Defending RPOs Clinic: Evolution of the RPO Chess Match

It was an honor to be a part of the Coach G Clinic series that my man, Justin Grandenetti has done since all the craziness started.  Here is the link to all of the clinics he has hosted on his Google Drive.  Here is the PowerPoint and the video from the clinic, which builds on two previous articles I have done.  It includes some new video and new ideas on RPOs from both sides of the ball that I have picked up in talking to people.  Note: I said that nobody yet on film has read the eyes of the QB vs any Flop RPOs (with the Back to the side of the QB), but teams have done this vs Pistol.

Run the Power Podcast Interview

It was an honor to be on the @RunThePower podcast and be able to talk ball with Rowdy Harper (@harper_coach) and Brady Walz (@coachbradywalz).  If you haven't yet, check out their website at runthepower.com, these guys really know their stuff and have been a big help to all Football Coaches.  

Defending Stretch Read

Betz and Andrew Coverdale reminded me on twitter recently about an old video I had made on Defending Stretch Read. I lost all the tags for these clips on my old computer, so this film has been burnt twice and is not high quality production. 

Mistakes

A big mistake in defending Stretch (and one clip of Pin and Pull Sweep) is the DL to the frontside not getting Vertical.  The DL must get upfield and help to "Build a Wall" to the frontside of the play.  The backside DL must pursue in their gaps.  The godfather of the Wide Zone or Stretch Play is Alex Gibbs, who was adamant about cutting on the backside to eliminate pursuit so the Running Back could safely cut the ball back.  The backside DL must stay on their feet and stay in their moving gap.

Creeper and Sim Pressure Clinic - Fire, Axe, Switch Smoke

I am speaking today for the Minority Football Coaches Network (@MFCNetwork_) Football Clinic.  Here are the .pdf notes and the video below that you can download.

Zoom Zoom, the Online Clinic Explosion

I want to take to recognize some people who are doing there part to help other coaches here during this time of Coronavirus Social Distancing.  Out of adversity comes great men to sacrifice for others, and here are some guys who have stepped it up big-time.

Go here to see the Football Coach's TV Guide for today: Online Football Clinic Schedule 

1.  Justin Grandenetti is a guy who has really stepped up.  I had never even heard of before last week and now he is doing awesome things to cause the entire football world to take notice.  Go to his twitter profile page: Justin Grandenetti for the schedules and links to his online Zoom Clinics, and here is the link to the Justin Grandenetti Google Drive, containing all the clinics he has done, which run all day long.  His PayPal is Jgrand32@gmail.com if you would like to donate.

2.  The South Dakota Football Coaches Association has stepped and done some amazing clinics as well that you need to check out.  Nightly at 9:30 EST.

3.  CoachesClinic.com is one I just found and they have some great speakers.

4.  Footballscoop.com has also started hosting some clinics too that you need to check out.

5.  My good friend Coach Vass did an all-day Caronapalooza clinic last Saturday with some of the best Defensive Coaches in the country and you can go here to access some of the Pop-up Clinics that he has done.  Stay tuned for the Offensive session he has planned coming up soon--10 Coaches for 10 Hours!

6.  Minority Coaches Football Network will host clinics on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I will be on there Tuesday, April 14 at 11:30 am EST.

7.  Wisconsin Coaches Association clinics headed up by Drew Ambrose.  

8.  The Spot the Ball clinic by SW Oklahoma St is Thursday morning, April 2.

9.  Gus Kapolka hosted the Power T Clinic

10.  ChalkTalk - XO Clinics

11.  AFCA

12.  vIQtory Sports

13.  Michael Hathaway and the Maine Football Coaches Association do 1 clinic a day here.

14.  Surface to Air has their 2018 and 2019 clinics for free online.

15.  All In Sports Outreach is doing online devotionals for coaches.

16.  SkyCoach is doing clinics

17.  Terrance Banks, Pete DeWeese, Kenny Simpson, Austin James, Nicholas Bandstra, and Adam Carter have also hosted Zoom clinics.  Give them a follow them on twitter if you don't follow them already.

Also, here are some good guidelines from keeping unwanted guests out of your Zoom sessions: https://blog.zoom.us/wordpress/2020/03/20/keep-the-party-crashers-from-crashing-your-zoom-event/

Zone Lock (Zombie)

I posted a clip on twitter recently of Zone Lock from 2 Backs and commented that it seems to be the most effective run scheme on film for 2019 that I have seen so far.  The Zone Lock concept, also known as Zombie (Zone frontside, Man Backside) has been around for a while.  Here is a diagram from the 2008 Destin Glazier Clinic with former Florida OL Coach, Steve Addazio.

