Packaging

Plays in

the Air Raid

Offense

RICH HARGITT

ISBN 978-1-60679-332-9

9 781606 793329

5 1 9 9 5

$19.95

RICH HARGITT

Either you are running packaged plays or you are behind the times. Over the past few years, the idea of packaged plays has exploded, which is why this book is highly benefi cial. Currently, not many places exist where you can go to learn about packaged plays, what plays to run, or how to incorporate them in your offense. With Packaging Plays in the Air Raid Offense, Rich Hargitt has done a superb job of putting this information together so that coaches can have it at their fi ngertips.

Marc KolbAssociate Head Football Coach/Offensive Coordinator Tusculum College

Packaging Plays in the Air Raid Offense is an essential book for any coach looking to gain knowledge about the air raid offense. Coach Hargitt’s detailed and descriptive breakdown of everything from plays to practice outlines what it takes to effectively run this offense. This book belongs in every coach’s library.

Jake OlsenAssociate Head Football Coach/Offensive CoordinatorLoras College

Packaging Plays in the Air Raid Offense is a great resource for coaches interested in the air raid offense. The format that Rich uses is simple and fl exible, allowing any youth, high school, or college coach to implement concepts immediately.

Theron AychAssistant Head Football Coach/Offensive CoordinatorAngelo State University

Coach Hargitt’s Packaging Plays in the Air Raid Offense displays the future of offensive football. No matter what level of football you coach or the style of offense you play, a tremendous wealth of possibilities exists to aid in your offensive approach. I immediately instituted some of the packaging concepts midseason and look forward to exploring them further in the off-season.

Matt KalbOffensive CoordinatorMcMurry University

Coach Hargitt has put together an amazing tool that will benefi t coaches on all levels. The concepts shared in Packaging Plays in the Air Raid Offense give an offensive football coach a great set of options to attack any defense. This book is a must-have for coaches looking to take their offense to the next level.

Brett NicholsPassing Game Coordinator/Quarterbacks CoachGardner-Webb University

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Coach Hargitt’s book is a necessity for every offensive coordinator. Packaging plays is the current trend in offensive football and Packaging Plays in the Air Raid Offense does an excellent job presenting the ways to implement the system.

Jay WilkinsonHead Football CoachCoweta (OK) High School

Coach Hargitt is evolving the air raid system to the next level. Packaging Plays in the Air Raid Offense elevates the offense to be a constant triple threat by including runs, screens, and passes out of every play. After reading this book, I am glad I don’t have to be a defensive coordinator against Coach Hargitt.

Tom Dracos Head Football Coach/Athletic DirectorCumby (TX) High School

Coach Hargitt has put together a very effective system for incorporating packaged plays in the air raid offense that creates the potential for the defense to be wrong on every single play. Packaging Plays in the Air Raid Offense is organized in a detailed manner, including suggestions on how to incorporate these packages into your offense. Packaged plays are quickly becoming an effective way to attack an offense on every level—from high school to the NFL. This is a useful resource for any offense, not just air raid teams.

Keith GrabowskiFormer Offensive CoordinatorBaldwin Wallace University

Coach Hargitt does a great job illustrating the effectiveness of packaging run and pass plays incorporated in the air raid offense in order to stress any defense.

Brian FranaRun Game Coordinator/Offensive Line CoachSouthwest Minnesota State University

Coach Rich Hargitt is a very knowledgeable and passionate football coach. Even his great knowledge of the game pales in comparison to the passion he has for teaching and coaching kids.

Eddie FaulknerTight Ends/Fullbacks/Special Teams Coordinator North Carolina State University

Packaging Plays in the Air Raid Offense

Rich Hargitt

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©2015 Coaches Choice. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Coaches Choice. Throughout this book, the masculine shall be deemed to include the feminine and vice versa.

ISBN: 978-1-60679-332-9 Library of Congress Control Number: 2014960356 Cover design: Cheery Sugabo Book layout: Cheery Sugabo Front cover photo: ©Erich Schlegel/ZUMAPRESS.com

Coaches Choice P.O. Box 1828 Monterey, CA 93942 www.coacheschoice.com

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DedicationThis book is dedicated to my wonderful wife Lisa and our handsome sons Griffin and Graham. Thanks to my wife for all the endless support in coaching and to my sons for showing me what is really important in this life. Finally, this book is dedicated above all to God, who gives me the ability to live each day with strength and honor.

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AcknowledgmentsI would like to thank my beautiful wife Lisa and our sons Griffin and Graham who support me. Thanks also to my parents who gave me the foundation to be a successful coach.

