Offensive Football Ideas April 2011

8/7/2019 Offensive Football Ideas April 2011

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Offensive Game PlanningPart 1

CoachesI have been getting some emails from coaches about game planning and more specifically

on how I do it with the hybrid Wing.

Here is an article that explains where I am coming from:

A Method For Game PlanningBILL WALSH

San Francisco 49ers

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(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 beenafforded 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 amore 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 calledfrom 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 quarterbackswho 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 wantedto 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 itwas 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 somethingdone.

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 10and 12. In other words, we began to plan the opening sequences of the game. From there I


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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 rehearsethe 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 ofthe 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 leaguewith 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 youcan 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 priorto the game and put together the first 25 plays for the game. They are related to certainthings.

Part 2

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 abase 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 findout 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 whichwe will run the play pass first, faking the run and throwing; so that later we can run therunning 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 passbefore 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


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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 intothe 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 yearin 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, wewill 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, youwill want to start the sequence so you can establish something to work from. If you can dothis 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 agame, 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 willremind 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 youlose 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 wecan at halftime the day of the game. It's that simple.

Part 3

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


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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 lookfor 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 footline 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 ifthey 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 sweepplays 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 fromthat 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 outpunter 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 badexperiences 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-inchline, 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, weare going to fight our way out of here. And so you will practice it. You may be able to getthat 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. Eachweek 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


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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 theyhave 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 allowcertain 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 forthe first two yards of it. 3rd and 3 to us may mean a pass in our style of football. We maythrow 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 thatpoint, 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, defenseget 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, linebackersscraping, corners at the line of scrimmage, safety at the line, whatever. As we list our shortyardage 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'tworry 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.


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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 aregoing 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, itwould 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 ableto 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 agame with it the eighth week.

Part 4

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 firstdowns, 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, onthe plus 20-yard line, we are going to throw the ball and make a touchdown. Now we havea 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 ourfootball 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 footballpractice, 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 whenyour 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


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me and dont 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 outletpeople 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 yourbacked 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 foryour 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.

Part 5GOAL 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 upto 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 seevaried charges. When we get to the six-inch line or the 1-foot line, we are going to seeeveryone 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 kinds of things happen. We have

to account for those situations. You can't account for these situations if you haven'tplanned 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 andlater you will see the film and we only needed 1 yard. You have ways to talk to him aboutwhat 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


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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 theirdivision in three consecutive games; I think it was, throwing the ball way down the field ontheir 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 haveworked. 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.

Part 6

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 schoolteams 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, areceiver 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 hookpass 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 and15 yards to go, it does not mean we are going to run a 15-yard pass pattern. We willgenerally 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 oneway 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.


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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.

Part 7TIME 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 atthe 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 atthe clock and you want to get the heck out of there. We know, we may try to go for it with atwo-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 itis 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 20seconds left in the half, call your time outs if the clock is running because if that clock isrunning 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 thequarterback is going to say "two plays" 16 Power twice. You come up to the line ofscrimmage 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. Itcould 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


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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.

Part 8FOUR-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 peoplenecessarily because you can blow the whistle when you think the man would have beenstopped. 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. Youknow 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 everytime you play, you are a one-point underdog. They are one point better than you are. Youwill 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 fearshe 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.

Part 9

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 shortyardage, 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


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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 adramatic 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 tobe 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 intough 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 ouradjustments 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; longyardage, 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 number7; we are in pretty good shape. Oh, you got to the 20-yard line. You have another choicenow. 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 worryabout it. You have a lot of plays on your list to call. So continue to go through your list.

This is a way to pre-plan the game. We feel pretty solid about this. Write on the plan the

opponent and the date so that you don't end up using last years plan. This is a format that

establishes how you practice.

Part 10

The next thing is when do you practice these things. Obviously we have more time to

practice than you do. But I will fake a plan for the high school coaches. If I remember right,

you play on Friday night. On Saturdays you are cutting the grass, if I remember right. Thatis not a bad life. On Sunday you should go to church with your wife.

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MON. - Review, etc. Install plays.

TUE. - We will not cover the situations that much.WED. - 6 plays (4 minutes)

6 plays (3rd & 3)

6 plays (short yardage)

6 plays (goal line)

THU. - Last 3 plays6 plays (long yardage)

6 plays (3rd & 8)

FRI. - GAME--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When we plan our practice we don't talk about how much time we are going to practice.We figure that one play is one minute. So we go by the number of plays. In a given practice

we will have 5 plays of short yardage, and 6 of long yardage. We will say "get 12 plays in 10

minutes" of drills. Each day you will have one segment of your game plan that you will

practice. There is obviously time when you are going to cover your base offense and your

base defense. But, you plan on certain days for these things to be done. You can live withthis much easier than second guessing yourself.On the other side of the sheet is where the difference is. This is where we categorize all of

the things we have talked about. Thank you very much

QBREADS ON 3 STEP PASSING GAME:

HERE IS OUR WHOLE PHILOSOPHY IN A NUTSHELL. PICTURE YOURSELF AS THE

QUARTERBACK IN THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLE:

X-----------O-O-X-O-O-Y

--------H--------Q-----------------Z

-----------------R

X & Z = OUTSIDE RECEIVERS

H & Y = INSIDE RECEIVERS

YOU HAVE TWO MEN SPREAD ACROSS THE FIELD X AND Z. IF EITHER OF THE TWOMEN IS SINGLE OPEN (CB BAILING), YOU SHOULD THROW TO HIM ALL DAY. IF YOUR

OPPONENT SENDS SOMEONE OUT TO HELP COVER HIM, YOU SHOULD RUN! THIS IS THE

FIRST THING WE DO. WE CHECK OUR WIDE RECEIVERS. IF THEY ARE SINGLE COVERED,

WE GO TO OUR 3 STEP GAME.


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ALL OF THE ABOVE IS ASSUMING THE CORNERS ARE OFF AND BAILING. WE DO NOT

LIKE THE 3 STEP GAME INTO HARD CORNERS. SO, IF THE CORNERS ARE OFF ANDBAILING HOW DOES THE DEFENSE HELP THEM? CHECK THE ALIGNMENT OF THE MAN

RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FLAT.

HITCH:

1. READ THE CUSHION (BEST MATCH UP) CORNER ON WR

2. KEY FLAT DEFENDER IF FLAT DEFENDER INTERSECTS THE HITCH TO THE

OUTSIDE RECEIVER, THROW THE HITCH TO THE INSIDE RECEIVER. IF THE FLATDEFENDER GETS DEPTH, THROW THE HITCH TO THE OUTSIDE RECEIVER.

