Play of the Week - ARCHIVE
Enjoy all plays presented by Coach Shannon Brooks
Shannon Brooks coached youth football in the state of Florida for 12 years, winning multiple conference and national championships. Coach Brooks also coached at the high school level as a head coach, offensive coordinator, QB coach, linebacker's coach, and WR's coach. Coach Brooks is currently the assistant head coach/offensive coordinator at Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg, FL, and is also the National Director of Sales for BRAX Fundraising.
Contact Coach Brooks with any questions you might have.
Naked Bootleg
You've done a great job running the ball all day, but now you are looking for something to take advantage of an overpursuing defense. This play has been run on you so many times, and now its your turn to run it on your opponent. Selling the fake is the most important aspect of this play for both the running back and the quarterback. The onside TE must do a good job of selling run, and no get into his route too early. This play is even more effective as a run/pass option for a fast and athletic QB.
ISOLATION
You might call it ISO, or you might call it LEAD, but whatever you call it, this is one of the oldest staple running plays for all I-Formation teams. Depending on what different fronts you routinely see, you can have your offensive line block this play to your philosophies, but the primary point of the play remains....isolating your FB on one of the LB's. If you run an inside ISO play, you will isolate with the MLB. If you run an off-tackle ISO, you will isolate your FB with the OLB. Your can have your offensive line use down blocking rules, or you can base block, or run some kind of big-on-big variation, but get your FB after the isolated LB as soon as you can. Teach your TB to read the FB block, and acclerate downhill and get up field. There is really no reason this play should ever bounce outside.
REVERSE PASS
QB READ: Looking for some trickeration? The QB reverse outs from center, faking the stretch play. The WR's aiming point is the original starting point of the RB. The QB flips the ball to the WR who has a run - pass option. If he cannot see the TE on his corner route, then he is instructed to keep the ball and get what he can. Do not throw to the WR running a post route, he is only trying to clear the zone. The TE is running a delayed corner route. He first needs to sell his run block before getting into his route. Great play to run from any down and distance situation, but with good field position, don't run this from your own 10!
SMASH PACKAGE
QB READ: The QB should key the CB. If the CB is retreating, or given away substantial ground, the QB should fire the HITCH route immediately. The QB should never try and throw the SMASH, or corner, over the head of a retreating CB, or one who is giving ground. If the CB is pressing, or coming up on the #1 receiver, the QB should snap the ball over the top into the corner. This must be done on rhythm, or the CB will have time to recover. Special consideration should be given to the first interior defender, or flat defender vs. a Cover 3. In this case, the CB will more than likely be retreating, but now a danger player exists with the flat defender. The danger player is controlled on a three receiver side, and the QB should throw the SPLIT route against a Cover 3 if he feels the flat defender can get into the lane of the HITCH route. The rule of thumb for the QB on any HITCH rout e is ‘Never Throw Over A Walk’.
TRIPS RIGHT BOISE PASS
Who can forget the amazing Orange Bowl from a year ago between Oklahoma and Boise St.? What may go down as one of the greatest bowl games of all time, Boise St. would not have had a chance to win if they didnt score with time running out in regulation. And how did they do it? They used the play illustrated above. Nothing more than your old school hook and ladder play! This is the exact formation they ran it from in the game, and hopefully with practice, you can have the same results....a 65 YD TD!!!!
Rep it in practice and let me know how it turns out!
PLAY ACTION SLOT SCREEN
So you have a suspect offensive line, but you have all of these athletes, and you are just trying to get some kind of passing game going. Well, if you cant pass block, then just let the defenders in, and screen them till they stop rushing. Edge screens have been gaining popularity over the past couple of years, and now you can even see NFL teams using WR screens as part of their offensive gameplans. WR screens get the ball in the hands of your playmakers, and help settle down an aggressive pass rush. These plays are great for any down and distance, and also help build the confidence of your QB with completing easy passes.
SHOTGUN MOTION TRIPLE OPTION
So you just can't force yourself to give up the triple option from the I, or wishbone, or flexbone, or any other under center formation you use. You look at the shotgun, and you keep saying if you cant run the ball, and if you cant run the option, you are not changing. Well here you go!! Nothing fancy here. Put your outside WR in motion behind your QB, and teach the same option reads you always have. You can teach veer, midline, or dive option rules, all your call. We teach the QB to first read DE, if he stays or widens, he hands the ball off to the RB, if he crashes, then the QB will keep to the next option read. From there he reads the OLB, or SS who walked up.
