What is the beauty to be found in great systems? To me, it is not just the ability put up huge numbers.  Rather, it is the ability to teach - it is the ability to take the complex and turn it into something very easy for players to execute.   My consulting clients know that they can get a flood of updated information from me throughout the year.  To be clear, these updates don't necessarily mean something new; instead, they are often "tweaks" to the existing.  

One such update (without necessitating a change in structure) is the revival of "Mesh" in this passing game.  I learned the principle from Norm Chow when he was at BYU.  Though the success of the pattern cannot be debated, few can argue the time commitment required to make it work the way Chow's BYU teams or the way Mummy/ Leach deployed their versions of the attack.  Proving the flexibility of the system, we have found a very inexpensive alternative teaching method.

In the route tree we used, we simply augmented the definition and technique of the "6" route:

Even for younger players, the technique explanation is simple: run a 4 (hook), then run a 2 (short in).  After all,  4+2=6.  Running the "mesh drag" in this manner has several advantages:
- The initial stem provides an additional quick throw vs. pressure
- It is more effective vs. match up zone, as the hook stem is something a LB will drive on, and redirect to on the re-start
- This vacates the area for the backside drag better than the traditional mesh
- It is obviously less expensive than traditional mesh
- The timing provides a Third Fix outlet on the backside

From this simple adjustment, along with the stair step technique that is taught with standard drag routes vs. man coverage, one is able to assemble an exciting array of possibilities.  This pattern has been extremely successful in 7 on 7 this summer, as it not only compliments the "471" pattern (seen here), but the weak side B wheel pattern as well.

Another variation inspired by the checkdown techniques of Steve Spurrier's teams, combined with DRIVE, is shown here:

How inexpensive is this tweak in teaching technique?  My son's 7 on 7 team has been able to throw and catch both of these passes (along with Stick/Levels with RAM, 471, 220, and 09 A Badge) for scores in the last 2 weeks.

PS - days away from having my iBook available for purchase.

"Like I said before, if you werent in the room with Amos Alonzo Stagg and Knute Rockne, then you stole it from somebody"

- Chip Kelly

I like so many things about Coach Kelly's approach, but this quote might be what I like best.  Football is a game of handed-down knowledge, and few coaches have had his recent success. Whether or not he continues that success with the Eagles is beside the point (I am interested to see how they handle personnel turnover, with released players singing with other teams and giving signal/ procedural information to calling the offense); his innovation is well documented, but the credit he gives to his past experiences is also apparent.

This made me start thinking about the people who I was lucky enough to learn from, and where different components of what I consider as "my" offensive system evolved from:

- I learned John Mackovic's system as a college player.  His system had its roots in Tom Landry's offense, as he was an assistant for him.  The system contained everything, including KEY screens that are so much a part of today's spread environment.  Also, as the Cowboys and 49ers dominated the NFC in the early and mid-90s, influxes of those passing games trickled into our own, using NFL film as a teaching tool.  Multiple shifts, motions, and personnel groupings were a focal point of the attack.  Cleve Bryant, my position coach,  fostered my thirst for knowledge as he let me handle our passing game quality control.  Gene Dahlquist (OC/QBs) was an excellent teacher of passing mechanics and the progression-based passing game. 
 
- My first boss, Kurt Nichols, taught me how to be in a single-back, 3-receiver environment on an every-down basis.  I learned the constraints of the zone running game from a spread out environment.  At the same stop, a former GA for John Jenkins, Wes Cope, taught me the inner workings of the Run & Shoot passing game. 

- My second post reconnected me with a former assistant at Texas, Jack Kiser.  I will forever be endebted to Jack for feeding my thirst for knowledge; while there, he flew in both Norm Chow and the late great Mike Heimerdinger for clinic sessions.  For any young passing-minded coach, these sessions were a dream come true -- I learned the BYU system verbatim, and 'Dinger's take on the staples of the West Coast Offense, and its evolution to one-back sets.  Coach Kiser let me install the passing game, and this experience proved invaluable.

- Along the way, Bill Mountjoy served as a constant resource.  As I was trying to mold the axioms I beleived in into a system, much of the focus was on Joe Gibbs' offenses in Washington.  This would not have been possible without Bill. Bill also introduces me to John McGregor, a longtime Henning assistant.  No matter how crazy the idea, I could be assured of constructive feedback.  Also, John helped use his connections to get all-access exposure to Mike Martz's Rams in their heyday, as well as Bruce Arians' translation of the Colts vaunted system.  To this day, the exchange of ideas is constant.

