Kelly’s staff in Philadelphia further supports this view. Kelly said he wanted offensive and defensive coordinators with NFL coordinator experience, and in Pat Shurmur and Billy Davis, that’s what he got. Throughout this offseason, Kelly has made clear that he wants the Eagles to be something of a laboratory for football ideas, whether it be X’s and O’s or the science of peak athletic performance.

But this line of thinking still has to be tempered with a bit of realism. Kelly is clearly bright, committed, and open-minded, but the idea that he can step into the NFL and runany offense — spread, pro-style, West Coast, Coryell, Wing-T — seems implausible. He shredded college football running a very specific attack based on very specific principles, and the mathematical advantage he gained from having his quarterback be at least some kind of a threat to run was a central tenet. He might be able to adapt his offense to his players and coaches, but this is not the same thing as continuing and growing what worked at Oregon.

Read the whole thing.

The highlight of [Cal's] practice for me was during the team periods I was standing about 5 yards away from Tony Franklin. I was right next to him so I could hear each play call. What was slightly shocking to me was how often they attach quick game concepts on the backside of runs. Nearly every single run play there is a quick game or screen component tied on to the backside, and sometimes routes are tagged frontside as well. They call quick concept backside so often that they actually have to call/signal for the backside to BLOCK when they just want a designed run play. The hot new thing is combo [a.k.a "packaged"] plays … 2 in 1 or even 3 in 1 plays… EVERY PLAY is a 2 in 1.

Read the whole thing here.

- ShakintheSouthland on the hook and lateral.

- Promo in the Smart Football Shop: Use the code “SPRINGTIME” to get free shipping in the Smart Football Shop.

- College football’s best individual passing games since 2005. Also check out the best passing seasons since 2005.

- What was neoliberalism?

- How Disney bought Lucasfilm. I enjoyed this; Bloomberg Businessweek has turned into a surprisingly good magazine.

- Assembling the “billing block” as the bottom of movie posters.

- Matt Waldman on the disconnect between evaluating and drafting talent.

- Bruce Feldman always has interesting takes, this time on the low road many star NFL offensive linemen took to success:

[C]onsider this: of the six offensive tackles voted to the Pro Bowl, only one was considered a blue-chip tackle recruit — Joe Thomas of Wisconsin. The others: Duane Brown, the guy considered by many as the best tackle in football, arrived at Virginia Tech as a 3-star tight end; Ryan Clady to Boise State was a 2-star offensive tackle; Joe Staley was a 2-star tight end from Central Michigan; Russell Okung was a 250-pound offensive tackle ranked as a 3-star signed by Oklahoma State and Trent Williams was listed as a 3-star guard recruit for Oklahoma.

… Staley, an All-Pro the past two seasons for the 49ers, has provided quite an example for Fisher, other aspiring linemen and college recruiters, too. Jones says Fisher was a 225-pound tight end/track standout when they recruited him to CMU. But like Fisher, Staley had a great frame and a lot of grit. Staley actually caught 11 passes as a freshman at CMU before Jones told him they wanted to move him to the O-line.

“He went into a little depression for a couple of days,” Jones said, “but we told him down the road, you’ll thank us.”

Read the whole thing. I still think offensive line is a really difficult position for college coaches to evaluate and recruit, not least of all because the kids are still developing.

- The science of sleeplessness.

- A day in the life of a recruiting text specialist.

- Was Wittgenstein right?

- Leigh Steinberg on agents, sports, and representing athletes. After a slow start, I thought this was a very interesting and wide ranging discussion, of particular interest to would-be directors player personnel or GMs (or owners!).

- Bobby Knight has a new book called The Power of Negative Thinking. Seriously.

- Welcome to Hell!

- SBNation on Bobby Petrino. Although a bit vague and inexact in trying to describe Petrino’s attack, the focus of the piece is in the right place, however, in that it tries to understand Petrino’s worldview through his obsession with schemes and tactics.

- The quest for the Chipotle Quesarito.

- Bill Gates on the book Why Nations Fail.

- The GZA interviewed by… Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

- A more realistic mock NFL draft.

