in 1/2 of the field.

#11 - "THREE RECEIVERS VS TWO UNDERNEATH DEFENDERS" - horizontally stretching 2 undercoverage defenders in 1/2 of the field.

#12 - "MAN/ZONE COMBINATIONS" - set one side of pattern to handle MAN & set the other side of the pattern to attak zone.

If you check this out, & the NORM CHOW "Concepts" posted earlier (above) - it is two different (& interesting) perspectives on "PASSING GAME CONCEPTS"!

NOTE: To MY way of thinking (CONSTANTLY trying to SIMPLIFY) - I would COMBINE many of the above into FEWER Concepts:

A) HORIZONTAL STRETCH (either INS/OUT OR OUTS/IN) would encompass #'s 8, 9, 10, & 11!

B) VERTICAL STRETCH would encompass #'s 5, 6, & 7!

C) OBJECT RECEIVER READ would encompas #'s 2, 3, & 4!

I wouldn't list #1 ("progressions") as a seperate "PASSING GAME CONCEPT."
FINALLY - I think that #12 ("COMBINATIONS") is a GREAT concept!

[HookemHorns]

Here is a great example of a horizontal stetch play:

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/6275/aceslotflankercurlul4.jpg

I will show you how to use this play against both Cover 2 and Cover 3 zone on both hash marks next.

[HookemHorns]

Here the offense is in ACE-Slot against a 4-3 Stack defense aligned on the right hash mark:

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5193/aceslotvs43presnaprightjc8.png

At the snap of the ball you must remember your coverage reads "Read the Square." First we look to the MLB to determine the strength of the undercoverage and then to the safteies:

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/3375/aceslotvs43postsnaprigheq2.png

The MLB has droped to the center of the field or to the left making the strength of the undercoverage to the weak side of your formation and leaving 2 defenders on the strongside against 3 recievers. At this point you can cut the field in half and only concentrate to the strong side of your formation. After a quick glance at the safties you see both of them are high telling you it is Cover 2 zone.

Your read progession for horizontal stretch against cover 2 zone is inside to outside deep to short.

So your first read is the TE running a 5 yard in route. You determine he is covered by the dropping linebackers.

So you move on to your second read which will be the WR to the strong side of the field:

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/7523/aceslotvs43read2righthapv6.png

Your read here is the cornerback, if he goes high to cover the WR you throw to the HB in the flat. However, if he stays low to cover the flat you throw to the WR running a 12 yard curl route.

Here is a link to what happend (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsYAIROgLTo)

[HookemHorns]

Once again same offensive and defensive formations and same plays only this time on the left hash:

Presnap Look:

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/4039/aceslotvs43lefthashpresps9.png

Postsnap Look - again remember to read the square:

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/8015/aceslotvs43lefthashpostjw4.png

Read the MLB, as you see he has move to the middle of the field again or to the strong side of the formation which will result in 3 defenders on 3 recievers to that side. So now you have to focus on the weak side of the formation where you have the outside reciever running a post and the slot running a wheel route. A quick look at the safties will show they are both high which tells you its Cover 2.

Both recievers are running deep routes so this time your read is the weak safety:

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/3511/aceslotvs43lefthashreadyz5.png

Again according to horizontal stretch rules against cover 2 your read progession is inside - out deep to short. So your first read is the Post reciever.

Here you will see the weak safety stay inside the post reciever covering him up. Your read here is the slot reciever running the wheel route. Do a quick check of the corner back to verify he has squated in the underneath zone.

Play Result (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_xBNMYS05c)

[rhombic21]

Hook, I really hope you're going to be getting to some stuff that works against the blitz. Given that a staple of this offense is the power run game, you have to gameplan on the defense probably playing you for the run a lot, which on NCAA 08 means that they're going to be blitzing heavily.

[FiftyFront]

I am sure you don't have the time for something like this but it would be nice to see a tutorial of your material (schemes, concepts, research, etc...) on YouTube. Just a thought?

BTW - I still use the 'Spread Offense' concepts you put together for NCAA 07. In addition, with NCAA 08 (Xbox 360) I have been running somewhat of a 'VEER' offense lately with FSU and have been having alot of success. Wondering what your thoughts are on that?

