By Matthew Zemek CFN
[size=-1][/size]Last year, it seemed as though America’s college football coaches didn’t feel secure in using trick plays until the last weekend of October. September might as well have been designated “National Screen Pass Month,” for all intents and purposes. As another season comes across the calendar, one can only hope that coaches will find some stones earlier and much more often, because when they do, this sport sings. A football game becomes ridiculously fun not only when the players have A-list talent, but when two head coaches and their coordinators play a mean game of chess. Hopefully, the grandmasters will show up in week one or two, and not wait until Daylight Savings Time begins.
Without further ado, then, here are five tricks that need to come out of the bag more often.
Number Five
Category: Special Teams – Kickoff Unit
Play: Wide-side onsides kick
Just watch—it happens with incredible regularity, even at the NFL level: the “up-men” on kickoff return teams start to jog away from their position, 10 yards away from the kickoff spot, as the kicker makes his steady, escalating run-up to the ball. And given that there are usually only four (maybe five) up-men in a traditional kickoff return formation, it often happens that the wide up-men will leave their posts even earlier than the ones in the middle of the field, near the hashmarks. Teams should have their kickers make the traditional run-up to the ball, only to then punch a short ball in the air and wide to the other side of the field, no more than 10-12 yards downfield. This would get great results whenever the opposing team’s up-men mechanically and automatically expected a standard downfield boot. And if coaches feel this is unsafe, they can always use the more common ground ball or bunt up the middle of the field. But while that tapped onsides kick is more familiar, it’s still underutilized on an absolute scale.
Number Four
Category: Special Teams – Punt Unit
Play: Fake punt run with pass option
Similar to kickoffs, many punt return teams will begin to jog backwards before a ball is even punted. Special teams coaches should, first of all, teach their punters—who, if athletic, can be huge assets to their teams—to run with the dadgum pigskin if the opponent assumes a punt. But after that, special teams coaches should install plays that offer a little more structure and, by extension, some protection to the punter, who can get overwhelmed with responsibilities and have a mental hiccup that could prove disastrous. One solution is to have the setback in front of the punter serve as an outlet for either a forward pass or a lateral. This can provide a package in which a punt, in addition to a straight run by the punter, can offer a crossfield misdirection pass or a bomb after the lateral (or even, if the opposition is lazy enough, a crossfield throw back to the punter after the lateral to the setback). Punt awareness should provide fertile ground for trick plays of both a planned and regularly improvisational nature. Punish return units that jog away from the line of scrimmage before a ball is actually kicked downfield.
Number Three
Category: Short Passing Game
Play: Hook and Lateral
Why, oh why, has the play that made the Chargers-Dolphins 1981 AFC playoff game famous been relegated to the trash heap of gadget plays? Holy Duriel Harris and Tony Nathan, Batman!
Seriously, why has this play not been used more often? In today’s football climate, dominated as it is by short passing, the hook and lateral should be a natural for providing a safe initial framework from which to then try to beat defenses with big-hitting plays. There’s something simple to remember about the hook and lateral: if the lateral isn’t there, you still have a 7-10 yard gain! There’s no rule saying you have to lateral; in fact, if defenses take the lateral away, that could actually open up more running room for the initial receiver, or also set up a lateral in the middle of the field. Tony Nathan ran up the sideline to catch a lateral thrown by Harris, who caught the ball inside the numbers (a point on the field that’s roughly equidistant from the outer hash and the sideline) and then pitched the ball to the perimeter. But if defenses gravitate to the edges, another back or receiver could run in a lane between both hashes up the middle of the field. There are options, folks—America is a land of options, for goodness sake!
The sneaky explanation for the non-use of the hook and lateral is a simple but powerful one: coaches are absolute pansies, blobs of shuddering fear, when it comes to asking their players to be slick ballhandlers. This reality points the way to two trick plays that need even more usage in college football.
Number Two
Category: Use/Manipulation of the Line of Scrimmage
Play: “The Fisher King Special”
The description of this play is excerpted from the Monday Morning Quarterback on December 1, 2003:
”Beyond Fisher’s overall trends, however, the brain behind the Tigers’ offense also displayed one of the best and most creative plays ever witnessed on a football field. It gained only two yards because of unbelievable reactions from Arkansas’ defense, but it is a play that can and should represent the best of offensive play calling in the 21<SUP>st</SUP> Century. Let’s break it down…
Fisher had Matt Mauck line up in a shotgun formation, fake a handoff, hesitate (to freeze the Hogs’ defense), and then run to his right with an option pitchman still available and—here’s the wrinkle—a receiver in the right flat who was easily available for a pass, given the initial hesitation at the line of scrimmage, which cleared out the passing lanes toward the edges.