But there are lingering questions about both Smith and Reid. I’ll let others address whether the Chiefs overpaid for Smith, but I’m still not so sure that the fit is as good as it would seem. As is West Coast offense tradition, when Reid’s offense was at its best, it was as much about throwing vertically — with deep passes to Terrell Owens or DeSean Jackson breaking open a game — as it was about short passes underneath. Smith has never been known for his ability to throw the ball down the field. And of course, one of the biggest knocks on Reid in Philadelphia was that he would never stick with the run; much of Smith’s success in San Francisco came when supported by Harbaugh’s deep commitment to a power running game.

This is the specter that hangs over this trade and the marriage of Smith and Reid: the specter of, well, Jim Harbaugh (scary thought).

Read the whole thing.

For all the talk in football about “systems” — the Air Raid system, the West Coast Offense, the Run and Shoot, a Pro-Style System — there is very little discussion of how does one go about building an effective system, and what makes a system effective. There are a few cliches that everyone throws around when discussing systems, that each seem to contradict each other: they have to “have answers” while being “simple”; they have to be “easy to learn and communicate” but be “flexible” enough to account for “multiplicity”; and they have to be “cutting edge” and “new” but still rely on “sound football principles.” This isn’t to say all of this can’t be accomplished — I believe they can — but it’s clearly not easy. I put a significant amount of thought into this as I wanted to rework my existing passing system.

I began by trying to simplify the existing system. But, while simplifying a structure to accommodate beginning learners is relatively easy, as all you may need to do is simply be a matter of stripping away layers from a complex organization, you might be left with something very incomplete. You might be “simple” but not have “sufficient answers.”

Because of my coaching background, a system overhaul required not only accommodating the most basic in features; the ability of the scheme to “grow” into a complete pattern system is a non-negotiable as well.   So what makes a pattern system complete?  As a fledgling coach, the great Homer Smith’s influence on how I conceptualized the passing game could not be overemphasized.  His willingness to correspond, send me game and drill footage, and converse with me crystallized my vision of what I wanted in my system.   The first page of my quarterback manual reiterates what he imparted to me, namely the characteristics I’ve outlined below. It’s my belief that any well designed passing system must have all of these traits.

• (1) It gives receivers the opportunity to defeat tight man coverage.  This is more than simply having one or two “pick” plays (Figure 2-1) that a team uses.   It encompasses development of release and separation techniques on individual routes, and the emphasis of accuracy and timing on the part of the passer, and having viable options that can separate from man coverage on every pass play.

• (2) Prevents conflict between receivers.  Figure 2-2 shows an example of receivers whose pass routes “bleed” into one another.  In other words, the routes are so close in proximity that two defenders can cover three offensive people.

Our stretches are designed to isolate a specific defender, and make sure there is enough space so that one defender cannot cover two receivers (Figure 2-3).

• (3) Have a defined timing.  Our dropback passes typically operate in the same rhythm.  For example, in Figure 2-4, the QB will take the shotgun snap, drop back three steps and:

1. Throw the inside curl route out of the plant, or
2. Hitch and throw to the curl or flat based on the movement of S, or
3. Hitch and scan to backside routes, or
4. Escape the rush and run for as much yardage as possible.

This way, the QB will keep rhythm with his hitch steps; the routes will also be timed to come open as the passer’s eyes move to them.

• (4) Stretch the defense vertically and horizontally.  Even when our primary goal is a short, controlled completion, our offensive unit will be given the opportunity to make plays down the field when the defense presents it.  In the image below, though the concept is the stretch on the flat defender (S), the QB will have awareness of the advantage route being run by the Y receiver.  Should the corner try to close down to help the S, the defense would be vulnerable to the flag route.

• (5) Keep the QB out of interception danger.  Because of the physiological fact that our eyes “jump” or “fix” on objects rather than scan as a movie camera does, certain relationships between receivers and the movement of the QB’s eyes are better than others.  One team I was associated with once threw 24 touchdowns and 8 interceptions.   Two interceptions were the result of deflections; six came relationships like the one below (Figure 2-6):

The illustration above shows a progression where the B is first and the Y is second.  As the MLB takes the B, the quarterback prepares to throw to the Y.  Because Y’s route is headed in the same direction as the passer’s eyes, and his eyes start behind the “IN” route, the QB never sees the WLB, who has settled in his pass drop and moves with the quarterback.   We will sequence routes in relation to the quarterback’s eyes so that the QB will start out in front of “IN” routes and swing into them (Figure 2-7) so that as the passer moves his feet and works to them, the passer will see “color” in front of his intended receiver.

