Option Theory 101

by Mike Wilson Electrical Engineer / Future Coach White Hall, A

(diagrams by Mike Wilson)

WH! THE O"T#O$% This list has been done time and time again in every book ever written on the Option offense, and is normally followed by a paragraph rebutting some of the common criticisms of the option. think it!s more of a list for the "non#believers$ than for people who know how powerful the Option offense can be. %ere!s yet another list to add to the pile&

1. The Option puts tremendous pressure on the defensive coordinator by forcing

him to teach principals he doesn!t teach every week, and by forcing him to be sound, despite being forced into ' on ' and ( on ' matchups.

2. The Option puts tremendous pressure on some of the defense!s best players
by isolating them and forcing them to make a decision, either of which are wrong.

3. The Option puts tremendous pressure on the secondary, because one false
step could mean the difference between a ) yard gain and a touchdown.

4. The Option puts pressure on the interior defensive lineman, because they will
be fighting off double#teams and combo blocks, and *ust when they think they!ve won the battle, we have a complimentary play that will put them face#first in the dirt.

5. The Option puts pressure on linebackers, because it makes them want to bail
out and neglect their primary responsibilities.

6. The Option puts pressure on the defense as a whole, by forcing them to

defend the field from sideline to sideline, all +, and '-, yards of it.

7. The Option allows average players to be good, and good players to be great. 8. The Option .O/012 the offense to play as a T13M. (.ailure to play as a team
in the Option offense results in failure).

9. The Option gives the offensive coordinator a weapon that can be used in any
situation, kind of like the button directly tied to the 3#bomb.

10. The Option gives a lesser team a chance to compete against superior talent. 11. The Option takes advantage of a smart player!s abilities, and takes advantage
of not#so#smart defenders.

12. The Option gives the offense an identity& they will be known to everybody
they play as "3n Option Team$ O"T#O$ THEO ! The basic goals of the option are to seal off inside pursuit, account for perimeter defenders, and isolate one or two defenders at the point of attack, putting them in assignment conflict. Triple options isolate two playside defenders, while double options will only isolate one player. 3ll other playside defenders must be accounted for with blocking. The inside pursuit will be accounted for by the offensive line. On inside veer, and dive options, the offensive line will veer block playside and 4one block the backside, climbing to linebacker depth. On trap options, the playside linemen will gap block, and the 526 will trap block, with the 526 pulling and either logging 7' (if he8s in a +#techni9ue), or turning up past the :2T8s block and looking inside for scraping linebackers. The playside secondary defenders will be blocked by the playside halfback and playside end. There are two types of schemes that will be used to block the playside secondary defenders, the arc scheme and the load scheme, which will be discussed later. Once inside pursuit and the playside secondary support are taken care of, that leaves the defensive lineman at the point of attack, and the ne;t defender outside him. On triple options, these two will be unblocked. On double options, the defensive lineman will be blocked (e;ception& +#tech on speed option) and the ne;t defender will be read. &'MA$ F O$T() 3s a general rule, we will use the 3/0 blocking scheme against a <#man front. The only e;ception to this rule is to the weak side of a pre#rotated secondary. *'+ ,-'1.

=ersus the )#, or >#' defense, the offensive line will seal everything inside of 7' (the dive key). 3ll linemen will work the first level to the second level to the backside safety. The playside halfback and end will combine to block the secondary support playside. This leaves 7' and 7( (the pitch key) isolated. Triple options will put both players in conflict, while double options will block one of the two, and read the other. /'0 ,+'*.

=ersus the +#( or ,#) defense, the defensive line will seal everything inside of 7' (the dive key), working all three levels from linemen to the backside safety. ?epending on the alignment and ability of the nose guard, we may be able to use the playside guard to help with the playside linebacker. 3gain, the playside halfback and playside end will combine to block secondary support players. 1'2an Fronts) =ersus these types of fronts (@#man fronts), we will try to use a load blocking scheme whenever possible. The only time we shouldn8t be able to use the load scheme is to the strong side of a rotated secondary (Monster side of monster defense). 3s long as the playside halfback and get a good angle on the playside linebacker, the load scheme is a good play for us. ?uring the game, we will have to use play action passes to keep the free safety at bay, but we also have the playside halfback and playside end tracking him (playside halfback through load path and playside end with read#crack techni9ue). f the free#safety is beating us to the alley, it8s time to run a post to where he came from. *'* ,-'0.