[HookemHorns]

Hook, I really hope you're going to be getting to some stuff that works against the blitz. Given that a staple of this offense is the power run game, you have to gameplan on the defense probably playing you for the run a lot, which on NCAA 08 means that they're going to be blitzing heavily.

I will be covering the blitz, up next I am going to show the horizontal stretch concept against cover 3 which is really what its designed for. Then I'll go over the vertical stretch concept much the same. I will then cover blitz pickups and what I do there.

This is just the basics of my offense, it would take way to much time to show the entire offense.

However I may be willing to put an entire packet together if there is enough interest, I would however charge for it (like $10 or something like that) due to the time and effort I would have to put into it. I'd make it more professional looking as well.

P.S. you'd be surprized with how much blitzing I do see. Some people try but because of the quickness of the reads it doesn't work often. Like I said though there are some things I do to combat the blitz as well.

[rhombic21]

Interesting concept. I would be interested to see how you would implement this on next gen, given some of the differences between the two games, particularly with regard to the streak route vs man coverage.

[HookemHorns]

Interesting concept. I would be interested to see how you would implement this on next gen, given some of the differences between the two games, particularly with regard to the streak route vs man coverage.

Technically speaking these are all real world concepts so it should transfer seamlessly. However against man coverage I probably wouldn't be throwing the streak.

I'm not covering man coverage right now due to the ease of passing against it. However I will show some things against cover 0 blitzes.

[rhombic21]

I'm not covering man coverage right now due to the ease of passing against it. However I will show some things against cover 0 blitzes.

Yeah, that was kind of my point. It's a lot harder to pass on man coverage on the next gen systems, and it's a lot harder to get time in the pocket against a blitzing defense, so I'd be interested to see what kind of adjustments you'd have to make to this scheme for it to work, if it would work at all.

[HookemHorns]

Yeah, that was kind of my point. It's a lot harder to pass on man coverage on the next gen systems, and it's a lot harder to get time in the pocket against a blitzing defense, so I'd be interested to see what kind of adjustments you'd have to make to this scheme for it to work, if it would work at all.

What types of blitzes are you seening that are giving you problems. Just to make sure they aren't any different than what I see on the PS2 if you could make a video of them I'll let you know what I would do against them.

[rhombic21]

Basically any man to man blitz that rushes 6 is difficult to beat on NG, if the other team has a decent defensive front, especially when combined with bump and run. A lot of the problem stems from the fact that you don't have slide protection, and as a result it can be difficult to get proper protection even when the number of blockers equals or is greater than the number of rushers. Particularly because the defensive blitzes tend to overload the interior gaps, and it's difficult to get the blocking AI to account for this. And DBs in man coverage appear to be a lot more aggressive in terms of jumping routes and trying for interceptions/deflections.

[HookemHorns]

Again we have ACE-Slot lined up on the right hash mark against a 4-3 stack defense this time though I am showing Cover 3:

Pre snap again:

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5193/aceslotvs43presnaprightjc8.png

Post Snap - Again remember to "read the square"

http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/9571/aceslotvsc3postsnaprighwt3.png

Here again you see the MLB moving to the center of the field or to your offenses weak side. Again you cut the field in half and focus on the strong side of the field. A quick look at the safeties will show one safety high telling you it is either Cover 1 or Cover 3. Your horizontal stretch rules tell you against Cover 1/Cover 3 (MOFC) to read outside - in deep to short. On the strong side of the field your deepest outside receiver is running a 12 yard curl route:

http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/2369/aceslotvsc3read1righthadr9.png

Here your read is the low defender; in this case it would be the strong safety coming down into the short zone. If he stays high you will throw to the HB in the flat, if he goes low you will throw to the WR running the curl route.

Play Result (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqmGvt8wOic)

[HookemHorns]

Basically any man to man blitz that rushes 6 is difficult to beat on NG, if the other team has a decent defensive front, especially when combined with bump and run.

There are a couple ways I combat that and I'll cover them when I cover blitzes.

[HookemHorns]

Again in Ace-Slot against 4-3 Stack Cover 3 now on the left hash:

Pre snap:

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/1520/aceslotvs43lefthashpresxl5.png

Post Snap - again remember to "read the square."