• (6) Deny pattern reading by the defense.  This is done at several levels.  First, receivers are afforded the opportunity in this system to have threats built off of similar route “stems,” as shown in Figure 2-8.

Second, Figure 2-9 illustrates how we can accompany a short route (a flat route, for example) with threats coming from multiple directions.  In other words, a defense cannot simply see a flat route and assume a curl route from the outside, as some defenses will.

Third, we will deny bracketing defenders the chance to help their teammates by attacking them with threats of their own (Figure 2-10).

• (7) Keep receivers from free pass defenders.  An overriding principle in our passing game, skill position players will drill every day in defeating both man and zone coverage (Figure 2-11).

The diagram above illustrates one of these drills, in which a backside receiver will defeat the drop of the linebacker and provide a clean throw for the passer.

• (8) Have a principle of route conversion.  The days of checking plays pre snap are going by the wayside; if the offense is truly to dictate to the defense, it must have the ability to “convert” certain routes versus the coverage they see.  The diagram below (Figure 2-12) features the “Four Verticals” pattern called in anticipation of a 3-deep zone defense.  Though the defense appears to be Cover 3, it is actually “2 Robber” made popular by Virginia Tech.

In the event that the L corner collapses on the seam, allowing the F to cheat to the field, the A receiver must have the ability to adjust his route accordingly.   The blue lines illustrate the normal four vertical pattern; the red lines indicate the adjustments to the coverage, with the dotted lines representing throwing options for the QB. The pattern is still able to hit the weakness of the pass defense.

• (9) Adjust to condensed field areas.  Certain patterns go away as the offense gets closer to the goal line.  A good pattern system must have the flexibility to attack in these confined spaces, with the same rhythm as when in the open field.

• (10) Have the ability to isolate certain parts of a pass defense. Not only will we release the maximum number of receivers whenever possible, but we have an effective means to get the ball to any area of the field as well.  Our Advantage Principles help ensure we are directing the QB to the thinnest part of the coverage (Figure 2-13), ensuring that the Concept portion of the read will have the proper isolation.

In the figure above, the Advantage Principle is “RAM,” in which the quarterback will select his stretch concept based on the drop of the M linebacker.  Here, the M drops to the right, isolating the W in a 2 on 1 disadvantage.

• (11) Allow for quick throws when the defense is outflanked.  This is becoming more and more common in football, with quick screens being attached to running plays (Figure 2-14).

The inside run is dependent on the defense deploying with the three receivers on the right.  If they do not, the quick screen is thrown.

• (12) Accommodate delays and screens.  While most offenses have integrated the screen game in their offense, many do not feature delays as part of their normal repertoire.  Our emphasis on getting to the last man in the progression, or “Third Fix,” is what sets us apart from most.  Also, our combination of traditional quick game ideas with traditional drop-back patterns (Figure 2-15) helps keep us ahead of defenses from the standpoint of attacking the full field.

• (13) Have set reading concepts.  Our whole method of attack will be based on set concepts.  A “concept” is different from just “a play,” as a concept is defined as “an idea of something formed by mentally combining all its characteristics or particulars.” With just 3 generalized ways of looking at pass patterns, the seemingly infinite combinations of pass routes can be distilled into common sense, learnable chunks.

• (14) Have organized scramble rules.  The explosive plays created when the QB is able to extend the timeline of a pass play can undoubtedly change a game, and even a season.  Having organized rules will help us find order amongst the chaos of a quarterback scramble.

• (15) Have the ability to adjust to multiple formations.   Over the years, the use of multiple formations has been a hallmark of our offense.  As formations change, the burden should be on the defense, not the offense.  Figure 2-16 illustrates a pattern structure commonly known as “Stick” from a balanced, four wide receiver grouping.