I would like to thank a wide variety of coaches who have helped me learn a great deal about the spread offense in general and the air raid version of it in particular. First, I would like to thank Greg Hill and Nick Entas of Ashbrook High School (NC), who allowed me to be a part of their staff and implement most of the wave package in 2013. These coaches welcomed me into their program and allowed me to try out some great new concepts with them. I am forever in debt to my fellow high school coaches who have helped in numerous ways to provide me with insight into various aspects of the spread offense and the air raid offense. These generous coaches include: Brent Eckley of Jackson (MO) Senior High, Matt Beam of Burns High School (NC), Lee Sadler of Mountain Home (AR) High School, John Allison and Ken Leonard of Sacred Heart-Griffin High School (IL), Derek Leonard of Rochester (IL) High School, Mark Grounds of Jacksonville (IL) High School, Brian Hales of David W. Butler High School (NC), Bob Gaddis of Columbus (IN) East High School, Lance Scheib of Noblesville (IN) High School, Kevin Wright of Carmel (IN) High School, Tony Newsome and Scott Peach of Arlington (TX) Independent School District, and Kevin Atkinson of Denton (TX) Independent School District. A special mention must be made of Mike Earwood at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School (GA) and Robert McKay of Lake Norman Charter High School (NC), who helped me refine ideas on packaged concepts. Thanks also to Rex Lardner for helping me get exposure for this offense, and to the great people at Coaches Choice, especially Kristi Huelsing, who did so much to help us with this project. Thanks also to the great people at the Glazier and Nike Clinics for helping me get the opportunity to speak on this offense and gain exposure for it nationally.

I would also like to give thanks to Coach Dave Farquharson for always being there to bounce ideas off of and traveling the country to learn more football. Secondly, thanks to Randy Niekamp for all the time on the phone and in person and for being such a source of information and support.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the athletes in Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina, who ran our system and worked so hard to represent their faith, family, and football program with such class.

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ForewordI will never forget the words Coach Rich Hargitt yelled out to me after he sent the play into the huddle on a Friday night in October of 2002. I was a 17-year-old senior quarterback for Tri-Point High School in rural Illinois. Coach was a first-time head coach that season, and he helped fuel a passion in me for football that has only grown since. I can’t remember the exact score or the down-and-distance, but the words Coach spoke mean more now than I am sure he ever intended at the time. Our team was a triple option team, and I already knew what play would arrive before our receiver sprinted to the huddle. “Find a way!” Coach pointed and yelled out to me.

Rich Hargitt’s words continue to echo in my head in all areas of my life. Coach Hargitt is one of the most passionate men I have ever met, especially when football is the topic. I never said anything to Coach about how important his words have been to me. Football is all about finding a way to get the job done. Find a way to make a tackle, find a way to make a block, find a way into the end zone. As coaches, we have the opportunity to touch the lives of our players. He has forever changed my philosophy on leadership because he models a coach who is always learning. Coach taught me that the best leaders continue to practice their skills and learn new ways to think outside the box. The sport of football is always evolving. We must continue to grow and try new solutions to reach our goals. I have now been coaching football for nine years. We are in a constant pursuit of building our team and putting players in a position to succeed. Not only did Coach Hargitt inspire me on the field as a player, he has continued to be a mentor today.

Coach and I have kept in contact since I graduated high school. Whenever we communicate, family is always our first topic, and then football is naturally the next subject. Our conversations eventually evolve to a discussion on what we are doing to better our teams. Since I have become an offensive coordinator, these conversations have been more and more focused on how to find a way to have an offense that controls the game. I feel privileged to have Coach in my circle of friends because his experience as a successful offensive leader has been such a useful resource for my coaching career.

This past season, while talking to Coach Hargitt, we discussed his book, Packaging Plays in the Air Raid Offense. I am thrilled to be able to share Coach Hargitt’s wisdom with any coach that picks up his book. After reading the book, I recognized that his theories solve so many problems that offensive play callers regularly face. Coach has a simple, yet effective plan.

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Football is always evolving, and his book will give any team a jumpstart to success. As a play-caller, I want to control with tempo, attack any type of defense effectively, and most importantly, not call a “bad” play. This book addresses all of these issues and will give coaches a chance to solve the problems we face in our preparation and on the field play calling.

Packaged plays allow coaches to control the tempo as well as attack a defense effectively. The play caller can make the defense show their scheme, and then the offense can run the play within the package that can attack the defense the best. You are able to do so at a fast pace or use the entire play clock. When attacking a defense, multiple options are available to utilize in order to stop your offense, but the opponent can’t effectively line up to stop multiple plays at one time. This simple concept allows you to “be right.” These concepts discussed in Coach Hargitt’s book really grabbed my attention and convinced me that packaging plays can bring an offense to a higher level.

Packaging Plays in the Air Raid Offense gives details about how packaged plays allow the offense a major advantage without drastically altering the offense. Coaching requires us to continue to try new strategies and learn new solutions to better lead our teams. If coaches will follow Coach Hargitt’s system, teams can easily adapt the strategies to their team’s needs and not require much extra teaching by the offensive staff. Packaging plays will give teams the most control possible during a single play during games, which is every play caller’s goal. Coach Rich Hargitt does a fantastic job detailing offensive solutions to “Find a way!” using his packaged plays in the air raid offense. I highly recommend this book to any coach or staff. Enjoy!