3. THIS IS A 3 STEP DROP/RHYTHM THROW.

UP/FADE:

1. KEY THE CORNERBACK IF HE SITS & JAMS THROW THE FADE TO THE OUTSIDE

RECEIVER BETWEEN THE HALF SAFETIES AND OVER THE TOP OF THE SQUATCORNER. THIS THROW MUST BE ON A LINE WITH VERY LITTLE AIR UNDER IT. (BESTMATCH UP).

2. IF THE CORNERBACK TURNS HIPS AND RUNS WITH THE VERTICAL LOOK TO THROW

THE FADE TO THE OUTSIDE RECEIVER.

3. IF THE HALF SAFETY VACATES THE HASH TO GET OVER THE TOP OF THE FADEROUTE, THROW THE SEAM ROUTE TO THE INSIDE RECEIVER.

SLANT:

1. READ THE CUSHION (BEST MATCH UP).2. READ THE FLAT DEFENDER IF HE BUZZES TO THE FLAT THROW THE SLANT TO

THE OUTSIDE RECEIVER. IF HE GETS DEPTH TAKE THE ARROW ROUTE TO THE

INSIDE RECEIVER.

3. THIS IS A 3 STEP DROP/RHYTHM THROW.

***********************************************************************

WR ROUTES IN QUICK PASSING GAME

A) HITCH: A FULL 5 STEP ROUTE. DO NOT SHORTEN STEPS OR RAISE UP AT BREAKINGPOINT. ON FIFTH STEP ELBOW JAM TO QB PIVOTING INSIDE HIP TO THE OUTSIDE(THE EYES ARE THE FIRST THING TO TURN). BE STATIONARY & DO NOT DRIFT BACK

OR TOWARDS THE QB AS THE BALL WILL BE IN THE AIR (IF THE BALL IS NOT IN THE

AIR START CREEPING BACK TO THE QB). IF YOU GET A PRESS OR ROLL CB

CONVERT TO FADE.

B) UP (FADE): BREAK DOWN CUSHION AS QUICK AS POSSIBLE, ATTACK THE DEFENDER


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(STEP ON HIS TOES) AND GO THROUGH HIS OUTSIDE SHOULDER. IT IS IMPORTANT

TO BE READY FOR THE JAM BY THE CB - MISDIRECT HIS FORCE AND HOLD YOURLINE. NEVER BE CLOSER THAN 5 YARDS TO THE SIDELINE. THE QB WILL DROP THE

BALL OVER YOUR OUTSIDE SHOULDER. IF YOU GET A ROLL CB TRY TO GET AN

OUTSIDE RELEASE IF THE CB WONT LET YOU OUTSIDE PUSH HIM TO THE

SIDELINE AND DUCK INSIDE.

C) SLANT: A FULL 3 STEP ROUTE. DO NOT SHORTEN STEPS OR RAISE UP AT BREAKING

POINT. ON YOUR THIRD STEP BREAK HARD AT 45 DEGREE ANGLE (THE EYES ARE

THE FIRST THING TO TURN). IF MAN COVERAGE BREAK AWAY HARD FROM CB. IFZONE COVERAGE BE READY TO THROTTLE DOWN IN THE HOLE BEHIND THE FLAT

DEFENDER. IF YOU GET A PRESS CORNER GET INSIDE OF HIM, PUSH BACK ANDBREAK AWAY.

TIMING RECEIVERS ROUTES:

GIVE THE RECEIVER 1 SECOND TO GET OUT OF HIS STANCE, AND 1/10 SECOND FOREACH ADDITIONAL YARD RUN. FOR EXAMPLE: A 6 YARD HITCH SHOULD BECOMPLETED BY THE RECEIVER IN 1.6 SECONDS! NOTE: ON A TIMING ROUTE THE

RECEIVER MUST TAKE AT LEAST TWO MORE STEPS THAN THE QB DOES IN SETTING UP

(THIS GIVES THE QB .5 SECONDS TO GET THE BALL OUT).

**********************************************************************

QB CROSS STEP FOOTWORK IN DROPPING BACK 3 STEPS:

1. Pivot on the left foot and take a long step back toward the set-up spot with the rightfoot. Then use cross-over action to the set-up spot.

2. The set-up will vary according to the pass called and will be determined by the number

of steps you take. Starting with the right foot, you will take 3 steps and Stop, ready

to pass. You must have stopped and be ready to pass before the receiver makes his finalbreak (on at LEAST 2 steps more than the QB took). SET UP TAKES .8 OF A SECOND.

3. Open your shoulders at an angle NOT TO EXCEED 90 degrees to the LOS and look

straight down the field, seeing your reads as you go back. Know where you are going

with the ball by the time you reach the set-up spot. IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE QB TOKEEP HIS SHOULDERS AT A RIGHT ANGLE TO LOS, AND HIS FOREHEAD PARALLEL TOTHE LOS SO HE CAN SEE THE FIELD.

4. The ball must be held chest high and with two hands. Always be ready to unload the

ball quickly. BE ABLE TO RELEASE THE BALL IN .5 OF A SECOND ON TIMING ROUTESIF RECEIVER OPEN AS 3RD STEP HITS.


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5. Step in the Ready position without any resetting so you can pass immediately if

necessary.

6. THREE STEP DROP (QUICK DROP):

A. The 3 step drop is a 1 + 2 step drop, with 1 full stride and 2 short gathering strides

planting on the third step and throw. Always stop with short steps and come to

balance before throwing.B. It is coordinated with the quick passing game. Receivers run 5 step breaks.

C. Think in terms of the set-up spot being 3 to 4 yards deep.

**********************************************************************

ESTABLISHING TIMING BETWEEN QBs & RECEIVERS:

THIS APPLIES TO TIMING ROUTES ONLY:

A) THE TIMING OF THE DELIVERY IS ESSENTIAL. IT IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANTITEM TO SUCCESSFUL PASSING!

B) GIVE THE RECEIVER 1 SECOND TO GET OUT OF HIS STANCE, AND 1/10 SECOND FOR

EACH ADDITIONAL YARD RUN. FOR EXAMPLE: A 6 YARD HITCH SHOULD BE

COMPLETED BY THE RECEIVER IN 1.6 SECONDS! NOTE: ON A TIMING ROUTE THERECEIVER MUST TAKE AT LEAST TWO MORE STEPS THAN THE QB DOES IN SETTING

UP (THIS GIVES THE QB .5 SECONDS TO GET THE BALL OUT).

C) QUARTERBACK MUST GET THE BALL OUT OF HIS HAND (ON TIMING ROUTES)

BEFORE THE RECEIVER MAKES HIS FINAL BREAK. FOR EXAMPLE: THERECOMMENDED TIME FOR THE QB ON THE HITCH IS 1.3 SECONDS.

