The previous RPOs were against 2-high safeties, because that defensive coordinators like to emulate Nick Saban's defense just like offensive coordinators like to emulate Gus Malzahn's offense. Arkansas last ran it in the late 80s under Ken Hatfield. Along with zone read from spread sets, teams have also used power and veer schemes to run shovel options as well. 38 refers to the positions of the defensive players on the line of scrimmage. It has been used out of the I-formation (and its variants, including the Power-I and Maryland I) and the wishbone formation. When the snap is taken, they make the first read, then after doing so, they move on to the second read. Art Craig, Timberland (SC) High School Head Coach and over a 4-year span (2008-11), Craig's teams have averaged 40 points a game running the Pistol Flexbone.. To counter Brown's attack, Owen installed a 614 defense, with his ends, Jim Duncan and Ray Poole, "flexing," or dropping back as linebackers. Run-Pass Options are what this article will focus on, since they emulate the triple option philosophy most closely. [26], The Cincinnati Bengals under Marvin Lewis occasionally used a variant of the Emory and Henry formation, which they called the "Star Wars" formation; in their version, both offensive tackles line up on the same side of the quarterback, thus creating a hybrid between the Emory & Henry and the swinging gate.[27][28]. 2k followers Football Drills . "It's part triple option, part Wishbone, part Veer an offense popularized by former Houston coach Bill Yeoman in the 1970s and part Pistol, the latter a newer entry into college football's offensive lexicon. The most common play out of the formation is a quick pass to a receiver on the outside which functions much like a wide receiver screen or, if defenders crowd the line of scrimmage, a quickly thrown streak route with the receiver attempting to run past them. The "kneel" or "victory" formation was developed in the 1978 NFL season after The Miracle at the Meadowlands, a botched final play in a game between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles that resulted in a fumble and a pivotal last-second score. A tackle-spread formation was included in the video game Madden NFL 18 under the name "Gun Monster;" it proved to be a problem for the game's artificial intelligence, which could not discern eligible receivers from ineligible ones. The most extreme shotgun formation is the Shotgun Spread (D) formation in which the tight end is . There are few stars in a wishbone offense. The shotgun offense became a staple of many college football offenses beginning in the 1990s. The second difference is the blocking technique. The original 6-1 was invented by Steve Owen in 1950 as a counter to the powerful passing attack of Paul Brown's Cleveland Browns. Often, a tight end or full back position is occupied by a player who normally plays offensive line or defensive line positions to act as an extra blocker. Along with this split back approach, these teams would also at times use a tight-end or fullback in an H-back, or sniffer back alignment, which is in front of the QB offset to the left or right. It is often referred to as the "bastard child of the I and the Wing-T". A third type of veer play is the midline. In Madden 22, the . The power spread offense is designed to be very simple to run and install. The wishbone offense is a balanced offense that forces the defense to defend both sides of the formation. Faster linebackers require more blocking on the outside, and spoil the top plays of the wishbone. There are many flavors of triple option, and you can find these various types throughout all of football, from youth levels, to the NFL. The classic wishbone formation and the backfield set that gives it its name. The formation features several stop-gaps in the event the quarterback does lose the ball: a seven-man line, the quarterback, two upbacks (running backs) immediately behind him, one at each side in the event he fumbles, and a fast player (usually a wide receiver or cornerback) several yards back as a last resort in case the defense recovers and is able to advance the ball. The San Francisco 49ers added the Pistol to their offense in 2012 after former Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick became the team's starter. Both offenses also developed secondary veer plays as well, most notably the outside veer, considered by many as the most difficult veer play to stop. This series is a great offense to considered! Both guards, both tackles, a tight end, and a receiver line up on the line of scrimmage. There can be two tight ends as well, with no wide receivers. Since that time, Tim Murphy, Steve Calande, Jack Greggory, Robert McAdams, and several other coaches have further developed the offense and coaching materials thereof. It allows defenses more flexibility in man to man coverages and zone blitzes. They are still sometimes used in goal-line situations. This formation is intended for one purpose: to allow the quarterback to safely down the ball without losing control, preventing the defense from recovering and advancing the ball to the end zone. We use 1 back, 2 backs, 3 backs and no back formations. Prior to the snap, only the lone lineman assumed a three-point stance near the offensive center while the 6 linebackers "roved" up and down the line of scrimmage, attempting to confuse the quarterback as to whether they would rush the passer, drop into coverage, or play the run. Bring a back or receiver into the backfield via formation call or motion, and have the QB read that second unblocked defender. 