$OTE3 The line between nside :ursuit and 2econdary support is dotted vs. @#man fronts because the .ree 2afety can either be accounted for by the playside tackle, playside halfback, or the playside split end, depending on the defenses option responsibilities. /'0 Monster ,"re' otate4 (econ4ary.

$OTE3 To the strong side of the rotated secondary, this gives the defense a <#man front look, but to the weak side, it gives the defense an @#man front look. To the Monster side, we would run the 3/0 scheme, and to the weak side, we would run the AO3? scheme. +'+'/ ,/'+. 5e6ense

$OTE3 There are two ways we can attack the ,#,#+ defense. We can count the linebacker as 7( (the pitch key), and "read the stack$ with an arc block on the strong safety or we will not count the linebacker, and load block it with a small modification. 3s long as the playside guard is uncovered, we will isolate the defensive tackle and the 22. This will allow our playside tackle to take best release (inside or outside) to the playside backer, and our playside halfback will take the same release (inside or outside) to help BtrackB the backer. Whichever of the two (:2T or :2%5 doesn8t block the backer will climb to the free safety. )# .or illustration purposes, all diagrams are based on inside veer to the right 78OC9#$: THE "E #METE O$ THE O"T#O$

5ecause our offense is based solely on the option, we must have an answer to every way that our opponents will try to defend us. To attack the various types of defensive structures we will see, we have two main types of perimeter blocking schemes for the option. These two perimeter schemes are the arc scheme, and the load scheme. The first version, the arc scheme, is what we prefer to run to a )#across secondary or to the strength of a pre#rotated secondary (i.e. <#man fronts). n the arc scheme, the playside halfback and split end are responsible for the deep C defender (who is responsible for the play#action pass) and the secondary run support. A C (che2e

The second version, the AO3? scheme, is what we prefer to run to a ,#deep secondary, or to the weak side of pre#rotated secondary (i.e. @#man fronts). n the load scheme, the split end is responsible for the secondary support (he uses a read# crack techni9ue to block support), while the playside halfback is responsible for sealing off the inside, looking first for a scraping linebacker, and then for a free safety running to the alley. 8OA5 (che2e

;sing the Count (yste2 To determine which option scheme is best suited to handle the defense we are faced with, the D5 must count both sides of the defense and run to the side with the least numbers. %is count will begin with an imaginary line that runs perpendicular to the line of scrimmage and runs through the inside foot of the playside tackle. The D5 starts the count with 7', which is the first defensive lineman on or outside that line. %e then looks for 7(& the ne;t defender outside 7' and-or stacked (Eote& linebackers stacked behind a )#techni9ue are not included in the count). The D5 then counts the secondary players on or outside the imaginary line. f the D5 counts

) defenders, one of the secondary players will be 7, (the secondary support player) and one will be 7) (the deep C defender). 6enerally, the playside halfback is responsible for 7,, and the split end is responsible for 7). 2ometimes the players can be identified by alignment, with 7, being closer to the line of scrimmage than 7), but if their alignment doesn!t give their responsibility away, then the playside halfback and the playside split end will read it on the run, with the split end using a read#push techni9ue, and the halfback using an arc#read techni9ue. f the defense is in an eight#man front, then the free#safety will be considered 7, (e;ception& to the "Monster$ side of a pre#rotated secondary). f the D5 counts , or less on or outside the line, he should check to a load scheme to that side. On a load scheme, the playside split end will use a read#crack techni9ue, meaning he will drive off the ball watching both the corner and the near safety (normally the free safety). Whichever of these two players first comes up for run support, the split end will block him, using a crack techni9ue for the near safety, and a stalk techni9ue for the corner. The playside halfback will follow his load path and seal off pursuit to the inside. These principals also apply to the tight end side of the formation. The D5 uses the same count system to determine if a load scheme can be run to the tight side. %owever, because the tight end is aligned inside the halfback, and is in a better position to seal the inside, he will be the blocker blocking the load path, and the halfback will arc the run support. The tight end will take best release to block the first linebacker inside of him. f the load scheme is not called, the tight end will take his best release to near safety, and the halfback will arc block the cornerback. T/ :A1 O:T OE2& 7'#?ive /ead 7(#:itch /ead :2%5 and 21-T1 will block 05 and near safety ?OF5A1 O:T OE2& 7(#:itch /ead :2T-.5-526#will block 7' :2%5 and 21-T1 will block 05 and near safety E<a2ple 1' #nsi4e =eer >s? 7alance4 5e6ense

