3 Ways Using The Tight End can improve your Passing Game & RPO Clinic Tape
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3 Ways we have used the TE to enhance our offense are as follows.
1. Flood is a great concept, very rarely do I run Sprint Out, however this was our most effective Flood Pass, great explosive and great on third and 7+
2. Depending on how much of a weapon your TE is, Trips usually pulls the coverage towards it and that leaves a chance to run weak flood, if teams run what is known as "Steal" coverage.
Combining Smash with Drive, gives us a great weak flood concept...
3. Throwing Verticals has a lot to do with spacing, one of the best ways to formation a defense is using Empty with one or multiple tight ends. Depending on how teams rotate you can get a vertical shot called combined with seam read and shallow allowing for shallow dig as a response or a quick seam shot.
Here is film on all 3 concepts.
RPO Clinic
Here is film on Study Tape for RPO's.. I have been holding on to this one for a LONG TIME. I think you will find something useful or it will reinforce something that you do!
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If you are a member of the No Huddle Tempo Practice Page, then you saw the post earlier this summer about what do you give your players for scouting reports during the season.
I like to make my digital and share.
All you end is a Screen Recorder, HUDL and YouTube.
Using Screen-O-Matic, I record a walk-through on HUDL, going through formations and plays, then I upload to YouTube and share with my team in our group chat.
Below is a Sample.
I encourage you to look at this option for the upcoming season for your players....
Score In The Redzone
As the season approaches make sure you have a plan!
Read The Article Here --> CLICK ME
More Info & Plays on Scoring In The RedZone --> CLICK ME Using The Stick Route in The RPO/Game Tested RPOS (Updated)
For the past 6 years, I have have served as Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator and each year I have refined my process of Coordinating the offense. Here are my tips to help you become a better Offensive Coordinator!
We use 4 run plays... It could change from year to year! This year the plan is Inside Zone, Dart, Outside Zone and Pin-N-Pull. However last year we ran Buck Sweep and Counter GT.
Limit your schemes. I love the Snag passing Game. Why? It can be used for Multiple Formations. use whatever you like Y Cross, Curls, etc......
#2 - Possession and Ten
I can not detail enough how important I think this down is! I think it is the most important down in football. In doing a game breakdown for a friend this past season. They played the team that won there region, overall they were 4-2-5 cover 3 57% of the time on base downs, HOWEVER on possession and ten 96% of the time they were 2 high cover 4! Knowing this would have made a difference in his game planning!
In 2017, the average #FBS team scored points on 45% of possessions when they were efficient (4 or more yards) on P&10. When they weren't efficient (3 yards or less) on P&10, the average team scored points 27% of the time. A dramatic difference based on one play.
You have to create explosive plays to score! Teams that score average 2 explosive plays per drive. The question becomes how to do you create explosive plays! One reason why coaches love the wing-t is because it is system based.
Sweep Play/Inside Trap/Waggle..
Every offense should be this way! You need a base play, a reaction play for a change in defense, a play to deal with the blitz off of it and a touchdown call!
For us we are going to run the zone with a bubble screen, you better believe that faking the bubble and going vertical is in the playbook!
So far in 2016, teams winning the turnover margin AND explosive play battle are 82-6 (93.18%).
How does your offensive coaches and players communicate to each other. How many steps is a curl, how do you explain what is open, you need to really have a deep look at how you communicate all these things!
If you need help and a starting point. I recommend you go buy this book today - What is Open by Dub Maddox! . Everyone on offense needs to speak a common language!
#5 - Goal line and Red Zone
Yes, you need a plan of attack for it! It could be a separate formation 22p, wildcat, etc.. Or it could be a set of plays! What has worked well for me has been a) determining when the Red Zone begins for us we saw that teams really didn't start to play us differently until the 13 yard line, so that is when our Red Zone thinking really kicked in. b) Study the breakdown on the front and coverages teams gave on scout film to determine what you should expect inside the Red Zone. c) For us we were more successful when we found 6 play variations off of things that we did that we used in the red zone!
There are certain plays in our base offense that work well anywhere, but we have a catalog of plays that we found that work well in the red zone and we work 2-3 a week and rotate them during the season, really changed our offense for the better in the red zone.
I use to just try to get a bunch of plays from people that "worked" on 3rd down and we focused too much on 3rd down. A - the best offenses DO NOT PLAY 3rd down. That should be your #1 3rd down goal. However, study 3rd down and write down the blitzes, what you will find is most DC's have a rhyme and reason to how they blitz on 3rd down. 1st determine how you will protect your QB on 3rd down and then with the rest of the WR's not needed to protect the QB come up with the best pass play to attack the defense to get the 1st down.
#7 - DO NOT ALLOW SACKS
There is a 216% difference between the average FBS team's chance of scoring a TD on drives with and without one or more sacks.