4-4 is another good one for wishbone. It then was an important formation up to the T formation era. However, the Wing Back may also line up diagonally from the Tight End. 3. There is also a variation of this defense called the 3-4 under defense. They started by innovating their own toss sweep series called the rocket toss, then later borrowed ideas from Fisher DeBerry at Air Force, including the inside veer and midline veer. The Chicago Bears of the mid-1980s famously used defensive tackle William "The Refrigerator" Perry as a fullback in this formation. Wishbone has 2 tight-ends, 5 linemen, 1 fullback, and 2 half backs. If that defender attacks the QB, the QB throws the ball to that receiver, rather than pitching it. A well-known variation on the single wing offense would be Knute Rockne's "Notre Dame Box" that he ran with the Four Horsemen. Though the wildcat concept was successful for a time, its effectiveness decreased as defensive coordinators prepared their teams for the change of pace play. In 2008, Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Chan Gailey began using the Pistol prominently in their offense, and are the first NFL team to do so. More extreme defensive formations have been used when a coach feels that his team is at a particular disadvantage due to the opponent's offensive tactics or poor personnel match-ups. [36][32][37][38] As the T formation grew popular in the 1940s, this formation was replaced in the NFL with the 5-3 and the 5-2 defenses. The Ski-gun is a lesser known version of the flexbone option offense, but still has the inside veer at its core. Such a pistol-wishbone fusion allows an offense to run an old-school option offense out of a base pistol set. October 08, 2018. Shurmur created the defense in part to take advantage of the pass rush abilities of Kevin Greene, a defensive end sized linebacker. Clark Shaughnessy designed the formation from the T Formation in 1949 after acquiring halfback Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch. It also allows for ten offensive players to block, unlike in a conventional running play, in which the quarterback is usually not involved after delivering the ball to a running back. If the DE attacks the dive, the QB pulls. Zone principles teach a more balanced stance, and using hands and leverage to steer defenders in a particular direction. In this formation, one back (the fullback) lines up behind the quarterback. A modern example of the "pro-set" can be seen in the Florida State University offense, which favors a Split Backs formation. The first is the dive-backs assignment. Run out of the shotgun, with WRs swinging in, this formation accentuates the talents of a new era of dual-threat QBs. RED FORMATION Although the modern Wing-T system is a multi-formation complex, I strongly recommend that youth coaches stick with one formation, known universally as Red (when the TE and WB are aligned to the Right) and Blue (when the TE and WB align Left). YouthFootballOnline.com. The fourth back is most commonly employed as an extra wide receiver. With the shotgun formation, you get more horizontal misdirection but you lose a lot of the downhill angles for your run game and the ball being in front of the QB for a handoff means you can't hide it . A combination of the 44, 62, and the 46, it is designed to stop the run and to confuse offenses. This will allow your players to adapt to and learn the system The LB's have hook zones. The rule also states that there must be five players on both sides of the ball. [43] The differences between the Oklahoma 5-2 and the 3-4 are largely semantics. If you can make that quick read all five of these get to the 2nd level QUICK and rarely result in negative plays. Defender. With Markham's success came many converts to his offense and many variations of the offense over the years. Kickoff formations are usually in a straight line, with ten players (nine if a placeholder is used on the kickoff) lined up across the field several yards behind the ball. [30] It was called the "Umbrella" defense because of the four defensive backs, whose crescent alignment resembled an opened umbrella, and the tactic of