Screens, Shots, and Snap Count

When you are going to play against an aggressive defense, you have to use their aggressiveness against them. Turn their identity into your strength. There are three things you can do to take advantage of aggressive defenses. 

Snap Count

I am going to start with #3, snap count. When we play an aggressive defense that is timing the snap count, I am going to adjust our snap count. We are going to go on different cadences to slow them down. We want to keep them from being able to time up their blitz and jump our snap count. 

When we were under center, we would go on two and three, as well as on set and on a color. When we were in the gun, we would go on a clap. Sometimes we would go on two claps, or something we called scatter. 

In addition to slowing down the defense, we also would get them to jump. If you are a gun team, I would suggest adding a freeze call. The freeze call means that we are going to line up without a play called. We are going to clap, and if the defense jumps, we are going to snap the ball and get a free play with the receivers running verticals. If we complete it, great. If not, we take our free five yards. In NFHS rules you don't get the free play, so you take the free five.

If they don't jump, our QB says easy, easy, look, look, and we signal in the play we want to run. This gives our coaches a chance to look over the defense and call a play we like. 

Against an aggressive defense we will work to get them to jump multiple times a game. We will take a free five anytime we can get it. We will also do this anytime it is 3rd and less than 5 yards. This can give  us a free first down. If you are not doing this, you are missing an opportunity. 

You have to drill your center to snap the ball when the defense is in the neutral zone. This is a big key so you can get the free 5. Now, tell your guys to play the play, because occasionally the flag doesn't come out. 

One thing I like to chart is how many times a defense jumps offside, and when they tend to jump. This is going to help me know if there are certain downs and distances where they are going to be more susceptible to jumping offside. 

Screens

When defenses are going to bring 5 and 6 man pressures, we want to be able to attack the space they create. We want to throw our screens into green grass. Often this means throwing the screen into the area vacated by the blitzers. 

We want to make sure the QB has a chance to get the ball out, and get players in a position with leverage to block remaining defenders. We use fast screens, which are catch and throw to the perimeter, and slow screens, where we draw the rush and have a player work to a vacated area. 

Our fast screens are typically bubbles and what we call quicks to the #1 receiver. Our slow screens are going to me tunnel screens to detached receivers, and slip screens to backs and tight ends. Below is an example of a slip screen vs. a 5 man pressure with the Mike blitzing. 

A big key to success with your screen game is who is catching the ball. A player who can make people miss in space will create more explosives. A physical player who is going to be hard to tackle is great for shorter yardage situations. We want to throw a lot of screens, especially if we have a good athlete in space to get the ball to. This also makes defenses less likely to bring pressure. 

Shots

When teams bring pressure, they are often going to play man coverage. We want to take advantage of the best matchup we can get and take a shot over the top. We are going to get the ball out quick, and make the throw 26 to 32 yards down field. One big mistake coaches make is trying to throw the deep ball off a deep drop. The longer the QB has the ball, the more the chance he will get pressured.

We want to take shots down the field every single game. We want to know when we are going to get press coverage and take advantage of it. Even if we don't complete the shot down the field, we have forced the defense to defend space. This opens things up for our run game. 

A big key to your pass game is getting the ball out when you face pressure. Work to design concepts that get the ball out of the quarterback's hand quickly. Taking vertical shots allow us to do this. 

When you face aggressive defenses, you have to find ways to turn their identity into your strengths. Get them out of their comfort zone. 

1. Screens
2. Change Up Your Snap Count/Freeze Calls
3. Take Shots Down the Field

A big piece of this is preparation. You have to do a great job of game planning for your opponents which will greatly improve your play calling ability. If you want to be more prepared each week, I highly recommend you check out my game and practice planning resource. I spent much of my career as a coordinator. I was an offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, and coached at both the high school and college levels. I have made available all of our game and practice planning resources that helped us win more games. These have everything you need to be more prepared. They are editable and customizable, and are available as an instant download.  https://sellfy.com/p/AndN/ 

It includes everything from a scouting report template, to weekly practice plans and scripts, to a two-sided color call sheet, and more! Each of the nine documents are fully editable and customizable! Order today and start preparing for your first game right now! This helped us be able to be prepared to attack the defense and put more points on the board. It also helped us be much more efficient and targeted on the weekends when we were game planning. 