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/9482/aceslotvsc3postsnapleftst4.png

Here you read the MLB and you see he basically stays in the same spot. Typically if you were in the center of the field we would look strong side, in this case your strong side is to the wide side of the filed making that the strong side of the under coverage so the correct read here would be to look to the weak side of the formation. Again horizontal concept rules dictate and outside - in deep to short read progression. So your first read is the post receiver:

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/212/aceslotvsc3read1lefthaspf0.png

As you can see the deep corner is located inside the post receiver covering him up. The correct read is the wheel receiver once again.

Play Result (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPoHrFvSWaw)

[OokieOne]

First of all this is great information. I think it is a little much in terms of "coach talk", but none the less great information. I like the Chris Brown diagrams. Was that Petrino's vertical patterns?

If someone could tell me what to do in terms of using my PS2 headset and recording audio I will post audio for Hookems video as to other concepts off the same plays.

Let me address this first. This is merely an outline. Hooks 2 examples are merely outlines of how to deal with zone coverage from a read stand point. If you understand one way, wether it is the weakside reads or the strong side reads, just flip the play and perform it to the other side when you move hashs. Not all plays can have workable routes on both sides.

Secondly, read the Bill walsh info and use it. All plays lead to other plays. If you use the same formation over and over again, you will see how people play you. Go back to practice mode, eitehr tape or write down the blitzes used against you and figure out how to stop them.

I am going to speak as to ZONE coverage and how I enhance it.

1. Know that zones are mere areas that defenders are responsible for defending. what are the rules of defending the zone.? Defenders must stay disciplined and defend the threat. What is the threat? It is the rec in your zone who is trying to get the ball. How does a zone defender handle that threat? He stays over top the defender till his zone runs out. That means that a flat defender will only drop about 10 -12 yards and then sit and when the ball is thrown, then he will break on the ball. what prevents the zone defender from sitting deep, another rec in his zone.

This is evidenced by the Right hash, cover 3 video. The Curl is open because the FS who is covering the flat originally comes down and sits at 10 yards, but when the RB makes his move up field on the swing, that triggers the flat defender aka the FS to move toward him, thus opening up the window or distance between defenders and in this case that is the FS in the flat and the CB playing over the top of the WR running the 12 yard curl. so you get a Vertical stretch in the zone.

This vertical stretch is important, but do not forget who also made this happen. The in route by the TE occupies the hook zone LB who stays inside with the TE as he moves through his zone. This type of knowledge is important when you are trying to figure out why someone was not open or who to get someone open.

[OokieOne]

That post was getting long so I will continue.

Some in the example we have cover 3 out of the 4-3 set. 4 guys rushing . Boths corners drop deep and the FS covers the flat. This gives us three over the top and 4 underneath in coverage.
This information is important because the beauty of zones is that you can manipulate players by adding more players to the one zone.
a good exercise in practice mode is to motion players and just by time with your qb. Then let him get sacked and review the replay. I use this to see how the motion affected the play. and to see if anyone else came open. again in the example you are WAITING for the curl to come open.

Try these simple motions and see if anything happens with the ball on the right hash against 4-3 cover 3. Oh and one more thing remember that teh Computer calls the play switch so sometime he will flip the play that you called so watch the OLB cover the flat if the play flips

1. Motion the hb outside the TE. Does the curl open sooner?
2. Motion the TE out to the slot. Does the RB route become open/ how about the curl? Does the FS stay on top of the TE or does he run to the flat and get on the RB as fast as originally seen.
3. Motion the slot over who is running the wheel play. Does this hold the FS from coming dowm and open curl. Cab you hit teh curl witha quick pass like it is a streak? Does the RB in the flat come open.

Post your answers.

[HookemHorns]

First of all this is great information. I think it is a little much in terms of "coach talk", but none the less great information. I like the Chris Brown diagrams. Was that Petrino's vertical patterns?

Yeah it is a lot of coach talk but I figured before showing people diagrams and running plays I would get some of the philosophy behind it down before doing so.

A lot of the stuff I have comes from Sid Gillman who passed it on to Don Coryell then on down the line.

The vertical patterns diagram I'm not sure where it came from. I am thinking about swaping it out with another from the game as that play is more of a deep horizontal stretch play a la 4 verticals.

I should have the vertical concepts up tomorrow then I will move on to blitz concepts.

[HookemHorns]

Vertical Stretch Concept

Ace Slot Strong Flood

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/358/strongfloodfq3.jpg

Tutorial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b11ZRWW10DU)

In the video I said horizontal coverage rules, I ment vertical coverage rules.