Have fun with this one!
PLAY ACTION FB FLAT
After you have pounded your team into submission with running your off tackle isolations and power-G plays, now its time to take advantage of the LB's and secondary cheating up on the line of scrimmage. Very easy to run, a high completion percentage pass. The QB play fakes to the TB off tackle and makes a simple high/low read. If he sees the TE open downfield on the corner route, he makes a nice lofted pass for the TE to run to. If the TE is covered, 9 times out of 10, the FB will be uncovered, especially in youth football. This play is run to this day at the pro level, and is one of the simplest play action passes to implement.
TURN PASS
This is one of the most effective short passing game plays I have ever used. The completion percentage on this play has always been above 80% for me every year. The key to this play is how fast you can throw the ball, and how easy the read is for the QB. No matter what offense you run (shotgun, wing-t, I, multiple set, etc.) you should be able to adjust into a variation of this formation. This formation puts the outside defender in conflict (which is the OLB in the diagram above). The OLB will probably have some type of hook/curl/flat responsibility, unless they of course are playing man-to-man. The route combination of the TE and Wing (or H-Back) puts stress on the OLB's coverage responsibilities, and he will need to pick which route to cover, because he cant cover both. The QB reads whichever man goes uncovered, and throws the ball on rythm. The outside WR's are running fade routes, and against a cover 2, will become a viable target for the QB.
SHOVEL OPTION
After a week of defense, I had to hurry up and get back to the offensive side of the ball. As one might imagine, I am a huge proponent of the shotgun offense. I have run almost every offense under the sun, and I have never been able to be as flexible and adaptive as I have been with the shotgun offense. Our teams have been able to run, pass, play action, and be just as physical as any wishbone or wing-t team. This by no means is a dig at wing-t, or other very run oriented teams, especially since I too have run those offenses, but I am now caught up in the shotgun craze. I run the shovel option maybe a dozen or so times a year, or about once a game, but timing is everything! Find the right time to run the play, and watch your RB running free down the field. We are optioning the end on this play, so he is unblocked. The QB and RB are basically running speed option to the DE, but now has an “under“ option as well. The under option follows a pulling G, and the rest of the line has downblock rules. Play with the different formations and motions, and install this exciting play into your playbook!
This week, we examine the three most common forms of coverages used by today's defenses. You can't attack a defense without first understanding what they are trying to take away with the coverages they use.
Cover 1
Cover 1 is your true man-to-man coverage, with a free safety over the top to float. Cover 1 concepts are typcially associated with pressure and blitz oriented defenses. Most forms of Cover 1 are played with some kind of head-up, or inside technique by wide defenders, and they will align at varying depths and may even employ bump-n-run techniques. When we play against a Cover 1 defense, we are looking to get behind the man-to-man coverage, and look for the BIG PLAY! We can check out of short patterns, and we want to work the side with the best mismatch.
Cover 2
Cover 2 is defined as a coverage in which two safeties divide the deep halves of the field with five underneath defenders. There are a number of techniques used in the Cover 2 family, but in principle, Cover 2 is a defense that seeks to constrict the undedrneath passing lanes, and provide safety help over the top. The CB's have been known to either jam the receivers at the line of scrimmage, or play at a depth no deeper than five yards.
The Cover 2 attempts to take away the short, flat routes, which are prevalent when attacking a Cover 3. However, with five short defenders underneath, it has created large holes deep down the middle of the field, and on the sidelines. The Tampa 2 has now become popular, and it will have the Mike LB attempt to help in the deep middle as much as possible. When we attack the Cover 2, we still use our short passing game (arrow, smash, streak, etc..), as well as the rest of the packages where we can isolate the flat defenders with varying formations and routes.
Cover 3
Cover 3 refers to the family of cov erage where there are three deep defenders, each of whom are covering 1/3 of the field. This simply means the CB's (cornerbacks) are responsible for the outer thirds, and the F (free safety) is responsible for the deep middle. There are four defenders covering the underneath zones, with usually the W (wiull) and the $ (strong safety) covering the flat zones. Responsibilities can be exchanged between defenders, and there is more than one version of Cover 3, but the illustration above displays the most common form of Cover 3. The Cover 3 employs a “bend but don't break“ philosophy. The defense is wanting you to put together long drives, requiring a string of completions underneath to beat them. This is also another way for defneses to get eight men in the box to play stronger run defense. The short passing game (slants, hitches, curls, outs, etc..) is the best way to attack a Cover 3. However, deep attacks are still possible given matchups and timing.
