Showing posts with label wildcat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wildcat. Show all posts

Friday, March 18, 2011

Wildcat Power

Hey folks! Here's a great video of the classic Arkansas wildcat/wildhog set run by Gus Malzahn (Offensive Coordinator) and David Lee (QB Coach) in 2007. You'll see Darren McFadden and Felix Jones (both having solid careers in the NFL) as the single wing quarterbacks in this video running 'Power' off of jet sweep action.




Wildcat 2007 power @ Courtesy of Brophy's Football Blog

If you're starting to plan your 2011 season offensive sets and you have a few stud runners who have what it takes to accept a shot gun snap, think about adding the wildcat into your arsenal.

It's a great way to get your QB off the field for a few plays to discuss some things and can be a great change of pace for your offense.

Keep spreading 'em!

--Mark

www.SpreadOffense.com

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Youth Football Spread Offense | Highlights

Hey Folks! I love getting emails and calls from youth football coaches who are interested in implementing the spread offense. They usually come with some hesitancy that the execution of the shot gun snap may be to much to handle physically, or the quarterback can not handle the nuances of the offensive packages mentally, etc...

That's why I love when I'm able to post videos like this, showing youth football players executing the spread offense and having great success.



The only coaching tip I would give is to the Quarterback (#8) in the first segment. On the hand-off plays (traps, sweeps) to the tailback, the QB should always carry out his run fake hard after handing the ball off, especially if you're a good running QB. As we know, football is a game of inches and if you can make the defense hesitate just a split second on a carry out fake, that can be the difference between a 5 yard gain and a 50 yard touchdown.

I compliment the offensive line play by these young guys, like at any level, it all starts upfront at the line of scrimmage.

Keep spreading 'em!

--Mark

www.SpreadOffense.com

Monday, November 15, 2010

The Shot Gun Spread Wing-T Offense - QB Plays

Hey folks! One of the things that gets me real excited is when coaches take a certain element of one offense, in this case the Delaware Wing-T (which was the first offense I ran as a coach way back in 1993 thru 1995) and blend it with the shot gun spread offense.

In the video below, you'll see highlights of wing-t plays ran solely out of the shot-gun (trips) formation, with the dual threat QB executing the run plays usually run by the tailback.

Knowing that by using the quarterback as the predominant runner, they gain an extra blocker within the offensive scheme, which is always a positive in the spread offense on QB runs.



Keep spreading 'em!

-- Mark

www.SpreadOffense.com

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Cam Newton Through The Air - Auburn Spread Offense

Hey folks! I wanted to share with you a great video highlighting Cameron Newton, quarterback and Heisman front-runner at the time of this post from Auburn University.

This video highlights Cam's pass plays through his first 8 games. Most people think of the Heisman front-runner as a run dominant dual threat QB, but he shows in this highlight reel a strong ability to move the ball through the air out of Auburn's spread offense.



Keep spreading 'em!

--Mark

www.SpreadOffense.com

Spread Offense TV (24/7/365)

Monday, October 11, 2010

Taylor Martinez - Nebraska Dual Threat Quarterback

Hey folks! I found this highlight video of Taylor Martinez from the University of Nebraska in there game last week versus Kansas State.

Martinez is showing a lot of ability, leadership, field vision, and break-away speed running Nebraska's spread option offense.



It will be exciting to watch Martinez throughout the rest of year.

Keep spreading e'm!

-- Mark

www.SpreadOffense.tv (Video Sharing - Spread Offense TV)

Get your Spread Offense Playbooks at www.SpreadOffense.com

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Denard and QB Sweep Pass Out Of The Spread Offense

Hey Folks! As I've been watching film of the Michigan spread offense from this year to date, there is one specific play and/or scheme that Coach Rod and Coach McGee have been calling and the players executing that makes me go 'Wow'!

Now we all know the threat that Denard Robinson brings with his legs at the dual threat quarterback position, and one play that has been working extremely well is the QB Sweep out of trips formation.

Basically this QB run play is a 'hat on hat' play where the superback (or half-back in the shot gun alongside the QB) will lead the QB on a sweep play with the rest of the offensive players executing 'on' blocks, especially on the perimeter. The interior linemen are executing outside zone and reach blocks on this play, trying to work to the outside of the 'V' of the neck of the defensive linemen and working to drive the opponent off the line of scrimmage while working to the second level linebackers once movement occurs.