- At the age of 25, Phil Wickwar gave me total autonomy of an offense, as did Tommy Felty in my next job at 27.  Our teams were a laboratory of sorts, and both these coaches gave me the authority to experiment as I saw fit.  For example, our athletic dropback passer Billy Malone had two 80 yard runs on the zone read in 2000.  It was during these stops where the vertical reads of the run and shoot were streamlined  and rhythm became more defined to fit with the rest of our progression- based passing attack.  The numbers advantage principle came to fruition in our "3" pattern - our version of the Run and Shoot CHOICE route. Moreover, an extended no huddle attack was used for the first time.

- While at North Lamar, I corresponded with the late great Homer Smith.  Always willing to answer questions and send me drill tapes, I will be forever grateful.  He taught me the most in terms of using backside receivers and thus attacking with all 5 receivers on every play.

- Though several years removed from college, my connections with my Alma Mater were still paying dividends.  My friend and teammate, Todd Ford, began working for another Longhorn -- Todd Dodge.  Coach Dodge's system and QB/WR methods are legendary in Texas, and being an annual coach at his camps exposed me to some tremendous knowledge.  For example, I got to meet (among several others) Clayton George, who elevated the way I taught receivers.  Also in this time, Greg Davis' openess to share his insight is evident in looking at my offenses. A former teammate of mine (former Texas QB and current MD Richard Walton) called Coach Davis the best teacher he has ever had. The UT record books reflect this as well. 

-   At Lenoir-Ryhne, I met John Patterson, who encouraged my constant evolution in the passing game, and tirelessly searched for ways to protect for all the routes I was diagramming.  In 2002, we boasted the league's leading passer and school record holder, Brett Meunier. It was during this stop when we began combining 3 step patterns with backside outlets that came open with 5 step timing -- blending some Run and Shoot ideas with Homer Smith's. Also, during the 2003 season, JP and I began developed a highly evolved read system  to take advantage of our running QB, Scott Branton.  In 3 seasons, three different QBs (Kurtis Koester was the third) posted top 10 passing seasons in the school's record books. 

- Also  prior to the 2002 season, Steve Kragthorpe let me come up and sit in on meetings with the Bills.  Drew Bledsoe had just been acquired, and on his way to a Pro Bowl season in Kevin Gilbride's newly installed system.  Many of the Run and Shoot patterns were obvioulsy familiar; I did discover some protection adjustments that would pay dividends in the future, as well as the principle of always throwing away from the MLB as a means for throwing levels-type patterns  this would go on to become our Mike tags in the first book and RAM principle in the second.

Anyone who had followed the evolution of my passing system can see that the X's and O's didn't change from the first book to the next; the organization is the driver of change.  Much of the language is my own, although the idea of numbering receivers on a side comes from Marty McClintock, who was the head coach at Borger High School in Borger, TX.  My parents had moved to Borger during my college years, and Coach Mac was always accomodating enough to talk ball with me back then.  Of course, none of this would have happened without my high school coach, Allen Wilson.  He's the man who taught me how to win, how to have faith in the face of adversity, and how this game can influence the lives of many.  None of the previous would have been possible without Coach Wilson.

In my first coaching stop, I was exposed to a wonderful blend of ideas: Houston's "Run and Shoot" passing game, (thanks to Wes Cope, a former UH graduate assistant) and a fulltime singleback offense, featuring 1 RB, 1TE, and 3 wide receivers as a base offense.  This combination, while alarming to R&S purists, was perfect for me; I still see advantages that a TE/H-Back body provides that a fourth wide receiver simply cannot replace. The protections were what needed tweaking for my taste; more on that later.

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:

Likewise, we paired slant/flat combinations vs. single-high safety looks with double slants vs. two-high safety configuratons.   All this was pretty standard operating procedure for many offenses back then, but the funny thing about our pocket-based protections (the standard Dennis Erickson-esque 7 man drop back pro) was that it really did not allow for us to tap the passing system's full potential.  It bothered me, even back then, that we almost always kept
"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.

In the WCO's spacing idea, an individual quick route was called, and the QB could throw to the primary reciever in normal 3-step rhythm, or progress to alternate receivers across the field:

The advantages to this approach, in which the quarterback can come off of a quick target and "hitch up" to alternates, were clear to me.  The pattern did not waste receivers, and if you taught the QB to progress to alternates in rhythm with his feet (his "hitch steps") in the normal dropback game, he would not feel as if the "rug had been pulled from underneath him" if you called a quick pass, and the defense had it covered.  All the benefits of attacking the full width of a defense, with no new learning for the quarterback! 

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.