The approach to offense in American and Canadian football has splintered and evolved in the 100 years in which the modern form of the sport has existed. Many philosophies exist about deploying a team's 11 players (12 in Canada), including:

Run and shoot offense

History

The term 'run and shoot' can be traced to the book Run & Shoot Football: Offense of the Future (Parker, 1965), published by Glenn 'Tiger' Ellison. Ellison designed the system for high school football, but it was adapted by Darrel 'Mouse' Davis for college players in the 1970s. The approach made its way to the National Football League by the late 1980s, but went out of vogue in the NFL by 2000. It is still used by several major college programs as of 2008, and elements of it are evident in the 'spread' offense.

Formation

The basic Run and Shoot formation has five linemen for blocking, a quarterback, a single running back, and four receivers. Variations though are common and it's hard to call any of them a 'true' "Run and Shoot" formation. Some teams use a tight end instead of a 4th wide receiver on many sets and emphasize motion using a 'slot' wide receiver. Another form actually has the offense using 2 H-Backs. An H-Back is a form of tight-end/fullback hybrid. Players who are tall enough to play tight-end, block like fullbacks, have solid hands, and can match up in all phases of the offense. They can block, run routes, lead block, or even carry the ball on some plays. Teams using H-Backs will often use 2 wide receivers and 1 or 2 H-Backs, with 1 of each to a side of the ball with the H-Backs lined up as wingbacks. This formation allows the offense to not only motion the H-Backs but allows it to hide its strong side until right before the snap, which allows for a quarterback to flip play left to right with almost no penalty to performance.

Criticisms

This complex style requires excellent quarterbacks. A quarterback who knows when to audible or flip plays as well as how to use the motions of his teammates to read the defense is needed. As a result, quarterbacks who excel in the "Run and Shoot" are often labeled as "Pre-Snap QBs". They do all of their reads before the snap and often have few choices to sort through once the ball in snapped. This is a problem when a "Run and Shoot" quarterback goes to a team using an offense that has 3 or 4 reads after the snap as the skill set moves from smart thinking to quick thinking and instincts. Classic examples of quarterbacks who could not do this at the pro level, despite at excelling in the run-and-shoot in college, are record-setting Houston Cougars quarterbacks Andre Ware and David Klingler.

Another criticism is that it is purely a collegiate offense. In college it is much easier to run the "Run and Shoot". First of all, defenses are less complex and easier to read. Also, it's easier to match a big playmaker against a less talented defender. It's also easier to get H-Backs who can compete and make plays. In the NFL, there are few players who have the speed, hands, size and strength to be an H-Back as most players who fit the bill on the surface are often too slow or too weak to match up to fast, athletic professional defenders.

Teams

Teams that have employed the Run and Shoot offense include:

• Houston Cougars (1987-1992)
• Houston Oilers (1989-1994)
• Detroit Lions (1989-1994)
• Atlanta Falcons (1990-1995)
• Hawaii Warriors (1999-Present)
• Portland State (1975-1980, 2007-Present)
• SMU Mustangs(2008-Present)
• Toronto Argonauts(Early 1980s)
• Hofstra University(1990s)

West Coast offense

The West Coast Offense is a passing ball control offense. Once thought a contradiction in terms, it achieves ball control by using short, high percentage passing routes. Since the routes are relatively short, and the pass leaves the quarterback's hand quickly, there is less need for additional blockers. Thus all five eligible receivers are (typically) used extensively in the West Coast offense. Spreading the ball to all potential targets can create mismatches, often between a running back and a linebacker, or perhaps the tight end and a linebacker. By forcing tighter coverage between the safeties and offensive players, the West Coast offense can pull the safeties toward the line of scrimmage without running and thus it can set up the long pass play with shorter passes.

By throwing lots of short passes, the West Coast offense gets the ball to the faster players in open space more frequently. The notion of yards after catch (YAC) was invented for west coast offense players. Twenty yard pass plays used to mean long deep out or deep in patterns with a strong armed quarterback but now more frequently the twenty yard play involves a six yard pass to a talented receiver who made a couple of good moves—and perhaps got a block downfield from a fellow receiver.

The West Coast offense, at its best, annoys a defense into foolishness. By consistently completing short passes, it encourages the defensive backs to move closer to the line of scrimmage. The quarterback releases the ball so quickly that the pass rushers are tempted to complacency. Further, it gives the offense confidence. A combination of these factors afford the offense a good opportunity to throw deeper passes.

