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The approach to offense in American and Canadian football has splintered and evolved in the 100 years in which the modern form of the sport has existed. Many philosophies exist about deploying a team's 11 players (12 in Canada).
[edit] Smash MouthA smash mouth offense is the more traditional style of offense. It often results in a higher time of possession by running the ball heavily. So-called "smash-mouth football" is often run out of the I-formation or wishbone, with tight ends and receivers used as blockers. Though the offense is run-oriented, pass opportunities can develop as defenses play close to the line. Play-action can be very effective for a run-oriented team.[citation needed] [edit] "Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust"Used to describe the run-heavy offenses such as run by Woody Hayes of Ohio State University in the 1950s and 1960s. A quarterback under Hayes would often throw fewer than 10 passes a game. Hayes is credited as saying "Three things can happen when you pass the ball, and two of them are bad".[1] This is a grind-it-out ball control offense that relies on time of possession and high percentage inside running off of handoffs to advance the ball down the field. Hayes relied primarily on the fullback off-tackle play. [edit] Run-to-DaylightThe basic running philosophy employed by the Green Bay Packers under coach Vince Lombardi.[citation needed] The central two plays in this philosophy are off-tackle run and the so-called "Packer Sweep". In both plays, the offensive line would work to seal off a running lane for the back to use, and the running back would aim for this corridor rather than a specific pre-snap hole. In the off tackle run, the quarterback would hand off (often to the fullback) who started running to the position between the tight end and tackle, but would aim for the best hole that developed. In the sweep, the two guards would pull to form the outside wall of the running lane, while the center and run-side tackle would form the inside wall of the lane. The fullback would lead the path through the lane for the half back, who received a pitch from the quarterback.[citation needed] [edit] Teams
[edit] Wing T OffenseThe Wing T offense can be grouped into two major types. The first is the "Delaware," named after the college that first used the offense.[citation needed] This offense generally uses two running backs and the quarterback to move the ball, with a degree of passing. The other type is the "Bay City," also named after the college that first used it. The Bay City uses three running backs and the quarterback. This offense can be used in either power running or run fakes, and passes less than the Delaware offense.[citation needed] In both types of the Wing T, the key to the offense is the linemen. A large majority of the plays are done by trapping or pulling one or more of the linemen; this includes passing as well as running plays. This offense also carries out extreme fakes. The Bay City will sometimes have the QB and all three RBs carrying out run fakes well past the line of scrimmage. The Delaware, when run properly, will do the same, but only the HB and FB will do the run fakes and the QB typically fakes a pass play. In both offenses, teams are power rushing plays, with the Bay City better suited due to its personnel makeup.[citation needed] [edit] FormationThe typical formation of the Bay City version is the Full House T with two TEs. Variations of this can be used, but all would have three RBs in the backfield carrying out fakes. The Delaware offense typically has a wing back, halfback, and a fullback. The full back will sit behind the QB with the wing back on the strong side of the formation a yard back and next to either the TE or OT. The HB can be located in a number of spots, but typically is either at the same depth as the FB behind the T, or a yard back and next to the TE or OT on the weak side of the formation.[citation needed] Variations of the Wing T include having the WB move as a WR in a pro set, the WB moved next to a WR on the weak side to create a Trips look, to having two WR and the WB and HB next to the OTs. Any number of formation changes can be done as long as an HB and FB are in the backfield. [edit] CriticismsThe Bay City is typically called a "no-talent offense," since it requires very little from the running backs provide the team has a solid offensive line. The passing game is also limited in the Bay City, as it generally lacks any WRs on the field to open up the offense. Also, the Bay City offense cannot be used in the modern NFL, as the speed of defensive players is too great. This also limits the offense to smaller colleges and to high schools.[citation needed] The primary weakness of the Delaware offense is its age.[citation needed] Due to its long history, most coaches know how to defend it, and upper-echelon teams can stop it easily. In the high school and small college levels, it is still used, although most teams have added a large amount of passing formations and plays in order to create a more balanced gameplan.[citation needed] [edit] Teams
