| Converting the 3rd Down In The Spread Offense |
| By: Andrew Breiner - Fordham Univ.
Originally Published in: Nike 2016 Coach of the Year Clinics Football Manual - by Earl Browning Provided by: Nike Coach of the Year This time of year I get a chance to speak at a number of clinics. I like to change up the topics from year to year. I was thinking about what we emphasized this past year. We had a young group at Fordham and we had to emphasize everything we did. When we got our feet on the ground and got rolling, we talked about critical situations. We talked about them, planned for them, and practiced them. What you do on first and second down consumes the bulk of what you do in game planning and practice. We played several games this year that were decided by seven points or less. In those game there were some critical situations that determined the outcome of the game. How do we define critical situations? We consider anything outside of the first and second down to be a critical situation. The exclusion to that rule is when we get to the red zone or when we are backed up inside our 10-yard line. The critical situations I am going to talk about today is "third down." Critical Situations: 3rd Down • Critical to Winning Games ° Turnover Ration ° Explosive Plays (For and Against) ° Third Down Conversion Percentage • Must find a way to stay on the field ° More plays = More points If you look at the critical factors in winning a football game, turnovers will be number one. You must take care of the football. Number two is creating explosive plays or eliminating them. We consider an explosive play as runs over 12-yards or passes over 16-yards. The third factor is third down percentages. The offense must find a way to stay on the field. We are an up-tempo offense. We feel the more plays we can run the more opportunity we have to score points. However, it does not matter how cute you are on first and second down, you are eventually going to get to third down and you must convert.
This year we were 45.6-percent on third down, which was 17th in the country. When we talk about the third down we set parameters on the yardage. This is how we do it.
Some coaches establish their yardage differently, but this is how we do it. We believe with one-to-two yards to go for the first down, we should pick that up 100-percent of the time. That is our goal. You probably are not ever going to hit that goal, but that is our expectation. It does not matter what type of offense you run, on third-and-one you should pick it up. You can see that we made the first down 70-percent of the time. On 3-6 yards we had a goal of 50-percent. We did much better than that this year. We picked up the first down 63-percent of the time. Third and long is a hard down to manage. There are not many plays to call for third and 12 yards to go. This past year we were not good enough on third and one or two. We did a great job on third and medium. The third column gives you an idea of what we are calling on those situations. We were heavy run on third and short. When we had third and 3-6 yards we ran the ball more than we passed, which was unusual for us. On third and medium and long we were heavy pass with screens and draws mixed into the game plan. GAME PLANNING: 3RD DOWN PHILOSOPHY Game Planning 3rd Down • Must treat 3rd Down independently • Break Down and Study by Distance ° 3rd & 1-2, 3rd & 3-6, 3rd & 7-10, 3rd & 11+ • Study and Game Plan for each Distance ° Coverage Breakdown by Coverage & Type ° Percentage of Pressure vs. Non Pressure • Type of Pressures ° Defensive Personnel • Front • Substitution Package • Practice Game Plan vs. Multiple Looks Regardless of the level of football, you must treat third down independently. It has to be separated from first and second downs. However, you may study the opponent and find out that he does not treat third down any differently than first or second down. However that is generally not the case. Defensive people in high school and college are running third down packages. That is why you do not group third down into the offense you run on first and second. You must breakdown the coverages and types of coverages they play on third down. We need to know if they are going to blitz or cover. If they do blitz, where is it coming from, and what coverage do they play behind it? We are now seeing the defenses substitute by down and distance in the third down situation. It is no longer nickel and dime packages but front changes. They may go from a four-man front to a three-man front. They can also give you some exotic fronts with no one down or with two-men down. You must prepare and plan for third down independently. You must practice your calls against looks you expect to see, but also looks that you do not want to see. You may study a particular team and have the perfect call on third down. You know they are a big cover-2 team on third down. In your practices, you better work it against a 33-fire zone blitz because that may be what you get. If you do not work against what you do not expect to see, the quarterback will make a mistake and turn the ball over or take a sack. If you do not work against what you do not expect to see, the quarterback's mistake is not on the player, it is on the coaches for not preparing him. You cannot just practice those looks you want to see. You must practice the looks that you do not want to see as well. When we break a team down, we look at what they run on third down situations. This is an example from our Bucknell game this year.
