•KentuckyOffensiveStaff•CoachingClinic•Wednesday•January13•

UniversityofKentuckyGuyMorrissQuarterbacksCoachTonyFranklinChrisHatcherOffensiveLineCoachLexington,Ky.RunningbacksCoach

Kentucky'sAirRaidOffense

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Diagram3

settle

V$.

zone

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ed,

17yd,

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O!O~O

TheXisresponsibletorunanuprouteandgetdeepasfastaspossible.Hewillbethequarterback'sfirstread,and3-5timesayear,wewillhitthisforabigplay.TheVworksundertheSamlinebackerandclimbsovertheMikelinebacker.Ifheweretoreachtheoppositehash,hewouldbeatadepthof17yards,andifhemadeitallthewayacrossthefield,hewouldbeapproximately22yardsdeep.OnceheclimbsovertheMikelinebacker,hemaysettleintheopen"grass"vs.zonecoverage,orcontinuetorunandsnapoffhisroutevs.man.Heisthesecondreadbythequarterback.TheHwillreleaseoutsidethedefensiveendandpressupthefieldto3-4yardsandrunanoptionroute.Hewillstickhistoeinthegroundandbreakhardoutsideorinsidevs.match-upzoneorman,andhewillsettleinthe"grass"vs.zone.

iscrucialtohaveagreatoptionrouterunner.We'vebeenfortunatetohaveAnthonyWhitefortwoseasonstorunoptionroutes,andwehavehimbackonemoreseasonin'99.Hehascaught59and78passesthelasttwoseasons.TheZwillrunapost-curlat14-17yardsonthebackside.Hewillsettleintheopengrassvs.zone.HeisourfourthoptionontheV-crossroute.TheFwillcheckreleaseandrunaswingashedidonthemeshrouteandwillbethefifthoption.Bothbackswillcheckonallour5-7stepdropbackpasses.ThequarterbackwillreadXontheupfirst,V-crosssecond,H-third,Z-fourth,andF-fifth.Thelastplaytodayisoneofourquickscreens.Thisscreenisgoodversuspressorsoftcoverage.TheUniversityofMontanahasbeengreatatrunningthisforyears,Thequarterbackreadshightolow:corner(Z)NO.1,meshNO.2,backsNO.3,whiletakinga5-7stepdrop.AnothergreatplayforushasbeenourV-crossplay(Diagram3).Weusethisplayseveraltimesagamefromavarietyofformations.

3yds.deepsettleingrass6

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settleingrassNUM$EAS

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4-7yds.

NUMBERS

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30thbackswillcheck-releasetheSam

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theWillbeforereleasing.Iftheyblitz,

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Nillstayandprotect.

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0<8>0OYZ

The

"z"

willrunacornerroutetoadepth-somewherebetween13-23yardsJspendingonwherethebest"grass"is.Heustreadthecoverageonpre-snap,and~stheroutedevelops,beonthesame:,ageasthequarterback.The"F"willrunaswingroute,andmust

aswideasthenumbers.Iftheballison:.~snearhash,heshouldgetalittlewider::-anthenumbers.Hemustworkhardto::.'laysgettothenumbersorhewillclogup

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mesharea.TheFshouldalsowork-;,dnottogaingroundupfieldasheruns

-8

swing.he"H"runsashootroutetoadepthof

/ardswhenhereachesthenumbers.He~mustwideniftheballisonthenearThe"X"willberesponsibleforthe"mesh"withtheVandwillgounderVatthecenter.WhenXcrossesV,hewillsettlein'heopengrass.XandVbothwillcontinueoruniftheyfeelmancoverageandslightlybendtheirrouteupfield(Diagram2).

Diagram2

It's

anhonortospeakinfrontofyoutoday.Iwouldliketodiscussthreeofthe'b-;;stplaysinouroffense.ThefirstplayisourMeshplaythatisdiagrammedforyou(Diagram1).The"V,"whichcanbeatightendorawidereceiverisresponsibleforworkingtoadepthofnodeeperthansixyardswhenhereachesthecenter.Ashecrossesthecenter,hewillsettleintheopenareawhichwecall"grass,"andfacethequarterbackreadytoreceivetheball.

Diagram1

•Proceedings•76thAFCAConvention•1999•113

•KentuckyOffensiveStaff•CoachingClinic•Wednesday•January13•

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\Center

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Thisdrillisdoneatone-quarterspeed,andallowsmanythingstobeaccomplishedwhilewarmingup.Inaten-minuteperiod,ourreceiversarecatchingballswhilelooseningtheirlegs.Ourquarterbacksareworkingonthequarterback/centerexchange,drops,andaccuracy.Thequarterbackwillworkwiththecenterontheexchange,andthentakehisspecifieddrop(e.g.three-step,five-step,andseven-step).Oncehehitshislaststep,hewillstepupinthepocketwaitingforthereceivertofacehim.Whenthereceiverisready,thequarterbackwillreleasethefootballaimingforthereceiver'snumberthatisfarthestawayfromthenearestdummy.Thistellsthereceiverwhichdirectiontoturn.(Diagram6)Thisprocessiscontinuedwitheachreceivertakingturns.Ifyou

have

morethanonequarterback,severalstationscanbegoingonsimultaneously.