Aaron HilgendorfAssistant Head Football Coach and

Offensive Coordinator Watseka (IL) Community High School

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ContentsDedication 5Acknowledgments 6Foreword 7Preface 10

Chapter 1: Definition and Rationale of Packaged Plays 13Chapter 2: Communication and Structure of Packaged Plays 16Chapter 3: Run Plays Packaged With Quick Screens and Passes 21Chapter 4: Slow Screens Packaged With Quick Screens 30Chapter 5: Slow Screens Packaged With Quick Passes 36Chapter 6: Quick Passes Packaged With Dropback Passes 43Chapter 7: Double Quick Pass Packages 51Chapter 8: Double Dropback Pass Packages 57Chapter 9: 2x1 Wave Package 64Chapter 10: 2x2 Wave Package 70Chapter 11: 3x1 Wave Package 76Chapter 12: 4x1 Wave Package 84Chapter 13: 3x2 Wave Package 89Chapter 14: Ninja Package 97Chapter 15: Tar Heel Package 101Chapter 16: Bounce Package 106Chapter 17: Practice Structure for Packaged Plays 121

Conclusion 131About the Author 133

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PrefaceThe air raid offense has been transformed the way in which offensive football is playing played around the United States and around the world. Gone are the days where teams line up with full house backfields and attempt to run the play clock down with bruising fullbacks and straight-ahead offenses. The spread offense in general and the air raid offense in particular have placed a premium on racing down the field in no-huddle structures to light up scoreboards and stun defense with a dizzying array of offensive firepower. The offense has literally changed the way that defenses operate and has forced them to play simpler and more easily identifiable fronts, stunts, and coverages in order to keep pace with an offensive culture that is always stressing tempo and numbers of plays executed.

This cultural change has actually made it much simpler for the play caller to identify what the defense is trying to do because defenders do not have time to change where they align and move around the field or else they will be caught in transition when the ball is snapped the next time. This has allowed the play caller to become a more intimate part of the play calling experience and to be even more concise with his play calls. The play caller can now choose whether or not to snap the ball quickly or freeze the defense and hold them in place to make the best possible call based upon defensive alignment. The tempo and style of play in the air raid offense has literally allowed the play caller, through the use of hand signals, to tinker with the play calls on the field at any moment and adjust to a defense that has limited options to deal with a frightening array of weapons on the offensive side of the ball.

Recently, the offense has taken on some exciting new twists in the form of play packaging. This simply means the ability to run multiple plays at the same time. This had been done previously with the passing game, but has now evolved into the run and screen components of the offensive game as well. In 2013, we were in a situation where we had an inexperienced quarterback and receiving corps and were struggling to gel on the offensive line because of youth at three of the five positions. The idea of building play packages gives the offense the best chance of staying competitive. In building this structure, it was clear that the system had to be able to be run at a very fast tempo and had to incorporate run, screen, as well as pass plays. All these concepts had to be easy to execute and very quick to call from the sideline. What was born was a totally new style of calling plays and a new framework of communication between the sideline and the field of play.

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I had previously used the packaged concepts approach and had included a mixture of runs packaged with quick screens, slow screens packaged with quick screens, slow screens packaged with quick passes, quick passes packaged with dropback passes, double quick pass packages, and double dropback packages. In 2013, at Ashbrook High School, the decision was made to marry these concepts together in a package called the wave concept. The name derived from the school’s mascot, the Green Wave, and the name stuck and the process began. The wave concept allowed the play caller to be able to make an educated decision about what play should be called while the offense was lined up and then pick from a buffet of screen, runs, and quick pass plays. This concept has been very successful and leads to an almost endless list of possibilities for play packaging in the future.

The air raid has taken Ashbrook High School, a school that struggled to find a workable identity on offense with very low prospects of success, and transformed it into a winner. In addition, there is a constant interest in what we do offensively from people around the country. Our system of offense makes things very fun to watch and even more fun to participate in each fall. The air raid offense, constructed into packaged concepts, has allowed us to not only compete against some of the best football teams in the Southeastern United States, but it has also built for us a reputation and something that we can hang our hat on that is unique and fun.

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CHAPTER 1Definition and Rationale

of Packaged Plays

The basic philosophy of the air raid offense when it was created was to throw the ball short to people who can score. The offense has always prided itself on being a pass-first system of offense that develops a simple run game to complement an aerial assault. The idea of a packed play has grown out of the need to be able to attack defenses from a variety of ways very quickly. Therefore, the definition of a packaged play is two or more distinct concepts that are run simultaneously while allowing the play caller or quarterback to select which concept will receive the football. These two concepts can be double quick pass concepts, double dropback pass concepts, double screens, run plays, or any mixture of two or more of these types of plays. The options that are available to a coach are numerous. However, the limitations on these combinations will become clear with some explanation.

The first thing that must be done when building packages is to decide what cannot be packaged together. For instance, the dropback game in the air raid offense can only be packaged with other dropback concepts or quick passing game concepts. The reason for this is that dropback pass concepts take several seconds to develop and so they would not be compatible with a run play because if the quarterback holds the ball for three seconds and then throws a pass, multiple ineligible receivers would be downfield on the run play. Therefore, some care must be taken to build concepts that naturally go together. Generally, the quick passing game and screens work very well because either the ball is thrown behind the line of scrimmage in the case of screens or thrown within a second or two after the snap in the case of the quick passing game.