[HookemHorns]

I know there is a lot of information to digest in this thread but what does everyone think so far? Is it helping? Are there any questions or anything that needs further explaining?

I hope everyone is getting something useful out of this.

[Citation]

I think that it is extremely helpful. I have been interested in offense theory for a few years now and generally have focused on coverage reads or in my case, unfocusing my eyes on a single area of the coverage and trying to see what the defense was doing as a whole.
I have never been able to find a good resource about identifying coverages by progressing from one defensive player to the next and then reading the receivers in a specific progression as a result.
The examples really help. I am guessing it takes a bit of practice to make the reads quickly and correctly each time. I look forward to more info and trying this out to see how well it works on the next gen.

[Tbagz]

Real nice Hook. Keep em coming. I'll also try to give some input on how it translates to NG (360).

[HookemHorns]

I think that it is extremely helpful. I have been interested in offense theory for a few years now and generally have focused on coverage reads or in my case, unfocusing my eyes on a single area of the coverage and trying to see what the defense was doing as a whole.
I have never been able to find a good resource about identifying coverages by progressing from one defensive player to the next and then reading the receivers in a specific progression as a result.
The examples really help. I am guessing it takes a bit of practice to make the reads quickly and correctly each time. I look forward to more info and trying this out to see how well it works on the next gen.

It does take a lot of practice, not only to know what to do with every play but to also be able to read all the defferent coverages and blitzes. I don't make the correct read everytime, but I don't have a ton of time to practice.

However when everything is working and your "in the zone" you can really light up the score board. My best game to date I went 10/12 for 305 yards and 6 TDs. Looking at those numbers you'd think I was just throwing deep, but they were all on short to intermediate routes its just that when my reciever caught the ball they were open in space and able to get RAC yards.

[HookemHorns]

Real nice Hook. Keep em coming. I'll also try to give some input on how it translates to NG (360).

That would be awesome. It should translate really well but some input on that subject would be great.

[rhombic21]

Hook, I'm still a little confused. I get what you're talking about in terms of getting numbers advantages. It's not clear how you come up with your read progressions, and I'm still a little fuzzy on this offense as a general scheme. You seem to be emphasizing the vertical passing game, but then you're also talking about reading underneath coverage and using curl/flat combos and all curls, so I'm a little confused. I'm trying to get a feel for what your base plays would be, in terms of what you'd be trying to establish as a foundation to work off.

Are you familiar with Playcall Sheets that VG puts together? Basically that lists playcalls for certain situations, similar to this:

http://www.vgsportsinc.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=5155&d=1187850280

Any chance you could put something like that together for this?

[HookemHorns]

Hook, I'm still a little confused. I get what you're talking about in terms of getting numbers advantages. It's not clear how you come up with your read progressions, and I'm still a little fuzzy on this offense as a general scheme. You seem to be emphasizing the vertical passing game, but then you're also talking about reading underneath coverage and using curl/flat combos and all curls, so I'm a little confused. I'm trying to get a feel for what your base plays would be, in terms of what you'd be trying to establish as a foundation to work off.

Are you familiar with Playcall Sheets that VG puts together? Basically that lists playcalls for certain situations, similar to this:

http://www.vgsportsinc.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=5155&d=1187850280

Any chance you could put something like that together for this?

While a lot of the offense is based off the intermediate to deep passing game (vertical stretch concepts) you still have to incorporate the short passing game in certain situations depending on what the defense is willing to give you which is why I included my horizontal stretch reads. A lot of people don't realize this but the 4 verticals/seamers play is a horizontal stretch read since you are forcing either the 2, 3, or 4 deep (depending on coverage) defenders to defend the field on a horizontal plane.

My read progressions are straight from Sid Gillman's QB Manual who taught the offense to Don Coryell. While the progression can start either outside - in or inside - out the read is always deep to short. Reading the MLB at the snap of the ball will tell you the strength of the under coverage in both the short and intermediate zones and being able to immediately to cut the field in half speeds up your ability to read a defense. Reading the safeties will tell you which way to make your read. Cover 0/Cover 2/Cover 4 you will read inside out as the middle of the field is open (MOFO), Cover 1/Cover 3 you will read outside to inside because the middle of the field is closed (MOFC).

