At any rate, we ran the complete array of Run 'n Shoot routes (Coach Cope didn't just install the basic 5 patterns; we even got to Wing Post or Flag, Throwback, Hook, etc.), and used the traditional quick combinations in a "Check with Me" manner. The QB would come into the huddle (yes, the good 'ol huddle days) and say something like "Right 90 or 91, Check with Me" -- which married a "Hitch" combination vs. soft corners, and "Fade/Out" vs. hard corners:
"attached" receivers in to block -- again, a product of my experience in Coach Mackovic's system. The backside features of the Run and Shoot were, to me, some of the best parts of the offense:
I spent one season at that initial coaching stop, but at my next assignment (at Abilene Christian in 1996), I was further exposed to some truly great resources: Norm Chow, and the late Mike Heimerdinger. Though I had working knowledge of the West Coast Offense from my playing days, the time I spent visiting with these masters of offense was invaluable. Along with Coach Chow's flood game, and the intricate details of the drag concept from Coach 'Dinger, I learned the details of "F Scat" and "Spacing" from them, respectively.
"66 F Scat" - this was the offense's (BYU in 1996) version of "Y Stick" In the words of Coach Chow himself -- "the thing that makes this play work is the hook over the ball." Conceptually, it was a quick defender key followed by the quarterback scanning into a receiver breaking back into his vision. Of note, I distinctively remember Coach Chow talking about experimenting with "X Scat"; college football would become well acquainted with this play as Reggie Bush and USC wreaked havoc on defenses some years later.
The above ideas were nothing new to football in 1996, and yet so few coaches were taking advantage of them.
In the upcoming posts, I will reveal how I blended all these ideas into the quick game that I teach in my system, and also how I have expanded the definition of the quick concept in our terms, enabling an offense to carry very little dropback passing game, and yet still attack a defense consistently through the air.