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These factors allow these plays to be married very easily with the run game or with other screens, whether they be slow or fast screens, as well as other quick passing game concepts.

The reasons to run these types of packaged concepts are many and multi-dimensional. A coach may decide to employ two separate dropback pass concepts such as the smash and curl/flat concept because the smash concept attacks a two-high-safety look while the curl/flat concept attacks a one-high-safety defense. This has been the standard of play packaging for many years. While this concept does cut down on the available receivers that can have the ball thrown to them (e.g., curl/flat receivers would be useless against cover 2), it does allow a coach to call this package quickly and allow his team to line up and “be right” no matter what the defense does in terms of coverage. This same idea holds true with the quick passing game, and several coaches have utilized both a two-high and a one-high coverage beater in the quick passing concepts. The creativeness has come recently in marrying the run came with both quick passes as well as quick and slow screens. This book will endeavor to give the reader a synopsis of several ways to build concepts together but will certainly not provide an exhaustive list because the number of options is most likely limitless.

The rationale for why a coach or staff would want to build packaged concepts into his offense becomes simplified to three main reasons including the capacity to have multiple options in play calling, improved tempo on offense, and an ability to further confuse and distort defenses. The first reason, options in play calling, is rather obvious. When a coach has the ability to have his team line up with two or three play calls simultaneously being run by his offense then he has a greater flexibility in what he can do to attack a specific defense. The wave concept, which will be discussed in detail later in this book, allows the offense to line up with a quick pass route, a run play, and a quick screen all called simultaneously, and all three plays will be run at the snap of the football. Therefore, the coach can get a look at the defense and make his decision at the last minute, which gives him maximum operational freedom in play calling. This leads directly into the second reason to incorporate packages into the air raid offense, which is an increased tempo for the offense. When a packaged concept is called, it attacks the defense across a broad front with multiple answers for the coach doing the attacking. This means that the same play can be called over and over again very rapidly without changing signals or calls. This concept also allows the tempo to be slowed down and force the defense to remain in place to the last possible second while the play caller waits to make his call.

The packaging concept allows the play caller to make a call and leave the play called for several consecutive play calls in a row and force the tempo of the game at the pace of his choosing. A final consideration in choosing to package plays is that it seriously distorts and confuses defenses. For instance, when the wave package is called, a pass play may be thrown to the perimeter while a run play is executed by the offensive lineman. The defense cannot gain accurate keys of where to play or where to move and so they are often slow getting to the ball or actually guess wrong and

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run away from the direction that the football is actually going. This gives the offense a decided advantage as defenders are unsure where to move and are slow when trying to get to the football.

Packaging concepts is a new and rather cutting edge aspect of offensive football. While it might sound complicated, it is actually a very easy concept to implement and can be done using basic concepts that are already inside an offense. The read progression for the quarterback, the blocking schemes for the offensive linemen, and the route structure for the receivers is not changed when building these packaged concepts, so very little learning has to be done in order to play proficiently inside this system. The quarterback’s read progression on dropback passes is peek, 1, 2. This requires the quarterback to pre-snap read the deepest route on the field, work his vision back to the shortest route on the field, and then finish by reading the intermediate or middle route on the field. This progression stays consistent even when inside a packaged play. Either the play caller or the quarterback makes a decision about which concept will be read on a particular play, and then the progression takes over. In the case of the wave package, the quarterback is told where to read or place the ball, so all decision-making is done by the play caller himself.

Packaged concepts make an offense faster, variable, and better suited to attack modern defenses. As defenses continue to improve and adapt to changing environments, it is essential that offenses keep challenging the status quo of football rules and standards. This concept is innovative yet very simple for players to execute and gives the play caller maximum control over the game. Packaged concepts are a new and exciting way to keep players engaged and challenge defenses without overloading the amount of teaching that must be done by an offensive staff.

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CHAPTER 2Communication and

Structure of Packaged Plays

Packaged plays are a great way to move the football and attack modern defenses and are actually very uncomplicated to call or execute. However, like all aspects of football, they are only as useful and successful as to how well they are communicated, taught, and executed. A coach must take into consideration how any new concept or idea in the game of football will be communicated before actually teaching it to his players. Communication in football is perhaps the most critical ingredient in ensuring that the plays are successfully executed. You must have a simple and effective way to communicate the plays to the field and to ensure that the athletes on the field understand what is being asked of them. The packaged plays, if the play caller chooses for them to be, can be in essence an advanced form of check-with-me plays that many offensive coordinators already feature within their normal offenses. However, if a play caller wishes for his quarterback to be more intimately involved in the game, it is possible for this system to be delivered without the interference of the sideline. These packages allow the play caller to get the offense lined up and force the defense to commit their resources across the field and then make informed decisions about where to attack the defense at its most vulnerable points. The quarterback could be trained to make decisions about which concept is best run inside a package. This book will consider that the play caller prefers to keep control and signal which aspect of a package should be executed by the quarterback, but certainly there is room for growth in the area of quarterback-centered decision-making with packaged plays.