In the chart the 24FZ stands for two deep, four under, fire zone coverage. The 33FZ is three deep coverage with three underneath coverage personnel and a fire zone blitz. This is an example of how we breakdown and organize the third and 7-10 yards for the first down. The first time we look at each situation, we do it from a pure numbers breakdown as in the chart. After that we want to characterize their coverage and looks. By characterizing those looks it allows us to look at our menu of plays. We can decide where exactly we want to attack. The first thing we look at is whether it is zone or man coverage. When we see their coverage we can figure out where they are vulnerable.
The first thing we do is look at zone coverages and whether it is pressure or not pressure. The next thing we look at is it man-free with pressure or without pressure. That will give us some idea about where we can attack. Access to the field or boundary is the description of the corner. Is he playing soft? It could be a soft man-coverage or a deep zone coverage. We process all this information and compile all of it into what we call a library. I suggest you do this. We have all our run and pass plays on a single sheet grouped in yardage categories. When we scout a team and break down their third down tendencies, we are only going to look at formations similar to ours. We align most of the time in 10, 11, and 01 (empty) personnel groups. We do not look at what the defense does against 12 personnel. When we pull our clips to make our cutups we are not looking at things we do not do. We talk about coverage families. That describes whether the middle of the field is open or closed. Whether it is man under, heat man, or zero blitz. We know the coverages that go with those conditions. We know that cover-1 and cover-3 will have the middle of the field closed. We consider the coverage tags that go with each coverage. We know sky, invert, steal, Tampa, roll, and others. We look at our personnel groups and list the formations that fit the scheme. The game plan must be a mix of hard data, but it cannot be just data. There has to be some subjectivity to it that translates to the field. That is how we look at the defense and how we break down what they do. Next I am going to go through our situational third downs and get into our thought process. Third and Short (1-2 yards) • Goal: Convert 100% • Game Plan on Monday night • Does the defense play base or increase frequency of pressure? • Do the calls/tendencies change up based on their personnel? • Hang your hat on what you do best • Typical Call Sheet: ° 4-5 Base Runs/RPO ° 1 Naked ° 1 3-Step Timing Concept • Practice Reps on Tuesday and Thursday When we get into this situation, we are aligned in 10 and 11 personnel groups and maybe a few 12 personnel. We want to know if the defense is going to give us a different look on third-and-one that we do not see on first or second down. We want to know if they are going to increase the pressure or bring a different personnel group. Do their tendencies change in a short yardage situation? We find a way to run our base offensive play. We use formational changes, motions, and shifts, but we are going to run the inside zone play on third and short. That is what we hang our hat on and what we intend to run because we are good at it. Even as I say that, we have our entire call sheet ready for this situation. We have had much success with the naked bootleg. In Tuesday's practice, we have a 12 play period on this situation. On Thursday, we run another 6 plays. That gives us 18 reps during that week on third and short. We look at the number of third-and-one plays to decide whether we need that much work in that scenario. If the data tells us no, we may not commit that amount of time to that situation. We can add or subtract time during the week. Third and Medium (3-6 yards) • Goal: Convert 50% • Game Plan on Tuesday Morning • How much, if any, access do they give? • If there is not access, how are they taking it away? Cloud? Man? • How do they defend Empty formations? • Typical Call Sheet: 5-6 Calls ° 3-Step ° 5-Step ° Screens ° OB RPO •• Practice Reps on Wednesday and Thursday We take a little longer putting together a game plan for third and medium. We feel that Tuesday gives us a chance to have a clearer mind when we put this game plan together. This is really the critical situation that occurs most in games. The first thing we want to know is do we have access to the field or boundary? If we do not, how are they taking it away? If the defense plays off coverage in third and medium, we have five or six different three-step pass concepts attacking that alignment. Teams never give us a soft corner in third and medium. The defense can play that situation one or two ways from a single high safety. They can play cloud or roll, or press man coverage. If they play zone with a cloud or rolled coverage, it is generally to one side of the field. You will have access to the field on one side or the other. If they are in a two-deep scheme, they can roll both corners into the flat area. When we know how they are defending the quick passing game, we go to our menu and decide how to attack them. Third and medium is a great time to get into the empty set. You can get the ball out of your quarterbacks