This is not to say the West Coast offense abandons the run. A running game complements the West Coast Offense because short passes naturally set up situations when the run is more favorable.

In essence, though, the West Coast offense is more of a philosophy and approach to the game than it is a set scheme that demands exact formations, plays and reads like many of the other offenses discussed here. It stipulates that an offense should pass the ball to set up the run, not the other way around. This was revolutionary in the 1970s when Don Coryell and Bill Walsh began tinkering with this concept because football until then had been primarily a 'run to set up the pass' game.

It was generally accepted that a solid running game must be established first. This would force the defensive backs closer to the line of scrimmage and open up vertical passing lanes down the field. But as defenders got bigger, faster, and more athletic, and defensive schemes got more complex, this traditional run-first attack became predictable and bogged down for all but the most talented teams. The West Coast Offense takes the opposite approach: defenses must first be stretched horizontally with a precise, relatively short distance passing attack based on well timed routes and a quarterback that can make quick reads primarily utilizing a three-step drop. This 'stretching' creates gaps in the defense and keeps defenders off-balance, which in turn opens-up running lanes and down-field passing lanes that can be exploited. This approach also reduces an offense's predictability because down-and-distance rarely factors into a coach's decision to run or pass, especially late in games.

Today this philosophy dominates most coaches' thinking and planning, and every team in the NFL and most teams in College incorporate some aspects of the West Coast offense into it's scheme. Though formations, play calling, pass protection packages and personnel combinations will vary wildly from team to team, the basic tenet of the West Coast Offense, the 'pass to set-up the run' mantra, is accepted Gospel. More and more high schools are moving towards this approach, too, though the lack of 17 year old quarterbacks with the necessary arm strength, experience, vision and overall football maturity will keep this growth slow.

Note: although this is the current usage of the term, the actual West Coast Offense was a term applied to the Don Coryell/Bill Walsh offense run by the San Diego Chargers and San Francisco 49ers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. More properly, the above should be called the Walsh offense, as it was perfected under Walsh in San Francisco. The actual San Diego West Coast offense involved much longer timing routes and bore little resemblance to the above.

Paul Brown also deserves mention in any discussion of the origins of the "West Coast Offense." The system was developed by Brown and Walsh and implemented by the Cincinnati Bengals before Walsh's departure for San Francisco. The Walsh-Brown version found notoriety and success in San Francisco, but would more aptly be named the "Ohio River Offense."

Teams

• San Francisco 49ers
• Seattle Seahawks
• Philadelphia Eagles
• Green Bay Packers
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Nebraska Cornhuskers
• Denver Broncos
• Minnesota Vikings
• Houston Texans
• Mississippi State Bulldogs
• Notre Dame Fighting Irish
• Boston College Eagles
• Atlanta Falcons (present)
• Washington Redskins (present)

Spread offense

The spread offense is a generic term used to describe an offense that operates out of a formation with multiple wide receivers, usually out of the Shotgun, and can be run or pass oriented. One of the goals of the spread offense is to stretch the field both horizontally and vertically, and to take what is normally most teams best defenders (linebackers) out of the game by utilizing three or more receivers.

Today variants of the spread are popular in high school and college football, with more modest versions appearing in the NFL. In college, especially, the offense often depends largely on option and misdirection runs, using all of the skill players on offense. The zone read is often a very popular play in this type of offense because of its flexibility, more so if a team has an athletic quarterback who can run the ball as well as pass. Linemen in the spread are often smaller and more agile so they can block effectively on screens, zones, options, and protect against aggressively blitzing defenses such as the 3-3-5 stack. As the defense, already spread out, begins to focus on stopping the run, the spread creates mismatches and single coverage on receivers, which creates opportunities in the passing game. Utilizing receiver motion along with jet sweeps is also an important part of creating confusion and running a balanced, yet successful, spread offense.

The success of the offense depends on creating mismatches (a linebacker covering a receiver), the ability for the quarterback and the receivers to find holes in the zone, and defensive breakdowns in the secondary (the receiver and quarterback both read that the safety will not rotate over to help the cornerback, so the receiver breaks to the outside or up the sideline with single coverage). Few defenses are able to cope with a well-executed spread run-pass threat, which is one reason why football scores have been rising in recent years.