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What Packaged Plays Are NotIt is first necessary to explain what packaged plays are and what they are not. These plays are not just a check-with-me tempo system of plays. If say the inside zone play is married with the bubble screen, the offense will actually run both concepts simultaneously. There will be 10 players on the offense that have absolutely no idea which play has been called. The offense will have been instructed to run zone right and bubble screen left. The 10 players involved with these two concepts will not know if the pass has been called or if the run play has been called. The play caller will make a decision based upon defensive alignment, the resulting decision will be signaled to the quarterback, and he will distribute the ball to where it has been ordered to go. This means that certain concepts will simply not marry up well with other concepts. For example, if the offense were to package the inside zone play with the four verticals pass play, there would be some distinct lack of compatibility on hand. If the run play was called, there would be no receivers blocking for the run play as they advanced deep down the field, and zone defenders would quickly see that is was a run play and run past these receivers and rally up to the football and outnumber the offense at the point of attack. If the pass play was called, then the offensive linemen would likely be downfield long before the ball was thrown, resulting in an illegal receiver down the field penalty. Therefore great care must be taken in deciding which concepts to package together because 10 of the 11 offensive players will execute the play they have been assigned without knowledge of where the ball will actually be placed.

StructureThe first item to be addressed then must be to decide how to structure packaged plays. A coach must decide what types of plays are “packageable” and which plays they are less compatible with inside his own offense. It is not possible to structure all play types together. For example, a dropback pass play cannot be easily married to a run play as was previously discussed. However, two screens can package well together and so could a run and a quick pass. If a coach called the inside zone and married it to the stick quick pass concept, then these concepts are mutually supportive. If the run evolves, the short routes allow the receivers to still turn around and get involved in blocks after they realize they will not receive the ball, and if it is a pass the ball will come out so quickly that offensive linemen cannot be flagged for being down the field illegally.

Once a decision has been made as to which types of plays should be packaged together, it would then be necessary to decide which actual plays complement one another well. For instance, an off-tackle play to the right and a stick concept by a flexed tight end to the right are very compatible because they attack the same general area of the defense. It would be easy to simply find the strongside linebacker before each play and decide if he is playing tight to stop the run play or flexing out to stop the stick route by the tight end and make the call accordingly pre-snap. As the offense runs both plays simultaneously, the

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linebacker would not know where to move to until it was too late because he would see both plays run at the same time and be guessing as to where to defend.

When throwing the football down the field in a dropback pass situation, it is best to keep the package limited to two dropback pass concepts or one dropback concept and one quick pass concept. However, slow screens, fast screens, run plays, and quick passes can all be married up rather interchangeably. The sky is the limit then on what sort of plays fit with other concepts, and to a large degree this will depend on the offense’s strengths, weaknesses, and goals each week. The next step then is ensuring that this myriad of concepts can be communicated effectively.

CommunicationThe basis for the communication system of packaged plays is that if two concepts were packaged together, then these two plays and their corresponding direction should be signaled to the offense. For example, if the offense wanted to marry power right (a run play) with stick right (a quick pass play), then the play caller would signal power with a right directional call and then stick with a right directional call and allow the offense to line up. The quarterback would simulate that he was about to start his cadence, and then looking back at the play caller would signal to him which play he wanted the quarterback to execute. This hand signal can be anything the coach prefers. The signal could simply be the play caller holding up one finger or two. One finger might represent that the coach wanted the run play to be executed, and the two-finger signal might mean that the coach wanted the pass play to be executed. If for instance, a slow screen was tagged with a fast screen or quick pass, the slow screen stands in as the run play so it would be signaled with a single finger and the pass or fast screen would be signaled with double fingers. A coach might instead prefer to simply hand signal back to the quarterback which play he actually wanted the quarterback to execute. The method of signaling the play can vary from program to program. The best way to determine which method is most effective is to have an honest conversation with the quarterback and ask him which method works best for him in the heat of the moment.

If two pass concepts were called, the coach would simply hold up the arm on the side he wanted the quarterback to read. The play caller wears armbands of different colors on each wrist. So if he holds up the red armband hand, then he wants the quarterback to read the right side for his pass play, and if he holds up the hand with the white arm band, then the pass play to the left should be executed. Once again, the coach could elect to simply flash the concept’s hand signal back to the quarterback if that method had been decided to be the best way to communicate. This system makes the signaling very easy for the quarterback, and as long as he and the play caller are on the same page mentally, then the play cannot be confused. In addition, it is very quick so the play caller can wait until the final moments to make a decision, and then the quarterback can simply turn and execute his cadence. This system allows the defense very little time to adjust before the ball is snapped.