As the pattern is fitted to a “trips” formation (Figure 2-17), or with the addition of an H Back (Figure 2-18), or even 2 backs in the backfield (Figure 2-19), there is no change for the picture the QB gets.  Moreover, there is no change for any rules for any skill players or offensive linemen.

With these parameters set, we will now go about putting the system together that will meet all these criteria.

To read the rest of Dan Gonzalez’s Recoded and Reloaded: An Updated Structure for a Complete Passing Game at Any Level, you can find it on Amazon and CreateSpace.

TIGHT END – Ideal size: 6-41/2, 245

Requirements for a tight end depend heavily on the system being deployed. It’s almost a necessity to find the athlete who best fits your system of football….

[...]

Now there is one more type of tight end — the great, all around type who is a Hall of Fame type. He is so gifted that he can do all of the things you would usually require two types of tight ends to do. That type of player makes this a unique position in the NFL. One man who can do all these things, the great, all around tight end becomes the essence of the National Football League. And there have been very few — John Mackey, Mike Ditka, Jackie Smith, are the only two who have made the Hall of Fame.

Interestingly, I believe Tony Gonzalez of Cal this year has the potential to become that type of all around great tight end.

Pretty good prediction. You can read the entire thing here, and read the full set of Walsh’s analysis of various positions here, which are interesting throughout.

A good start

General Offense

• Finding the Winning Edge, by Bill Walsh. The bible. The book’s strength — literally everything is in there – is also its weakness, as every page is a relentless surge of information. I include it here under offense as that is where it has influenced me most, but it covers almost every aspect of football. This is a great article on this brilliant, flawed, mercurial book, and its brilliant, flawed and mercurial author.
  
• Developing an Offensive Gameplan, by Brian Billick. Exactly as the title implies, this slender book is an efficient, no-nonsense primer on how to prepare a gameplan for an upcoming opponent. It focuses not only on scheme but also on personnel and other, broader strategic elements as well, including red zone strategy and generating explosive plays.

Passing Offense

• The Bunch Attack: Using Compressed Formations in the Passing Game, by Andrew Coverdale and Dan Robinson. Although nominally about “bunch” formations, this is my favorite resource just about the passing game. It presents a comprehensive system — which can be run from bunch or non-bunch formations — and presents countless variations and, most importantly, responses to various coverages and techniques. Also great are Coverdale and Robinson’s three-volume set on the quick passing game. e here for volume one, volume two, and volume three, and as a DVD package.
  
• Concept Passing: Teaching the Modern Passing Game, by Dan Gonzalez. Drawing on west coast, pro-style, run and shoot and other influences, Gonzalez weaves together a “conceptual” approach to the passing game in a way that quarterbacks can execute and can be adapted to almost any offensive system.

Rushing Offense

• The Assembly Line, by Milt Tenopir. An overview of maybe the best rushing offense of all time — Tom Osborne’s Nebraska teams — by the man who coached them, legendary offensive line coach Milt Tenopir. This book covers all of Nebraska’s running game, and they ran just about everything, from triple options to double options to power and counter schemes to inside zone and outside zone to traps and draws. And, as it must be, the focus is on the men who make it go, the guys up front.
• The Pistol Offense: Inside Zone Progression, by Chris Klenakis. This DVD set is a great resource for installing the inside zone and building out from it the rest of the run game. Klenakis, who was Chris Ault’s offensive coordinator at Nevada, does a great job explaining all this and it’s a must have if you’re adding the pistol to your offense, but I found the teaching here adaptable to almost any offense.

Quarterbacks

• Complete C4 Self-Correct System, by Darin Slack. I played quarterback, have coached quarterbacks, and have been around a number of tremendous quarterback coaches, and I think Darin Slack’s materials are my favorites. This set focuses on quarterback mechanics. 
• R4 Quarterback Expert System (DVDs) and book, by Darin Slack and Dub Maddox.  This set meshes a quarterback’s techniques — footwork, throwing on rhythm, etc. — with the overall structure of the offense, so as to ensure proper timing between quarterbacks and receivers and, maybe most of all, to improve quarterback decisionmaking through the use of “accelerators.” The DVD set and book complement each other well.