Usually, when teams use option plays (this is especially true for option/wishbone teams), they have the quarterback “break the bone,” which means running down the line to sell option, only to then drop straight back and throw a pass deep in the backfield. The genius of this play from Fisher was manifested on several levels: first, it had the feel of an option play, but it was able to gain that feel from a pro-set shotgun spread formation. Secondly, the play’s misdirection element enabled the quarterback (Mauck) to be able to comfortably throw a forward pass without having to “break the bone,” a very potent proposition for offenses and an equally scary one for defenses. Third, Mauck’s execution of the play showed why this play—or variations of it with similar principles—has a chance to be so consistently devastating throughout the 21<SUP>st</SUP> Century. (Offensive coordinators, I hope you’re taking notes here…)
One concept that needs to be part of a newly innovative and creative brand of play calling that will modernize and advance college football (not to mention football at any other level) is the clever use of the line of scrimmage. A boatload of creative plays can and should come from the fact that ballcarriers can sucker defenses by running at full speed up to the line of scrimmage, only to then throw a lateral or forward pass that will leave defenses totally dumbfounded.
Matt Mauck perfectly executed Fisher’s fabulous play because he ran the option at regular speed, went down the line, and, without moving away from the line of scrimmage—but without running PAST the line of scrimmage at the same time—immediately uncorked a forward pass.
Let’s face it: how many times do you see a quarterback run an option down the line and, just when you think he’ll release the ball by pitching to the pitchman, suddenly throw a forward pass? That’s just it—you hardly ever see that kind of a play from a coordinator and the quarterback to whom he entrusts a play with an option look. The use of the line of scrimmage will enable teams and their skill position players to throw forward passes precisely when defenses don’t—and can’t—expect them. Having players throw forward passes or laterals at full speed while being just half a yard behind the line of scrimmage is the next frontier in play calling (and while we’re at it, slick ballhandling and the practice drills that will cultivate such skills).
Jimbo is the Fisher King after a magnificently creative display.”
Number One
Category: Combo--Use/Manipulation of the Line of Scrimmage, plus Sophisticated, Slick Ballhandling
Play: An Updated Flea Flicker
We all know about the traditional flea flicker. We also know about the wrinkles on the flea flicker provided by Steve Spurrier from his Florida days, in which the quarterback would pitch to the running back, only for the running back to hand the ball back to the QB while running toward the line of scrimmage. But it’s time to update and modernize the flea flicker even more. It’s time for running backs to become better actors and ballhandlers.
On a third and short, for example, a running back should attempt a Herschel Walker-like dive play, only to intentionally (but seemingly unintentionally) shot-put the ball backwards to the quarterback, who could find a lone tight end or flanker down the field in total isolation after all 11 defenders reacted to the “dive play.”
Another updated variation of the flea flicker is, on a wide running play to the boundary, for the running back to sprint right up to the line of scrimmage (half a yard) and then, on a time, turn and fire a lateral to the QB, who would figure to have a lonely receiver open, given the runner’s exceptional ability to sell a traditional running play.
We’ve all seen running backs awkwardly try to fake runs on halfback option passes, and it’s tricky for the runner to do this. What can provide for an easier trick play is to just let him run right up to the line of scrimmage and lead the defense to converge with total instinctiveness. But then, just before the line of scrimmage—and this is why manipulation of the line of scrimmage, if done right, is the keystone that will unlock a series of devastating trick plays in the future of the sport of college football—the runner can shockingly and abruptly alter the whole nature of the play.
Put it this way: why try to disguise a play with unconvincing acting when you can just act out the play and then manipulate the line of scrimmage? Yes, it would take some practice, but this isn’t quite rocket science, either. Manipulating the line of scrimmage and using some clever ballhandling—sometimes making the scripted seem unscripted—will unleash a torrent of highly successful trick plays that will work because, gosh darnit, they’ll seem like traditional runs right up to the last fraction of a second, when the running back suddenly throws a lateral half a yard before the line of scrimmage. Careful awareness of the scrimmage line will enable offenses to devastate defenses.[font=verdana, arial, sans serif][size=-2]
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[size=-1][/size]Last year, it seemed as though America’s college football coaches didn’t feel secure in using trick plays until the last weekend of October. September might as well have been designated “National Screen Pass Month,” for all intents and purposes. As another season comes across the calendar, one can only hope that coaches will find some stones earlier and much more often, because when they do, this sport sings. A football game becomes ridiculously fun not only when the players have A-list talent, but when two head coaches and their coordinators play a mean game of chess. Hopefully, the grandmasters will show up in week one or two, and not wait until Daylight Savings Time begins.