E<a2ple 1' #nsi4e =eer >s? ;nbalance4 5e6ense

;sing the Count (yste2 @ith ;nbalance4 For2ations When the offensive formation is balanced, the defense should be balanced. f we are counting defenders outside the "seam$ (the imaginary line running through the inside foot of the tackle), then the count should be the same on both sides of the football. f the count is not the same, then we want to run to the side with the least numbers. .or e;ample, if we have inside veer called, and we get a ,#count to the left and a )#count to the right, we want to run to the left. 3lso, since we got a ,# count to the left, we want to check our blocking scheme to a "load$ blocking scheme. ;nbalance4 Count E<a2ple

3s long as we are in a balanced formation, then the D5 will look for a ,#count side to run the AO3? scheme to. f we get into an FE53A3E01? formation, then our thought process changes. To the 2trong side of the unbalanced formation, we now will have one more blocker, so instead of a ,#count, we can AO3? to a )#count or less. On the weak side of the unbalanced formation, we have one less blocker, so we can only run AO3? to a (# count or less. 3s long as the D5 understands that we have added a blocker to one side and taken one away from the other, he will still be able to get us into a good play attacking a numbers advantage. /unning /1G and A1O formations allow us to have a halfback in position to arc the secondary support player, but also gives us a tight end in position to release to either the playside linebacker or the near safety. f the defense doesn!t ad*ust correctly to the unbalanced set, we will have a numbers advantage. E<a2ple 13 EA For2ation, ;nbalance4 5e6ense

E<a2ple 13

EA For2ation, 7alance4 5e6ense

3s you can see, the count method doesn!t change. The only thing that changes is the amount of playside defenders we can account for with blocking. We are still reading two players (one on double options) and block the rest. :eneral Consi4erations 6or "lay'Calling 0alling plays in the spread option offense should not be over#complicated. .irst and foremost, you have to remember that the inside veer is your best play. Hou should always be confident in the inside veer, no matter what the down and distance. n fact, in passing situations such as ,rd and long, the secondary may be playing *ust loose enough to allow the inside veer to break loose. Hou should always run the inside veer at least once on the first series, and play close attention to how the defense reacts to it. Hou should note any pre#snap ad*ustments they make, and always know who made the tackle and where he came from. f the same person is consistently stopping you for little or no gain, you know you have to make an ad*ustment to get him blocked, or take advantage of his "hyper#activity$. This can be done with play#action or counter action. f you are playing a <#man front, pay close attention to who the secondary support player is, and where he is coming from. Hou want to use your play#action plays to attack the area he left void behind him. f another defender is taking his place, then attack where that defender came from. Just find the green grass and get a receiver and the ball there. When playing an @#man front, you want to keep a close eye on the free#safety. f he starts getting involved in the running game, hit them over the top with the post pattern. That should slow down the alley player. f the defense is outnumbering you on the perimeter, they may be soft in the middle. Eaturally, the number one play that a) attacks the middle of the defense hard, b) compliments the inside veer, and c) can give you counter action with TW /A motion, is the midline. There are many versions of the midline, and all of them can be run effectively against most defenses. Aike the inside veer, you shouldnt be scared to run the midline against any front. f you want the ball to go the fullback attacking the middle fast and hard, the midline trap may be the best way to accomplish this. Hou can run it with all the same variations of motions and actions that you run with the midline.