Think Players Not Plays

One of the most important things we can do as coaches is to get our dudes touches. Whether you are playing for state titles or just starting a rebuilding process, you have a best player. You might not have the best athlete on the field, but you always have the best athlete or athletes on your team. Too many guys concern themselves with what they don't have. You will never win a game with guys that are not on your roster. But you will win games if you focus on the guys on your roster, and maximizing their abilities when you build your game plan.

I am not going to get into the psychology of winning right now, but if you don't think you can win, you won't. If you don't think you can score, you won't. If you believe you will score points, you will score more points than if you lack that belief. A big part of building belief is putting your players in a position where they can be most successful. 

When you build your game plan, think players as much as you think plays. When you begin to break down your opponent, look for leverage, numbers, and green grass. Where can we gain an advantage over our opponent? What formation will give us leverage, numbers, and grass? What concept will take advantage of that grass? And then, who is the best player to get the ball to to take advantage of leverage, numbers, and grass? 

That is a simplistic view of building your game plan. The reality is, if we run are throwing a tunnel screen, the tunnel will be more effective and explosive if we throw it to a fast player who can make people miss. If we throw it to a slower player who can't make people miss, the play won't be as effective. Who you are getting the ball to is as important as the play you are calling to get the ball into space. 

5 Keys to Offensive Success

Regardless of what system you run or what level you coach, there are 5 things you need to do if you want to be successful on offense. These five things make a huge difference in the level of success you will enjoy. 

Before I get into the five things you must do, I want to focus on perhaps the biggest mistake we make as offensive coordinators. One of the easiest ways to jack up your offensive game plan is to try to do too much. It is very easy to draw things on the board and come up with a million great ideas. Those ideas always look good on paper and on the board. Then you get into the game, and your players don't execute them very well. You find yourself scratching your head. How come this concept didn't work. 

When you add too much into a game plan, you are going to be frustrated. It is very difficult to be good at anything you do, because you can't rep everything. The most important thing you can do when you build your game plan is to cut things out. Find the best of what you like and build from there. 

Think about this. You are going to snap the ball somewhere between 55 and 75 times a game, depending on how fast you play, how much you throw, and how much time your opponent has the football. If you play fast, and you play a team that plays fast, you might get 85 or 90 snaps. If you play a team that runs the ball and eats clock, you might get 45 or 50 snaps. Even you get 80 snaps in a game, you aren't going to need to run 80 different plays. In fact, you are going to repeat things that are working, and cut things out that don't work. It is okay to run the same play back-to-back, and even three or four times in a row. In 1999 we ran I-Right 42 Iso 16 plays in a row. For 2 straight drives that is all we ran. We scored both drives. We had had an advantage on the right side of our line, and our fullback was better than their Mike. 

If you have something they can't stop, run it again and again and again. As you game plan, look for formations that give you leverage, numbers, and green grass. You may find that team lines up different than you expected to a set, and they don't have a force guy, or they are a hat short. Once you find this, exploit it. 

How Much Is Too Much Part 2: Fully Installing Concepts

    This is the second installment on my series on How Much is Too Much? Today I want to talk to you about what it means to "fully install" a concept. One of the biggest issues we have as offensive coordinators is that we install a bunch of concepts, but we don't "fully" install them. We end up with a lot of play calls that are what we would say are good calls, but due to a lack of execution, they become bad calls. They aren't going to work against a particular defensive look, and we have limited answers in place.  Bad play calls stall drives and lead to multiple three and outs. I have had plenty of these in my career, and many stem from trying to do too much. 