Here's a video showing the play I mention above, with the trips being created on this play by a tight end (TE) and two flankers (FL). You'll notice on this play the play-side offensive tackle (OT) executes a nice fold block to get to the perimeter backer with the TE blocking down.




Now that we've seen a visual of the run play, lets look below at a very hard to defend counter to that play, a QB Sweep Pass.



Lets take a look at this in a static play diagram below.



OK, now put yourself in Notre Dame's defenses shoes on this play - you have the best dual threat quarterback in the nation coming at the perimeter of your defense with his lead back ahead of him, you're thinking QB Sweep right?

Wrong! Denard pulls up and flips an easy touchdown pass to his #3 receiver out of the trips formation. Notice in the video how the Notre Dame's linebackers Sam, Buck, and Mike come flying up to defend the QB run, leaving the defense one defender short in covering the pass to the trips formation.

This highlights the pressure a dual threat QB can place on a defense.

Keep spreading e'm!

Mark

www.SpreadOffense.com

Monday, September 27, 2010

Michigan Spread Offense - Every Snap vs Bowling Green in 2010

Hey Folks! How does a spread offense video sound to you that shows 82 offensive snaps, 721 total yards of offense, 31 first downs, and 9 touchdowns?





Keep spreading e'm!

Mark

Get Your Spread Offense Playbook - Offense and Defense

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

The Denard Robinson Show - Michigan vs Notre Dame 2010

Hey Folks! In case you didn't see the game, here's every offensive snap of Denard Robinson and the University of Michigan spread offense versus Notre Dame last weekend.

Robinson, a dynamic dual threat quarterback in Rich Rodriguez's spread offense contributed 502 yards of total offense, with 258 on the ground and 244 yards passing.

Being a coach, I have to give a lot of Robinson's early season credit to the Michigan offensive line and the perimeter blocking by the wide receivers.

Great job!

Here's the video:




Keep spreading e'm!

--Mark

www.SpreadOffense.tv (all spread offense videos, 24/7/365)

Main Portal: www.SpreadOffense.com

Monday, September 6, 2010

Michigan Spread Offense Solid In 2010 Season Opener

Hey folks! The University of Michigan football team had a nice opening day victory over the University of Connecticut out of the Big East.

Coach Rich Rodriguez's spread offense was very effective, especially highlighting dual threat quarterback Denard Robinson. I really like what they did with the quarterback isolation play (QB ISO) in this game, spreading the field out and then using the numerical advantage in the box to run Robinson, an athletic QB with the Ace (or superback) leading through the hole.

Robinson's throwing was probably the most impressive, he showed great accuracy, great decision making, and had nice zip on the ball.

Here is a nice video clip segment of all the Michigan offensive plays in the game.



Keep spreading e'm!

Mark

www.SpreadOffense.com

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Athletic Quarterback In The Spread Offense

Hey folks! I hope your summer is going well, football is right around the corner... get your R&R in now and charge that battery for the season ahead!

I found this great video (courtesy of Coach Ayinde in California) of Francis Parker (CA) High School and their spread offense featuring a really dynamic athlete at quarterback.

I love the chess match between the offense and defense, especially with those 'grey area' outside backer defenders versus the spread offense. Do you respect the perimeter bubbles and quick screens? or the inside run with the athletic QB and tailback? The dilemma of the spread offense for any defense.

You'll see how the offense does a nice job of attacking the 6 defenders in the box (3-3 stack) with a lot of nice QB wraps, QB ISO's, and tailback counters between the tackles.




Keep spreading e'm!

--Mark

www.SpreadOffense.tv (24/7/365 Spread Offense TV)

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

What Will Texas Tech's Spread Offense Look Like In 2010?

Hey folks! I think one of the biggest questions coming into the 2010 season is, what will Texas Tech's offense look like post Mike Leach?

Now with Tommy Tuberville as the head coach (formally from Auburn) and Neal Brown the offensive coordinator (formally from Troy University), The Red Raiders will be running under a little different philosophy on the offensive side of the ball.

Just to give you a little taste of what you'll see, here's a video of Troy's offense versus LSU in 2008.



Notice the fast pace of the offense, they are in 'Indy or Jet' mode a lot of the time, trying to out pace, confuse, and wear down the defense. I also think you'll see Tech run the ball more, especially if it's working as this is what Tuberville likes to do.