— SportSource Analytics (@SportSourceA) July 31, 2016
You see how much sacks matter even at the college level! So I learned something from my Brother Coach K . He practices Pass Protection 10 minutes Monday - Wednesday! Take your lineman OL/DL and work stunts and Pass Protection Daily. He does this more than Inside Run. We haven't done it to this level but will more. One nugget when we script plays I picked up from Bobby Bentley was to practice 2 passes for every 1 run. Work on pass protection.
#8 - Group is just as important as Indy
You don't need 30 minutes of Indy only! Find ways to steal time for group no matter the offense.
Spread Teams here are 2 samples...
Wing-T
#9 - YES you must have a script to start the game
Develop a method any method. First 10, First 15. Have a method. Here is mine with my staff
#10 Self-Scout
Always know what plays you have run the last 2 games. Don't let the defense know more than you!
Take a look back, the easiest way is to print out for calls for each individual game from HUDL and then add the last 2 games back together. Know you better than they ever could!
Those are my ten tips to becoming a better offensive coordinator! Doing a few of these or all 10 can make you a better OC this upcoming season! Good LUCK and go score!
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I know, everyone has sent me a message waiting on Part 2 of my Glazier Clinic Notes from Brent Dearmon and they are coming soon..
This past month I haven't had a chance to update the blog, due to my new position as Head Football Coach at a new school. Busy with Spring Football and licking my chops being able to teach the game from the ground up again!
This doesn't mean, we don't have some great updates for you!
If you subscribe to my YouTube Channel you know I have dropped off some exciting videos this last month!
Inside Zone Bash
The hottest article on this site in a while was The Bash Concept posted by John Konecki!
While like him I love the Bash Concept when paired with Counter. Here is an alternative for those of you who are heavy Inside Zone.
Inside Zone Drills, Formations and Film
If you are a member of our Facebook Group No Huddle Tempo Practice you know the question how do you run Inside Zone is asked a TON!
I am a firm believer in as many double teams as possible. But here is a presentation on how to install the Inside Zone.
Variation and Window Dressing the IZ in the Spread
Here is a simple way to add a post-snap pass off of Inside Zone that will give the defense multiple looks! I got this from Joe Osovet and The Bolt Offense
Two Must Read Articles
If you want to become a better offensive coach, I have 2 must read articles that have been recently published!
I had the pleasure of listening to Brent Dearmon at the Atlanta Football Glazier Clinics. He was worth the FULL CLINIC. I fully hope Kansas uses what he knows!
If you know me, you know I am a RPO lover. We ran a lot of RPOs at Newton High School and over the last 8 years starting with my favorite stick-draw to the most used one for me Stick-Zone.
But Brent Dearmon has taken RPO, playcalling, development and understanding to the next level.
In part one, I want to give you what I learned from him to make the Zone game better.....
#1 - That he plays with Field and Boundary Wide Receivers. He plays his best WR to the boundary and that his Field WR is his best blocker
#2 He teaches the H-back to duck walk 3 steps, with eyes on the LB, who is the run fitter, before going on to the safety.
#3 He installs IZ for the 1st 2 days because his team is in Helmets he wants to make sure he gets the base of his offense right.
#4 He spoke about how to use the Zone Read Bubble with 2 RBs 1st
Does your program use them? Should you use them? And if you have the information what do you do with it?
Coach Konecki has talked a lot over the last 2 years about his study of Analytics and how it has helped him prepare and re-think practice.
Coach Perry of Pearl HS, I came across last year and dove off the deep end after hearing him and thinking about the information that Coach Konecki had preached about.
Here are 2 coaches who have played for state titles (multiple) talking about analytics! Maybe I should learn more - both talked about SportSource Analytics . Come listen and learn about Analytics and dive into your off-season study! Here are some of issues and topics we talked about and dove into on the podcast.
Our objectives are a big part of our success! Kids know this is how we are gonna win! We preach them, grade them and reward them! pic.twitter.com/Dw4rdwm4JR
In 2017, the average #FBS team scored points on 45% of possessions when they were efficient (4 or more yards) on P&10. When they weren't efficient (3 yards or less) on P&10, the average team scored points 27% of the time. A dramatic difference based on one play.
— SportSource Analytics (@SportSourceA) March 7, 2019
Note to defensive coaches: At the FBS level, teams score TD's: 9% of drives when one or more sacks is recorded; 15% of drives when one or more negative plays is recorded; 4% of drives without a big play (12+ yard run or 15+ yard pass); & 20% of drives when inefficient on P&10.
— SportSource Analytics (@SportSourceA) March 9, 2018
During Wednesday’s practice, Newton head coach Terrance Banks said that
he knew what he wanted to do regarding his two-man quarterback race, but
wasn’t ready to share it. We found out Friday night as senior LT
Stowers trotted out for the first series of the game, and stayed in
throughout, and what a difference it made, starting with the Rams’ first
series of the game. It was a 77-yard scoring drive that took all of 47
seconds. The pace looked good. His throws were crisp. It looked as if
Newton had been working on the execution of that specific play during
the entire bye week and preparation week.
THIS was the start of an article from a game we played this season, when things started clicking! It wasn't that we had been working on a "specific" play all week, it was that our quarterback in his first full time start finally started to understand HIS options in the RPO game!