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In a situation where the offense wishes to package three concepts together simultaneously, it would be a part of a new concept called the wave package, which will be discussed in depth later is this book. The signals would change somewhat for the quarterback to keep things simple. For instance, when the offense is in 3x2 wave, the trips side always runs the bubble screen while the offensive linemen execute a power play to the right and the twins receiver side runs a fast screen. In this form of wave, signaled to the field simply as empty wave with its own unique hand signal, all the players will run the exact same thing every single time. When players see the hand signal for empty wave, they know it will be a bubble screen, power right run play, and fast screen married together every time. Therefore, the athletes do not have to see three hand signals to get into this package. The coaching staff has made one hand signal that packages these three concepts together. The play caller will simply use the hand signal for bubble screen, power, or fast screen to signal which part of the play he wants the quarterback to execute. The idea of using numbers past one or two makes things too complicated once the offense starts moving quickly and adding more dimensions to the wave packages. Therefore, if the decision is made to utilize concepts in the offense that package three concepts together, then that play package has to have its own hand signal so that athletes only have to remember that one signal. This streamlines the process and makes things simpler for the athletes on the field.

Communication between coaches and athletes is critical when packaging plays. Many times, play calls are done most effectively in packaged situations by the play caller or spotter being in the press box above the football field. It will likely be most effective if wave concept calls actually come from a spotter in the press box, making suggestions to the play caller on the field. It is essential that an open and trusted line of communication exists between coaches so that what the coach sees from the press box is trusted and communicated quickly. It is essential that the offense train and instruct multiple coaches on what packaged calls will be utilized and what the goal of each is specifically as it relates to the overall offense. It is also essential that all communication happens quickly and the decisions for play calls are relayed to the field very quickly and very clearly so that the quarterback can back accurate decisions or executions with the play.

ConclusionPackaged plays are a great way to attack defenses in the game of football today. However, these concepts must be scrutinized and selected very carefully to ensure that the correct concepts are packaged together. It is equally important that a system of communication is devised that is very simple for the athletes to understand. The vast majority of air raid teams today are already operating from a no-huddle structure, so it is best to utilize existing no-huddle play signals whenever only two plays are packaged together. The decision to use a one or two signal or simply flash the hand signal for the play to be run back to the quarterback is entirely at the discretion of the team running the system. It is best to utilize whatever system most effectively works with the

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athletes on the field. In many cases, the athletes can tell the play caller which signal system they prefer, and it is only essential that it makes sense to the quarterback and the other players on the field so that they may execute at an optimal level. When the package incorporates three concepts, then it was decided that those three plays would be packaged together under the guise of a wave concept, and hand signals would be used to instruct the quarterback which of the three plays should be executed. Packaged concepts should and do come right from the base of the existing offense, but making them effective is based upon selecting compatible concepts and then communicating them simply and efficiently to the quarterback in a timely manner.

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CHAPTER 3Run Plays Packaged With Quick Screens and Passes

The most basic form of packaged plays for many years has been a run play packaged with a quick screen or a quick pass play. These concepts have been around for some time, and many teams, even if they are not air raid teams or packaged teams, will utilize some form of quick screen or pass to protect their run plays. These concepts really began to take shape when teams realized that running the zone read caused their quarterback to take large and often times dangerous collision style hits from linebackers and strong safeties. Many coaches then began incorporating screen plays onto the backside of the inside zone and other plays to avoid having the quarterback involved in carrying the ball. Actually an entire offense could be constructed with a quick screen or a quick pass attached to almost every run play in an offense’s arsenal. For the purpose of this chapter the inside zone and the counter trey serve as the two examples that will be utilized as run plays, while the fast screen and bubble screen form the backbone of quick screen concepts. There could, of course, be opportunities to package quick passes and quick screens onto any number of run plays including the one back power play if a play caller wished to do so. There are several possibilities for tagging quick passes onto the run plays and the number of concepts is almost endless. Several different pass concepts will be utilized in this chapter with a focus on those concepts that have shown themselves to marry the best to the inside zone play.

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Basic Run Plays Packaged With the Bubble and Fast ScreenThe most simplistic way to execute a run play packaged with a quick screen is to call the inside zone and package it with a bubble screen on the backside. This is possible to do out of both a 2x2 and a 3x1 structure. It is often times most effective, however, if it is done from a 3x1 set because that structure creates better odds that the defense will not have the receiver running the bubble screen covered too closely (Figure 3-1). Many times, the defense will cover the outside receiver and then have a defender split the difference between the two inside receivers, creating a void where the ball can be safely thrown with a lead blocker in front. The play caller can simply signal the run play’s no-huddle signal if the run play is to be executed and signal in a screen hand signal if the screen play is to be featured. Many quarterbacks become so profi cient at this sort of read that some coaches allow their quarterbacks to actually read this play package. This is not a traditional zone read play, and sometimes the defensive end will actually be blocked by the tackle or bumped to slow him down. The quarterback, if he is allowed to read the play, must make his decisions pre-snap based upon numbers. If the defense covers the trips set with only two defenders within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage, then he should throw the ball out the back door to the bubble screen receiver. If the defense has all three receivers covered down closely, then the quarterback would be able to just hand the ball off on the inside zone. This simple play package is based upon very easy numbers for the quarterback to make decisions. If his judgment is cloudy, then he should be coached to just hand the ball off and live to play another down.