[edit] Option Popularized in the wishbone offenses of Oklahoma and Alabama, the Option is a timing-based run offense that requires a quick-thinking quarterback and running backs and blockers able to react quickly to defenses.[citation needed] In a typical option play, the quarterback will take the snap and, based on the defenses formation and play, can decide whether to keep the ball himself and run it around the end, or pitch it to a running back following behind him. In contrast to an audible, where the quarterback reads the defense before the snap, an option requires the quarterback to read the defense during play, often while he himself is running with the ball. By making the defense commit to stopping either him or the running back, the quarterback makes the defense show its hand first. Though the wishbone has fallen out of favor, the option offense is still used in conjunction with the flexbone, wing-T, and even spread and shotgun formations. The service academies, especially Air Force and Navy are well-known for heavy use of the wishbone and flexbone formation, to great degrees of success. In high school football it is called Veer and has been used with some success over the years (De La Salle High School of California recorded the nation's longest ever winning streak, 151 games, using the veer). Although a majority of high school players typically lack the skill and talent to run it effectively, most defenses in high school are unable to stop it properly all the time. [edit] CriticismsWhile it is a popular maneuver in College Football, it has fallen out of favor as executed traditionally out of the wishbone and I formations. Today, it is seen more as part of a more robust Spread Option offense. Some argue that defensive players become more exposed to it and are supposedly better trained to deal with it, but the that has always been the argument about the option until a team with great talent executes it properly. The Option is almost never used in the NFL because it exposes expensive and highly skilled quarterbacks to a huge risk of injury as pro defensive players are generally far too large and strong to allow them to run unblocked and hit QBs.[citation needed] [edit] Teams
[edit] Pro SetThe Pro Set was the default NFL scheme for most of the 1960s to the 2000s. While it is more of a formation, the underlying philosophy of the pro set was based on becoming more successful at passing while still providing 1 or even 2 backs to help protect the QB. The Pro Set features a TE, 2 WRs, and a Halfback and fullback, often split behind the QB. While QBs can take a snap from the center from the shotgun position, in general the pro set QB takes the ball under center to allow for better play action fakes to the running back. The Pro Set in the 1970s and earlier was generally a running offense that used play action fakes to setup deep passing attempts when defenses stacked up vs the running game. The Pro Set enabled NFL teams to run successfully and is structurally a sound set. So much so that even though the Coryell and West Coast Offenses were dramatic changes in view to a pass first philosophy, both have historically been executed out of the pro set formation. [edit] CriticismsThe Pro Set is largely considered too conservative these days. Even teams that use it as their base set usually have a wide variety of 3 and 4 receiver set plays that they use in passing situations. [edit] Teams
[edit] Coryell Offense/ Air Coryell/ Vertical OffensePioneered by Paul Brown in the late 60s and into the early 70s, the Coryell Offense is a combination of deep passing and power running.[2] The offense relies on getting all five receivers out into patterns that combined stretched the field, setting up defensive backs with route technique and the Quarterback throwing to a spot on time where the receiver can catch and turn up field. Pass protection is critical to success because at least two of the five receivers will run a deep in, skinny post, comeback, speed out, or shallow cross. Originally it was known as the West Coast Offense until an article about San Francisco Head Coach Bill Walsh in Sports Illustrated in the early 80s incorrectly called Walsh's offense "The West Coast Offense," and this mis-labelling stuck. Subsequently, Coryell's offense scheme was referred to as "Air Coryell" --- the name announcers had assigned to his high powered Charger offenses in San Diego, featuring hall of famers QB Dan Fouts& TE Kellen Winslow[3] , and pro bowl WR Wes Chandler & HB Chuck Muncie. Today it is mostly known as the "Coryell Offense", although the "Vertical Offense" is another accepted name. Today the most famous and successful advocates of this system are Norv Turner, Mike Martz, and Al Saunders. Turner learned the offense from longtime Coryell assistant, Ernie Zampese. Turner's take on the Coryell system turned around the career of hall of Fame QB Troy Aikman and has proven to be very successful with talented high draft picks struggling to with the complexities of the NFL Alex Smith. Turner' variant is not the most robust flavor of Coryell offense. It is a very sound, QB friendly scheme that favors taking controlled chances, like quicker midrange post passes to WRs off play action rather than slower developing passes that leave QBs exposed. It is almost exclusively run out of the pro set. Turner favors a more limited pallet of plays than Coryell and most Coryell disciples, instead insisting on precise excution. His offenses are usually towards the top of the league standings, but are often labelled predictable. His offenses tend to include a strong running game, a #1 WR who