Here's a 2010 Texas Tech preview video with some interviews:



I'm looking forward to seeing the new Texas Tech Offense in 2010!

Keep spreading e'm!

--Mark

Sunday, May 23, 2010

QB Wrap Out Of The Spread Offense

Hey folks! I wanted share with you an article with diagram I posted on our main website in regards to the quarterback wrap or 'gut' play out of the spread offense. When I look at this play, I can't help to think about Vince Young of the Tennessee Titans and the break out year I believe he's poised to have in 2010.

I'll make a bold prediction that if he stays healthy, he'll be the league MVP in 2010, I just have that feeling.

To view the full article on our parent site, go to:

http://www.spreadoffense.com/ssp/qb_wrap_spread_offense

Keep spreading e'm!

--Mark

www.SpreadOffense.tv (video sharing platform on the spread offense)

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Most Influential Spread Offense Games Of The Last Decade

When you think of the spread offense over the last decade (2000-2009), there have been some specific games and moments that have helped solidify this offensive style as the most dynamic and exciting offense over the past 10 years. In addition, on the defensive side of the ball there have been a few important stops against spread offenses that have helped define the need for a new style of defense.

Lets take a look of some of these moments and games over the past decade:

1) Appalachian State University vs the University of Michigan -September 2007

The 2007 Appalachian State vs Michigan game was held on September 1, 2007 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

It pitted the #5 ranked Michigan Wolverines against the two-time defending champions of the Division I FCS (1-AA), the Appalachian State Mountaineers.

In what was hailed as one of the biggest upsets in all of sports, the Mountaineers shocked the Wolverines 34–32. It was the first win by a team in Division I FCS team over a ranked team in Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A) since the NCAA split the divisions in 1978. The game has been referred to by one sports writer as the 'Miracle in Michigan'.

Appalachian State ran a potent spread offense, lead by sophomore quarterback Armanti Edwards. Many college football experts credited the spread offense system that ASU ran as the ultimate equalizer and the reason for the win.

The game made the front page of The New York Times, which called the game "one of the biggest upsets in college football history" and drew a comparison to David and Goliath.




2) University of Pittsburgh vs West Virginia University - November 2005, December 2007

November 2005 - The 98th version of the Backyard Brawl saw WVU dominate a much slower PITT team 45-13, as admitted by head coach Dave Wannstedt: "They're just faster then us out there, we need to get faster in order to compete".






Pat White rushed for a record 220 yards and two scores, while Steve Slaton rushed for 179 yards and two scores in the game for the potent WVU spread offense.


December 2007 - The 100th edition of the Backyard Brawl had national implications, with West Virginia ranked #2 in the BCS, all they needed was a win over there rival PITT to get into the BCS Championship game vs Ohio State. The Mountaineers were a 4 touchdown favorite in the game.

With the Mountaineers dominating the two previous match-ups in 2005 and 2006, Dave Wannstedt and his defensive staff engineered a great game plan, boxing in the high powered spread option offense of West Virginia, not allowing any big plays as in previous years.

After the 13-9 upset victory, Wannstedt reflected back on the comments he made after the 2005 game, "I guess we finally got faster".






3) University of Oregon vs University of Michigan - September 2007


This game was Michigan's worst defeat since 1968, a 39-7 loss in Ann Arbor. Dennis Dixon threw for 368 yards and a career high 4 touchdowns passes, he also rushed for 76 yards and one touchdown.

The Ducks led 31-7 at halftime, and faced little opposition in the second half. According to Oregon coach Mike Bellotti the game was a "good win because I think there were some questions about how Michigan was going to bounce back, and whether we would be competitive. I think our players took that to heart." This game caused Michigan to open the season with two home losses, both to spread offense teams featuring dual threat quarterbacks.




4) West Virginia University vs University of Georgia - Sugar Bowl, January 2006

The 2006 Sugar Bowl featured the Big East champions, the West Virginia Mountaineers and the SEC champions, the Georgia Bulldogs. The game is thought to have raised the Big East's profile in the wake of losing 3 members to the ACC, and being called by some in the media as 'The Big Least'.

The game was played in Atlanta as the Louisiana Superdome was still unfit to host a game in the months after Hurricane Katrina. Georgia was favored by 2 touchdowns, and had a home field advantage playing in Atlanta.

Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese proclaimed the win the most significant football victory in conference history because it gave credibility back to the revamped league.