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Figure 3-1. Zone/bubble screen

Some defenses play the trips structure differently and allow more space over the outside receiver than they do the two inside receivers. This type of defensive structure necessitates a change in screen choices. When teams give a cushion or play at depth over the outside receiver, then the fast screen is a great package complement to the interior run play (Figure 3-2). This screen requires the quarterback to make a longer throw to the perimeter, but it has the added advantage that the ball is staying away from the majority of the defenders. The receivers can execute a cross block as seen in Figure 3-2 or then can block the defender straight ahead of them (Figure 3-3). The fast screen and bubble screen can be married to any interior play, but they work especially well with any sort of zone run concept or the counter try run play. The ability

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Figure 3-2. Zone/fast screen

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Figure 3-3. Zone/fast screen with cross block

of the offense to kick the ball outside at the fi nal moment reduces defensive pursuit possibilities and forces the defense to respect the entire fi eld.

Alternative Ways to Package Quick Screens With the Run GameMany defenses today have come to understand that the offense will package certain concepts together. These defensive-minded individuals have also begun to educate their players about what sort of screens are usually run on the backside of commonly used run plays such as the inside zone. Therefore, it is necessary to alter, from time to time, the way these screens look to the defense. There can be accomplished in any number of ways. It is up to the offensive staff to fi nd creative ways to get the ball onto the perimeter without asking the offensive linemen or running backs to change their assignments. One really simple way to do this is to use motion and bring a receiver onto the backside of the play late (Figure 3-4). This sort of orbit motion allows the H-receiver to show up late on the backside of the formation and catch a swing pass, which is very similar to the bubble route, and the rest of the team is not asked to change any of the their basic assignments. All that is needed is a new signal to show the H-receiver to motion around and catch the pass instead of lining up in trips and catching the bubble route pass. Another common alternative is to use the defense’s knowledge of these simple packaged plays against them. The defense will become very comfortable seeing the backside receivers execute the bubble screen on the backside of the zone play, and they will start to jump the play. An easy change is to tag the outside receivers on curl routes and let them run past their defender and sit in the voided zones behind

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them (Figure 3-5). This simple adjustment adds another dimension of confusion to the defense. If the linebackers anticipate the bubble screen and run to that defender, they will give up the intermediate route developing behind them. This is yet another way to package simple concepts together using a traditional run play (inside zone) and very simple quick screens (bubble screen).

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Figure 3-4. Zone/orbit motion screen

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Figure 3-5. Zone/curl

Basic Run Plays Packaged With 2x2 Quick Pass PlaysThe inside zone play is a staple for running the football in the air raid offense because of its versatility and capacity for being built around multiple formations. The inside zone play must be effectively run for the average football team to be successful as it controls what the defense is capable of doing with its linebackers and defensive backs in terms of stopping the air raid offense’s passing arsenal. It is not always possible for air raid teams to feature a dynamic runner at the quarterback position that is capable of pulling the football and running the option component to keep defenses honest. Coincidently, some coaches will have a dynamic runner at quarterback, but prefer not to get him hit multiple times per game carrying the ball. The ability to tag a quick screen onto the backside of the zone play has shown itself to be a great way to help keep the quarterback from having to be involved in the running game. However, outside of the bubble and fast screens the options are somewhat limited with the quick screens on the backside of the play so another evolution in packaging plays took place in the form of attaching quick pass concepts to the run game.

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The first principal way in which quick passes are tagged onto run plays is to attach a quick pass concept from a 2x2 alignment. This is by far the easiest way to marry a quick pass with a run play because one side of the four-receiver set is simply blocking for the run play and is no way involved in the pass concept. This makes it simple for the play caller to identify one side of the coverage and determine if it is overplaying to the run or to stop the pass concept. This decision-making is done primarily pre-snap, but also by watching how the defense reacts at the snap of the ball. The play caller will signal in the run play and pass play along with their directional calls and allow the quarterback to freeze the defense. When the decision has been made by the play caller as to which play to execute, the play caller will simply signal either the run or pass hand signal back to the quarterback to inform him which play to execute. These type of play packages basically focus on how the flat defender is playing the inside zone play. If the defensive end is being told to squeeze the zone play and take away the running back, then the flat defender will commonly reduce himself closer to the box in order to take the quarterback if he pulls the football. This technique should alert the play caller to call a quick pass that attacks the flat defender’s alignment. If the flat defender is widened out and clearly not helping in the box, then it is a sign that the defensive end will take the quarterback and the zone play is free to be run by the offense.