D) (QB) IF YOU CANNOT CO-ORDINATE EYE AND ARM TO GET THE BALL AT ITS

INTENDED SPOT PROPERLY AND ON TIME, YOU ARE NOT A PASSER!!!

E) KEEPING THE BALL IN BOTH HANDS AND CHEST HIGH IS PART OF THE ANSWER.

F) BREAKING POINTS: (FOR TIMING PURPOSES) OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING (ON

TIMING ROUTES):

1) QB TAKES 3 STEPS (IN .8 SECOND) ON PASSES WITH BREAKING POINTS OF 6YARDS. QB GETS THE BALL OUT IN 1.3.

2) QB TAKES 5 STEPS (IN 1.3 SECONDS) ON PASSES WITH BREAKING POINTS OF 12

YARDS. QB GETS THE BALL OUT IN 1.8.

3) QB TAKES 5 STEPS & A RESET (HITCH) STEP UP ON MANUEVER PASSES, & PASSESWITH DEEPER BREAKING POINTS (APPROXIMATELY 18 YARDS). THESE ARE

GENERALLY NOT TIMING ROUTES, BUT THE QB NEEDS TO GET THE BALL OUT NO


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LATER THAN 2.5 (2.7 AT VERY LATEST).

QB FOOTWORK IN RELATION TO TIMING:

A) IF GOING TO FIRST MAN IN PROGRESSION ON A TIMING ROUTE (HITCH, OUT,

ETC) THROW IMMEDIATELY AS YOUR LAST STEP (3 OR 5) HITS THE GROUND

(PLANT-STEP-THROW). IF HE IS ON A MANUEVER ROUTE (POST CORNER, ETC) YOU HAVE TO HITCH UP INTO THE THROW.

B) IF GOING TO THE 2nd OR 3rd RECEIVER IN THE PROGRESSION YOU MUST RESETYOUR FEET TO GET YOUR LEFT SHOULDER POINTED AT THE TARGET AREA AFTER

COMING OFF THE 1st RECEIVER IN THE PROGRESSION, ONCE FOR #2, AND AGAINFOR #3 (IF GOING TO HIM). DO ALL OF THIS AS YOU ARE DROPPING BACK IF

POSSIBLE NOT AFTER YOUR 5th STEP HITS. NOTE: IF READING 3 MEN IN A

PROGRESSION ON THE 5 STEP DROP IT CAN TAKE BETWEEN 2.0 TO 2.7

(DEPENDING ON IF YOU THROW ON THE SET, RESET ONCE, OR RESET TWICE).

C) NOTE: KNOW WHICH THROWS ARE TIMING (RHYTHM) THROWS, AND WHICH AREMANUEVER ROUTES.

[email protected]

-------------------------Bill Mountjoy

QBManual

A quarterback must accept two facts:

* Knowledge, self-discipline and concentration lead to consistency. Only careful andsound preparation will produce the results to develop into a championship

quarterback.

* You will be subject to more second-guessing and criticism than any other player.

***A good quarterback has total control at the line of scrimmage***

Performance Characteristics

A quarterback has natural passing, faking, ball handling and play calling ability. He knows

and can read defenses. He can throw long and short. He can drill and can soften and throwwith a light touch. He sets up quickly without wasted motion. He can pump the ball and


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look off defenders when it is appropriate. He has quickness with arms, feet and hands. He

gets the ball away fast. He has a great arm and mind, a rare combination.

A good quarterback always takes inventory of himself. In the analysis of the former great

ones at the quarterback position, these qualities very definitely prevailed. They always

came off the practice field a better player in at least one of these areas.

Having good arm strength to throw over the defense and complete the deep pass really

opens up an offensive attack.

Huddle Control and Mechanics

The quarterback must have total control of the huddle. You must always take charge and

have the ability to keep control. You cannot afford to be distracted. Suggestions should be

discussed on the sideline, not during a drive.

You must stay away from the huddle until the play is given to you or until you havereached a decision on what play to call. Once the decision has been made, move into thehuddle, call the play distinctly, never talking too fast, and never lacking authority and

assurance that it is the best play.

Once at the line of scrimmage, it is important that the quarterback be consistent. He shouldalways do the following, in the same order:

* Scan the defense

* Put his hands under the center

* Go through the cadence properly

* Be positive and distinct in calling the cadence

Good ball handling is the result of many hours of practice with a quarterback and the

running backs who will be executing the play together on game day.

The QB-Center Exchange

Stance: The feet should be comfortably spread, approximately the width of the armpits,

with the toes pointed straight ahead. The knees should be slightly bent to facilitate gettingaway from the center faster after taking the snap. For balance, the body weight should be

over the balls of the feet, slightly shifted to the push off foot. The quarterback should

always stand tall, with a slight bend at the waist and a slight forward shoulder roll. The

hips should be lowered so that the knees are slightly bent. The arms should always be keptslightly bent, relaxed, loose and close to the body. This enables the quarterback to follow


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the center and adjust to the ball if the center does not hit dead center of the top hand.

Hands: The upper hand should be pressed firmly against the center's crotch, wrist deep.

The fingers should be spread but relaxed. The upper hand should be dead center in the

center's crotch, with the wrist fitting the curve of the center's behind, knuckle deep.

Pressure should be applied upward. This is the center's target. Make him feel the pressure.

The thumb of the upper hand may be under the thumb of the lower hand, with interlacingthem an option.

The thumbs should be pressed together, or as stated earlier, you may interlace the lowerhand thumb on top of the upper hand thumb. The Lower hand should face the center's

opposite foot. The fingers of the lower hand should be extended and spread, pointedtoward the ground.

Snap -- Exchange of Ball: The center must adjust the laces before the snap. The QB must

get the laces where he wants them when he takes a snap. The QB must keep pressure on

the center's crotch until the ball is in his hands. The snap should be as hard as possible bythe center. The exchange must be executed with speed. The ball must SMACK into thecrease of the upper hand quickly. The center should give it a slight twist so it fits the QB's

hands.

The ball should be close to parallel to the ground at contact with the rear point slightlyupward. If the ball hits the groove of the upper hand properly, you will hear the SMACK.

The QB should receive the ball "well up" into both hands. Both hands should be just back of

the middle of the ball. The lower hand should be used to trap the ball. When the ball

SMACKS into the crease of the upper hand, fold under it with the lower hand. Both handsmust follow the center forward.