allowing the defensive ends to fall back into pass coverage, converting the defense, in Owen's language, from a 614 into a 416. It was created by Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur, and evolved from Buddy Ryan's 46 defense. The three options are the dive back attacking the guards butt to the B-gap, the QB keeping off tackle, and the pitch back trailing behind. To defend punts, the defensive line usually uses a man-on-man system with seven defensive linemen, two cornerbacks, a linebacker and a kick returner. Yes! The Shotgun has become a popular option formation since Eric Crouch and the University of . The 353 refers to a defense that has three down linemen (the "3" level), three linebackers and two corners (the "5" level), one free safety and 2 strong safeties (the "3" level). It utilizes four wide receivers and no tight ends. I love the wishbone and I like killer bee defense. [25] The New England Patriots used a variation of the formation by placing a (legally declared) eligible-numbered receiver in the ineligible tackle position; the confusion this caused prompted the league to impose a rule change prohibiting that twist beginning in 2015. Shotgun Formation In the shotgun formation the quarterback stands several . This also allows the smaller halfbacks to hide behind the offensive line, causing opposing linebackers and pass-rushing defensive linemen to play more conservatively. Or Georgia Southern in recent years? The common rule of blocking on the inside veer is that the first defensive player on (over) or outside of the play-side tackle is the dive read. This was once one of the most common formations used at all levels of football, though it has been superseded over the past decade or so by formations that put the quarterback in the shotgun formation. Historically, this was the first major defense with 4 defensive backs, and was used to combat the passing attacks of the time. The QB backs up, out of the backs path to make the mesh/read. The whole system can be installed within 3 - 5 days and then you get reps, reps, reps. The "Ski-Gun" The Ski-gun is a lesser known version of the flexbone option offense, but still has the inside veer at its core. Singleback Offense: a versatile passing offense, which also works well for draws and outside runs. It is because of this that the secondary safety in a football defense is called a free safety rather than a weak safety. Even in his last year at Rice (2005) he was in it a good amount of time. To have a triple option play, regardless of the style of offense, you need these components: A called run play/scheme for the offensive line and a running-back. At New Mexico with Bob Davie, and at Georgia Southern (After Paul Johnson went to Navy), they maintained the full house/four-back offensive style the flexbone and wishbone. The Nickel formation comes in several varieties: There are a couple paths to the 4-2-5. The difference is that the two backs are split behind the quarterback instead of being lined up behind him. With this offense, the quarterback has the ability to get a better look past the offensive line and at the defense. Like the wishbone, the flexbone formation is commonly used to run the triple option. Just like the old days, the college football world was focusing all of its attention on an offensive system born way back when Army was the national power that Oklahoma is now. The 44 defense consists of four defensive linemen, four linebackers, and three defensive backs (one safety, two corners). The NFL also made a rule regarding the receiving team's formation in 2018. Another variation of the single wing was the A formation. In most cases, it is exclusively a running formation, designed to score by brute force. As a result, it was considered a much better passing formation than running, as the premiere running formation was the single wing. There are no rules regarding the formation of defensive players or their movement before the snap of the ball as the choice of when to snap the ball is that of the offense which would consequently deprive the defense of an opportunity to take a set position. On offense, the formation must include at least seven players on the line of scrimmage, including a center to start the play by snapping the ball. "This Army team is . Half dollar defenses are almost always run from a 308 formation. The linemen on the play side are going to block down (to their left). If that defender attacks the QB, the QB pitches it to the trailing halfback. Emerging during the late 1990s and 2000s the spread option is typically run from any variant of the shotgun formation such as the example above. This formation utilizes three running backs (a fullback and two halfbacks) and got its name from backfield alignment. A formation similar to the Flexbone, though much older, is known as the "Delaware Wing-T" was created by longtime University of