One very simple quick pass concept that can be called is an out concept. This concept calls for the outside receiver to run an outside release fade route while the inside receiver executes a five-yard out route (Figure 3-6). This concept allows the offense to run the cornerback off and attack the void outside of a flat defender that might be cheating toward the box to help with the zone play. The flat defender’s width can be attacked in a variety of ways, including running a hitch/seam concept (Figure 3-7). This concept also forces the flat defender to widen very quickly and prevents him from playing in between the zone play and the receivers in an attempt to confuse his intentions. The California concept is another way the offense can create a stretch on the flat defender, but this concept happens much more quickly as the outside receiver runs a fast screen and the inside receiver executes a wheel fade route over the top of the fast screen (Figure 3-8). These concepts all take advantage of the flat defender’s posture and alignment and give the play caller a multitude of ways to attack the flat and limit the defense’s options in stopping the inside zone run play. At times, the play caller cannot get an accurate read on what the flat defender is attempting to do, so the slant concept becomes a great 2x2 concept to utilize. If the defense is playing in a one-high-safety look then the slant concept will manifest itself as a five-yard slant route by the outside receiver and a flat route by the inside receiver (Figure 3-9). If the defense operates from a two-high-safety look, then the inside receiver will execute the five-yard slant route while the outside receiver executes a five-yard in route (Figure 3-10). These routes vary with the coverage and give the play caller a very easy decision as the slant concept attacks both the flat defender as well as the cornerback, and so the route is effective no matter what the defense does on the backside of the zone play. The slant concept then becomes a sort of fix-all for the play caller especially early in a game if he is not clear what the flat defender is attempting to do to stop the run play.

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Figure 3-6. Zone/out concept

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Figure 3-7. Zone/hitch/seam concept

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Figure 3-8. Zone/California concept

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Figure 3-9. Zone/slant/fl at

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Figure 3-10. Zone/double slant concept

Basic Run Plays Packaged With 3x1 Quick Pass PlaysThe next natural extension of marrying quick passes with the run game in the air raid offense is to build 3x1 or trips pass concepts into the play packages. A play caller may elect to build the pass concept on the frontside of the play, but this should really only be attempted if the defensive end is accounted for on both sides of the offense. An example of this would be if the offense wanted to run the one-back power play to the right side of the formation and then built a 3x1 snag concept on the right side of the formation as well (Figure 3-11). This sort of play packaging would allow the offense to read the playside fl at defender and place that athlete in confl ict as to whether or not he should reduce to aid the run play or remain to the trips side of the formation. More on the idea of reading playside defenders in play packaging will be discussed in the wave concepts section of this book.

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Figure 3-11. Power/snag frontside

The principal way that the 3x1 or trips formation will be utilized in the run game play packaging is once again as a backside throw off of the inside zone play. Defenses are forced to overcommit resources when the offense lines up in a 3x1 set, and so the ability to call plays from this formation is made much simpler for the offensive play caller. The basic premise of this play package structure is to count the number of defenders that the defense aligns to the trips side of the formation. If the defense aligns with two low defenders, or two defenders within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage, then the play caller knows that he has a numbers advantage and should call for the quarterback to execute the pass concept. If the defense aligns with three low defenders,

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then there will be a numbers advantage in the box, and the play caller should call for the quarterback to hand the ball off on the inside zone play. The snag concept is a great trips side pass concept that attacks quickly and forces the defense to commit defenders to the fl at to stop the pass (Figure 3-12). If the defense becomes used to seeing this concept, then it can be dressed up with a snag switch concept call, which simply calls for the outside and middle receivers to switch their responsibilities in order to give the defenders a different look from this concept (Figure 3-13).

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Figure 3-12. Zone/snag

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Figure 3-13. Zone/snag switch

The California concept, or fake fast screen action play, can also serve as a meaningful way for the offense to keep the defense guessing while also forcing the defense to commit large numbers of resources to stopping the ball from being thrown to the fl ats quickly (Figure 3-14). One addition way to distort the backside of a defense is to attack a tight end to the backside of the formation and play from a tight end trips set. This formation often forces the defense to shift more personnel to the box and leave the fl at defender on an island between the middle and inside receivers and the tackle box. A great concept to utilize then is the stick concept, which places a receiver on either side of the fl at defender and punishes him for whichever side he tends to cheat toward (Figure 3-15). The tight end structure will often cause either a reduced defensive front with more run defenders or a walk-away linebacker to take away the pass routes. In either case, the offense has distorted the defense and made the decision to call the run or pass play very simple in a pre-snap situation.

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Figure 3-14. Zone/California

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Figure 3-15. Zone/stick

ConclusionThe concept of packaging run plays with quick screens and quick passes is a very simple one and an idea that can be incorporated with minimal investment of time. The inside and outside zones schemes as well as a variety of gap scheme run plays are all able to be packaged very well with both quick screens and passes to the perimeter. The possibilities of including the jet sweep and other base run plays packaged with quick passes and quick screens always exists. The offense is able to take any run play that works well in the offense and package it with a myriad of pass and screen concepts to keep the defense off-balance and further open up opportunities to run the football. Many air raid teams have recently begun to fl ourish running the football because of the increased amount of time that teams spend trying to stop their passing attacks. Therefore, increased use of play packages will further increase the likelihood that the offense can force the defense into balanced run to pass structures and make it easier to execute all facets of the offense and increase overall offensive output. Run plays packaged with either quick screens or quick passes are package concepts that serve as the basis or fi rst rung on the ladder for an offense to execute. As these concepts and their basic philosophy are mastered, it is possible for the offense to expand the package possibilities and incorporate more advanced types of packages.