Hand Off: As the ball is snapped, pressure should be applied to the center's crotch while

turning the head and shoulders to locate the belt buckle or the mid section of the ball

carrier. The quarterback should keep his elbows and ball close to the midsection. The ballshould be "looked" into the ball carrier's midsection while making the handoff.

Faking: A quarterback must be convincing when he fakes by having the proper attitude. A

good fake can be executed using TWO HANDS, with both hands remaining on the football

or it can be done with ONE HAND, with the ball held close to the body with one hand andplacing the empty hand against the ball carrier as he fakes by. When possible, follow a fakewith your head and eyes.

Offensive Huddle Drill

Purpose: To give the quarterback practice in stepping into the huddle, calling a play,

breaking the huddle in unison, and getting to the line of scrimmage and executing a


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running play.

Equipment: Football

Procedure:

1. Offensive team huddles 5 to 7 yards from the football.

2. Coach signals play to quarterback from sideline.

3. QB steps into huddle and calls play and snap count. He then leads the huddle break and

moves with the offense to the line of scrimmage.

4. Once lined up, the QB calls the cadence and the ball is snapped on proper snap count,

and play is executed.

5. Entire offense, including QB, should sprint to a yard line determined by coaches. Thenthey should jog back, to the outside, and rehudddle for their next play as anotheroffensive unit is running a play. No defense is needed for this drill

Coaching Points:

1. Coaches should be sure huddle is exactly as they want it. As offense breaks the huddle,

it should be in unison as determined by coaches.

2. Every offensive player should sprint off the ball full speed.

3. Emphasis should be placed on perfect execution of the ball exchange between thequarterback and ball carrier.

4. QB should always execute his fakes after handing off the ball.

Dropback Passing Fundamentals

Settingto Pass

1. If you expect protection, you must understand the area we are trying to protect andstay there.

2. The width of the protection area is from the outside hip of one offensive tackle to the

other.

3. The depth of the protection area is 9 yards.


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4. Setting to pass as fast as possible without losing body control will aid your completion

record. It gives you time to look to your receiver and deliver the ball properly with thenecessary timing.

5. The key to setting to pass with necessary speed is pushing or driving off the right foot.

It prevents sitting out and throws the body away from the line fast. It also enables the

quarterback to follow the center on the snap.

6. DISCIPLINE: the key to successful passing. You must accomplish the following to

become a top passer:- Read the coverage before the ball is snapped. (Pre-snap read)

- After the ball is snapped, push of your key foot, the right foot.- Get away from the line of scrimmage as quickly as you can.

- The first stride should be a long one.

- At the snap, you must study your reading area.

- You must use the proper footwork to fit the route run by the receiver in order to

obtain good timing of the throw.- After reaching your setting spot, if the receiver is not open, move up into the pocket

for additional protection and time.

- Be certain to read the underneath coverage as the flare action (back swinging) may be

your best receiver.

- Throw or run at first daylight.

7. Our setup areas vary according to the type of pass (route or pattern) being thrown. It is

measured in length of stride:

- 1 and 2 (3 steps)

- 7,9,4 (5 and 2) (7 steps) NOTE: We no longer use 7 steps - just 5 & shuffle up.- 8,6,3,5 (3 and 2) (5 steps)

8. The ball must be held chest high and with two hands. Unless the pattern requires

pumping the ball, pound it into your left hand. Keep the ball chest high and in both

hands, ready to unload quickly.

9. Steps in drop must not be longer than can be controlled.

10. Setting up in the pocket must be done as quickly as possible.

11. Break your sprint back with the right foot and get cocked and ready for delivery. Makea move into the pocket.

12. The key to good passing technique is to drop off to the required distance with intense

speed. Set up to pass in a good balanced position. Keep the ball chest high: hold the ballwith two hands prepared for a quick delivery. Stay in the pocket and be oblivious to the

rush. Put the ball in the air at the proper time with the proper speed and trajectory.


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Accomplish this and you have it made.

13. Types of Footwork on delivery:

Hit -Throw. The basic throwing footwork is to push off rear foot, step with forward foot

parallel to target and throw.

Hit- Hang or Sit- Throw. Hang or sit on a plant foot, and after hesitation push, step and

throw.

Hit-Shuffle-Throw. When you need more power, push off rear foot and shuffle along

target line, then throw.

14. Make your move up and out- never around. This will result in a big loss. You must avoid

the big loss. Second and ten is nothing. Second and 20 kills us. Wandering off and

running around rushers hurts us, and more especially, you.

15. If you don't like what you see and can't go to your outlet, run-straight away.

Coaching Points for Play Action Passes

1. You must be willing to take a shot at a touchdown from anywhere on the field.2. You must script and practice the play action pass you will use from various field

positions: backed up inside own 5 yard line, +50, +25 +5, goal line, etc

3. Our best play action shots come off our three basic run plays: Counter Gap, Inside Zone,

and Draw. Use your best-run plays to set up your play action pass game.

Good draw fake will freeze linebackers.

We have a great deal more variety than this, but these are three plays that have been very

productive "shots" for touchdowns on mix downs.

-------------------------Bill Mountjoy

11 COMMANDMENTS TO BE A SUCCESSFUL QB

1. IGNORE OTHER OPINIONS

Family, wife, friends or relative, fans. Ignore them on matters of football. They dont

know what is happening here.

2. CLOWNS CAN'T RUN A HUDDLEDont forget to have fun, but dont be the class clown. Clowns & leaders dont mix.


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Clowns cant run a huddle.

3. FAT QBS CAN'T AVOID THE RUSH

QBs throw with their legs more than their arms.. Squat & run! Fat QBs cant avoid the

rush!

4. KNOW YOUR JOB COLDThis is not a game without errors. Keep you errors to a minimum. Study the plays!

5. KNOW YOUR OWN PLAYERSWhos fast. Who can catch. Be precise. Who needs encouragement. Know your

opponent.

6. BE THE SAME GUY EVERY DAY

Prepare to lead. Study the plan. A coach cant prepare you for every eventuality.

Prepare yourself.

7. THROWING THE BALL AWAY IS A GOOD PLAYSacks, interceptions & fumbles are bad plays. Protect against those.

8. LEARN TO MANAGE THE GAME: CLOCK, CLOCK, CLOCK

Personnel, play calling, emotions, ball handling, proper reads, accurate throws, playfakes. Clock, clock, clockdont ever lose track of the clock

9. GET YOUR TEAM IN THE ENDZONE

Passing stats & TD passes is not how your going to be judged. Youll be judged on

getting your team in the end zone.

10. DON'T PANIC

When chaos is all around you, you must be the hand that stirs the ship. If you have a

panic button, so will everyone else.