hands quickly and the defense will have trouble restricting the release of all the receivers without changing personnel. We are comfortable with five-man protection and the quarterback can read the blitz coming. We have 5 or 6 play calls to go with this situation. If the defense is a heavy blitz team, we throw screens. We can get the ball out quickly from the three-step game and timing throws from the five-step drop. If the defense is a good pass rush team, we can sprint the quarterback out and give him the run/pass option. (RPO) On Wednesday and Thursday, we have a 12 play period each day. Third and Long (7-10 yards) • Goal: Convert 35% • Game Plan on Tuesday Morning • Bringing pressure to force quick throws? • Max coverage? • Have to be comfortable with throws in front of the sticks. • Check Downs = 1st Downs • Typical Call Sheet: 5-6 Calls ° 5-Step ° Screens ° QB RPO • Practice Reps on Wednesday and Thursday If you can accomplish our goal of 35-percent, you will be one of the best teams in the country in that category. In this situation, defenses are going to do two things. They are going to blitz and try to get the ball out of the quarterback's hand. They want him to throw before the receivers complete their patterns and to their sticks. The other thing they will do is rush three and defend with eight defenders in the secondary. They want to make the quarterback throw into tight windows in the zones with pin point accuracy. If he is off just a little, it is a pick. Occasionally they play with a base defense, but for the most part, they are going to blitz or maximum cover. There is one thing you need to emphasize with your quarterbacks. They must make the right read on the proper progression. The object is to get the first down, so you must throw the ball beyond the sticks or throw it to someone who can run for the first down. It is amazing to me when we watch our own quarterbacks throw on the first read on a shallow cross and the defense tackles him for a two-yard gain. If the shallow cross is not there and the dig is covered, the quarterback has to check the ball down to the back. That is a good progression read for him. We feel that check downs equal first downs. We have to drill that into our quarterback's heads that there is nothing wrong with taking a check down. When our play call list reflects we need more yardage, we throw on five-steps. We do not have many three-step timing routes in the long yardage category. We are primarily five-step drops with screens mixed into the call list. The screen many times is what the quarterback sees from the defense. He can audible to the screen if he thinks there is a major blitz coming. We work the plays in seven-on-seven and the team period on Wednesday. On Thursday, we work them in team period. Third and Extra Long (11+ Yards) • Goal: Convert 15% • Game Plan on Tuesday Morning • Bringing pressure to force quick throws? • Max coverage? • Similar to 3rd and 7-10 plan. Deeper throws. • Typical Call Sheet: 5-6 Calls ° 5-Step ° Screens ° QB RPO • Practice Reps on Wednesday and Thursday i do not have too many answers for third and extra-long. On our quarterback tip sheet every week, in this situation we put at the top of the sheet, "Stay out of this situation." We feel if you get the first down 15-percent of the time that is doing well. In this situation we probably see less pressure and more three-man rushes. The defense wants the quarterback to hold onto the ball and give the defensive linemen a chance to affect the throw. We often take the third and seven call sheet and make it the third and extra-long. The only thing we do is push the ball a little further down the field. The first coach that tells you he has a lot of great ideas, tell him to come see me. I do not have any great ideas and I need some help in that area. You can convert on these types of plays, but it is a risky call to try to go after the defense. However, when you complete one of those plays, it is a back breaker for the defense. When we practice this situation, we do not get more than three or four reps a week. We do not get into many of those down and distances and it wastes practice time to emphasize those plays. That is our philosophy about third down. I want to show you some of the plays we use. I am going to show you some play action concepts, zone and man concepts, and some of our checks versus pressure. We are a spread team and have spread concepts with our scheme. Third Down Concepts: • Base Runs: Inside Zone • 3-Step: Play Action Hitch and "Ick" • 5-Step: Crew, Drip, and Dow • Screen: Guard • QB RPO: QB Draw w/ Swing • Checks: Shield and Drive Our base run is the inside zone play. (Diagram #1) We are basically 10 and 11 personnel packages and a shotgun offset back look. I am not going to get into the offensive line blocking, however what we do is standard zone blocking. The playside guard and tackle are blocking a combination block on the 3-technique defender. The center and backside guard combination block on the 1-technique defender. In both of these blocks someone is coming off for the Mike and Will linebackers. The playside guard is the blocker we would like to get off on the Mike linebacker. The tight end can align in a wing set outside the backside tackle. He traps the play side defensive end.