Without further ado, then, here are five tricks that need to come out of the bag more often.
Number Five
Category: Special Teams – Kickoff Unit
Play: Wide-side onsides kick
Just watch—it happens with incredible regularity, even at the NFL level: the “up-men” on kickoff return teams start to jog away from their position, 10 yards away from the kickoff spot, as the kicker makes his steady, escalating run-up to the ball. And given that there are usually only four (maybe five) up-men in a traditional kickoff return formation, it often happens that the wide up-men will leave their posts even earlier than the ones in the middle of the field, near the hashmarks. Teams should have their kickers make the traditional run-up to the ball, only to then punch a short ball in the air and wide to the other side of the field, no more than 10-12 yards downfield. This would get great results whenever the opposing team’s up-men mechanically and automatically expected a standard downfield boot. And if coaches feel this is unsafe, they can always use the more common ground ball or bunt up the middle of the field. But while that tapped onsides kick is more familiar, it’s still underutilized on an absolute scale.
Number Four
Category: Special Teams – Punt Unit
Play: Fake punt run with pass option
Similar to kickoffs, many punt return teams will begin to jog backwards before a ball is even punted. Special teams coaches should, first of all, teach their punters—who, if athletic, can be huge assets to their teams—to run with the dadgum pigskin if the opponent assumes a punt. But after that, special teams coaches should install plays that offer a little more structure and, by extension, some protection to the punter, who can get overwhelmed with responsibilities and have a mental hiccup that could prove disastrous. One solution is to have the setback in front of the punter serve as an outlet for either a forward pass or a lateral. This can provide a package in which a punt, in addition to a straight run by the punter, can offer a crossfield misdirection pass or a bomb after the lateral (or even, if the opposition is lazy enough, a crossfield throw back to the punter after the lateral to the setback). Punt awareness should provide fertile ground for trick plays of both a planned and regularly improvisational nature. Punish return units that jog away from the line of scrimmage before a ball is actually kicked downfield.
Number Three
Category: Short Passing Game
Play: Hook and Lateral
Why, oh why, has the play that made the Chargers-Dolphins 1981 AFC playoff game famous been relegated to the trash heap of gadget plays? Holy Duriel Harris and Tony Nathan, Batman!
Seriously, why has this play not been used more often? In today’s football climate, dominated as it is by short passing, the hook and lateral should be a natural for providing a safe initial framework from which to then try to beat defenses with big-hitting plays. There’s something simple to remember about the hook and lateral: if the lateral isn’t there, you still have a 7-10 yard gain! There’s no rule saying you have to lateral; in fact, if defenses take the lateral away, that could actually open up more running room for the initial receiver, or also set up a lateral in the middle of the field. Tony Nathan ran up the sideline to catch a lateral thrown by Harris, who caught the ball inside the numbers (a point on the field that’s roughly equidistant from the outer hash and the sideline) and then pitched the ball to the perimeter. But if defenses gravitate to the edges, another back or receiver could run in a lane between both hashes up the middle of the field. There are options, folks—America is a land of options, for goodness sake!
The sneaky explanation for the non-use of the hook and lateral is a simple but powerful one: coaches are absolute pansies, blobs of shuddering fear, when it comes to asking their players to be slick ballhandlers. This reality points the way to two trick plays that need even more usage in college football.
Number Two
Category: Use/Manipulation of the Line of Scrimmage
Play: “The Fisher King Special”
The description of this play is excerpted from the Monday Morning Quarterback on December 1, 2003:
”Beyond Fisher’s overall trends, however, the brain behind the Tigers’ offense also displayed one of the best and most creative plays ever witnessed on a football field. It gained only two yards because of unbelievable reactions from Arkansas’ defense, but it is a play that can and should represent the best of offensive play calling in the 21<SUP>st</SUP> Century. Let’s break it down…
Fisher had Matt Mauck line up in a shotgun formation, fake a handoff, hesitate (to freeze the Hogs’ defense), and then run to his right with an option pitchman still available and—here’s the wrinkle—a receiver in the right flat who was easily available for a pass, given the initial hesitation at the line of scrimmage, which cleared out the passing lanes toward the edges.