11. DON'T BE A CELEBRITY QUARTERBACK

We need a battle field commander willing to fight it out every play, every week & every

season and to lead their team to win, after win, after win.

Source: Bill Parcells

RULES FOR THE DROPBACK PASS OFFENSE

X--------------------O-O-C-O-O-YOUT------------- H-------Q------IN------------------Z


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------------------IN-----------------------------------OUT

---------------------------R

A. OUTSIDE & INSIDE RECEIVERS TO CALLSIDE FREE RELEASE & RUN PATTERN

CALLED.B. OUTSIDE RECEIVER AWAY FROM CALL FREE RELEASES & MIRRORS ROUTE OF

OUTSIDE RECEIVER CALLSIDE.

C. INSIDE RECEIVER AWAY FROM CALL CHECK/RELEASES & RUNS SAME ROUTE ASINSIDE RECEIVER TO CALLSIDE IF HE GETS OUT (EXCEPTION FLAT ON 8-9 ROUTE).

D. RB CHECK/RELEASES TO CALLSIDE

60 SERIES = QB 3 STEP DROP (RECEIVERS BREAK AT APPROX. 6 YDS.);

& 50 SERIES QB = 5 STEP DROP (RECEIVERS BREAK AT APPROX. 12 YDS.):

NOTE: EVEN #S = RT; ODD #S = LT.

ROUTE COMBOS---------- INS. REC.------OUTS. REC.-------RB

60-61------------------------HITCH----------HITCH------------CIRCLE

60 UP/61 UP----------------SEAM-----------UP-----------------CIRCLE

62-63------------------------FLAT-----------SLANT-------------CIRCLE50-51-----------------------CORNER--------HITCH-------------POST

52-53-----------------------OUT-------------POST--------------SWING

54-55-----------------------TURN------------OUT---------------CIRCLE

56-57 FLAT CURL CIRCLE

58-59 POST POST/COR. FLAT

QB PROGRESSION ON PASSES: (IMPORTANT NOTE: IN THE 50 SERIES IF WE GO AWAY

FROM THE CALLSIDE PROGRESSION STAYS THE SAME MINUS THE RB; RB IS NOT IN

THE PROGRESSION IN THE 60 SERIES).

60/61: 1) OUTS. REC. 2) INS. REC.

60 UP/61 UP: 1) W/S IN MOF = INS. REC. TO INS. REC OFF W/S. 2) W/S NOT IN MOF = INS.

REC. TO OUTS. REC.

62/63: 1) OUTS. REC.; 2) INS. REC.

50/51: 1) RB (IF MOF OPEN); 2) INS. REC.; 3) OUTS. REC.52/53: 1) OUTS. REC.; 2) INS. REC.; 3) RB54/55: 1) OUTS. REC.; 2) INS. REC.; 3) RB

56/57: 1) RB; 2) OUTS. REC.; 3) INS. REC.

58-59: 1) INS. REC.; 2) OUTS. REC.; 3) RB

NOTE: QB MUST HAVE A VISUAL IMAGE OF WHERE ALL RECEIVERS ARE ON THE FIELD

ON EACH PASS!!!!!


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-------------------------

Bill Mountjoy

#1 Don Coryell Route Tree

By Warren Simmons TE Coach Washington Redskins

Receivers routes are designed to look like trees. Branches shoot off tree trunks in one

direction or another and in ever-increasing distances from the base.

Routes go either inside or outside, toward or away from the sideline. Even-numbered

routes go inside in the Redskins scheme, odd numbers outside.

The routes are numbered, 1 through 9, with 1 being closest to the line of scrimmage and 9

being a deep route toward the end zone.

An example would be a 1 (outside) route, where our receivers run that short stop route,which we call a hitch, Simmons said. As you go up the tree, a 1 is a hitch, the 2 is what we

call a slant at the same depth, five yards. All the numbers have different yardagecorresponding to the route. When we call a number, they know the depth of the route, and

whether theyre breaking in or out.

A 3 route is an outside break at 13 yards (out), and a 4 is an inside break at 13 yards(in). A 5 is an outside break at 15 yards (comeback) while a 6 is coming back inside at

15 yards (curl). A 7 is a post-corner move where, at about 15 yards, the receiver fakes

inside then breaks back to the corner. An 8 is the actual post route. A 9 goes for the

bundle in the end zone (up).

The routes are packaged to match the number of receivers on the field and are coordinateddepending on what the offense is trying to do to the defense. While it is a package, though,

the routes are independent of each other.

And there are what Simmons calls the adjustments, the multiple variations for eachpattern depending on what the defense is doing from the time the huddle breaks to when

the ball is snapped. Each receiver must read the defense in his own area and react. The

quarterback must read the entire field, then get the ball to the correct adjusted spot.

Its a memory thing first, but then it has to become instinctive for the receiver to be

effective, Simmons said. And if theres an adjustment and the receiver and quarterbackarent on the same page well, I guess you know what can happen then.


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#2MORE ON THE DON CORYELL ROUTE TREE:

The Lion playbook goes back to Dan Hennings days in San Diego. After leaving

Washington to become the Chargers head coach in 1989, Henning installed what

amounted to a one-RB power offense with two tight ends.

When Bobby Ross took over the Chargers in 92, he left the basis of Hennings offenseintact while incorporating some of his own ideas. Now the Lions head coach, Ross has

taken the system and terminology he used in San Diego which helped the Chargers earn

a Super Bowl berth after the 94 season and brought them to Detroit.But it goes even further back than that.

"A great deal of it goes back years and years to the Sid Gillman era and to the Don Coryellera," said Lion offensive coordinator Sylvester Croom, who was Ross RB coach in San

Diego before the pair moved to Detroit. "A lot of these systems are hybrids or have their

core terms from 30, 40, 50 years ago, really.

"A lot of passing games are in three digits, where you call the wide receiver and the tight

end. The routes are numbered. Youve got dive plays, trap plays. But the common languagestarts from what we learned when we played or from other coaches who preceded us.Then, we add our own ideas as we go through our careers."

Here is an example of an offensive play using Detroits terminology: twins right scram left

585 crab...

First, lets set the scene. Its 3rd-and-7, with the ball on the 50-yard line. The call is sent in

from the sideline, and the quarterback repeats the instructions to his teammates. The

players break the huddle and move into position.

The first part of the play, "twins right," sets the formation. It tells the tight end and two

receivers (twins) to line up on the right side of the offensive line, with a third receiverpositioned on the left side, or, in this case, the weak side.The Lions have specific letters for their wide receivers. In this play, the Z receiver is lined

up in the slot on the right side, the H receiver lines up to the Zs right on the outside and

the X receiver is the lone pass catcher on the weak side.