True freshman Steve Slaton, now with the Houston Texans in the NFL rushed for 204 yards and three TDs in a 38-35 win for WVU.




5) University of Florida vs University of Oklahoma - BCS Championship, January 2009


Tim Tebow's two touchdown passes and Percy Harvin's two-yard run led the Florida Gators to their second BCS National Championship in three years. The Gators defeated the Oklahoma Sooners, 24-14, in front of a record crowd of 78,468 in Miami.

Urban Meyer became the first coach to win two BCS championship games, and one of only five coaches in NCAA history to win two titles in his first four years at a college.

Tim Tebow and Sam Bradford, two high profiled spread offense quarterbacks combined for four interceptions in the game despite throwing for just eight combined over the course of the regular season.





6) New England Patriots vs New York Giants - December, 2007


In their final regular season game, the 15-0 Patriots traveled to Giants Stadium, trying to win a record 16th game of the season. With the game scheduled to air on NFL Network, not available on some cable providers, the NFL arranged a three-way simulcast of the game with CBS and NBC, the first time an NFL game was broadcast on three networks, and the first national simulcast of any NFL game since Super Bowl I.

The high powered pro spread offense of New England lead by Tom Brady, Randy Moss, and Wes Welker won a hard fought 38-35 game. In this game, Randy Moss set the record for most touchdown receptions in a season with 23, and Tom Brady set one for touchdown passes with 50.

These teams met again in Super Bowl XLII a month later, with the Giants upsetting the Patriots 17-14.





7) Texas Tech University vs University of Texas - November 2008


Number 5 ranked Texas Tech led the Texas Longhorns for most of the game, and by as much as nineteen points at one point. Texas rallied to take a one-point lead with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game.

Graham Harrell's last pass of the game was to wide receiver Michael Crabtree who caught the ball near the right sideline and somehow broke away from two Longhorn defenders to scamper in for the winning score with second left to play. The extra point gave Texas Tech a 39–33 lead with one second remaining.




8) University of Texas vs University of Southern California - BCS Championship, January 2006


The University of Southern California (USC) entered the game with a 34 game winning streak, the longest active streak in Division I-A, having won the 2004 BCS National Championship.

Texas brought the second longest active winning streak into the game, having won 19 straight, and also entered as Rose Bowl defending champion, having defeated Michigan in the 2005 Rose Bowl. Their combined 53 game win streak was an NCAA record for teams playing each other.

Vince Young, possibly the most dynamic dual threat quarterback in NCAA history accounted for 467 total yards (passing and running) in the championship game, which is the best performance ever in a BCS Championship game.

Facing 4th and 5 from the 9 yard line on the games final drive, Young received the shotgun snap and found his receivers covered. He then scampered towards the right sideline and received a critical block from WR Justin Blalock as he won the footrace to the end zone. The score, Young's third rushing touchdown of the game, gave the Longhorns a one point lead with 19 seconds left in the game. Young successfully reached the end zone again on the following two point conversion, giving the Longhorns a 41–38 victory.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Buffalo Bills Get Into The Wildcat Mix With A Nice Pass Play

Just in case you didn't see the highlights of this play on Sunday, the Buffalo Bills did a little 'Tebow-esk' on the Tennessee Titans. Running back Fred Jackson lined up in the wildcat (or single wing spread offense) and executed a nice QB play-action pass that ended in a long touchdown pass to Lee Evans.

As suspected, the Titans secondary began to creep up into the box when they saw Jackson in the shot-gun pre-snap (thinking run), and could not adjust to the play-action pass.

See the video below:



Keep spreading u'm!

--Mark

www.SpreadOffense.tv (video sharing platform)
www.SpreadOffense.com

Thursday, November 12, 2009

NFL Playbook Breaks Down Miami's WildPat Offense

I found this nice video of the NFL Network guys breaking down last weekends Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots game, particularly the new series the Dolphins used with Pat White in at quarterback running the spread option offense.

Click Here to be directed to the segment, good stuff! Also, Click Here to listen to Bill Belichick 'mic'd up' for the game Sunday... and his classic pregame prediction: "I kind of got the feeling this is going to be a little bit of a Pat White game". Damn, that guy is a great, smart, prepared football coach.

Keep spreading u'm!

Mark

www.SpreadOffense.com
www.SpreadOffense.tv

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Pat White Pitches The Ball To Ricky Williams - NFL Spread Option Football

Just when you thought it was safe to watch an NFL game without hearing the word 'spread option offense', the following play below happens!

