Friday, March 25, 2011

2010 AFCA Convention (Orlando, FL) Notes

Here are the speakers and topics:

Josh Heupel - Oklahoma - QB Play
Decent talk, but everybody in the Big 12 was there and he wasn't going to give out anything too good.

Brandon Doman - BYU - QB Play
I liked listening to him a lot and how he described reads on Shallow and its variations.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Chargers Bunch Pass vs. Dolphins - AFC Playoffs - Jan. 8, 1995

The Dolphins and Chargers are back again in another playoff battle with a play not as well known as the Hook and Lateral, but nonetheless still extremely important in the history of football X's and O's. The Chargers won this game with one of the best designed plays I have ever seen, even to this day. This one killed me as a Dolphins fan (and still does every time I watch it), but even then I had to tip my hat to the Offensive Coordinator for designing this masterpiece of a play and for calling it at the perfect time with the game on the line.

The Chargers lined up in a Bunch formation with motion by the inside WR to help shake man coverage. Check out the end-zone copy at the end of the video to get a good look at the Backside Guard pulling and the WR sneaking through the LOS. I think that the collective jaws of everyone watching the game fell to the floor when they saw this play, and I remember the announcers replaying it like 20 times—it really was that sweet. It is my opinion that this was one of the greatest offensive plays ever drawn up and executed in the history of professional football. Here it is:


Links:
Terrific football blog that I had never seen before that you must check out: http://codeandfootball.wordpress.com/

Deuce does a great job of talking about Midline and all its variations: http://footballislifeblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/midline.html

Dacoachmo posted his Indy Glazier Clinic notes:

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Wrong-Arm Technique

Good discussion on Coach Huey about the Wrong-Arm technique here.  I'm better with pictures and video than I am with words, so is here is my take on the Wrong-Arm technique.  The Wrong-Arm technique vs. Power is pretty straightforward, and I will get to it later.  The Wrong-Arm technique vs. Counter is not as straightforward and cause for some debate, so I will tackle it first. 

The diagram below shows the Fox DE initially obeying his Block-Down-Step-Down rules vs. the OT.  If he follows his hands, his technique will take him right into the pulling Guard.  How he attacks the Guard is the key to stopping the Counter play.  If he literally obeys his Wrong-Arm rule and attacks the inside shoulder of the pulling Guard with his outside shoulder, he will be pinned easily and the pulling Tackle will not miss a beat coming around for the LB.  The defense has forced the ball to bounce outside, but nothing is being disrupted.  It is important to remember that maximum disruption is the goal and purpose of Wrong-Arming.