"Scram left" is the protection, telling the tight end to stay in and block. The "585" are theroutes that each receiver will run. From left to right, it tells the X to run a "5" route, the Z to

run an "8" route and the H to run a "5" route.

Teams usually number their routes from zero to nine. In this play, the two outside

receivers will run comeback routes to the outside ("5"), and the slot receiver will run a

vertical route straight downfield ("8"). "Crab" refers to the route that the running back willrun. On a crab route, the running back swings around to the outside to catch a flare pass ashe comes out of the backfield, if need be.

Of course, there are variations of this play, as there are for every play. If Croom wanted to

bring the running back out of the backfield and have him line up in the slot on the left side,

he would simply start the play call with "solo," meaning that the quarterback is alone inthe backfield, and alter each players pass route accordingly.

For example, a play with a RB-less backfield could be "solo twins right scram left 22."


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When a play has just two digits, it means that the receivers on both sides of the field will

run the same routes. In this case, "2" routes, or inside slants.However, not all plays go as planned. The way a defense attacks an offense has plenty to do

with the success of a play as the Lions may very well find out here.

#3 QUARTERBACK STEPS IN THROWING THE DON CORYELL ROUTE TREE (BY TED

TOLLNER):

Our setup areas vary according to the type of pass (route or pattern) being thrown. It is

measured in length of stride:- 1 and 2 (3 steps)

- 8,6,3,5 (3 and 2) (5 steps)- 7,9,4 (5 and 2) (7 steps)

-------------------------

Bill Mountjoy [email protected] OR phone: 804-378-0116

WR Alignment RulesJust align your WR's in any of 4 locations depending on their JOB on that particular play.

This is what Bill Walsh did:

1. 6 yds. from TE (or ghost TE) "Nasty".

2. 9 yds. from the same ("Inside Normal")..

3. 12 yds. from the same ("Normal").

4. 15 yds. from the same ("Outside Normal").

-------------------------Bill Mountjoy

ONE ON ONEWITH COACH EASTONCoaching Tips for the QB

SELECTING A STARTING QB FOR YOUR SQUAD: This is perhaps the most important

decision you will make the entire season! Depending upon what offensive system you run,the selection criteria may differ. For example, I ran the triple option out of the bone for

long years. I wanted my starting QB to hold certain physical attributes, such as toughnessboth mentally and physically, football smarts, quickness and speed, etc. BUT BY FAR, IN

MY OPINION THE MOST IMPORTANT ATTRIBUTE THE OPTION QB CAN HAVE IS THE

ABILITY TO READ IT CORRECTLY. Now in this day and time of spread football and the QB


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MAKE CERTAIN YOUR QB AND RECEIVERS FULLY UNDERSTAND THAT THE DEPTHOF THE QB'S DROP IS PREDICATED ON THE DEPTH OF THE RECEIVER'S ROUTE, ANDTHEY MUST CONTINUALLY STRIVE TO MAKE CERTAIN THAT THE BALL IS

DELIVERED ON TIME!!!

WHEN THROWING A QUICK OUT, I RECOMMEND ONE DEEP STEP AND TWO SHORTCHOPPY STEPS. WHEN THROWING DEEPER INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD I

RECOMMEND THREE FULL STEPS IN ORDER TO LET THE PLAY DEVELOPE AND THERECEIVERS TO HAVE TIME TO FINISH THEIR ROUTE.

PROPER RELEASE POINTS WHEN PASSING: There are 3 proper release points by your

QB when he is passing.1. THE 10:00 O CLOCK POSITION (EAR HOLE HIGH) IS THE PROPER RELEASE POINT

WHEN MAKING THE DEEP THROWS.

2. THE 12:00 O CLOCK (CROWN OR TOP OF HEAD) IS THE PROPER RELEASE POINT FOR

MEDIUM DEPTH ROUTES.

3. THE 2:00 O CLOCK (THROWING HAND ABOUT A FOOT IN FRONT AND ABOVEHELMET) IS THE PROPER RELEASE POINT FOR THE SHORT RANGE THROWS.

COACHING POINTS- UPON RELEASE OF FOOTBALL, QB SHOULD COMPLETE HIS

FOLLOW THROUGH BY BRINGING HIS THROWING HAND DOWN THE MIDDLE OF HIS

BODY. I ALWAYS DROVE THIS HOME BY HAVING HIM TOUCH THE INSIDE OF HIS LEFT

THIGH WITH HIS THROWING HAND ON THE FOLLOW THROUGH.MAKE CERTAIN YOUR QB IS KEEPING HIS ELBOW ABOVE HIS SHOULDER ON HIS

THROWING ARM. IF HE IS NOT, HE IS NO LONGER THROWING THE BALL AND IS NOW

"SLINGING" IT. WHEN HE DOES THAT HE IS SACRIFICING HIS ACCURACY. MAKE SURE HE

IS "STEPPING INTO HIS THROW" WHICH ENABLES HIM TO THROW THE BALL WITHHIS

WHOLE BODY AND NOT JUST HIS ARM. TIHS RESULTS IN ADDED VELOCITY ANDDISTANCE OF THE PASS.RELEASE POINT becomes super critical in the short game. Two things to consider;

1. OVERSTRIDING AS YOUR QB STEPS INTO HIS THROW WILL CAUSE THE BALL TO SAIL

ON HIM.

2. RELEASING THE FOOTBALL TOO FAR FORWARD OF THE 2:00 O CLOCK POSITIONWILL CAUSE THE BALL TO DIVE ON THE QB WHEN THROWING SHORT.

3. WE DO NOT AIM THE BALL, HOWEVER WE DO HAVE BODY POINTS TO THROW AT IN

THE SHORT GAME. THE INSIDE ELBOW ON THE SLANT, THE NUMBERS ON THE

HITCH. SOUNDS KIND OF AMBIGUOUS BUT WE FREE WHEEL THE BALL, WE DON'T

AIM IT. IT IS LIKE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SHOOTING A DEER RIFLE VERSES A SHOT

GUN. WE AIM A RIFLE, WE POINT A SHOT GUN.

CORRECT TIMING CAN ONLY BE ACHIEVED BY REP AFTER REP AFTER REP!TEACH YOUR QB'S TO THROW THE QUICK OUT FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN THE

RECEIVERS BACK IS STILL TO HIM. WHEN IT IS DONE RIGHT, THE INSTANT THERECEIVER BREAKS HIS STEM AND TURNS HIS HEAD TO THE BALL, THE BALL

SHOULD SPLIT HIS HANDS! OUTS SHOULD BE THROWN TO THE LEFT, IN


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BREAKING SLANTS, ETC. TO THE RIGHT.