There are three defenders that will always give away coverage, they can try to disguise all they want pre-snap but the MLB and safeties will always give away coverage and in turn this will dictate where to go with the ball and find the open receiver.

I can put together a sample play sheet so you can get an idea of what plays to call. Then by following the examples I have given for both the vertical and horizontal stretch concepts you can get an idea as of the read progressions for each play.

Give me a little bit and I'll have it up.

[HookemHorns]

Here is my quick and dirty Call Sheet for the Miami playbook on the PS2. Normally for each situation I would have a play for right hash, middle of field, and left hash. I have Mostly passing plays in the situational section as my running game is more feel and what is working for me during the game.

One thing I do is keep a play chart and I break it up as such:

Run Pass

1st Down



2nd Down



3rd Down

I just make a tally mark every time I run a play in the corresponding section and this makes me stay balanced through out the game.

Here is the Callsheet:

1848

This is off of a playbook that fits the mold that I used for a couple of games but no longer use. Like I said I threw this together really quick in order to give everyone an idea of the types of plays I run.

Make sure you look at both the Play sheet and Situational in the two different workbooks.

[HookemHorns]

What's a guy gotta do to get this moved to the in depth strategy section?

I keep going in there by accident looking for it and always click on my spread offense guide from last year.

[WhoUTestin]

Man that playcall sheet was very in-depth. I might have to start an Auburn dynasty using that outside of my GA Southern flexbone dynasty. If I took the time out to work on that more, I could probably develop a strategy around it.

[HookemHorns]

Man that playcall sheet was very in-depth. I might have to start an Auburn dynasty using that outside of my GA Southern flexbone dynasty. If I took the time out to work on that more, I could probably develop a strategy around it.

Thank you, it's not bad I just threw it together because Rhombic wanted to see a play call sheet to get a better idea of what I run.

[supersigma2of21]

I like the call sheet etc. and I'm wondering if I could use this for CG?

[JeffHCross]

Sigma, I think almost this entire post is based on CG. Hookem only still has CG, I believe, from the videos.

[rhombic21]

CG = XBox 360/PS3

[JeffHCross]

CG = XBox 360/PS3Grumble. Forgot. I still disagree with that, so ... I forgot.

[cmq]

I think we're trying to stick with "last gen" and "next gen" now, to help avoid confusion. There's no such thing as "current gen" at the moment :)

[supersigma2of21]

It's really not that confusing though. LG was Xbox, GC and PS2. Current gen is 360, Wii and PS3. It was next gen before these consoles were released but since they are here now it's current gen.

Just my $0.02! :D

[JeffHCross]

When PS2 is still the #2 selling console, I think cmq is right ... there is no "current gen". Until 360 or PS3 start regularly beating PS2, it's ridiculous.

[ashantewarrier]

Great thread..I'm implementing this offense for my custom team :)

[dawg_gone]

I know there is a lot of information to digest in this thread but what does everyone think so far? Is it helping? Are there any questions or anything that needs further explaining?

I hope everyone is getting something useful out of this.

Hookem, I've really enjoyed reading it. Not sure I'll ever use it but it's increased my appreciation for the game. That's always a good thing.

[HookemHorns]

Glad you liked it. I am actually working on a pretty large project right now that will be all encompassing for the entire passing game. It will have basic read progressions and all the different pass concepts that are in the game laid out.

[Nique1_B1]

Glad you liked it. I am actually working on a pretty large project right now that will be all encompassing for the entire passing game. It will have basic read progressions and all the different pass concepts that are in the game laid out.

Fantastic thread I don't think I've learned so much about football ever. I also read your I back offense thread and i can't wait to implement that into my offense for my dynasty.I love college football but fel at a disadvantage because i never played but this info will definantly help level the field. I do have a few questions though what about the 3-4 and nickel defenses how would you read that with two middle lb's and could you inmplement some of your option offense into your running game using these passing schemes.

;) another eager student of the game.

[TerpNation]

I just spent 45 minutes at my office reading this thread.

Hookem, that was really an awesome job breaking the concepts down. My passing game is horrendous, so I'm always looking for help. I'm going to be trying this out immediately.

I'd echo the sentiment for some details on how blitzes affect these reads. But still, great work.

[Rebel13]

I've learned more than about game philosophy in one week from this thread than I've ever even dreamed of on my own. Great thread and keep it coming. I'm hooked.