The spread offense can also be used to energize the running game. By splitting out three, four or five receivers and employing a fast, athletic offensive line, the spread opens running lanes for the tailback, fullback and quarterback. Also, linebackers may be taken off the field to cover the receivers, resulting in ability for the defense to effectively tackle the running back. The primary responsibility of receivers in this case is downfield blocking, rather than pass-catching, as they spring backs for long runs. The offense relies on a quarterback who can call plays at the line of scrimmage, read the intentions of the defensive end, and keep the ball or pitch it to a back. The offense also uses short passes like a running plays, executing "bubble screens" that begin with a short, nearly-lateral pass to a speedy wide receiver to get him into open space. No-huddle spread attacks are also popular.

One popular variant of the spread is the "Air Raid" offense (pioneered by Hal Mumme), in which the offense may pass on over 80% of its downs. The offense is seen as being complex, though receivers need to know relatively few routes. The complexity comes from the different formations the routes are run out of. The running back in the Air Raid offense serves a useful role as well by catching passes out of the backfield, on screens, and carrying the ball on draw plays.

Teams

• Boston College Eagles (2007-present)
• Purdue Boilermakers (basketball on grass)
• Texas Tech Red Raiders
• Arizona Wildcats
• Kansas Jayhawks
• Florida State Seminoles
• Wake Forest Demon Deacons
• LSU Tigers
• BYU Cougars
• Houston Cougars (2008-)
• North Texas Mean Green
• Missouri Tigers Football
• Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens (2002-present)
• Florida Gators (spread option)
• Oregon Ducks (spread option)
• West Virginia Mountaineers (spread option)
• Auburn Tigers (Dec 2007-October 2008)
• University of Michigan (2008-present)
• Golden Panthers (spread option)

Option

Popularized in the wishbone offenses of Oklahoma and Alabama, the Option is a timing-based run offense that requires a quick-thinking quarterback and running backs and blockers able to react quickly to defenses. In a typical option play, the quarterback will take the snap and, based on the defenses formation and play, can decide whether to keep the ball himself and run it around the end, or pitch it to a running back following behind him. In contrast to an audible, where the quarterback reads the defense before the snap, an option requires the quarterback to read the defense during play, often while he himself is running with the ball. By making the defense commit to stopping either him or the running back, the quarterback makes the defense show its hand first. Though the wishbone has fallen out of favor, the option offense is still used in conjunction with the flexbone, wing-T, and even spread and shotgun formations. The service academies, especially Air Force and Navy are well-known for heavy use of the wishbone and flexbone offenses, to great degrees of success. In high school football it is called Veer and has been used with some success over the years (De La Salle High School of California recorded the nation's longest ever winning streak, 151 games, using the veer). Although a majority of high school players typically lack the skill and talent to run it effectively, most defenses in high school are unable to stop it properly all the time. While it is a popular maneuver in College Football, it is beginning to fall out of favor as defensive players become more exposed to it and are better trained to deal with it. The Option is almost never used in the NFL because it exposes expensive and highly skilled quarterbacks to a huge risk of injury as defenses are generally far too fast and well disciplined to allow it to work.

A newer form of the option offense, the spread option, combines an option running offense with a spread formation. Spread option offenses generally run out of the shotgun formation, usually with a single running back. Depending on the quarterback's read, he will generally hand off to the running back, run the ball himself, or pass. This offense was primarily devised by Rich Rodriguez, the current head coach at Michigan, and has been adopted by several other important college programs. Notably, Urban Meyer adopted the offense to add more passing elements, and has used it successfully first at Bowling Green, then at Utah (becoming the first team outside the BCS conferences to participate in a BCS bowl game), and now at Florida, where he won the 2006 national championship with it. It also has fueled Appalachian State's run to 3 straight national titles in the former I-AA and now FCS subdivisions. The speed required to run the spread option is considered a main factor in ASU's upset of the University of Michigan on September 1, 2007 in which the Mountaineers used their speed to outrun the much bigger Michigan defense.