can stretch the field and catch jump balls in the endzone, a good receiving TE to attack the space the WRs create in the middle of the field and a FB who fills the role of a lead bloker and a final option as an outlet receiver. In Dallas, Turner made RB Emmitt Smith & WR Michael Irvin hall of famers, and TE Jay Novacek a five time pro bowler. The Martz variant is a much more robust offense with a more complex playbook. It is a much more aggressive passing offense with the run often forgotten. There is much less of a focus on play action. The Martz variant favors an elusive feature back who can catch the ball over the power runners the Turner scheme favors. Martz credits his influences on his variation of the offensive system to Sid Gillman and Don Coryell. Martz learned the so called 3 digit system the offense is famous for with how the plays are called from Turner when they were both in Washington. The Rams set a new NFL record for total offensive yards in 2000, with 7,335. 5,492 of those were passing yards, also a new NFL team record. Martz tends to favor a 3 WR set with more elusive players, a third receiver and the Half back filling the role of middle receivers that TEs & FBs fulfill in the Turner offense. The Martz offense works best with two elite WRs with top speed. Unlike the Turner variant, due to the complexity of the Martz offense, the QBs who execute it best are often the more intelligent QBs who intuitively get what Martz is trying to do, not the elite athlete who team's personnel department might favor drafting with a high draft pick. Whether it is due to the personality of the coach or the nature of the scheme, the Martz variant has historically had problems when teams shut down the run and make the team one dimensional. Additionally, the QBs sometimes take a lot of hits in this system. Al Saunders was the former WR coach under Don Coryell in San Diego and succeeded him as head coach of the Chargers. The Al Saunders variant is heavily influenced by Coryell and Saunder's former boss, former Coryell assistant and 2 time Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, who's Ace formation (single back, 2 WRs, 1 TE, and 1 H back) was immensely effective in the 1980s. The Saunders variant is a more conservative variant than the Martz version, but also quite complex. It is better suited for a veteran QB. It does not insist on size at WR or HB like the Turner variant and as such has difficulties in short yardage and red zone situations. It does not require a pair of dominant fast WRs like the Martz system and is not as aggressive attacking down the field and as such it does not score as many points as the Martz system. It is a more sound variant than the Martz scheme, offering a little more blocking and more run support for the QB. The Saunders variant pulls in many Coryell concepts that the Turner system eliminated in favor of simplicity. Overall the goal of the Coryell offense is to have at least two downfield, fast wide receivers who adjust to the deep pass very well, combined with a sturdy pocket quarterback with a strong arm. The Coryell offense uses three key weapons. The first is a strong inside running game, the second is its ability to strike deep with two or more receivers on any play, and the third is to not only use those two attack in cooperation with each other, but to include a great deal of mid-range passing to a TE, WR, or back. The Coryell offense has the ability to both "eat the clock" with the ground game but also to strike deep and fast without warning. Critics argue that the Coryell offense is ill-suited for coming from behind, as the deep pass attack will be predictable and therefore easy to stop. However, the fact that the offense is structured around a power running game and tall WRs who can win jump balls and have some breakaway speed make this contention hard to support. This offense is built not only for deep passing but also to defeat short yardage and red zone situations. When evenly matched, the Coryell offense can produce big drives and big scoring efficiently. If teams sit back to cover the deep field, offenses should be able to run the ball on them. If the defense tightens down to stop the run, the offense can go deep. If a defense hedges its bets by using three-deep setups with an eight-man defense up front, the QB can pick apart the defense with 10-20 yard passes.[citation needed] While today, many Coryell offenses reduce the use a tight end, except in the red zone,[citation needed] the Turner strain of Coryell offenses are still very reliant of a good receiving TE. Non-Turner strains sometimes features an 'F-Back' (formerly known as an 'H-Back' in the 1980s), a hybrid tight end/wide receiver/fullback/running back. An F-Back is a multi-purpose, unpredictable tool for the offense. On any play he may carry the ball, lead block or pass block, play as a wide receiver, or run a tight end route. He is also part decoy, as his unpredictable role forces defenses to keep an eye on him, thereby opening up other opportunities for the offense.[citation needed] [edit] CriticismsIn general, Coryell offenses chose to focus on stretching defenses vertically with the big passing play to push back run defenders, rather than forcing the defense closer with short passes like the Bill Walsh west coast offense. As a result, it often depends on higher risk passing game. The loss of a key WR can totally cripple an offense by removing its ability to stretch defenses or score in the red zone. While Coryell and Turner both schemed and selected personnel to defeat short yardage and red zone situations, a number of Coryell offense advocates do not take those needs into account and suffer in those areas. Also, Coryell offenses lose their dimensionality when defenses know the team will not run and it needs the big play; this tends to result in low completion percentages and high interceptions in those situations, despite the high yards gained and touchdowns scored. [edit] Teams