The play is designed to go frontside but it usually cuts back behind the Sniffer.  The Back must work playside first before cutting it back and he must read it because it can still hit frontside.  The diagram shows how an Alley is built by the blocks of the BST and the Sniffer, making a nice cutback play the majority of the time.

Here is a recent playbook diagram:

Manipulating 1 and 2 High Defensive RPO Reactions

College football in 2019 saw a huge tilt in the epic eternal battle of Offense vs. Defense, and Defenses are now scrambling to catch up.  My last post, Defending Pistol Spread RPO from 2 High, detailed the steps that Defenses can take to help vs. Offenses running RPOs (Run-Pass Options).  I showed the problem of Defenses slinging their fits pre-snap based on the side of the Back and showed how Defenses can sling their fits post-snap by reading the eyes of the QB to take away the player the Offense wants to throw to and add a player into the box to the other side vs. the Run.  In the diagram below, the Will is playing the Pass to the side the QB is looking and the Strong Safety ($) is adding to the box away from the side the QB is looking.

Defending Pistol Spread RPO from 2 High

A popular topic this off-season has been the 2019 LSU Offense and the challenges it gave Defenses trying to defend it from a 2 High structure.  Defenses in recent years have defended the RPO (Run-Pass Option) game by bringing a defender into the box opposite of the Back to play the Run and having the defender to the opposite side play the Pass.

It has been said that the Will, Mike, and $ are connected by a rope or a chain.  I like to think of them as being defenders in Foosball:

You can see the connection—either the they all go Left or they all go Right.  There is no independent functioning with all three defenders connected to the rod.  This is how defenders must communicate and work to defend the RPO game from 2 High.  Here it is drawn up below:

Coach Vass Fundraiser

A great thing about being a Coach is the fraternity of coaches that exist to help one another and take care of each other. One of our brothers, Coach Vass, could use some help to pay for his Mom's funeral expenses.  Coach Vass has done so much to help other coaches with his podcast and the online clinics that he does.  Please consider helping out.  God bless and Happy New Year 2020.

NCAA Analytics - Adjusted Yards Per Play - 10/11/19

A book called, Football by the Numbers, 1986, said that Total Offense and Total Defense were not the best statistics for determining which Offense or Defense was actually the best. The authors, George Ignatin and Allen Berra, determined that an Interception was worth -50 yards in field position and a Fumble was worth -40 yards (Int's are worth more since they are usually returned back for more yards than Fumbles). They took Total Offense/Defense minus the 50 yards for each Interception and minus 40 yards for each Fumble, and then divided that by the Number of Plays. This gave the value of Adjusted Yards per Play.

2019 Purdue Offense vs. TCU Defense

X & O geeks have been waiting all off-season for this match-up between two of the best in the business: Purdue's Jeff Brohm and the nation's top passing Offense vs. TCU's Gary Patterson and his 4-2-5 Defense.  It will be a classic Offense vs. Defense chess match extraordinaire.  

Play-Action H-Sneak Throwback

A nice Red-Zone play to have in your back pocket for a big game is the Play-Action H-Sneak Throwback.  The play starts out with a Play-Action fake and is designed to look like Waggle Smash to the frontside.  The X WR or the TE to the backside will run a Pin route and try to take both the Corner and the near Safety with him.  The Back will fake getting the hand-off and then slip through the line past the LB who will have him in man coverage in the Red Zone.  He will run a Wheel route and he is the first read for the QB.  

Power Screen

I am going to the other side of the ball and talk Offense for this post. One of the best looking Screens I have seen on film is the Power Screen. I haven’t seen much of the newer Purdue film, but I have studied a lot of Jeff Brohm’s Offense while at Western Kentucky and I think that is the best Screen team I have seen. They didn’t necessarily have the best playmakers but the timing, blocking, and execution was extremely crisp and their Offensive Linemen moved quickly to block 2nd and 3rd level defenders.

The Power action with the backside Guard pulling will change up your Screen blocking rules as opposed to the regular Tunnel Screen but it provides good misdirection vs. teams using their backside LB to chasing the pulling Guard on Power.  It is easy to run out of a 2x2 look but it can also be run to Trips as well as to the 1 WR side. 

Here is the play out of 2x2 vs. a standard 4-2-5 look with the Will LB just outside the box eyeing the boundary Slot WR.  The teaching to the skill guys is ridiculously simple.  The Back is set to the boundary and the QB and Back are faking Power.  The QB will fake the ball and throw it to the boundary Slot WR without any footwork.  The Slot WR will take one step and turn to the QB, catch it, and run.  The other WRs simply block the man in front of them.