A fully installed concept has the following 7 components

1. The concept base install

2. Blocking rules installed against each front you will see

3. Perimeter Blocking Rules and adjustments

4 Complementary Plays to take advantage of defensive answers

5. Play Action Component to take advantage of secondary support on runs

6. Route adjustments that can be made to attack coverage on passes

7. Reverse or trick play using the action of the original play 

    A full install is far beyond knowing the rules of a play, and your assignment. A full install of a play means that you can install that play, run it versus any front or coverage, and you have answers to the different adjustments defenses will make. When you have a concept fully installed, your players know how to adjust on the fly. They can change their path, their route, or their footwork. The back can adjust his path. The QB can adjust his read. Your players can make sight adjustments, and the coaches have complementary concepts that take advantage of defensive answers. You have to have answers for the answers of the defense.

    Let's look at midline option when installed fully. When midline is fully installed, we could run it against any front and any blitz. We had built in answers to the adjustments defenses made. We had if/thens built into the play. We had easy in-game adjustments that allowed us to handle different things the defense might do. Our kids could sight adjust based on how the defense lined up. We were able to successfully run the play anywhere on the field, against every opponent we faced, and we were able to have consistency. It wasn't a feast or famine concept. We had complementary tags that helped provide us answers to what defenses did to take midline away. 

    If they lined up in two high safeties, our receivers did one thing with their blocking. If we got 1 high safety, our receivers made an adjustment. Our playside guard changed his path based on the alignment of the read key and the defensive front. Our tackle and tight end would adjust their blocking based on whether there was a down guy in the C gap. 

    From the box, I could see what the defense was doing to try to stop midline. We typically saw three things defenses would do. First, they would scrape exchange with the 3 technique and the Mike backer. Second, they would have the Sam fall-in on the quarterback. Third, they would have the backside inside linebacker playing fast over the top to take the dive. We needed answers to those three adjustments. If they reduced their front, then we had ways to answer that as well. 

    We had complementary tags to take advantage of their adjustments. If they scrape exchanged, we would run our give scheme. If the Sam fell in on the QB, we would run mid triple which we tagged Mid Pitch. If the Will was fast over the top, we would run follow opposite. If the 3 tech was fast upfield, we would trap him. Below is an example of midline with complements. 

    We also had four play action concepts we ran off midline option to take advantage of secondary adjustments. If the Mike was playing triggering fast, we would throw a pop to the TE. If the safety was screaming downhill, we would run a post. If the corner was playing pitch, we ran verticals. We also ran the TE on an arrow off midline action if the Sam was squatting. 

Scripting for Success

When I first became an offensive coordinator I was reluctant to use scripts. I felt like it would lock me into being rigid and inflexible. The head coach I worked for suggested I read Bill Walsh's book, Finding the Winning Edge. The book opened my eyes to the value of preparation and scripting.

When I speak at clinics I get asked about how we script our openers each game. Many coaches already script their openers, but there are a large contingent of coaches who do not. Many of these coaches do a great job. It took me a few years to come around to the value of scripting our opening plays. A few of the reasons were:
1. What do we do if have a run scripted and it's 3rd and 8?
2. What if we get off script?
3. Will the script keep me from making calls based on the flow of the game?
4. Why would I build a script if I am going to be off script before getting through it?

Finally I decided I was going to go all-in on scripting. We decided on a 10 play script. The first play we called was going to be toss sweep from I Right. The 2nd play would be Iso weak in an I Right set. The third play would be play action off our power play, this time in I left. The fourth play would be iso from a 20 personnel look, and the 5th play would be a reverse off toss from I left. We continued our script for 10 plays. We stayed on script and scored 2 touchdowns in the first 6 plays, and our 3rd touchdown on play 10. I was sold. We could use more plays if we wanted as well.

The question is, why did we have success? How did scripting help us?
1. We were thinking clearly on Sunday afternoon when we built our script
It is a lot easier to call plays when your head is clear and you aren't distracted by emotions. By Sunday afternoon we have watched enough of our opponent to have a good idea what we like and don't like. This allows us to build an opening script for the game, as well as develop a call sheet that will help us be more efficient on game day.

2. We were able to have a specific system for setting up plays
We scripted plays that helped to set up explosive opportunities. We might script 3 downhill runs in our first 5 plays, and then on play 6 we would script play action off downhill pass and take a shot downfield. We might run toss sweep a couple of times and then script in a reverse. We were able to set our opponent up for big plays.