[edit] West Coast offense The West Coast Offense is a passing ball control offense. Once thought a contradiction in terms, it achieves ball control by using short, high percentage passing routes.[citation needed] Since the routes are relatively short, and the pass leaves the quarterback's hand quickly, there is less need for additional blockers. Thus all five eligible receivers are (typically) used extensively in the West Coast offense. Spreading the ball to all potential targets can create mismatches, often between a running back and a linebacker, or perhaps the tight end and a linebacker. By forcing tighter coverage between the safeties and offensive players, the West Coast offense can pull the safeties toward the line of scrimmage without running and thus it can set up the long pass play with shorter passes or allow a WR to break a tackle for a long gain.[citation needed] By throwing lots of short passes, the West Coast offense gets the ball to the faster players in open space more frequently.[citation needed] The notion of yards after catch (YAC) was invented for west coast offense players. Twenty yard pass plays used to mean long deep out or deep in patterns with a strong armed quarterback but now more frequently the twenty yard play involves a six yard pass to a talented receiver who made a couple of good moves—and perhaps got a block downfield from a fellow receiver.[citation needed] The West Coast offense, at its best, annoys a defense into foolishness.[clarification needed][citation needed] By consistently completing short passes, it encourages the defensive backs to move closer to the line of scrimmage, increasing the chance that a receiver will break a big play. The quarterback releases the ball so quickly that the pass rushers are tempted to complacency. Further, it gives the offense confidence.[citation needed] A combination of these factors afford the offense a good opportunity to throw deeper passes.[citation needed] The San Francisco 49ers won their first super Bowl under Bill Walsh with one of the league's worst running games due to the West Coast Offense's ability to control the clock using passing. This is not to say the West Coast offense abandons the run. Like any offense, a running game complements the West Coast Offense because short passes naturally set up situations when the run is more favorable.[citation needed] With the West Coast Offense, the level of commitment to the run varies by head coach, but like the run and shoot is usually not a high level of commitment. In essence, though, the West Coast offense is more of a philosophy and approach to the game than it is a set scheme that demands exact formations, plays and reads like many of the other offenses discussed here. It stipulates that an offense should pass the ball to spread the defense horizontally to set up the run, not the other way around. This was revolutionary in the 1970s when Don Coryell and Bill Walsh began tinkering with this concept because football until then had been primarily a 'run to set up the pass' game.[citation needed] It was generally accepted[citation needed][clarification needed] that a solid running game must be established first. This would force the defensive backs closer to the line of scrimmage and open up vertical passing lanes down the field. But as defenders got bigger, faster, and more athletic, and defensive schemes got more complex, this traditional run-first attack became predictable and bogged down for all but the most talented teams. The West Coast Offense takes the opposite approach: defenses must first be stretched horizontally with a precise, relatively short distance passing attack based on well timed routes and a quarterback that can make quick reads primarily utilizing a three-step drop. This 'stretching' creates gaps in the defense and keeps defenders off-balance, which in turn opens-up running lanes and down-field passing lanes that can be exploited. This approach also reduces an offense's predictability because down-and-distance rarely factors into a coach's decision to run or pass, especially late in games.[citation needed] Today this philosophy dominates most coaches' thinking and planning,[citation needed] and every team in the NFL and most teams in College incorporate some aspects of the West Coast offense into its scheme.[citation needed] Though formations, play calling, pass protection packages and personnel combinations will vary wildly from team to team, the basic tenet of the West Coast Offense, the 'pass to set-up the run' mantra, is accepted Gospel. More and more high schools are moving towards this approach, too, though the lack of 17 year old quarterbacks with the necessary arm strength, experience, vision and overall football maturity will keep this growth slow. Note: although this is the current usage of the term, the actual West Coast Offense was a term applied to the Don Coryell/Bill Walsh offense run by the San Diego Chargers and San Francisco 49ers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. More properly, the above should be called the Walsh offense, as it was perfected under Walsh in San Francisco. The actual San Diego West Coast offense involved much longer timing routes and bore little resemblance to the above.