When we run the play, the quarterback is keying the Sam linebacker or whoever is lined up on the slot receiver to the wide side of the field. The A-back aligns on the inside leg of the play side guard. The quarterback reads the action of the Sam linebacker. If he creeps back into the box, the quarterback comes off the inside zone play and throws the bubble screen into the wide side of the field. This is the answer we have for the defense trying to load the box. If the defense does load the box, we have another answer. We go into our empty set and run the inside zone with the quarterback carrying the ball. The linemen block the inside zone as they always have and the quarterback becomes the zone back. When we run this play as a short yardage play, we coach them to understand we only need one or two yards for the first down. That is the attitude we want the offense to have. We are not trying to break the play for a touchdown. We want to get the first down. If it goes for the touchdown that is great, but the emphasis is on the first down. We use the play action concept to compliment the inside zone. One of the play actions we like is our "hitch" concept. (Diagram #2) It is a two-man route. If we run a "Duo" set, we have the H-back and Z-receiver to the same side with the tight end to X-receiver's side of the formation. He aligns in a wing set off the offensive tackle. The tight ends job is to execute the inside zone block by coming behind the line of scrimmage on a trap path and kicks out the defensive end. He is not in the pattern. This play is a play action, quick game concept. Regardless of the formation, the offensive line blocks the inside zone play. The outside receivers run six-yard hitch patterns. The only way those patterns will convert is against cloud coverage. If the receiver gets the corner rolling down in a cloud coverage, he runs a fade route to the outside. The inside receiver is on a lock six-yard hitch. It is a lock pattern and does not covert to anything else.
The quarterback looks for the best access (softest corner) on the outside receiver. If both the receivers have access, he looks for the tightest overhang defender to the box. We are counting on the play action bringing the overhang defender closer to the box so we have a clean throwing lane on the outside hitch patterns. The quarterback makes the inside zone fake and takes his three-step drop. If the boundary safety is off the hash that tells him, it could be a rolled up coverage. When he sees the safety off the hash, he works to the field. He also has two patterns to that side. He works from the outside to the inside on his read. This is the ideal play on short yardage. It is an easy throw and if the receiver has access, we should make the first down. We do the same thing on third and medium. If we need 3-4 yards for the first down, this play is good to run. If the defense gives us access, we find it and throw the hitch. This is a two-man route. If the defense gives us a cloud roll to both sides, we probably do not have a play. However, we are not going to chase ghosts. We are going to play them for what we see on film. If the assess is equal the quarterback takes the shortest throw. At the end of the day, the quarterback is probably going to throw to the receiver he thinks is most reliable and he feels comfortable with. If we use 12 personnel, we do not put them on the field to do one thing. If we use two tight ends, we can run all the offense with them. In addition to running the inside zone, we are going to naked bootleg and involve them in that part of the passing game. I was proud of our team this year. We had to replace 19 of 22 starters from the previous season. By the end of the season we started four true freshmen at wide receivers on a 9-3 football team. They did a phenomenal job for us and it speaks volumes about the players we are recruiting and our ability to put players in positions to be successful. The next pattern is what we call the "ick" concept. (Diagram #3) This is one of the best things we do. It is a three-step concept. To the field we run a man-beater set of patterns. The first diagram is what we call "flick", which is a flow concept to the field. The outside receiver runs a go route and the inside receiver runs a four-step speed out. If the quarterback in pre-snap reads man coverage, he works to the wide field.