Usually, when teams use option plays (this is especially true for option/wishbone teams), they have the quarterback “break the bone,” which means running down the line to sell option, only to then drop straight back and throw a pass deep in the backfield. The genius of this play from Fisher was manifested on several levels: first, it had the feel of an option play, but it was able to gain that feel from a pro-set shotgun spread formation. Secondly, the play’s misdirection element enabled the quarterback (Mauck) to be able to comfortably throw a forward pass without having to “break the bone,” a very potent proposition for offenses and an equally scary one for defenses. Third, Mauck’s execution of the play showed why this play—or variations of it with similar principles—has a chance to be so consistently devastating throughout the 21<SUP>st</SUP> Century. (Offensive coordinators, I hope you’re taking notes here…)
One concept that needs to be part of a newly innovative and creative brand of play calling that will modernize and advance college football (not to mention football at any other level) is the clever use of the line of scrimmage. A boatload of creative plays can and should come from the fact that ballcarriers can sucker defenses by running at full speed up to the line of scrimmage, only to then throw a lateral or forward pass that will leave defenses totally dumbfounded.
Matt Mauck perfectly executed Fisher’s fabulous play because he ran the option at regular speed, went down the line, and, without moving away from the line of scrimmage—but without running PAST the line of scrimmage at the same time—immediately uncorked a forward pass.
Let’s face it: how many times do you see a quarterback run an option down the line and, just when you think he’ll release the ball by pitching to the pitchman, suddenly throw a forward pass? That’s just it—you hardly ever see that kind of a play from a coordinator and the quarterback to whom he entrusts a play with an option look. The use of the line of scrimmage will enable teams and their skill position players to throw forward passes precisely when defenses don’t—and can’t—expect them. Having players throw forward passes or laterals at full speed while being just half a yard behind the line of scrimmage is the next frontier in play calling (and while we’re at it, slick ballhandling and the practice drills that will cultivate such skills).
Jimbo is the Fisher King after a magnificently creative display.”
Number One
Category: Combo--Use/Manipulation of the Line of Scrimmage, plus Sophisticated, Slick Ballhandling
Play: An Updated Flea Flicker
We all know about the traditional flea flicker. We also know about the wrinkles on the flea flicker provided by Steve Spurrier from his Florida days, in which the quarterback would pitch to the running back, only for the running back to hand the ball back to the QB while running toward the line of scrimmage. But it’s time to update and modernize the flea flicker even more. It’s time for running backs to become better actors and ballhandlers.
On a third and short, for example, a running back should attempt a Herschel Walker-like dive play, only to intentionally (but seemingly unintentionally) shot-put the ball backwards to the quarterback, who could find a lone tight end or flanker down the field in total isolation after all 11 defenders reacted to the “dive play.”
Another updated variation of the flea flicker is, on a wide running play to the boundary, for the running back to sprint right up to the line of scrimmage (half a yard) and then, on a time, turn and fire a lateral to the QB, who would figure to have a lonely receiver open, given the runner’s exceptional ability to sell a traditional running play.
We’ve all seen running backs awkwardly try to fake runs on halfback option passes, and it’s tricky for the runner to do this. What can provide for an easier trick play is to just let him run right up to the line of scrimmage and lead the defense to converge with total instinctiveness. But then, just before the line of scrimmage—and this is why manipulation of the line of scrimmage, if done right, is the keystone that will unlock a series of devastating trick plays in the future of the sport of college football—the runner can shockingly and abruptly alter the whole nature of the play.
Put it this way: why try to disguise a play with unconvincing acting when you can just act out the play and then manipulate the line of scrimmage? Yes, it would take some practice, but this isn’t quite rocket science, either. Manipulating the line of scrimmage and using some clever ballhandling—sometimes making the scripted seem unscripted—will unleash a torrent of highly successful trick plays that will work because, gosh darnit, they’ll seem like traditional runs right up to the last fraction of a second, when the running back suddenly throws a lateral half a yard before the line of scrimmage. Careful awareness of the scrimmage line will enable offenses to devastate defenses.[font=verdana, arial, sans serif][size=-2]
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