f your offensive line is having trouble accounting for inside pursuit in the front <, its time to run some counter action to slow them down. f the defensive line is reading and not penetrating, you want to run counter action with base blocking, such as the counter# 2O, or the 2O 2ame side. f they are penetrating and giving you trouble on your mesh points, then go with the trapping game. Always try to attack great defensive linemen with traps. f you can get him looking for that 1.2 ("1arhole 2pecialist$), it!ll slow him down *ust enough to make him an average player. ?on!t get into the rut of running on 'st and (nd down and heaving a pass on ,rd and long. With an option offense it is C !C"A# to keep the secondary at bay with the pass. 1ven if you!re not completing >IJ of your passes, you!re still keeping them from being run players first. f they are forced to look for the pass first, theyre not at the line of scrimmage when the ball gets there. #astly, dont leave common sense in your office when you head to the field. Work to get the ball in the hands of your best player. f you!re faster than the team you are playing, run them sideline to sideline. Fse speed sweeps, 9uick pitches, and double options to stretch them to the limit. f you!re not faster than the opponent, pound them and slow them down with misdirection. f they are a smart, well# coached team, give them false keys, if they!re not, use your counters, reverses, and trick plays to get a few 9uick scores. ?on!t lose sight of the primary ob*ective of offensive football& 20O/1. E<a2ples o6 "roble2 (ol>ing in the (prea4 Option 0ase Tight Man#to#Man 0overage ?escription <#man front& 2afeties play tight man on slotbacks and chase on motion. :roblems Offensive line cannot account for the backside safety chasing the play. Man#to#Man coverage frees up front < for blit4es and stunts. 2olutions Take advantage of the tight coverage by utili4ing play#action passes. f the backside safety is chasing the motion man, run the backside split end on a post to the vacated area. (e;&,,( :ost) ++0 "O(T

/un counter action to force safety to hesitate before chasing tail motion man. f you can get him to hesitate, it will slow down his pursuit on the option. f he doesn!t hesitate, he will overrun the counter play. (e;&)+ Tackle#Trap) */ Tackle'Trap

E<a2ples o6 "roble2 (ol>ing in the (prea4 Option 0ase Trouble getting the ball to the fullback. ?escription The defense is playing the pinch#n#scrape scheme with +#techni9ue to perfection. :roblems Takes the fullback out of the game. 2olutions

5ase block the dive. %ave the playside tackle take a veer step inside, then turn his hips and fan block the +#techni9ue. :uts a lot of pressure on the playside linebacker to make the right read. 1* ,7ase 5i>e.

Trap the dive key. Fse a "spinner$ techni9ue with the D5 to simulate the inside veer. 1verything else looks the same as the inside veer. (Eote& This play may not be a good choice against a team that is using a cross#charge between 7' and 7(. The playside tackle must account for the MA5. (Hou could possibly teach the pulling guard to read the defense on the run and block first threat to the dive) 00 Trap ,@ith B(pinnerB Action.

E<a2ples o6 "roble2 (ol>ing in the (prea4 Option 0ase 0ross#0harge ("G$) 2tunt at the mesh point ?escription 7' and 7( e;changing responsibilities after the snap :roblems

The cross#charge confuses the D5!s dive read The cross#charge threatens the mesh immediately 2olution 0hange the D5!s thought process. We know that 7', 7(, and 7, are responsible for dive, D5, and pitch. We may not know which player has which responsibility until after the ball is snapped. We know that our perimeter blocking will take care of 7,. This leaves 7' and 7( to handle , responsibilities. nstead of automatically reading 7' for the dive, the D5 will instead read the seam that the .5 will be running through, and if either 7' or 7( attack that seam, the D5 will pull the ball. f neither attack the seam, the dive is a good play for us. f the dive is accounted for, the D5 must 9uickly identify which defender did not take dive, and what his responsibility is. %e must be prepared to pull the trigger 9uickly. +0 >s? Cross'Charge

E<a2ples o6 "roble2 (ol>ing in the (prea4 Option 0ase 0hange of responsibility in the secondary ?escription 7( and 7, e;changing responsibilities after the snap :roblems This change#up may trick the D5 into turning upfield into a hard#charging safety 2olution %ave the slotback alter his course immediately to pick#off 7,. +0 >s? C0 an4 C+ Changing esponsibilities

E<a2ples o6 "roble2 (ol>ing in the (prea4 Option 0ase 2econdary rotating with motion ?escription 2afeties rotating to motion side. :roblems The defense is making sure that it can get an e;tra man to the playside. 2olution Midline =eer with Twirl motion. (EOT1& if there is a (i or '#techni9ue to the playside, the D5 will automatically fake the dive and proceed to the keep-pitch read). (econ4ary otating With Motion

E4itorDs $ote3 Mike Wilson includes the following bio snippets&

#1lectrical 1ngineer with 1ntergy 2ervices in :ine 5luff, 3/ #6raduate of Aouisiana Tech Fniversity ((II') #Webmaster of http3//@@@?louisiana1a6ootball?co2 #2tudent 0oach at Mangham (A3) %igh 2chool in (III Mike can be reached for comments or 9uestions at& EW#8(O+Fentergy?co2