Untitled - Fast and Furious Football

26 FOOTBAI,L COACIITN"G STR{TEGIES
Midfield
Between ouro\!n 10-yard line and the opponeni's
25, we operate ourfield offense. We know that on
fiIst down our ball control passjng is vital. By and
large, on first and-10 you']] get a 2-decp zone
zone-type defense. Wc can drop the ball off to a
back late and still make.l to 5 vards. Those 4 or 5
yards are as impodant to us as soma other team
making the same on an optioD pla):
You often will see us run $'ith the batt ox sec-
.rnd-and-10, because we lrant 5 yards. Ifyou run
a basic running pla]., you can get vour 5.
At third-and 5, we arc right back with a ball
controi pass, dunping to a back, and w€'re mak,
ine it.Ifwe can make 30 first downs agame, we'll
short Yardage
$'e have standardpasses to throw against a goalline
defens€. Too often people try to go in there
and buttheads withgood lineba€keN onthe goal
line. Too often they don't mak€ it.
If \l'e got inside that s-yard line, hau the rrme
we are goine to thrcw the ball. Now, if you're
marching through somebody, you can just close
your eyes and hand the ball om Butwhenit's very
competitivej that goal-line pass is vital. So we
have a series of thos€. We never call them any-
$'hcre else on the field.
whpn w" afp arourd 35Jdro lrnts in d
shod-yardage situation, ilwe 'herr
don't s€c sonreDouy
standjng deep down th€ rl]iddle, we're probably
going to go for thc six points.
To nake it on third-and 1 we will often urow
to a back out ofthe backfield. Third-and,3 is the
toughest ofall to make. We have a cerlain list of
runs and a certainlist ofpasses. Whon we ha1'e a
third-and-S, we don't grope. We go to it-
Ball.Control Passing
Don r isolare I hruwing I h^ f^r$ard pds- r. a gi\en
down and distance. Ifyou are going to throw the
ball, you must be willins to tbro"' on first down,
not a token pass hoping for the best, but a pdss
that is designed io eet vou a certain amount of
yardage.
In ourball-conlmi passins, we wilt use the five
step drop pattcrn on first down, because wa know,
throueh the drilling ofour quarterback, that we
can eet 4 or 5 dropping the ball offto a back, \,! ho
is an outlet, or to a tight cnd. So we are quite
willingto throw a ball-control pass onfirstdown,
and then go to our seven step drop man€uveriDg
patterr on third down. As you can sce, most ol
our offense is based on ball-control passes, no
matter $.hat the situation.
Figure l showsvou a ball-control pass thatSid
Gilman may have developod some time ago. It's
ono of the most effectiv€ fo.ward passes we'vc
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This is afi1'e-step drop pattem. The quarterback
takes five big stcps and a hitch step and throws
on time. The rccciver splits 12 to 14 yards. The
flanker releascs inside for 5 to 6 yards and then
busts hald to the outside foot ofthe comerback.
Wlrat he wants to do is to get that comerback on
his heels. Thenhe'lltum in about thrce steps and
catch the pass 12 yards deep.
The fullback runs what we cali a scat patt€m.
H€ doesn't havc any pickup, and he releases to
the outside. He nover cafthes the ball more urar
2 yards past the line of sc mmage, most often
right at the lina of scrimmase. If the backer
blitzes, he loohs for the ball early.
OuI tight end picks off the near end back€r
He'ilput hjs head past that man's shouldor, slow
do\,"n, and make contact. He bounces off it and
gocs to the lar guard position, turns and faces
thc quarterback, ard watches his eyos because
he's the last outlet.
The quarterback throws theball r€latedtothe
sky safety. Ifthe safety gives ground, he'tl throw
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