Delaware coach and NCAA Rules Committee chairman David M. Nelson, and perfected by his successor Tubby Raymond. Still, this list of formations covers enough of the basics that almost every formation can be considered a variant of the ones listed below. Now the QB can give, keep and run or keep and throw, with the third option being another pass option. Some attribute the modern origins of the "Wildcat" to Bill Snyder's Kansas State (whose sports teams are known as the "Wildcats") offense of the late 90s and early 2000s, which featured a lot of zone read runs by the quarterback. Usually, one of the wingbacks will go in motion behind the quarterback before the snap, potentially giving him another option to pitch to. The formation was originally designed as a brute-force running formation, since it had 7 players to one side of the center and only 2 on the other. There is also a difference in personnel . In the empty backfield formation, all of the backs play near the line of scrimmage to act as extra wide receivers or tight ends, with the quarterback lining up either under center or, most commonly, in the shotgun. The two backs line up either in a line (hence the name of the formation since it looks like a letter I) or with the fullback "offset" to either side. If you want to see the Run n Shoot in its most original form today, you want to watch Army and Navy! That said, it was regarded as a good formation for trap plays. By having the mass of runners in the center it creates an unbalanced field of 8 verses 7 throughout the entire game. Two tight ends line up on the same side as the flanker. The quarterback can receive the snap and choose to throw a forward pass to the center or turn and throw a pass or lateral to a back opposite the field from him and the center. THEYRE THE SAME PLAY! [2] In this configuration the line of scrimmage has an end and tackle left of center, while to the right of the center are two guards, a tackle, and an end. Today, Tony Annesse is the head coach at Ferris State University (MI), and he has since adapted his offense to more modern concepts that are popular in college football, like RPOs, which this article will get to shortly. This is the base defense of some teams. Now youre leaving the third defender outside (or behind) of the DE unblocked. This formation is often referred to as a "two tight end" set. This was accomplished by moving a safety up into the "box" instead of a fourth linebacker. The base play of this offense features a dive component, where the QB runs straight down the line of scrimmage to mesh with a diving halfback. It has become a very popular offense with high schools and small colleges. With adjustments in blocking and running we can create situations that are unfavorable to the defense at all times. The wishbone offense, . The most recent use of this formation was in 2019, when the Miami Dolphins played the Philadelphia Eagles in the second quarter on 4th and goal when Matt Haack (normally used as a punter or a placekick holder) took the snap and flicked the ball to Jason Sanders (normally used as a placekicker) for a touchdown. However, it is also incorrect. As such, its use has declined since 2009, particularly in the NFL. All else is "variations. In football, the formation describes how the players in a team are positioned on the field. The formation is a twist on the basic T Formation that has been a popular Goal Line formation for decades. [21] Historically, it was used to great success as a primary formation in the NFL by the Tom Landry-led Dallas Cowboys teams of the 1970s and the 1990s Buffalo Bills teams under Marv Levy, who used a variation known as the K-gun that relied on quarterback Jim Kelly. Power RPO with Ron McKie. Breaking numerous state records everywhere Markham coached (and even setting the national high school scoring record) the "Markham Rule" was put into place to keep his team from winning by too many points. Lets say you call an inside veer to the right. Designate a larger, more bruising back to execute all the dives to the left and right, while mirroring the two halfbacks, that way the defense could not determine which side of the formation the offense was more likely to run to. They proudly claimed the name of this variation, the ski-gun.. His Oklahoma City program presented the new offensive formation to great fanfare before losing to the Southwestern Moundbuilders by a score of 70.