To the boundary side, the outside receiver runs a six-yard speed out. The inside receiver runs a six-yard stick route. We run flow to the field and stick to the boundary. If the quarterback reads zone coverage in his pre-snap read, he works to the boundary side of the formation. He works outside-in on his read. If the corner gives the outside receiver access, the quarterback throws the speed out. If he has no access, he throws the stick pattern inside. If the linebacker covers the stick route, the quarterback goes to his check down pattern to the running back. The running back runs his check down over the ball at two yards. We have a complimentary play we run on the man side of the formation. (Diagram #4) We call this "wick." If we have called the speed out a number of times to counter the defense, we come back with the complimentary pass. The only thing that changes on the pattern is the inside receiver's pattern to the man side of the formation. The inside receiver starts his pattern up the field and runs a four-step speed out. However, two steps into the out cut, he plants, reverses his direction, and comes back inside. Some people call that pattern a snag route.
If the quarterback reads man coverage, he works the wick side of the pattern. If he sees zone, he works the boundary side of the formation, which has not changed. He also has his check down pattern over the ball. This pattern is a big third and three play for us. The offensive line has one drop back protection. They need to know whether it is a three-step or five-step pass so they know how aggressive they need to be. On a three-step drop they can be aggressive with the defender. The protection is a big-on-big protection scheme. The offensive line has the four down defenders and the backside inside linebacker. The running back has the front side linebacker in his protection assignments. The quarterback can slide the protection to blitzes or overloads. You do not have to run the stick route as part of your zone pattern. If you have something that works for you, substitute it into the pattern. In our 5-step drop, we work the medium to long yardage situations. We are getting more depth on the patterns. We call this concept "crew." (Diagram #5) It is in our curl/flat concept. This was designed to defeat a certain coverage, but has answers for almost any coverage. It is a 3 X 1 formation, with the three receivers into the field. To the boundary the number-1 receiver runs a 12-yard comeback. He converts the pattern to a fade against cloud coverage. The number-1 receiver to the field, runs a 12-yard curl. He takes an inside stem release at a 45-degree angle for three yards. From there he breaks up the field for 12 yards. At 12 yards he has to read the defense. If it is zone, he has to work inside for an open window. If it is man coverage, he stays on the move to the inside. The number -2 receiver has a 'whip' route. He pushes to the inside jersey number of the first defender head up to inside of him. He runs a stick route at a depth of six-yards. If he does not fell the defender pressing him, he stays where he is.