For our loyal readers, you know we predicted this occurrence would hit the NFL by 2011, so much for our Nostradamus moment... how's 2009 hit you doubters who pelted us back in early 2008 for saying 2011!

For those of you who didn't see Pat White's first play on Sunday afternoon, it was a 33 yard option keeper down the left sideline (see video below).

Now kudos to the Patriots, they adjusted very well to the spread option ... much better then last year when the Phins launched the 'wildcat' on them. To me, that's the ultimate complement to the spread option offense, when Bill Belichick admits that they spent 30% of their defensive practice preparing for the wildcat/spread option offense the week before the Dolphins game.

As for Pat White, he finished the game with 45 yards rushing and 0-1 passing. I think the '0-1 passing' needs to be the next part of the package that's worked on and refined to truly round out this 'WildCat 2.0' series for the Dolphins.

Below is the video of Pat White and Ricky Williams executing the spread option offense for a touchdown versus the New England Patriots.



Here's Pat White's first snap of the game, a 33 yard gain off the pistol speed option play.




Keep spreading u'm!

--Mark

http://www.spreadoffense.com/
http://www.spreadoffense.tv/ (video sharing platform)

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Dolphins WildCat Offense Should Get More Interesting After A Bye Week

The Miami Dolphins will be fun team to watch the rest of the season if you enjoy the single-wing/wildcat formation. Coming off a bye week and an exciting victory two weeks ago against the New York Jets, I'm sure the Dolphins coaching staff has been adding to the creativity of the wildcat sets.

One area that has been expanded/improved on already is running the formation out of a more 'balanced' look, as opposed to the traditional unbalanced wildcat in the "1.0" version.

I actually wrote about a predicted 'WildCat 2.0' from the Dolphins back in June based on the success and failures of the '1.0' version created by Gus Malzahn, now at the University of Auburn.

My next prediction is that the final piece of the puzzle for Miami, Pat White will get more and more snaps as another dual threat change of pace.

Below is a grouping of all of the WildCat plays the Dolphins ran against the Jets, enjoy!




Keep spreading u'm!

--Mark

www.SpreadOffense.com

Saturday, October 17, 2009

The Power - The New Staple Of The Spread Offense

The 'Power' has been a popular play for years out of the "I" formation as well as one back formations with the quarterback taking the snap from under the center.

Over the past two seasons, you are now seeing this effective run play become a staple out of the shot gun spread offense, like the zone read option. Whether out of a single-wing/'wildcat' set or out of a traditional shot-gun set with running back(s) flanking the quarterback, this play is allowing for some very creative play calling by coaches at all levels.

As you will see at the end of the video below, the Florida Gator 'inside shovel' pass is power blocking by the offensive line.

This video is a great collection of 'Power' plays out of the spread offense.




Keep spreading u'm!

--Mark

www.SpreadOffense.tv

Monday, October 12, 2009

The Wild Horse Formation - Denver Broncos

I was really impressed by the 'wild-horse' single wing formation created by head coach Josh McDaniels and staff of the Denver Broncos while watching them beat the New England Patriots yesterday.

What was most unique about it was it resembled the 'wildcat' that is spreading in the NFL, but was more of a balanced set (as seen below), and it allowed for the quarterback, in this case Kyle Orton to shift back under center once the defense showed its hand on how it would defend the single wing with Knowshon Moreno at the Superback (or single wing QB).

Here's a look at the basic 'power' out of the Wild Horse that we've learned to love out of the Wild Cat or any other single wing type set across football the last few years.



I really like the double tight end set out of the single wing, it creates some serious gap issues, not that the single wing doesn't do that already with the '11th gap' it creates, but double tights really amplifies the effect.

Now, here's the shift I discussed briefly above:

Here you'll see that Kyle Orton shifted back to an under the center QB set from the flanker (FL) position once the defense showed its hand versus the single wing wild-horse with Moreno staying put in the one back set.

This play above shows Orton and the Denver offense executing a pass play after the shift back into a more traditional set. Even Phil Simms who was calling the play-by-play was very impressed with this 'shift' back wrinkle by the Broncos out of the Wild Horse as every play after them shifting produced positive yards with the defense being somewhat out of position.

Good stuff !

Keep spreading u'm!

--Mark

www.SpreadOffense.com