[citation needed] Paul Brown also deserves mention in any discussion of the origins of the "West Coast Offense." The system was developed by Brown and Walsh and implemented by the Cincinnati Bengals before Walsh's departure for San Francisco. The Walsh-Brown version found notoriety and success in San Francisco, but would more aptly be named the "Ohio River Offense."[citation needed] [edit] CriticismsDespite its reputation for being QB friendly, the West Coast Offense is not particularly QB friendly. It requires great accuracy, consistency, patience, and a very good understanding of the game. Several previously successful pro QBs have struggled and seen their development not only stopped with the implementation of the West Coast Offense but also their confidence and swagger crushed, including Jake Plummer and Michael Vick. A primary weakness of the West Coast Offense is that interceptions often lead to game changing TDs. This is why no one tried this type of offense before Walsh. It was considered unnecessarily risky; too much risk for too little gain. If a Defensive Back jumps a receiver's route, there is no one between that DB and the end zone, unlike vertical passing schemes like the Coryell Offense. Additionally, executing the West Coast Offense well requires great precision by the entire offense. While there are a large number of West Coast Offenses, very few of them are above average units. The precision demanded by the head coach often determines the success of these units. Although it is an offense built off passes that are likely completions, undisciplined play by the QB or WR can make the entire effort very predictable and as such very risky to the game changing interception. [edit] Teams
[edit] Run and Shoot[edit] HistoryThe term 'Run and Shoot' can be traced to the book Run & Shoot Football: Offense of the Future (Parker, 1965), published by Glenn 'Tiger' Ellison. Ellison designed the system for high school football, but it was adapted into a heavy passing offense by chief advocate and refiner Darrel 'Mouse' Davis for college players in the 1970s. The approach made its way to the National Football League by the late 1980s, but went out of vogue as a primary set in the NFL in the 1990s, although concepts formerly unique to the run and shoot, like 4 WR sets and WRs having options on routes are now incorporated into every NFL team's offenses. It is still used by several[clarification needed] major college programs (Hawaiʻi, SMU, Portland State) as of 2008. The 'spread' offense began as a variant of the Run & Shoot. [edit] FormationThe basic Run and Shoot formation has five linemen for blocking, a quarterback, a single running back, and four receivers. Run and Shoot offenses usually use motion to force defenses to tip off their coverage before the snap. This can lead to a change to a running play or a quick pass to beat a blitz. Additionally, receivers read the coverage of the defensive backs to determine what route to run. A good Run and Shoot QB will make the same read, anticipate the receiver's route choice, and put the ball where only the receiver can catch it, rendering coverage near impossible. Variations though are common but it's hard to call any of them a 'true' "Run and Shoot" formation. Most consider the variants to be Spread offenses, especially when the decision making is largely taken out of the player's hands and put back into the coaches' hands. Some teams use a tight end instead of a 4th wide receiver on many sets and emphasize motion using a 'slot' wide receiver. Another form actually has the offense using 2 H-Backs. An H-Back is a tight-end/fullback hybrid, played by players who are tall enough to play tight-end, block like fullbacks, have solid hands, and can match up in all phases of the offense. They can block, run routes, lead block, or even carry the ball on some plays. Teams using H-Backs will often use 2 wide receivers and 1 or 2 H-Backs, with 1 of each to a side of the ball with the H-Backs lined up as wingbacks. This formation allows the offense to not only motion the H-Backs but allows it to hide its strong side until right before the snap, which allows for a quarterback to flip play left to right with almost no penalty to performance.[citation needed] [edit] CriticismsThis seemingly complex style requires a quarterback who is observant of the whole field prior to the snap, understands defensive coverages, and can consistently make correct reads and deliver the ball accurately. A number of good QBs just do not excel in those areas. Quarterbacks who excel in the "Run and Shoot" are often labeled as "Pre-Snap QBs".