Running Backs

• Running Back Fundamentals, at Coach Hoover’s site. I haven’t found a clinic or book that surpasses the work on runningback techniques at Coach Hoover’s site. 

Wide Receivers

• Wide Receiver Play, by Ron Jenkins. This DVD covers all aspects of receiver play, with particular emphasis on releases and route running.
• Receiver Drills and Techniques, from Jason Phillips. Great (free) video via Brophy.

Offensive Line

• Complete Offensive Line, by Rick Trickett. Very solid work that goes over the complete teaching progression for offensive linemen.
• Offensive Line Coaches Handbook: Lectures From the Nation’s Top Offensive Line Coaches. Just about everything produced by the C.O.O.L. clinic folks regarding offensive line play is quality.

General Defense

• Coaching Team Defense, by Fritz Shurmur. Far and away my favorite book on defense, reading it made so many disparate strands of defensive football come together for me. Highly recommended, though somewhat hard to find.
• Arnsparger’s Coaching Defensive Football, by Bill Arnsparger. A bit of a dense read, this covers an incredible amount of football history and information, including the early history of the zone blitz (which Arnsparger is credited with inventing). It’s not the type of book you sit down and read straight through, but it’s been an excellent resource to me over the years.
• Football’s Eagle and Stack Defenses, by Ron Vanderlinden. Although very scheme heavy, this book does a fantastic job walking through the defenses described, particularly in tying together fronts, coverages, blitzes and stunts into a coherent whole. Maybe the best book out there if you’re trying to get insight into how to “build” a defense from the top down and bottom up.
• Coaching the Under Front Defense, by Jerry Gordon. Pitched at high school coaches, this great book on installing and coaching the 4-3 Under provides a very comprehensive approach to installing the defense, defending common run plays, and playing sound coverage.

Defensive Line

• Coaching the Defensive Line, by Fritz Shurmur. Anything from Fritz Shurmur is must have, and this is no different.
• Coaching the 46 Defense, by Rex Ryan. This book, along with the accompanying DVD from Ryan, covers  the history and implementation of the 46 defense, but my favorite parts are Ryan’s insights on coaching defensive linemen, particularly how to defeat the common blocks (down, scoop, etc) they may expect to see.

Linebackers

• Complete Linebacking, by Lou Tepper. This is actually one of my favorite football books in general; Tepper covers all aspects of coaching linebackers, but touches on broader defensive themes as well.

Secondary

• Coaching the Defensive Backfield, by Greg McMackin. Good nuts and bolts book covering defensive backfield play, including man, zone, etc.

Special Teams

• Maximizing Special Teams, by Bill Blankenship. Great head-to-toe resource for designing, teaching, and implementing special teams. 

Other

• The Complete Handbook of Clock Management, by Homer Smith. The title is self explanatory but, like everything Smith wrote, it will make you evaluate (and re-evaluate) about everything you currently do in terms of offensive football — in a good way.

The option play has gained a resurgence in football with the popularity of the spread offense. Relying heavily on the run, option football forces a defense to be disciplined and play their responsibilities. It’s still a very sound way to attack defenses, but requires a commitment to running those base plays over and over. The spread has allowed teams that attack with option and to carry an effective passing attack that utilizes the spread to get the ball to players in space. The zone read and bubble have become a staple for spread option teams as well.

Option is no longer limited to teams who utilize the traditional dive back, pitch back type of runs. Two-in one plays or packaged plays are the new trend in offense that has the stick-draw concept at the forefront of this trend. What teams are finding ways to do is to isolate a defender in space and make him be in two places at once which makes one of those spaces a clean void to attack.

It’s no longer limited to receivers running bubble or spread formations. The quarterback doesn’t necessarily need to be the runner any more in these new option plays, but as with the traditional option, he must be a great decision maker and execute the plays efficiently.

Having a running quarterback is a bonus, because he can makes some of these types of option plays attack a little cleaner that having to read for a pass and then execute hand-off mechanics. We found this true with our version of the stick-draw play that allowed our quarterback to be the runner.