3. We made sure we ran a reverse or trick play before our opponent
This is something that is very important. Running your reverse or trick play first doubles your chance that it will be an explosive play. We wanted to make sure we had at least one trick play in our first 12 calls. We also wanted to make sure we actually ran a trick play. How many times have you practiced a trick play and then never ran it in a game? I got tired of having a 5 minute period designed to work our trick plays, only to not run them in the game. Scripting them helped us actually call them during the game.

4. Our kids knew what we were running because we practiced our script each day
We opened our team period running our script on air. This helped our players to know what was coming and in what order. This helped us to play with confidence and develop a rhythm to open the game.

5. We planned what we wanted to see from our opponents
We would script with some variety to see how our opponents would line up to certain formations and personnel groups. This helped us to be more efficient calling plays later in the game. We scripted 3 or 4 different formations in our first 12 plays.

What we found was that the longer we stayed on script, the better we were in the game. The earlier we left the script, the less effective we were. This isn't to say that we wouldn't take advantage of a misalignment or something unexpected from the defense. But the script was well thought out and made sense, giving us a high percentage opportunity to be effective early in the game.

Here are a couple of thoughts on scripting that can help you be more effective:
1. Script inside runs into the boundary and wide runs to the field.
For the most part you know where each play will end. You have an idea what hash you will be on. We wanted to make sure we used the field in the most efficient manner possible. This was a rule of thumb that helped us to be more effective early in the game.

2. Get your playmakers early touches
We scripted our best players go get touches early. We wanted to make sure we got them involved in the first two series. One season we had a great tight end. We made sure we threw at least one ball at him in our first 8 plays.

3. Don't worry if it's 3rd and 2 and you have a pass scripted
Some of our biggest plays came when we threw on run downs and ran on pass downs. It also helps you break tendencies.

4. Script your tempo
This is something we love to do. We will script in a couple of early nascar concepts. We also would script our freeze tempo to get our opponent to jump offsides early in the game. By scripting tempo we were able to use it in advantageous situations.

5. Call the Touchdown Play
If there was a money play, we called it early. If we had a huge matchup advantage somewhere, we exploited it early and often. We built that into our script.

Our script was located at the top of the front of our call sheet. We also had scripts for end of half and end of game situations. We worked these through the week which helped us to be much better prepared on game day.

Our scripts helped us to be more targeted in our practices, and we improved our explosiveness on offense. It was tough to stay on script at times. When things don't go well and you punt twice in your first six plays, it is easy to abandon the plan. We had to remember that sometimes we were not going to have things go our way early. But if you built your script well, you were setting up a big play.

A lot of coaches ask me about my call sheet and how we prepared. We have a very systematic approach that we have developed over a 20 year period. Last summer I made our offensive game planning documents available for coaches to purchase for a nominal fee. The response was outstanding. Coaches from all levels of football in the US and internationally began using this resource. The head coach from one of the top 5A programs in Texas said these documents helped them to be much more prepared.

If you are interested in this resource, click here: Offensive Game and Practice Planning Resource.  Every document in this resource is completely editable and customizable to your program. Everything you need is in this resource. You order it today and you will be able to immediately begin downloading the documents and using them to be better prepared. This even includes our 2-sided color calls sheet! It prints on to 11x14 paper. I also include our weekly and daily practice plans, wrist bands, scouting forms, and much, much more! For just a few dollars you will score more points and win more games with this resource! It is on sale right now, so don't delay!

I also have a defensive game and practice planning resource that can be ordered here: Defensive Game and Practice Planning Resource. It has everything you defensive staff would need to dominate!

I also have a special teams resource available here: Special Teams Resource It is awesome because it includes teaching presentations and video for every phase of special teams!

 Last year I got hooked up with CoachTube, and put together three courses for offensive football coaches. I put together two courses on RPO's, and a course on Building An Elite System of Communication. All of these courses will help you to score more points! 

https://coachtube.com/users/coachvint

All three of these courses are detailed, with everything you need to be more explosive and to score more points. 

The course on communication gives you a detailed approach to your gameday communication. I give you a system and a process to improve the quality of conversations, leading to improved play calling on game day. This course has received outstanding reviews from coaches at all level of football. A coach with multiple state titles told me this course helped them to be much more efficient and explosive this season. 