Teams

• Appalachian State Mountaineers - spread option
• Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets - triple option
• Air Force Falcons - multiple option
• Navy Midshipmen - flexbone triple option
• Oregon Ducks-spread option
• Florida Gators — spread option
• West Virginia Mountaineers — spread option
• Illinois Fighting Illini - spread option
• Burlington Central Rockets - double wing option
• Springfield College Pride - Triple Option

Smash Mouth

A smash mouth offense is the more traditional style of offense. It often results in a higher time of possession by running the ball heavily. So-called "smash-mouth football" is often run out of the I-formation, with tight ends and receivers used as blockers. Though the offense is run-oriented, pass opportunities can develop as defenses play close to the line. Play-action can be very effective for a run-oriented team.

"Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust"

Used to describe the run-heavy offenses such as run by Woody Hayes of Ohio State University in the 1950s and 1960s. A quarterback under Hayes would often throw fewer than 10 passes a game. Hayes is credited as saying "Three things can happen when you pass the ball, and two of them are bad". This is a grind-it-out ball control offense that relies on time of possession and high percentage inside running off of handoffs to advance the ball down the field. Hayes relied primarily on the fullback off-tackle play.

Run-to-Daylight

The basic running philosophy employed by the Green Bay Packers under coach Vince Lombardi. The central two plays in this philosophy are off-tackle run and the so-called "Packer Sweep". In both plays, the offensive line would work to seal off a running lane for the back to use, and the running back would aim for this corridor rather than a specific pre-snap hole. In the off tackle run, the quarterback would hand off (often to the fullback) who started running to the position between the tight end and tackle, but would aim for the best hole that developed. In the sweep, the two guards would pull to form the outside wall of the running lane, while the center and run-side tackle would form the inside wall of the lane. The fullback would lead the path through the lane for the half back, who received a pitch from the quarterback.

Teams

• Jacksonville Jaguars
• Pittsburgh Steelers
• New England Patriots (Erhardt - Perkins Offense)
• Note: As a function of current personnel, the New England Offense currently has more in common with spread offenses with the frequency they use three wide receiver sets.
• Baltimore Ravens
• Note: Billick is a West Coast Offense disciple who happens to like a power running game because it was his team's greatest offensive strength, particularly due to his strong Offensive Line, anchored by All-Pro Jonathan Ogden, and a group of punishing young RBs.)
• University of Arkansas
• Fresno State Bulldogs

Coryell Offense / Air Coryell / Vertical Offense

Pioneered by Don Coryell in the late 60s and into the early 70s, the vertical offense is a combination of deep passing and power running. Originally it was known as the West Coast Offense until an article about San Francisco Head Coach Bill Walsh in Sports Illustrated in the early 80s incorrectly called Walsh's offense "The West Coast Offense," and this mis-labelling stuck. Subsequently, the vertical offense was called "Air Coryell" for some of the 1980s but is mostly known as the "Coryell Offense." The goal is to have at least two downfield, fast wide receivers who adjust to the deep pass very well, combined with a sturdy pocket quarterback with a strong arm. The Coryell offense uses three key weapons. The first is a strong inside running game, the second is its ability to strike deep with two or more receivers on any play, and the third is to not only use those two attack in cooperation with each other, but to include a great deal of mid-range passing.

The Coryell offense has the ability to both "eat the clock" with the ground game but also to strike deep and fast without warning. Thus the Coryell offense is ill-suited for coming from behind, as the deep pass attack will be predictable and therefore easy to stop. However, when evenly matched, the Coryell offense can produce big drives and big scoring efficiently. If teams sit back to cover the deep field, offenses should be able to run the ball on them. If the defense tightens down to stop the run, the offense can go deep. If a defense hedges its bets by using three-deep setups with an eight-man defense up front, the QB can pick apart the defense with 10-20 yard passes.

Most Coryell offenses and vertical offenses tend to rarely use a tight end, except in the red zone. The offense also sometimes features an 'F-Back', a hybrid tight end/wide receiver/fullback/running back. An F-Back is a multi-purpose, unpredictable tool for the offense. On any play he may carry the ball, lead block or pass block, play as a wide receiver, or run a tight end route. He is also part decoy, as his unpredictable role forces defenses to keep an eye on him, thereby opening up other opportunities for the offense.

Criticisms

The Vertical offense often focuses so much on the big play versus the safe run that it fails to attack with short passes and outside running plays. As a result, it often depends upon a largely low-attempt/high-risk/high-reward passing game. Also, Coryell offenses lose their dimensionality when defenses know the team will not run and it needs the big play; this tends to result in low completion percentages and high interceptions, despite the high yards gained and touchdowns scored.