[22]. Chicago rode this defense into a 151 season in 1985, culminating in a 4610 win over New England in Super Bowl XX. Top 5 flex/wingbone plays on the game IMO: Flexbone: Trips Left - TR Option Center. #6. The seventh defensive back is often an extra safety, and this defense is used in extreme passing situations (such as to defend against a Hail Mary pass). The Seattle Seahawks under Mike Holmgren also favored this type of formation with the tight end usually being replaced with a third wide receiver. The T formation, wishbone, and flexbone are the most popular football formations that use three . The dive back attacks the C-gap or outside the tackle, rather than the guard or B-gap. Today, you can run triple options with a dive, keep, and pitch phase, or a dive, keep and pass, or a dive, pass and pass, or any other combination of the three. Also, the formation often featured an unbalanced line where the center (that is, the player who snapped the ball) was not strictly in the center of the line, but close to the weakside. 7) The key to this offense is to know what the defense is doing and then attack it with the understanding of what will work against it. The outside veer is pretty similar to the Split-T option play. As the offense evolved, the QB keep component began to add the addition of a read, where the QB would either keep the ball, or pitch it to the trailing halfback. One is by removing a linebacker from the standard 43 to add the extra defensive back. On each side, two players must line up outside the numbers and two players must be lined up between the numbers and the hashmarks. On zone, the back is reading the blocks, and is making a read as to which direction to take the ball. The pitch back is the third read. One would run inside zone one way, while the other was the pitch back crossing over. Many leagues require that at least four players be on each side of the kicker at the time of a kick; prior to this, an onside kick formation often had all ten of the other players on one side of the kicker. The '46' refers not to any lineman/linebacker orientation but was the jersey number of hard hitting strong safety Doug Plank, the player Buddy Ryan first used in this role at Chicago. The formation featuring three running backs launched the Longhorns, Alabama and Oklahoma to greatness in the '70s, inspired the Air Raid and lives on in today's run-pass option attacks. Kick return formations vary; in most situations, an association football-like formation is used, with eleven players staggered throughout the field including two (rarely, one) kick returners back to field deep kicks, two more twenty yards ahead of them to field squib kicks, two more at about midfield mainly to assist in blocking, and five players located the minimum ten yards from the kicking line. Schenkel, Chris, NBC Broadcast, 1956 NFL Championship. The Shotgun formation, originally called the Lonesome Quarterback, was an invention by Pop Ivy while coaching in the CFL, although Red Hickey, coach of the San Francisco 49ers is credited with bringing it to the NFL in 1960 and renaming it the Shotgun. This is also the offense that Paul Johnson used to build Georgia Southern into a I-AA powerhouse in the late 90s, and ever since then, Georgia Southern has gone back and forth between this system with changes in coaching staffs. The wide receiver can capitalize on interception opportunities in the expected high-risk offensive play. The pistol formation adds the dimension of a running game with the halfback being in a singleback position. Now almost everyone has shotgun or pistol alignments. The midline was primarily used as a double option just between the QB and dive back, but as the play gained popularity with the later flexbone teams, a triple option version became feasible as well. New Mexico runs a Mesh from the shotgun or pistol formation where the back lines up either to the side of the QB or . This link shows all sorts of schemes from Johnsons system. Developed by the Missouri Tigers at the start of the 40s, the offense spread throughout football, and became the offense of infamous Oklahoma coach Bud Wilkinson. This formation is normally used for a pass play, but can also be good for running, as defenders must move at least one player out of the middle of the field (the "box", between the tackles on the offensive line) to cover the additional wide receiver or tight end. This was probably the latest of the three veer-type plays to develop, and is definitely the most nuanced. Also known as the "ace" or "singleback" formation, the single set back formation consists of one running back lined up about five yards behind the quarterback. The position was usually filled by a powerful runner who carried the "dive" element of a triple-option rushing attack and played a featured role in the way an offense attempted to move the chains. He brought the philosophy with him to the Buffalo Bills in 2010. This leaves the DE, and the next defender outside of the DE unblocked. Don Markham at American Sports University. It's a combination of wishbone power, wing-t blocking, spread concepts, and pistol formations all in to one. Developed at Hawaii in the early 1990s, Paul Johnsons flexbone option offense is what most fans today think of in terms of triple option teams. If offenses grew wise to the drop back, the ends could pass rush