QB HITCH STEPS: Certain pass routes require the QB to take his drop steps and then in

order to maintain his protection, he must take what we call hitch steps in order to deliver

the ball. Hitch steps are always forward in motion toward the LOS and occur when it is

necessary for the QB to evade pressure from one or both sides by stepping up into thepocket to complete his throw. To step laterally is to step right into the uncoming pressure.

COACHING POINT: TEACH YOUR QB'S TO ALWAYS BE MOVING FORWARD WHEN

THROWING TO A THIRD CHECK DOWN RECEIVER. IF HE REMAINS STATIONARY TOREAD, HE IS IN DANGER OF GETTING HIS JOCK KNOCKED LOOSE!!!

QB/RECEIVER RELATIONSHIP: The relationship between the QB and his receiver corps is

probably the single most important facet of the game for a predominately passing team. It

is absolutely imperative that the two groups practice together incessantly! In order to

establish the primary ingredient of a successful passing attack (the TIMING) it becomes adaily part of their regimen, not only during the season but even more so in the off season!The QB's must throw to the receivers they will be throwing to during the season and they

must concentrate on the routes and patterns that the OC will be calling the most. DON'T

WASTE TIME ON ROUTES YOU WILL SELDOM EVER USE, BUT RATHER CONCENTRATE

ON YOUR BREAD AND BUTTER ROUTES UNTIL YOU CAN RUN THEM SUCCESSFULLYAGAINST EVERY COVERAGE YOU WILL SEE. No better time than these summer months

right now to accomplish QUALITY PRACTICE. Athletes who are serious about winning, will

practice 5 days a week during the summer months throwing, catching, running, and weight

lifting.

"COCKING" OR "LOADING" OF THE WRIST: The above terms apply to a very important

part of the pre-throw mechanics. It is the part of the mechanics that puts the nose of the

ball in the proper position for the ball to have the proper aerodynamics when in flight.

It is very easy to accomplish and can be done at different times during the drop andpre-throw period.

I always coach that as the QB receives the ball up under or in the gun, with both handson the ball, he simply tilts the ball toward himself by moving the thumbs toward his

chest causing the opposite or leading end of the football to elevate it'self for the pass.

To make sure you are understanding what I am saying here, put your palms andthumbs together. Now, simply tilt the thumbs back toward your body. See the littlecreases it causes in the wrist? That's all there is to it. Now, do it with a football in your

hands and it becomes perfectly clear how it elevates the nose of the ball in the pre-pass

mode.

I have my QB's "load" their wrists as they accept the ball from center and make theirescape step and start their crossover step in the drop back game. From the gun, I have

them load up the instant they get the snap in their hands.


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LAYERING" OF RECEIVERS: A great way to assist your young QB who is getting ready for

his first year of Varsity competition learn to read defenses is to "layer" your receivers on

the same side. By doing this you have reduced his reading of the entire field to 50% in the

PSL. Further, if you have tagged a route, you have reduced it to 1/3 of a read. "layering"

consists of placing receivers in the pattern at all 3 depths, deep, medium, short on the sameside. Teach your QB's to read from top to bottom, inside out or outside in depending upon

the route.

STEPPING INTO THE THROW: As your QB learns to throw on rhythm, he will soondiscover just how important part the hips play in this facet of the game. As he hits his

brake step in the drop, he must be ready to deliver the football to the correct receiver he

has chosen to get the pass, as he has done his post snap reading while taking his drop.

The rule of thumb is that he should always throw to the FIRST OPEN MAN IN THE READ

PROGRESSION, BE THAT IHS FIRST READ OR HIS LAST READ.A famous NFL personality coined the phrase that a QB's hips have to be "LIKE A WELLGREASED ROUND TABLE." meaning simply that he must make a smooth fluid rotation of

his hips as he steps into the throw.

The hips drive the legs that initiate the process and it can't afford to be herky jerky. The QB

throwing a crossing route is a good example of what I am trying to convey here today. Ashe rotates his hips SMOOTHLY and steps so that his left foot will frame his receiver as he

steps into the throw and keeps the receiver "sighted in" between his left arm (stabilizer)

and his right arm as he delivers the pass, he insures that he will have a good chance of a

completion. But, if his hip rotation is jerky in nature, he will end up behind the receiver

targeted and that is not what you ever want to happen. This example is of a receiverrunning a crossing route from right to left, of course.

MOVING THE LAUNCH POINT: Changing up the spot from which the ball is delivered by

the QB usually involves the sprint out game.

The big advantage is that you prevent the defense from loading up at the spot of wherethe QB delivers the ball each passing play, and makes them have to guess where the

ball is going to be launched.

The mechanics I always teach for this is to have the QB take his escape step at the 4 0clock position, attain his desired depth usually 7-9 yds in as few a steps as is possibleand then to break parallel to the LOS, forsaking the big rounded path as he breakscontain, steps downhill as he squares up to his receiver to prevent throwing across his

body, and let's her rip!!!

He must also know that when he is forced to pull up in his path as he can't breakcontain, that he must know the mechanics of doing that as well in order to make asuccessful throw.

The sprint out game, like any facet of the passing game really, takes lots of hard work


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and rep after rep to establish the all important TIMIMG aspect of the pattern.

HANDLING THE BLITZ: Teach your QB's that when they read blitz coming in the PSL, it is

not the time to panic with thinking like "WOW! Here comes a blitz and I'm going to get

creamed again!" but rather the time to remain POISED AND CONFIDENT that "here is our

chance to make a big play".When they learn not to panic and keep their cool, they will soon discover, to their liking,

that the defense has become very vulnerable by counting on the fact that they can reach

him before he can get the ball off. We do not use HOT receivers very much at all to beat theblitz, as they are not as open as one thinks because in a good defensive scheme they are

accounted for also. But, rather I train them to remain poised, pick out the NEAREST OPENRECEIVER and get him the ball. The nearest receiver is always a high percentage throw,

and the quickest verses the blitz, in my opinion. If you are a gun team here is an excellent

drill I devised long years ago that really helps build your QB's confidence level when it

comes to beating the blitz. Take the 0 line, with the exception of the center, and tell them to

hit the sidelines and watch! Then put the D line and LB's in all the fronts that you will mostlikely see in a game. THE CENTER IS TOLD ONLY TO SNAP THE BALL, DO NOT BLOCK!!!Align your receivers as you would when running your passing attack. THEN, ON THE SNAP

TELL THE DEFENSE, ALL OF THEM, TO COME WITH THEIR EARS LAID BACK!