My two RPO courses take you through a systematic process of installing RPO's into your offensive system. RPO's put the defense in conflict, forcing them to defend all 53 yards of width and all 6 skill players every single play. I not only give you a system, but I teach you the methods to develop your own RPO concepts. 

https://coachtube.com/users/coachvint

Developing an Offensive Game Plan and Call Sheet: Less is More!

Earlier this year I was speaking at a clinic in Greenwich, Connecticut, when a coach asked me what the biggest issue is with ineffective game planning. The answer was easy. Numerous times I have tried to put too much into the game plan. I tried to run too many concepts from too many formations. We would often have over 100 different calls in our game plan. The problem with this is that we couldn't practice everything we were going to run in the game. We wasted a lot of time practicing concepts we wouldn't end up running. Many of you are probably nodding your head because you have done the same thing!

I decided to take an analytical approach. We had approximately 50 team reps each day, 25 inside run reps, 25 team on air reps, and 25 7-on-7 reps each day. If we had four days of practice, we would get 500 reps a week. These 500 reps were sacred. We had to make sure we used them wisely so we were prepared each week.

The first thing we did was cut down on the number of calls we had in our game plan. In a typical game we are going to run between 70 and 85 plays. We aren't going to run 85 different plays. We are going to repeat plays throughout the game. And often, we are going to find a call that works and repeat it over and over. Once we find a formation and concept that works, we often will call that concept several times.

As we began to build our game plan we started with a menu. Our menu consisted of 24 things we felt would be best on Friday night. When I talk about a menu, I am talking about the entire call. This is how we built our menu. As we watched film of our opponents, we answered a worksheet with 63 questions on it. The answers to these questions helped us to get a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the defense. Below is a screen shot of the first 12 questions of this worksheet.

We examined four areas of the defense. First, we wanted to know how they were going to align. We looked at their alignments to find what formations would give us leverage, numbers, and green grass. Where could we find an alignment advantage?

Second, we examined their personnel. Who were their best players? Who were their worst players? Where could we find a matchup we could win? This is a vital part of game planning that helped us win several games. One season we were playing a team with a great defense. They shut our offense down in the first quarter. However, there was one matchup we knew we could win. Our X receiver was better than their corner. To stop the run they were putting their corner on an island. We scored three times in the first half, all on vertical routes to our X. We ran 35 plays in the first half for 220 yards. 170 of those yards came on 3 long touchdown passes to our X. 

Third, we wanted to know when they blitzed. When did they call 5 and 6 man pressures? This helped us to determine when we would call our screens. If a team blitzed 75% of the time we were 2nd and medium, we were going to call our screens on those downs. Below is a YouTube video I did talking about how we use data. 

Fourth, we wanted to know how they handled tempo. Did they huddle? How did they get their call in? What was their answer to offenses playing fast? A few years back we played a team that was much better than us physically. They were huge up front. The one weakness was that they couldn't adjust to tempo. They couldn't get lined up right if the offense played fast. We had no business beating them, but our tempo overwhelmed them. 

Once we analyze these four areas, we begin to build our menu. We want to major in 24 things each week. We then would have 12 things we would minor in. This gave us a total of 36 calls for a game. If we did a great job preparing, we would not have to deviate from this list. Below are two screenshots of showing our weekly menu. This is a simple excel worksheet we could adjust each week. 

Once we have our menu built, we begin to fill in our call sheet. Our call sheet is very unique in that it gives us specific call scripts based on situations we will face each game. What we did each season was analyzed how many times we faced each down and distance situation. We then built a script for each situation with a column for left hash, right hash, and middle hash. For each situation, we would enter the defense we were most likely going to face. This helped us to have a specific set of plays we felt would take advantage of the defense for each situation. The plays on the call sheet came directly from our menu. Many of these plays would be repeated throughout this call sheet. Below is a screen shot of our call sheet with situational scripts. 