instead. The 335 removes a lineman to the nickelback. It can also be used similarly to a flexbone formation, with the receivers closest to the center acting as wing backs in an option play. WhatIf's Dynasty College Football Sim - The Ultimate Fantasy Football Games - Coach your favorite college team - Recruit players, set game plans and dominate 3 players in the secondary all cover deep thirds. Georgia Tech Option Cut-ups. Same rules as veer: block down inside the hole, leave the first defender on or outside the hole unblocked. When zone left is called, the option is to the right, and vice versa. However, this facet of the offense was never legal at the college or professional level, and the high school loophole was closed in 2009. However, as with any hugely successful formation or philosophy, as teams learned how to defend against it, it became much less successful. [42] A later evolution of the original 5-2 is the Oklahoma 52, which ultimately became the professional 3-4 when the defensive ends of the original 5-2 were substituted over time for the outside linebackers of the 34. The wildcat formation is similar to run-oriented formations used during the early days of football, but it had not been seen in the NFL for many years until the Miami Dolphins employed it during the 2008 season with running backs Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown. The 6-2 defense consists of six defensive linemen, two linebackers, and three defensive backs (one safety, two corners). Three common six man fronts seen in this more modern era are the tight six (linebackers over offensive ends, four linemen between linebackers), the wide tackle 6 (linebackers over offensive tackles, two linemen between linebackers) and the split 6 (linebackers over guard-center gap, all linemen outside linebackers).[39][40]. Much like the wing-T, you're going to line up a center, two guards, and two tackles in this formation - and you're going to add two tight ends, and two wingbacks as well. Shotgun, Trips left (3 wide receivers on the same side) Shotgun, Max Protect (Full back in to provide additional protection to quarterback) . Then you read the next defender outside for QB keep or pitch. Diagram and description of the Maryland I at. Formations: I-Formation Pro Wishbone Wing-T Ace . These formations lack a flanker, and use the maximum 3 running backs rather than the standard 2. The wishbone is a common formation for the triple option offense in which the quarterback decides after the . . Paul Johnsons flexbone evolved differently than DeBerrys at Air Force. This is also a balanced formation (even threats on each side of the field). When this offense formed at Hawaii, the formation was already there, but Hawaii was running the Run n Shoot. As the extra defensive back in the nickel formation is called the nickel, two nickels gives you a dime, hence the name of the formation. [41] The other feature of the 46 was the placement of both "outside" linebackers on the same side of the formation, with the defensive line shifted the opposite way with the weak defensive end about 1 to 2 yards outside the weak offensive tackle. He may be used as an extra blocker or a receiver. The most common seven-man line defenses were the 7-2-2 defense and the 7-1-2-1 defense. What we are seeing is an application of option and triple option football to a more diverse running and passing game. [13][18][19] In the 1956 NFL Championship, the Chicago Bears shifted into a short punt formation in the third quarter, after falling way behind.[20]. A variation of the ace is known as the spread formation. The flexbone formation is a variation of the wishbone formation. HuskerBLM said: Off Season "I wonder": The Wishbone and I Formation Option offenses. Here are three diagrams of I-Formation, strong side right (that is, with the tight end lining up to the right, typical for a right-handed quarterback). interior line and LBs for dive, DE for qb and OLB for pitch man or switch if its double dive. The shotgun formation is the most common offensive formation used in American football. Into the 80s, Air Force head coach Fisher DeBerry was looking for a way to make his Wishbone offense more flexible. One of the major setbacks of the wishbone is that there are only two players, the two ends, who could be immediate deep passing threats. The shotgun formation is a formation used by the offensive team in gridiron football mainly for passing plays, although some teams use it as their base formation. Midline QB ISO (in any bone formation) Wingbone: Normal - TR Option STR. Most offensive systems that employ the wishbone use it as their primary formation, and most run the ball much more often than they pass. The other players that are not on the line of scrimmage can either act as tight ends or wide receivers. The QB and RB mesh, and the QB reads the backside defensive end for give or keep.