[citation needed] They do most of their reads of the defense before the snap, leaving only a few choices to sort through once the ball in snapped. Many argue that this is a problem when a "Run and Shoot" quarterback goes to a team using a pro set offense that has 3 or 4 reads after the snap as the skill set moves from smart thinking to quick thinking and instincts. An alternative take on the reason Run and Shoot college QBs often fail at the pro level is that they are used to playing in a much more productive offense with a simple basis and struggle moving into what they see as a less advanced scheme. Classic[clarification needed] examples of quarterbacks who could not succeed at the pro level, despite at excelling in the run-and-shoot in college, are record-setting Houston Cougars quarterbacks Andre Ware and David Klingler. (It should be noted that Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly was one of the USFL's two superstars in the Houston Gamblers' Run and Shoot scheme, but was not very successful in Buffalo until they redesigned their offense into more of a spread to mirror the Run and Shoot.) Another criticism is that it is purely a collegiate offense.[citation needed] It should be noted that in the 6 years that some NFL teams ran the run and shoot as their base set, 2 (Oilers and Lions) of the 3 teams reached their conference championship games and they all were above average offensive teams. The "college offense argument" suggests it is much easier to run the "Run and Shoot" vs. collegiate competition. It suggests defenses are less complex and easier to read. This is true, but is true of all offenses that move up against pro competition. It is also suggested it is easier to match a big playmaker against a less talented defender. This is likewise easily debunked. Regardless of the level of play, few teams have more than 3 good coverage CBs. Finally, the third common argument is that it is easier to get interior receivers who can compete and make plays. This is again often untrue. It is rare to see collegiate Run and Shoot teams with 4 good starting WRs. 2 or 3 is usually the norm, especially with the advent of the spread throughout college football. In the pros, however, where the Run and shoot team is competing for WRs who would be slot receivers and part time players in most offenses it is actually easier to get competent receivers. The most valid criticisms are that Run and Shoot teams are soft. This perception comes out of two main factors. Passing is so productive in the run and shoot that coaches often do not commit to the run. When teams meet an opponent that can slow their passing game, the offensive linemen and running back's lack of polish in the running game allows that aspect of the offense to be easily shut down. The lack of size of the receivers also often come into play with the team having difficulties holding on to the tough catch in traffic for a first down or an inability to outjump a DB in the red zone. [edit] TeamsTeams that have employed the Run and Shoot offense include:
[edit] The Spread The "Spread Offense" is a generic term used to describe an offense that operates out of a formation with multiple wide receivers, usually out of the Shotgun, and can be run or pass oriented. One of the goals of the spread offense is to stretch the field both horizontally and vertically, and to take what is normally most teams best defenders (linebackers) out of the game by utilizing three or more receivers.[citation needed] Today variants of the spread are popular in high school and college football, with more modest versions appearing in the NFL.[citation needed] In college, especially, the offense often depends largely on option and misdirection runs, using all of the skill players on offense. The zone read is often a very popular play in this type of offense because of its flexibility, more so if a team has an athletic quarterback who can run the ball as well as pass. Linemen in the spread are often smaller and more agile so they can block effectively on screens, zones, options, and protect against aggressively blitzing defenses such as the 3-3-5 stack. As the defense, already spread out, begins to focus on stopping the run, the spread creates mismatches and single coverage on receivers, which creates opportunities in the passing game. Utilizing receiver motion along with jet sweeps is also an important part of creating confusion and running a balanced, yet successful, spread offense.[citation needed] The success of the offense depends on creating mismatches (a linebacker covering a receiver), the ability for the quarterback and the receivers to find holes in the zone, and defensive breakdowns in the secondary (the receiver and quarterback both read that the safety will not rotate over to help the cornerback, so the receiver breaks to the outside or up the sideline with single coverage). Few defenses are able to cope with a well-executed spread run-pass threat, which is one reason why football scores have been rising in recent years.[citation needed] The spread offense can also be used to energize the running game.[citation needed] By splitting out three, four or five receivers and employing a fast, athletic offensive line, the spread opens running lanes for the tailback, fullback and quarterback. Also, linebackers may be taken off the field to cover the receivers, resulting in ability for the defense to effectively tackle the running back. The primary responsibility of receivers in this case is downfield blocking, rather than pass-catching, as they spring backs for long runs.