ARROW (fade)
Simple enough play for youth teams and high school team alike. A very quick pre-snap read, then fire the ball either upfield, or to the sideline. Pass blocking is almost irrelevant due to the speed in which the pass is thrown. We teach what is called a “rocker step“, which is essentially a one step drop. Put your best athlete to the sideline, and let him make a play.
QB READ: The QB uses a pre-snap read in order to identify which side he will work based on either match-up, field width, or safety width. Which ever side he chooses, his first read is the safety to that side. Unless the safety widens very quickly, the QB ALWAYS hits the fade to that side, with a throw that is aimed to the sideline shoulder, away from both the CB and S. If the safety opens immediately and recklessly for width to the FADE, the QB finds the out route. The QB must pop the ball into the hole left by a Cover 2, and air the ball up the field vs. a Cover 3.
KANSAS RIGHT “A,B,C,D“ PASS
This play was submitted by our very own Coach Ron from Salt Lake City, UT. This play was used to win a bowl game for the East Leopards (8-10yr) in The Nationals Thanksgiving football tournament in Las Vegas, NV. You can run this play from either under center or in the shotgun. The coach picks the receiver he wants the QB to throw to (ie A, B, C or D). If you throw to the C, then you have a hook and lateral opportunity with your RB (D).
Make this play your own, and have FUN!
TOSS POWER
This play is your average G-Power play that you see from so many I teams, but with a twist. It's a combination of the double wing super power, so popular with wing enthusiasts, and the mainstay of the I G-Power teams. If you have trouble pulling both your G and T in the double wing super power, but you still want that off-tackle explosiveness of a toss, this is the play for you. I used to run this play out of a wing formation by motioning the wing back to receive the toss, then changed to this formation to save the trouble of teaching proper motion technique to 10 year olds. Also, what seperates this play, is we had our QB lead block after he tossed the ball to the RB. The QB essentially takes the place of the T pulling in the double wing playbook, and gives you the extra blocker through the hole.
OFFENSIVE LINE: The playside has downblocking rules, and they leave the end man on the line of scrimmage unblocked. This goes for the TE, OT, and G. Please review the Counter Read play in our archive for our downblocking rules. The FB has the kickout block on the end, and both the QB and G pull up through the hole looking for pressure inside first. Since the 5-3 is so popular in youth football, the only person really left to make the tackle is either the CB or S, which you hope your QB can get in front of. The backside OT must scoop block any DT in the B gap, or a 3 technique.
COACHING POINTS: The QB must reverse pivot and toss the ball in one motion, allowing him enough time to turn toward the hole and begin looking to block. The QB steps are essential to this play working. If he cannot toss the ball and reverse pivot all in one motion, you will have difficulty running this play with the proper timing and effectiveness. If you are worried about the playside CB making too many tackles, you can put your SE on the same side as the formation, and cover your TE. This will pull the CB out of the box, and allow you to run this play even better, especially if you play against teams who do not shift to what is essentially an unbalanced look. You cannot throw to your covered TE, but who cares if you are netting 8-10 yards per carry running out of the formation.
COUNTER READ
Sticking with the spread offense theme, this is another staple of the newest shotgun craze. The RB will take a counter step opposite the hole, then follow the pulling OT to daylight. Teach the RB to have patience, and wait for the OT to kick out the end man on the line of scrimmage. Teach your RB to stay on the backside of the OT. If the playside defensive end crashes, then have your pulling OT log block him down in the line, and your RB should then bounce outside. The rest of the offensive line has down blocking rules. Different coaches call their downblcoking rules different names (ie. gap-down-backer). We teach our offensive lineman to block head up-gap-release. Simply, if there is a defensive lineman head up on you, you block him. If not, look to your down gap, if still no defensive lineman, then release to backer. Against blitzing teams, you will have to teach your offensive lineman to seal down, no matter where the defensive line sets up.
QB READ: Like the Zone Read, the QB must make the end respect the keep everytime you run this play. If the end crashes down with the OT pull, then the QB keeps the ball around the outside. If the end stays at home, then give to your RB and let him make the play. Simple as that! Just like the Zone Read, if your QB does not follow out his fake, even when he gives the ball, then this play will have little success. The QB must be disciplined enough sell the play everytime, not just go through the motions.