THEY COME ON THE SNAP, NO DELAY! The snap must be in the qb's hands no later than

.03 of a second!THE QB MUST BE AT 7-8 YDS DEEP AND NOT 5 YDS. His job then is to get the ball off

before a defensive guy can tag him, or touch him in any way! When he becomes proficient

at doing this, then put the 0 line back in their normal spots and run the drill again WITH

THE LINE BLOCKING FULL TILT. The QB thinks he has died and went to heaven, as it will

appear to him now that he has all kinds of time and there is no need to panic!!! GIVE IT ATRY, IT IS A GREAT DRILL.

TEACHING QB'S SELF DISCIPLINE: In coaching QB's for a life long career, one of the most

important facets of his training I found to be is how he conducts himself in the huddle. NOMATTER HOW BAD IT GETS, NEVER PERMIT HIM TO GET ON HIS TEAM MATES ON THE

HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL. ALWAYS BE POSITIVE WITH THEM, EVEN AFTER THE BLOCKING

HAS JUST BROKEN DOWN AND HE HAS GOTTEN NAILED HARD!!! Remarks like; My fault

guys, I should have been quicker. Your doing a great job, just give me one more second this

time and we will run it down their throats! ANYTHING, AS LONG AS IT IS POSITIVE ANDDOES NOT DENEGRATE HIS TEAM MATES. It is human nature not to appreciate beingscreamed at and most of us respond to ENCOURAGEMENT and not DISCOURAGEMENT.

LIKEWISE, WHEN THE QB COMES OFF THE FIELD AFTER A NOT SO HOT SERIES, TO GET

ON HIM IS TO INVITE DISASTER. BE POSITIVE WITH HIM, TALK IN CONVERSATIONAL

TONES WITH REMARKS LIKE; that series is over, let's get ready to get back out there nowand do the things we have worked all week on. Don't be hurried, be quick in your

assignments and be sure and encourage the guys in the huddle, LET'S STAY POSITIVE AND


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KEEP PLAYING HARD. You blow your cool with him, number one it shows your

inexperience and lack of what it takes to coach QB's successfully. You go off on him and heends up by getting all upset, mad, etc. and in the end the score usually tells you that you

just got whipped!!! ENCOURAGE HIM AND DON'T DISCOURAGE HIM.

IT ALL STARTS WITH FOOT PLACEMENT: A bad pass, almost 100% of the time, is theresult of poor FOOT WORK by your QB. He must be coached in the proper mechanics of

making his original escape step thru his break step, a hitch step or two if that is required

on that particular pass, dissecting or framing his target receiver (whichever that pass callsfor) as he steps into his throw on rhythm and releases the football. If he is a gun passer as

my QB's are in the 3 x 2 offense, he must work relentlessly on the proper footwork ofthrowing on the run without the necessity of pulling up, planting, and then making the

throw. It all begins with the feet and I like to say it ends with it too!

OPTION QB'S PITCH METHODS: The basketball pitch, which they teach at the collegelevel, verses the thumb down method, is a matter of preference. I, personally, believe in thethumb down method because it allows the QB to make the pitch and fall back so that he

may better absorb the hit from the DE, while with the basketball pitch the head is going

forward. Both are effective. Take your pick.

TEACHING YOUR OPTION QB TO READ THE VEER OPTION: When teaching your new

QB's to read the Inside and outside veer, I recommend always starting him off by teaching

him the double read required on the inside veer. If he is reading the ISV against a 50 front,

or any front really, the rule of thumb is that he read the first man outside the B hole. If hedoes not give to the dive back, he then proceeds to his second read, the DE. Once hemasters this, the single read on the last man on the end of the LOS required in the OSV

becomes a very simple thing to teach. Teach him that there are only three things a DE can

do to you: He can play HARD and make you pitch right now. He can play SOFT and string

you out. He can go to the pitchman. Teach him as much as you know about reading theoption, because the man who reads it best always won my starting QB job!

CARRY OUT YOUR FAKES!!!: The teaching of your QB's to carry out their fakes seems to

be a lost art anymore. For a QB to make a hand off and then just stand there and watch therunner makes me puke!!! QB's who learn the art of good ball handling and making goodfakes, not only during the ball handling phase of the play, but after the hand off is made as

well becomes a very valuable asset to HS team! A QB carrying out a good fake after the

handoff is fair game for the defense to take a shot at him, granted, and he must be coached

to be ready to take a hit. But, as he carries out his fake and to see a defender follow himjust tickles me to death!!! The QB has done his job by accounting for a defender who more

than likely will not be a tackler on that play!


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BUILDING A TEAM LEADER: ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ATTTRIBUTES THAT YOUR

CHOICE OF WHO IS GOING TO BE YOUR QB IS HIS ABILITY AS A TEAM LEADER!!!

Instill in your QB candidates that THE MAIN JOB OF ANY QB IS TO WIN!!! PERIOD!!! In

order to win, he must be the sort of guy who earns the respect of his teammates. He must

lead by example, not with his mouth. He must instill a winning attitude into the entireteam, not just the offense. I always suggest that if you can locate a good leadership camp

during the summer months, by all means see that he attends!

OPTION QB'S- DON'T FORGET YOUR PASSING SKILL DRILLS EVERY PRACTICE DAY:The Option QB is a special athlete who after running 12-15 straight running plays, must be

able to produce a strike to a receiver in a crucial passing situation! He has no time to

develop any kind of rhythm in a real option attack, as he will probably be called upon to

throw less than a dozen times per game. BUT, WHEN YOU DO CALL UPON HIM YOU FULLY

EXPECT HIM TO COME THROUGH WITH A KEY COMPLETION. In order to do this on gamenight, he must be afforded, EACH AND EVERY DAY OF PRACTICE, AMPLE TIME TO WORKON THE PASSING GAME.

Teachingthe 3-Step Drop: When throwing to the left, I always teach one deep step (never

over shoulder width to maintain balance) while at the same time placing the QB's chin on

his left shoulder as he completes his drop of two choppy steps, brakes and in one smoothmotion rotates his hips (like a well greased round table as Dan Henning say's) and steps

into the throw with his whole body and not just his arm. The play is such a "quick hitter"

that not looking off the defender is spurious to me and by having his eyes fixed on the

receiver he does away with the necessity of his "head being on a swivel" as he locates the

receiver. To me, this technique has long been the best. Unlike throwing to his left, whenthrowing the 3-step ball to the right, I always teach that the QB should keep his head andeyes straight down the MOF until he is ready to brake his 3 step drop and make his throw

to his right. We do this because there is usually an extra defender on the str

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Offensive Football Ideas April 2011