If he feels the defender leaning on him, he expands his pattern to the outside. That opens up the throwing lane to the number-1 receiver. The number-3 receiver runs a clear route up the middle of the field. He is not part of the progression. His job is to hold the Tampa-2 Mike linebacker or keep the safety in the middle of the field. The quarterback reads the boundary safety. If the safety rotates to the post or steals the pattern of the number-3 receiver, he works the boundary comeback pattern. If someone runs under the comeback, the quarterback throws to the check down pattern by the back. He is running the check down to the Will linebackers zone. If Will is under the comeback, there is no one on him. If the boundary safety does not rotate into the middle and stays backside, the quarterback goes to the field patterns. The stick and curl routes work a curl/flat concept. If the linebacker goes with the whip route, the quarterback throws the curl. If the linebacker runs to the curl, we throw the stick route. It is better than the traditional curl/flat concept because it is better against the cover-2 call. We can fit this route into our third and medium package. Instead of running the stick at six-yards we run it at three yards. The curls and comebacks are run at eight yards and not twelve yards. The five-step drop becomes a three-step drop. The number-3 receiver can help the pattern with the speed of his route. If he feels the Mike linebacker attach to him, he can slow down, make contact with him, makes sure Mike goes with him, and keep him out of the curl passing lane. We can reverse the patterns of the number one and two receivers. The inside receiver runs the 12-yard curl read with the outside receiver running a speed out. it gives us a change up to the crew route. We have a compliment to that play called "cringe." (Diagram #6) The backside receiver runs a 12-yard comeback pattern. The outside receiver to the 3 X 1 side runs a post or comeback route depending on the scouting report. The numbers two and three receivers run the curl/ flat concept. The number-2 receiver runs the curl and the number-3 receiver runs the stick/wipe route. It is the same concept, but we work off the Mike linebacker instead of the overhang player.
Another thing we do is go to what we call "drip" from a "snug" formation. (Diagram #7) It is a 2 X 2 formation, but we cut the splits down. This is effective against press coverage. The defense is worried about the quick throws to the flat so they press the receivers. If you snug the splits down it presents a problem for man coverage. The defenders must communicate how they want to play their coverage. Are they going to play in-and-out or try to play man with the chance of a rub pattern?
To the boundary, the inside receiver runs a quick flat route to the outside. The outside receiver runs the corner route. On the backside, the inside receiver, releases outside for two yards on a 45-degree angle. He plants his foot and get straight up the field and runs a dig pattern at 12 yards. The running back runs his check-down pattern at five yards over the field side offensive tackle. The outside receiver goes first in front of the inside receiver and runs at the Mike linebacker. He can go over or under him. If it is zone coverage, he looks for the window. If it is man coverage, he continues on the crossing pattern. The quarterback gets a quick read and throws the flat route as his first read. If they roll the coverage, we want to take the corner route unless an underneath defender runs with the corner route. If that is the case, we go to the crossing route by the backside receiver. If someone has latched the crossing receiver, the dig is coming behind that pattern and should be open. I have run this concept for seven years and I only had one quarterback get to the dig read on his progression. The ball generally goes to the flat or the cross pattern. The quarterback gets a quick read and throws the flat route as his first read. If they roll the coverage, we want to take the corner route unless an underneath defender runs with the corner route. If that is the case, we go to the crossing route by the backside receiver. If someone has latched the crossing receiver, the dig is coming behind that pattern and should be open. I have run this concept for seven years and I only had one quarterback get to the dig read on his progression. The ball generally goes to the flat or the cross pattern.
To the field, the outside receiver runs a 12-yard comeback and converts the pattern versus press-man coverage. The play side inside receiver runs a comeback at 12 yards. To the backside, the outside receiver runs a 12-yard curl and reads the pattern like he did on the "crew" concept. He reads the coverage and finds the window in zone coverage and continues across the field versus man-coverage. The backside inside receiver runs a "wipe" pattern off the Will linebacker and the running back runs a read pattern off the Mike linebacker. They set down at five yards over the offensive guard and work to the outside if they are covered. On the quarterback's first hitch, he throws the field comeback, if the receiver has access. If the field flat defender runs under the comeback, the quarterback reads the inside linebacker and throws opposite his drop. If he drops to the inside comeback, he throws to the back checking down in the linebacker area. If there is no access to the field. the quarterback works back into the boundary. He works his high/low read off the Will linebacker. If the linebacker drops under the curl. the quarterback throws the "wipe." If he goes with the wipe to the outside, the quarterback throws to the curl by the outside receiver. Against aggressive defensive backs, we like to double move off this pattern and try to get deep. I appreciate your time and I want to welcome you down to our campus anytime you would like to come. Thank you very much and I hope the rest of the clinic is good for you. |
Converting the 3rd Down In The Spread Offense