[citation needed] The offense relies on a quarterback who can call plays at the line of scrimmage, read the intentions of the defensive end, and keep the ball or pitch it to a back. The offense also uses short passes like a running plays, executing "bubble screens" that begin with a short, nearly-lateral pass to a speedy wide receiver to get him into open space. No-huddle spread attacks are also popular. One popular variant of the spread is the "Air Raid" offense (pioneered by Hal Mumme), in which the offense may pass on over 80% of its downs.[citation needed] The offense is seen as being complex, though receivers need to know relatively few routes. The complexity comes from the different formations the routes are run out of. The running back in the Air Raid offense serves a useful role as well by catching passes out of the backfield, on screens, and carrying the ball on draw plays. [edit] CriticismsLike the Run and Shoot that fathered it, the Spread Offense is largely considered a college offense, even though many recent super bowl teams like the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots were almost exclusively spread offense teams. The Spread offense is a very QB friendly system as it is essentially a dumbed down Run and Shoot. QBs get the advantage of spreading defenses, but their passing options are usually planned out so reading defenses is not as much of a part of the scheme as in a traditional Run and Shoot. QBs don't have to be great mental specimens or especially accurate (although several spread QBs are quite accurate). They can contribute in other ways, like being an additional running threat vs. a spread out defense. The flip side of taking the decision making out of the player's hands is that the offenses are only as good as their offensive coachs' play calling. Like the Run and Shoot, there are questions about college spread QBs being able to adapt to professional pro set offenses. Struggles of high profile players like Alex Smith and Tim Couch have made pro scouts equally as suspect of players out of those offenses. [edit] Teams
[edit] Spread OptionA newer form of the option offense has emerged that is run out of a spread formation. Spread Option offenses generally run out of the shotgun formation, usually with a single running back. Depending on the quarterback's read, he will generally hand off to the running back, run the ball himself, or pass. This offense was primarily devised by Rich Rodriguez, the current head coach at Michigan, and has been adopted by several other important college programs. Vince Young and the 2005 Texas Longhorns ran a version of the offense to suit Young's strengths, which ultimately culminated in a national championship in the 2006 Rose Bowl. Notably, Urban Meyer adopted the offense to add more passing elements, and has used it successfully first at Bowling Green, then at Utah (becoming the first team outside the BCS conferences to participate in a BCS bowl game), and now at Florida, where he won the 2006 national championship and the 2008 national championship while implementing the scheme. It also has fueled Appalachian State's run to 3 straight national titles in the former I-AA and now FCS subdivisions. The speed required to run the spread option is considered a main factor in ASU's upset of the University of Michigan on September 1, 2007 in which the Mountaineers used their speed to outrun the much bigger Michigan defense.[citation needed] [edit] Teams
[edit] Pistol OffenseThe Pistol Offense is an offense that features a quarterback in a short three yard shotgun and a running back three yards behind him. Upon the quarterback receiving the direct snap he may turn around and hand the ball off to the running back behind him, look up to pass or execute the option from the "pistol" with the running back. The advantage of this offense is that it gives the quarterback an opportunity to read the defense without the disadvantages of a normal shotgun such as signaling a pass play. It also allows the runningback an opportunity to run downhill as opposed to the shotguns normal sideways angles. This offense was innovated by current Nevada head coach Chris Ault. While the Wolfpack is the only school that uses this offense as their primary offense it has been seen throughout high school and college football.[citation needed]The Pistol has now even made the leap to the NFL in brief instances by some teams or regularly by the 2008 Kansas City Chiefs with Tyler Thigpen at quarterback. [edit] Teams
[edit] See alsoPistol Offense Forum This forum is open for all Pistol Offense discussion [edit] Wildcat OffenseThe wildcat offense, (or wildcat formation) a variation on the single-wing formation, is an offensive American football or Canadian football scheme that has been used at every level of the game including the NFL, CFL, NCAA, NAIA, and many high schools across America. The general scheme can be instituted into many different offensive systems, but the distinguishing factor is the possibility of a direct snap to the running back. In the pros this is often implemented in a 2 QB set. The concept is to replace a skill player with a mobile backup QB to allow a series of run and rollout passing options that pro teams would not risk with their starting QB. The recent popularity of this package probably comes out of the recent innovation created at Piedmont High School in California, the A-11 Offense. Piedmont's entire offense is based entirely off of a 2 QB set. [edit] Teams
[edit] Notes
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