XO Clinics all month of February posted a play a day. One of the plays that shared was one of our best RPOs from the past 2 seasons.
We have been able to create explosive plays in our offense by advancing the teaching of our RPOs.
By giving our quarterbacks a pre-snap answer and post-snap answer. Also by attaching quick game tags such as double slants and seam-fin, we have been able to eliminate the need to call quick game or a run play. We are now about to do both, RPOs make up approximately 40% of our offense.
To understand how we got here, let me take you back eight years to the first RPO we used in our offense and still is one of my favorites, go-to plays and crutch.
Stick-Draw, this is what it looked like then.
We still run this play, especially in the 3rd and medium range and if you have a Mobile QB it is great from Empty variations.
From there our RPO Game expanded to what is the #1 ran RPO today, Zone-Stick we still run it and use several variations. Examples are shown here..
I want to share with you a few of our game tested RPOs that you should look at adding to your catalog these plays have really CHANGED and expanded what we do and helped us create more explosive plays plus streamlined our passing package.
John K., John M. and Terrance bring you their first podcast from there blog -- They talk one time they have learned this off-season, where to play your bet Wide Receiver, the Bash concept play, practicing hard with no pads and limiting your number of plays but not formations!
A few years ago I was interested in using a Go Pro camera. Lucky for me I was able to buy a used one for pretty cheap. It definitely is an interesting perspective and can help with Oline play as well. I may have to invest in updated one with remote for easier of editing.
I have been reading and received a number of comments about the bash concept that is currently being employed by offenses across the football landscape. I thought I would take the time to put my thoughts about the play to paper. But before I begin on my explanation of the bash play I think it is important to speak about the zone read.
ZONE READ RIGHT
(Figure One)
ZONE READ LEFT
(Figure Two)
In both of these examples, you can see diagrams for the outside zone play to the right (Figure One) and the outside zone play to the left (Figure Two) both of these examples call for the uncovered offensive linemen to pull into the first vertical seam they can find along the line of scrimmage (LOS). Please note the red triangle is the presnap read key for the quarterback on the outside zone play. The number two wide receiver on the backside of the run is running a bubble route. (Coaching Point-Make sure you have your backside wide receiver chop their feet in place prior to extending on the bubble)
ZONE READ QB PULL LEFT
(Figure Three)
ZONE READ QB PULL RIGHT
(Figure Four)
In both of these examples, you will see the quarterback reading the backside defender. In the two examples (Figure Three and Figure Four) the quarterback reads the backside defender. In both of these examples, the backside defender comes upfield and is on a path to disrupt the outside zone play to the running back. Upon observing the defensive end and his post-snap movement the quarterback pulls the football. Immediately after the quarterback pulls the ball he needs to get his eyes on the defender over the number two wide receiver (blue triangle). If the man over number two attacks the quarterback he throws the ball to the wide receiver who is running the backside bubble. If the man over number expands with the bubble the quarterback puts his foot in the ground and get vertical in the void that has been created by the vacating defender.
As defenses have evolved they have become pretty good at defending the aforementioned zone read play. Obviously the longer you run the zone read play the more iterations of defensive alignment and backside exchanges you will see defenses employ. The four examples above were a brief explanation of how to run the zone read play out of the 2x2 formation. Throughout the rest of this article, we will examine the bash play which is an excellent complement to the zone read play.
There are a number of reasons to run this play but one of the main reasons I employ it into my offense is it does not change the assignments for the offensive line. As you will see in all of the figures in this articles the offensive line is blocking the play the same exact way based upon our outside zone rules. Below you will see an everyday drill we use in our system to teach our offensive linemen to pull on our wide zone play.
BASH PLAY QB KEEP RIGHT
(Figure Five)
BASH PLAY QB KEEP LEFT
(Figure Six)
The primary difference on this play is the quarterback and the running back have switched roles on the outside zone play. The quarterback now will run the outside zone play exactly as the running back runs the play. The quarterback will read the blocks the same way the running back reads the blocks of the offensive linemen. The quarterback’s read key is still the defensive end (red triangle). After the ball has been snapped the quarterback will place the ball out in front of their body to mesh with the running back. It is important to note, that the quarterback’s eyes need to be on the backside defender. It is the running backs responsibility to mesh with the quarterback. In both figures five and six, the quarterback would keep the ball and run the outside zone based upon the post-snap movement of the defensive end.
BASH PLAY QB GIVE (RUNNING BACK LEFT)
(Figure Seven)
(Figure Eight)
As you can see if both figures seven and eight the defensive end (red triangle) crashes down and will disrupt the quarterback outside zone. Therefore, the quarterback will give the ball to the running back as he is crossing his face. Again, it is important to note, that the quarterback will have his eyes on the backside defender (red triangle). After the ball has been given to the running back we generally ask them to get outside the tackle box before they start to work up the field.
In the video clips you will see my team running the bash concept with both the outside zone and counter run game.