The number of plays we had scripted for each situation was based on the number of times we would face that situation each game. We had would have more 2nd and medium calls than we would 2nd and short. By putting together these scripts on our call sheet, we were able to call plays faster on Friday Night. We were able to call better plays based on what the defense was doing against us. Each time we called a play I would make a red mark or a green mark during the game. The red mark meant the play was not positive. A green mark meant it was good. This gave us a point of reference as we went through the game. Typically I would go right down the script each time we faced that specific situation. 

On the other side of our call sheet we had sections designed to for additional important areas of our game plan. We had a section with calls designed to get our best athletes the ball in open space. We wanted to make sure we got our best athletes enough quality touches. We had calls based on each formation. This was similar to our play menu. We had another section with specific coverage beaters. We also had a script built for our last play based on field position. There were several other sections as well designed to help us make better calls in the heat of battle. 

Once our call sheet was built, we began to build our scripts for the week. We scripted everything we did. If a team we played brought a 5 man pressure 75% of the time on third and long, we made sure we ran a 5 man pressure during that situation in our team period of practice. Everything we did was tied to our preparation worksheet and the reports we ran on our opponents. I am not smart enough to call things from the hip, so our preparation was vital to our success on offense.

If you want to improve your preparation, I have made each of our game planning documents available for download. You can click the link here: Offensive Game Planning Documents. There are 9 documents included in this download. Each document is completely editable and customizable to your program. You can order them today and download them immediately. Here are the documents that are included:

You don't have to recreate the wheel! Everything you need is all ready to go for this season! For less than $15 you will be better prepared and more explosive on offense! Each document is already formatted, saving you hours of work! Simply type in your information and go to work! You will call better plays and score more points. These sheets will also make you look like a professional! 

I also have a packet for the defense available for download! These documents helped us post 6 shutouts in 10 games! Everything you need as a defensive coordinator is here for you to prepare to dominate your opponents! Defensive Game Planning Packet

As you build your gameplay, start with a 24 play menu. Remember, you want to be able to give everything you are going to run in the game enough quality reps in practice. You don't want to run a bunch of stuff in practice you may not run in a game! I hope you have gotten something from this article you can use!

A few months back I published a couple of iBooks that can help your program with X's and O's. The first is on Installing RPO's into any offense. Here is a link to the iBooks version: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1078061959. The ibooks version includes explanations, diagrams, and video clips on multiple RPO Concepts. It will give you a simple process for implementing them into your offense.

If you don't have an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you can order the Amazon version for the Kindle. It has everything except the embedded video. You can order it here: http://www.amazon.com/Installing-Explosive-Concepts-Into-Offense-ebook/dp/B01B12YSCG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

I also wrote a book on Tempo. It will greatly help you build a multiple tempo system with simple communication that will allow your kids to play with confidence. It also had over an hour of video clips! You can order the ibooks version here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1075902270.

Order the Amazon Kindle version here:

http://www.amazon.com/Using-Multiple-Tempos-Create-Explosive-ebook/dp/B01ATOL46A/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

 Last year I got hooked up with CoachTube, and put together three courses for offensive football coaches. I put together two courses on RPO's, and a course on Building An Elite System of Communication. All of these courses will help you to score more points! 

https://coachtube.com/users/coachvint

All three of these courses are detailed, with everything you need to be more explosive and to score more points. 

The course on communication gives you a detailed approach to your gameday communication. I give you a system and a process to improve the quality of conversations, leading to improved play calling on game day. This course has received outstanding reviews from coaches at all level of football. A coach with multiple state titles told me this course helped them to be much more efficient and explosive this season. 

My two RPO courses take you through a systematic process of installing RPO's into your offensive system. RPO's put the defense in conflict, forcing them to defend all 53 yards of width and all 6 skill players every single play. I not only give you a system, but I teach you the methods to develop your own RPO concepts. 

https://coachtube.com/users/coachvint

A Simple RPO Concept For Any Offense

RPO's, an acronym for Run-Pass Options, are going to forever change the game of football. RPO's put the defense in conflict as they must defend the entire field and all of your skill guys each and every play.  RPO's are great for three reasons:
1. The defense must defend the entire width of the field
2. The defense can't load the box to stop the run
3. Skill players get more touches in open space

RPO's are essentially option football. Like with option concepts, your quarterback is going to read a defender. With RPO's, however, you are going to throw the football rather than give the football based on the key defender.