Teams

• Michigan Wolverines(1995-2007)
• Oakland Raiders
• Cincinnati Bengals
• Carolina Panthers
• Detroit Lions
• San Diego Chargers
• St. Louis Rams

Wing T Offense

The Wing T offense can be grouped into two major types. The first is the "Delaware," named after the college that first used the offense. This offense generally uses two running backs and the quarterback to move the ball, with a degree of passing. The other type is the "Bay City," also named after the college that first used it. The Bay City uses three running backs and the quarterback. This offense can be used in either power running or run fakes, and passes less than the Delaware offense.

In both types of the Wing T, the key to the offense is the linemen. A large majority of the plays are done by trapping or pulling one or more of the linemen; this includes passing as well as running plays. This offense also carries out extreme fakes. The Bay City will sometimes have the QB and all three RBs carrying out run fakes well past the line of scrimmage. The Delaware, when run properly, will do the same, but only the HB and FB will do the run fakes and the QB typically fakes a pass play. In both offenses, teams are power rushing plays, with the Bay City better suited due to its personnel makeup.

Formation

The typical formation of the Bay City version is the Full House T with two TEs. Variations of this can be used, but all would have three RBs in the backfield carrying out fakes. The Delaware offense typically has a wing back, halfback, and a fullback. The full back will sit behind the QB with the wing back on the strong side of the formation a yard back and next to either the TE or OT. The HB can be located in a number of spots, but typically is either at the same depth as the FB behind the T, or a yard back and next to the TE or OT on the weak side of the formation.

Variations of the Wing T include having the WB move as a WR in a pro set, the WB moved next to a WR on the weak side to create a Trips look, to having two WR and the WB and HB next to the OTs. Any number of formation changes can be done as long as an HB and FB are in the backfield.

Criticisms

The Bay City is typically called a "no-talent offense," since it requires very little from the running backs provide the team has a solid offensive line. The passing game is also limited in the Bay City, as it generally lacks any WRs on the field to open up the offense. Also, the Bay City offense cannot be used in the modern NFL, as the speed of defensive players is too great. This also limits the offense to smaller colleges and to high schools.

The primary weakness of the Delaware offense is its age. Due to its long history, most coaches know how to defend it, and upper-echelon teams can stop it easily. In the high school and small college levels, it is still used, although most teams have added a large amount of passing formations and plays to revivify the attack..

Teams

• University of Delaware (prior to 2002)
• Notre Dame Fighting Irish (during the Parseghian years, they ran the Delaware Wing T)
• Carnegie Mellon University (Chuck Klausing/Rich Lackner Wing-T 1975-Present)
• Olivet College (years unknown)
• Cumberland University (Herschel Moore Era 1991-2003)
• Bellevue High School, Bellevue, Washington (2001 to present)
• East High School, Salt Lake City, Utah (1998 to present)
• Concord-Carlisle High School, Concord, Massachusetts (1970 to present)
• Nikiski High School, Nikiski, Alaska (1996 to present)
• Patchogue-Medford High School,Medford New York(2007 to present)
• Murphy High School, Murphy, North Carolina (years unknown)
• Note: East High has also started implementing a 'Pistol' offense, though the Wing-T is still the base offense.

Pistol Offense

The Pistol offense is an offense that features a quarterback in a short three yard shotgun and a running back three yards behind him. Upon the quarterback receiving the direct snap he may turn around and hand the ball off to the running back behind him, look up to pass or execute the option from the "pistol" with the running back. The advantage of this offense is that it gives the quarterback an opportunity to read the defense without the disadvantages of a normal shotgun such as signaling a pass play. This offense was innovated by current Nevada head coach Chris Ault. While the Wolfpack is the only school that uses this offense as their primary offense it has been seen throughout high school and college football.

Teams

• Washington State Cougars
• Missouri Tigers
• LSU
• Nevada Wolf Pack
• Syracuse Orange
• New England Patriots

Notes

References

• Kurt Bryan and Steve Humphries, Piedmont Football Coaches and Co-creators of the A-11 Offense, and the entire Piedmont Coaching staff.
• NFHS Football Rule Book and CIF Rules Interpretations