Smoke Creeper/Simulated Pressure

I recently did a post on the Fire 3 Creeper/Simulated Pressure which is an edge pressure coming from the Field or wide-side.  Smoke is the same pressure from the Boundary, or short-side of the field.  I want to show Smoke being run from different Fronts, pre-snap looks, bluffs, and coverages to help coaches who are looking to install Creepers and Sim Pressures into their defensive package.

Creepers vs. Simulated Pressures

I have been studying Creepers and Simulated Pressures all summer, but I have to admit that I have not really known the difference between the two. These two similar concepts are not new to football but they are very new to the majority of us coaches who are looking to install them for the first time. There is little universal terminology in football but if we are to adopt some terminology, it might as well be from those who are the best in the business at using these concepts. LSU DC Dave Aranda and Alabama DC Pete Golding are two of the best at running these replacement pressures and they were both mentored by the same person, ULL DC Ron Roberts. I need to give a big thank you to the great @CoachRonRoberts for taking the time to helping me to learn the difference between the two. 

Both Creepers and Simulated Pressures are pressures that bring a 2nd or 3rd level defender, a LB or DB, in exchange for dropping a 1st level defender on the DL. These “extra safe” pressures only require 4 rushers and do not sacrifice coverage in pressuring Offenses. Also, Creepers can be either Man or Zone and Simulated Pressures can be either Man or Zone. 

Coach Vass

If you are not on twitter, I need to make you aware of the opportunities for growth as a football coach.  If you already are on twitter, then you are well aware that my man Chris Vasseur, @CoachVass, has absolutely crushed this off-season and is doing so much to help out other coaches.  He has put out some video pop-up clinics this on Periscope.  They are fantastic and you can check them out on his new website, coachvass.com.  He did a phenomenal series with USA Football called Deep Dive on Defense and his new podcast is called Make Defense Great Again.  He is interviewing some of the top coaches in the country and sharing a wealth of information to help coaches to get better.  He has had some amazing guests so far: ULL Defensive Coordinator Ron Roberts, Michigan Defensive Coordinator Don Brown, Mississippi State Head Coach Joe Moorhead, and more.

Fire 3 Creeper/Simulated Pressure

I want to go in-depth and talk about some of the specific Creepers and Simulated Pressures.    A Creeper or Simulated Pressure is a pressure that brings a non-traditional rusher (a LB or DB) in exchange for dropping a traditional rusher (DL).  The great thing about them is that they are “extra safe” pressures that do not require any additional rushers.  This means they do not sacrifice coverage in pressuring Offenses by getting to the QB and disrupting the run game. 

Most coaches are now becoming familiar with the idea of Creepers and Simulated Pressures, although they are not a new concept, as I have discovered in my research from my last article, Origin of Simulated Pressures.  I will talk about how to run these pressures from multiple fronts and from different pre-snap looks and bluffs to help coaches who are beginning to install Creepers and Sim Pressures into their defensive package.

Origin of Simulated Pressures

The Simulated Pressures have been all the rage this off-season as the newest innovation in football, but how new are they?  I dug deep into some old film and many old playbooks to investigate this question.  I will veer off and talk a little football history along the way, so I hope you don't mind.

What is a Simulated Pressure?  It is pressure that brings a non-traditional rusher (a LB or DB) in exchange for dropping a traditional rusher (DL).  They are generally 4 man pressures, although they can also be 5 man pressures by "adding" the rusher assigned to cover the Running Back when he blocks.

Read Tags in the Shotgun Run Game

There is often confusion about the different types of reads in the Shotgun Running game that I wanted to talk about and clarify.  I will be talking about Zone, Power, and Counter and these four primary read tags off of those concepts: Read, Flash, Bash, and Toss.

Read

"Read" by definition means that the QB will be reading the backside DE or EMLOS (end man on line of scrimmage) to the play.  So, "Zone Left Read" means I am reading the DE on the right.  Read is used so much as a tag on the Zone play that many coaches don't even use the tag anymore.  So when I call "Zone Left," it is an automatic read.  The Double Teams are so gorgeous on these two clips.

Origin of Power Read

The topic of the origin of the Power Read play came up recently and I will investigate the beginnings of this play that has become a powerful weapon in the Spread Offense this past decade.  Brandon Lechtenberg was a recent guest on USA Football's podcast, Deep Dive on Defense with Chris Vasseur (if you haven't checked this out yet, you are really missing out with my man Coach Vass killing it).  Coach Lech told the story of how his brother, Adam Lechtenberg, was the first one to suggest the idea to run Power Read while he was a G.A. at TCU in 2009.  TCU unveiled the play in a stunning win vs. Clemson early in the 2009 season.  QB Andy Dalton was the leading rusher for TCU in that game with 19 carries for 86 yards and he had a lot of key 3rd Down conversions with the Power Read play.   TCU also featured this play in their epic Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin that year.

Power Read