I teach RPO's as three basic families. We have pre snap, post snap, and RPO specific concept. With a pre snap RPO, the quarterback is going to look at the pre snap alignment of the defense to determine whether he will throw the pass concept or execute the run.

With a post snap RPO the quarterback will read the post snap movement of a defender to determine whether he will give the ball or throw he ball.

RPO specific concepts are designed to give the quarterback a post snap run/pass option. The most popular post snap RPO is the stick draw concept.

When first installing RPO's I teach coaches to build the pre snap RPO's first. These are the easiest to execute and give you opportunities for explosive plays. These also give your quarterback simple reads based on pre snap defensive alignment.

The most basic pre snap RPO concept I like to install its he SMOKE concept. We call this quick. Quick is thrown to the #1 receiver. The #2 receiver is going to block for #1. The #1 receiver must catch the ball and get vertical. We tell our players this will often be a 6 yard gain, and if you break a tackle, it will be six points. Below is a diagram of the quick concept.

On the quick concept the quarterback is going to catch the snap and throw. His footwork is simply "turn two." What I mean is, we are going to turn a double play. We want to get the ball out quickly. The quarterback is going to determine whether he will throw the quick or execute the run based on the alignment of the 2nd defender from the outside in. 

In the diagram below, the offense is running inside zone read with a quick concept to the twins. The quarterback finds the 2nd defender and sees that he is hipped on the defensive end. Essentially that gives us a 2-on-1 on the outside. We want to throw the quick. If the defense were to align the outside linebacker over the #2 receiver, the quarterback would execute the run. 

The smoke concept can be run from any formation that gives you two receivers to one side or the other, and can be paired with any of your runs. The defense cannot bring an extra player into the box, as you are going to have an answer. Any system can install this concept in one day, and can attach it to any of your run game concepts. Regardless of what offensive system you run, you can install this concept.

If the defense were to walk out the outside backer over the number #2 WR, the quarterback would execute the run. This gives us numbers in the box.

Regardless of what defensive front is being run, the pre snap reads are the same for the quarterback. This is important when you install this system as it speeds up learning. In my book about RPO's I give you a systematic process to install pre snap RPO's without having to add any new verbiage! You will never again have to run the ball into a loaded box!

RPO's are great equalizers when defenses want to add defenders to the box to stop your run game. They give the offense the ability to take advantage of literally anything the defense does. The great thing about RPO's is that they can be added to any offense. You can add pre snap RPO's with relative ease. Once you build your pre snap RPO's, you begin to install your post snap RPO concepts. With a small investment you can add a huge element of explosiveness to your offense!

 Last year I got hooked up with CoachTube, and put together three courses for offensive football coaches. I put together two courses on RPO's, and a course on Building An Elite System of Communication. All of these courses will help you to score more points! 

https://coachtube.com/users/coachvint

All three of these courses are detailed, with everything you need to be more explosive and to score more points. 

The course on communication gives you a detailed approach to your gameday communication. I give you a system and a process to improve the quality of conversations, leading to improved play calling on game day. This course has received outstanding reviews from coaches at all level of football. A coach with multiple state titles told me this course helped them to be much more efficient and explosive this season. 

My two RPO courses take you through a systematic process of installing RPO's into your offensive system. RPO's put the defense in conflict, forcing them to defend all 53 yards of width and all 6 skill players every single play. I not only give you a system, but I teach you the methods to develop your own RPO concepts. 

https://coachtube.com/users/coachvint

This year I put out a book on RPO's that will give you a systematic process to build RPO's into your offensive system. The book has an iBooks version and an Amazon Kindle version. The iBooks version can be read on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It is an amazing book that gives you over an hour of video! It has been read by coaches at all levels, and they have all loved it! This book gives you a systematic process for installing and teaching pre snap and post snap RPO's! This book will greatly enhance your offense! It can be ordered clicking here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1078061959.

If you don't have an apple device, you can order the paperback version! It is available on Amazon!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1520447485