The video below shows how we isolate the linebacker, allow the quarterback to keep his vision, and attack the void in the defense with either a pass or a run. More on our version of this play can be viewed here.

Offenses are beginning to do more things outside of the stick/draw, stick/screen and zone bubble realm. For example, take a double tight, double flank formation against a 4-3. With 3 linebackers between the tight ends and two-high safeties the flat has a void that can only be filled on the snap of the ball by a rotating safety or a linebacker leaving the tackle box. Baylor had some interesting wrinkles in packaged plays when Robert Griffin III played for them in attacking this type of defense. In an outside zone read play that makes RG III the decision maker, but not the runner, he executes a read on the backside defensive end and linebacker who are the nearest defenders to the tight end into the boundary. In this play the wide receiver takes a forced outside release vertical route to take the corner out of the play.

The tight end works through the outside shoulder of the defensive end and runs a flat route. If the defensive end widens, the quarterback gives the ball to the running back on the zone play. If the defensive end closes on the run RGIII pulls the ball and throws it to the TE open in the flat. The play relies on the defense playing the run and leaving the boundary flat open. Defenses can have an answer to stop this by rolling a safety to the boundary flat, but that leaves them vulnerable in other areas and in effect they are rolling away from where the ball is being run which is less than ideal for them.

The linebacker can’t play the run and cover the flat at the same time, and the QB reading him can make him wrong however he reacts. It’s the 12 personnel equivalent of running the zone-read-bubble. The below clip shows an example at the 5:48 mark.

We have experimented with some of these ideas as well. Our version of this is below. The wide receiver should have executed his force outside release and take then corner out.

Packaged run with a Rhythm Throw. Though I’m not sure the play immediately following on the clip has a built in constraint or is just a called play action, it certainly presents another possibility in the realm of packaged plays. Package a run flowing hard one way with a receiver working a quick rhythm route in behind a linebacker who is being pulled to his run fit on the other side. Baylor pulls a guard on this play, but it could be done with wide zone blocking as well. That linebacker cannot flow and stop any kind of cut back and play the void behind him. The offensive line can fully block the run and not be illegally down field because the ball is out very quickly. The QB simply needs to read the backside linebacker. This idea of packaging a rhythm throw with a run that pulls linebackers away from that route has many possibilities.

More possibilities. We used some of Paul Boudreau’s “Leave Two” concept this past season. Many college and pro teams are using this play. The whole idea of having a packaged play is that it allows you to have a built in answer on that play rather than seeing from the press box that they didn’t respect the naked fake, for example, and then calling naked on the next play. That goes into the chess match part of coaching. They may have seen from the box that they didn’t defend the naked fake well and do something anticipating your call. What a packaged play does is make the defense wrong in that play, not the next one.

In the video, the tight end ruins a flat route on the snap of the ball. The offensive line pushes their zone combos one man further leaving two defenders on the backside for the fullback. If the end gets upfield the fullback will pull through for the linebacker. The quarterback is executing a naked fake after the hand-off. Obviously, if the coaches in the press box see the end crashing, a naked will be called very soon. The first play on the goal line is an example of this concept, as is the play at 2:52 in the open field that the Falcons run with much more success.

The play action and naked off of this run is very effective as well. Here is a naked pass off of the “leave two” zone play.

The leave two zone concept was a play we ran in 2012. We did experiment with the idea of packaging this play as a read of the flat defender, and we believe it has potential. This was simply a “what if” we had in practice and told our quarterback to read the flat defender to see what happened. In this example our quarterback gives the ball to the running back, but he is reading the flat to see if the defense has anyone there to defend it. Two defenders react out allowing our running back a clean lane. We don’t have any video the throw off of the play, but obviously if the defense wants to sit in the box on the run, the quarterback can make them pay.

The limits to this seem only to be a coach’s creativity in finding ways to make a single defender wrong no matter what the defender does. Like the traditional option, these plays do require repetition and sound execution by the quarterback. The advantage seems to be that the reads are very clean, and the quarterback doesn’t have to take a hit in the execution of the play. Now the drop back quarterback becomes even more dangerous in executing the run game when it is packaged with some type of quick throw.

Follow Coach Grabowski on Twitter @coachkgrabowski