This article is by my friend Dan Gonzalez, who, in addition to being an expert on offense and the passing game, has written a book about both called Concept Passing: Teaching the Modern Passing Game. Dan also previously collaborated with me on an article about the four verticals pass concept. I am honored to host his excellent article on Smart Football.
“Pick a side.” This common coaching directive, in which the quarterback is given the autonomy to choose his starting point on a pass play, has always bothered me. It’s an abdication of a coach’s responsibility: It’s the coach’s job to orchestrate the assault on a defense –- why isn’t the quarterback given a specific starting point and a full complement of options? Even as a college player, I would sit in meetings or pick up a game plan handout and roll my eyes when I saw these words attached to a pass play. My coaches were no slouches – there was an NFL pedigree throughout the staff, and they were fresh from coaching the first pick in the NFL draft when they came to my school. We were taught sound mechanics and fundamentals and our system was a complex pro-style system. Still, there was an abundance of mirrored pass patterns (see Diagram 1 below) in our system, where receivers on both sides of the formation ran the same routes. While these plays were sold as attacking the full field, I often thought to myself, “If everyone comes open at the same time, aren’t we really wasting half the field, and sometimes more than half of the eligible receivers?”
Diagram 1. Example of a “mirrored” pass pattern
I have always considered myself a sort of “free thinker” when it came to football. My talent would never have allowed for me to dream of playing after college (I considered myself blessed to be there), and I always knew I would go into coaching. When I studied our game tapes (I was in charge of the passing game quality control as a senior) and opponent scouting tapes, I was not only living in the “now” — I was also searching for the methodology that I would use when I finally got to run my own offense. Even then, there were two things I knew I wanted: (1) My system would establish itself with the dropback pass and (2) I was going to give the quarterback as many options as possible on a given pass play.
In the passing system I have coached myself (and have since installed for my clients on a consultant basis), pass plays have “frontside” and “backside” component. They fit together through a system of pattern variations, or “tags,” which I’ve created to give the quarterback a well defined method of attacking the full width and depth of pass defenses. There are three types of backside tags, each encompassing a specific way to affect the backside of a pass defense:
- Provide outlets if the primary combination is covered.
- Control safety rotation or displacement.
- Prevent “matching” of the undercoverage.
For this article, I’m going to share a little of the thinking that goes into the first category of backside tags that we teach –- in our vernacular, these combinations are called “Scan Reads.”
A “Scan Read” consists of an outlet combination that breaks into the quarterback’s vision in the event that he must abandon the primary portion or reads of the pattern. In Figure 2 below, the two backside receivers (to the quarterback’s left) are serving as outlets, should the primary combination run by Y and Z (the two frontside receivers running the smash concept) be covered.
[Ed. Note: Throughout we’ve used diagrams laid on top of still shots, purely for representative purposes. These aren’t necessarily specific pass concepts that the teams shown in the photos use, though they do use similar concepts.]
Diagram 2. Backside receivers serving as outlets.
The coach will call this play in anticipation of some opportunity to throw the “flag” route to “Y” (the tight end to the right). If the cornerback over the “Z” (the outside receiver to the right) sinks into that area, the quarterback will deliver the ball to “Z” for a five yard gain. Most offenses operate under this method. However, for most offenses, this is where the teaching stops, as most coaches will simply mirror both sides (Figure 3 below).
Diagram 3. Mirrored version of our smash pattern.
While on the surface, this seems like an efficient, simple way to go, it is ultimately inefficient because it gives half of the pass defense a free play off — they will never be threatened, as both combinations will come open at the same time. Furthermore, if the combination is covered, the quarterback is left to fend for himself, exposing him to not only unnecessary hits, but the increased likelihood of a turnover as well.
Our version of the pattern, with the backside Scan Read, not only allows us to attack the anticipated coverage, it also gives our players an adjustment in the event that the primary pattern being covered. In addition, the ball will be distributed to the thinnest part of the coverage at all times, keeping more skill players involved. Finally, because of our attention to the cognitive aspects of what “covered” means for the quarterback, the full field can be attacked on every down without holding the ball for inordinate amounts of time.
There are three keys to this idea. First, coach must clearly define for the quarterback what actions by the defense “covers” the primary receiver or receivers. In this example, a sinking corner combined with a wide flat defender would tell the passer to go elsewhere with the ball (Diagram 4).
Diagram 4. What covers the famous “Smash” combination?
Second, the outlets must be timed so that they break open as the quarterback turns his eyes to them. In this system of passing, the quarterback will “keep time” with his feet; if the receivers aren’t open as he readies to throw, he will “hitch step” and move his eyes to the next receiver in the progression. Referring back to Figure 2 above, it will be the “A” receiver (the inside slot on the backside running the deep in-route), followed by the “X” receiver (the outside receiver on the backside who is running the five-yard in route). Of note are the depths and techniques of these inside breaking routes; at 14 yards with a square cut rather than a speed cut at the top of the stem, the “A” or slot receiver’s route will not be exposed to the defense before the passer has a chance to survey his availability. Likewise, the “X” uses a delay technique, coming slowly off the line, and thus comes uncovered late.
Third, and most importantly, the coach must keep giving the quarterback the same mental pictures over and over again. This point cannot be stressed enough: these mental images are instantaneous and last a lifetime. Using outlets must be a focal point not only in individual drills but also in the group and team portions of practice as well. Our teams have gone as far as drawing the primary routes on the scout teams cards, ensuring that the quarterback will get quick “covered” triggers, and hitch up to go backside. Also, as formations and personnel groupings change, the relationships from the passer’s vantage point should not. Let two examples suffice (Figures 5 and 6 below):
Diagram 5. The same combination from a “Trips” formation.
Diagram 6. Example of the same pattern with two wide receivers aligned tight and two H-backs/tight-ends and with “switched” assignments.
Many coaches miss the fact that the ability to find the last man in the progression is a matter of focus and teaching – not of a quarterback’s ability. When I study football, one thing is obvious: players do what they are asked — no, drilled — to do. When I watch a quarterback drop back into the pocket, progress past covered pass option, and hit outlet receivers, it’s most likely because he does it every day in practice, not because he was born with that skill. Likewise, when I see a player look for one receive and have no plan of action if that receiver is covered, it is, again most likely a byproduct of his coaching. Proper installation of “Backside Tags” give the offense the opportunity to hold the entire pass defense accountable for their areas of responsibility, and allow the offense to always attack the thinnest part of the coverage.
This is how you get first downs and get big plays: By using frontside and backside concepts to hit the defense where they’re weakest. And, of course, it’s pretty fun, too.