Th e Ba si c s of the Willamette Fly Offense

n behalf of the entire offensive staff at Willamette University, Glen Fowles (offensive line), Chuck Pinkerton (runningbacks), and Josh Scott (receivers), it is an honor to contribute to the 2004 AFCA Summer Manual. I am appreciative to all the coaches over the years that have contributed to my knowledge as a football coach. At Willamette University, we take great pride in running our version of the fly offense. The hallmarks of the fly offense are speed and deception. We feel this system has helped us be competitive in a tough league and at a highly academic university. We are committed to having a strong running game. For the past nine years, we have been able to average over five yards a carry each season. I show these numbers to highlight the long term effectiveness of our running game. We feel that we play against some of the finest Division III defenses in the nation in the Northwest conference and have to be sound to move the ball. Willamette Fly Offense Rushing Average Year Rushing Avg. Rushing Avg. Per game Per carry 1995 287.2 5.7 1996 259.7 5.2 1997 281.4 5.4 1998 304.3 5.2 1999 322.2 6.0 2000 252.8 5.1 2001 265.7 5.3 2002 350.0 6.2 2003* 345.5 6.1 *-No. 21 in total offense (439.6 ypg). It is virtually impossible to explain an entire offensive system in one article. In this article, I will attempt to explain the overall teaching philosophy behind our system. Next I will discuss the basic fundamentals of the signature play in our offense, the fly sweep. Every coaching staff in America wrestles with the dilemma of how many plays are too many. The ability to practice and execute your offense dictates a finite number of plays. Being both a head coach and an assistant coach at times in my career, I have participated in many spirited discussions about how many plays our team should have. I believe that the best system is easy for your team to execute and hard for the opponent to stop. In teaching our offense, we try and stay away from the idea

of plays. Instead, we use three different styles of teaching our run offense. The Linemen Learn Rules The rules are words describing who to block. When all the plays weve run over the years are boiled down, we really only have about eight rules for the lineman to learn. There are many styles of offensive line rules, and I dont think one style is bet ter than another. The key is to have a concise, simple way to block man, zone, short trap, long trap, cross blocks, down blocks and reach blocks. The Receivers Learn Concepts We teach concepts to the receivers in the passing game and the run game. Our day one run game rules for our receivers are; 1. Play away from me (Block corner on me). 2. Play up the middle (Block closest safety, no safety, closest corner). 3. Play to me (Crack No. 2/force defender). The Backs Learn Paths Each play requires the back to run to a certain spot and find daylight. The play name is the path the back receiving the ball will run. In our two back offense, the back not receiving the ball will either get a path name or have an option of choosing a path to run. We have paths for each spot a back could align for us in our formations. Here is a sample of a few of our paths.

Diagram 1

Diagram 2

This system creates a lot of variation. By mixing and matching back paths and blocking rules, you can quickly amass a

Diagram 3

Diagram 4

wide variety of plays. I have found that coaches and players do not always feel comfortable with new plays, but have great comfort with wrinkles described and taught with day one terminology. The base play in the fly offense is the fly sweep. It is an extremely simple and effective play. Our sweeper averaged eight yards a carry on this play for us at Willamette University in the 2003 season. I take no credit for inventing this play. As far as I know, it was created by Gene Beck of Delano High School in the early 1950s. I learned it from Phil Maas and Roger Sugimoto in 1978 when I was an assistant coach at North Monterey High School in California. Over the years, I have worked at developing an offense around the sweep play. When I became a head coach, all of my background was on the defensive side of the ball. I was very aware that the sweep caused a lot of problems for a defense, and if we ran it well enough and often enough, it would force the defense to move personnel prior to the snap. When I first started coaching the sweep, I was guilty of over coaching the sweepers. Over the years, we have boiled the sweep motion down to the following six coaching points for the sweeper and quarterback. 1. Approach: This refers to where the motion back begins, and what speed he approaches the Quarterback at. There is no magic as to where to start the motion man at. We have had him start at a tight slot or be outside the numbers. We want the sweeper to aim one yard behind the Quarterback. He is running fast to the

mesh point, but he is not in a full sprint. I tell our guys, you are in fourth gear which looks fast, but once you receive the ball, you have a little more speed to use. With reps, the players develop a comfortable speed to approach the quarterback. The key coaching point is to make each approach look the same (Diagram 5). 2. Mesh: This refers to the quarterback taking the snap and turning 180 degrees so his back is to the defense and handing the ball to the sweeper. A key point is that the quarterback controls snap. Do not allow sweeper to chop steps and try and time mesh. If the timing is off, it is always the quarterbacks fault. Ideally, the quarterbacks body should hide the handoff from the defense, creating deception. I let the quarterback turn in a way that is most comfortable to him. In reality, his turn takes him 12 to 18 inches away from the center. After handing the ball to the sweeper, he will run one of his paths.

blocker on a sweep. The sweeper wants to tag the lead backs outside hip with his inside arm. As they turn up field, we want the sweeper close enough to touch the lead back. We use the analogy of being wingtip to wingtip like the jet fighters in the blue angels or thunderbird flight shows. This position puts the sweeper in perfect position as he comes around the corner. If there is no lead back, he visualizes one and catches a phantom back.

Diagram 6

Diagram 5

3. Slide step: The slide step is a critical component to being an effective sweeper. When the sweeper receives the ball or is faking, it is important that he pushes off his inside foot and moves one body width away from the LOS I have used ice skating or rollerblading as examples of the type of move it is. It is a subtle move, but it allows the sweeper to maintain speed around the corner, or make an up field cut if that is necessary (Diagram 5). 4. Ball handling & faking: As the sweeper is slide stepping, he is securing the ball as any runningback would do. If he does not receive the ball, it is important that he pumps his inside arm and holds an imaginary football in his outside arm all the way around the corner. By doing this, the fake has the potential to pull defenders to the sweeper. 5. Catch: The sweeper after slide stepping and securing the football, will try and catch the lead back. In teaching this, we put a runningback in an off set position (i.e. split back, off set I, off set in a one back set). This enables the back to be a lead

6. Set up the block: As the sweeper heads up field, we stress having a plan to make a move on defensive backs. Simply put, the sweeper attacks the defenders technique and cuts opposite of the block. If the defensive back has outside leverage, he stretches and cuts up. If he has inside leverage, sweeper attacks up field and cuts out. It is important that the sweeper works on these moves and also works on making moves on defenders in space. The speed part of the offense is supplied by the sweep play. We tell our players it is the fastest play in football. Whether it is or not, we believe it is. The deception part of the offense is supplied by the quarterbacks back being to the defense effectively hiding the ball. In addition, by mixing up paths run by a second back in a two back set, or the quarterback in a one back set, the defense will generally honor the fake. We take great pride in our faking. We stress that there are two ways to move a defender. You can physically move them, which best case is a yard or two, or you can move people by faking them, which often moves them five yards or more. I hope this article has helped you. Obviously, it is a thin slice of what we do, but it may generate some thoughts that will be of use to you and your program. It has been a privilege to write this article for the AFCA and represent Willamette University. Thank you for this opportunity and we wish you continued success this fall.