Diagram6

Settle/NooseDrill:Thisisthefirstdrillthatourquarterbacks,receivers,tightends,runningbacks,andcentersparticipateinoncetheyrunontothefield.Placingtwodummiestenyardsapartonthesidelinesetsupthisdrill.The

receivers

willlineupbehindonedummywhilethequarterbackandcenterlineuponthelineperpendiculartothesideline.(Diagram5)Thereceiverwillstartinagoodstance,andreleaseonthequarterback'scadence.Hewillproceedtosettleclosertoonedummy,thantheother.Hewillthenfacethequarterbackwithhishandsinthenooseposition(thumbstogetherandindexfingerstogether)readytocatchthefootball.Oncetheballiscaught,hewillthenturnstraightupfield.

OWRWRWR.

Diagram5I

CenterQB

CoachFranklinhasalreadydiscussedafewofourbasepatterns,andnowIwouldliketotalkabouthowweactuallyteachtheseroutesandthefundamentalsthatareneededtoexecutethemproperly.Onecandescribeouroffenseasawellcoachedbackyardteam.Wefirmlybelieveinthrowingthefootballshortfirst,longsecond,andthenrunthefootballwhenthenumbersintheboxare

favorable.

Anotherbeliefofoursistokeepthingssimpleandputourplayersinapositiontosucceed.Weneverwanttoaskanathletetodosomethingthatheisunabletodoeffectively.Inouroffense,thequarterbackisthekeytooursuccess.Sincethisisthecase,wekeepourschemes

very

simplebecausewecanrunonlywhatheiscapableofcomprehending.Soinourdealingswiththequarterback,wefollowfourbasicobjectives:1.Wetrytobefairwithhimespeciallythewaywetreathiminfrontoftheotherplayers.Theworstthingonecandowithaquarterbackistodestroyhisconfidenceandtheteam'sconfidenceinhimbydegradinghiminpublic.2.Wemustalsobefirmwithhim.Weallowourquarterbackstocheckplaysatthelineofscrimmagewhenneeded.However,byallowingthis,wemustlethimknowthathebetter

have

goodreasontocheckoutofplayscalledfromthesideline.Inotherwords,wehandleourquarterbackwithanironfistanda

velvetglove.

3.Wetrytomakefootballasmuchfunaspossible.Wedonotstretchorrunsprints.Everythingthatwedoisgearedtowardsplayingfootball.Infact,recentlyIhadtheopportunitytohearCoachSpikeDykes

give

alecture.Hesummeditupinonesentence,

'We

donotworkfootball,weplayfootball."4.Themostimportantobjectiveisputtingemphasisontheimportanceoffundamentals.Weworkharddailyonfootballfundamentalsandfeelthatourattentiontodetailhasallowedouroffensetobeamongthenation'sbestthepasttwoyears.Ouroffensiveschemesare

very

simple,butwetrytobecome

very

goodatthefewthingswedo.Thisisaccomplishedbygettingasmanyrepetitionsaspossibleina

very

shortperiodoftime.ThetwodrillsthatIwouldliketosharewithyoutodayarethebasiccogsthatmakeouroffensego.BoththeSettle/NooseandRoutesonAiraredrillsspecificallydesignedtomakethemostofyourtimewhileonthefield.Rememberthattimeisonethingthatcannotbereplaced.ThisisagreatopportunityandprivilegeformetospeaktoyoutodayabouttheUniversityofKentucky"AirRaid"offense.alongwithmanyotherscreens.Theiroffensivecoordinator,BrentPeace,isoneofthesharpestmindsinthecountry.Theplay-sidereceiver(wide)isresponsiblefordrivingupthefieldthreehardstepstoselltheverticalroute,beforestickingandretracinghisstepsbehindthelineofscrimmageandbacktowardsthehashmarkandquarterback.Heshouldreceivetheballbeforereachingthehashandturnupthefieldinsidetheplay-sideguardskick-outblock(Diagram4).Itisimportantthathetruststheguard,setuphisblock,andgetstraightupthefieldafterthecatch.

Diagram4

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cui

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(fake-flashball)ThrowonRythym

Theinsideplay-sidereceiverwilldriveverticalforhalfthedistanceofwherethedefenderwillendupwhoisguardingtheball-catchingreceiver.Hewillthenstickandplanthisinsidefoot,breaksharptowardthedefender,andkickhimoutatapproximatelythetimeofthereception.Bothtackleswilllockonandpass-prothedefensiveends.Theplay-sideguardwillpasssetfor1001count,andthenreleaseflattokickoutNO.2(Diagram4).Thecenterwillpass-setfor1001count,andrelease,toblocktheMikelinebacker.Thefullback'sfakewillhelpholdtheMikeuntilthecentercangetthere.Thebacksideguardwillpass-setto1001count,andreleasetoblockNO.4orattackanylagging"trash"alongtheway.TheYwillchecktheSamblitz,andreleasetoblockSam.Theoutsidereceiverawaywillfakequickscreen,andthenreleasetoblockhiscorner.Thequarterbackwillflashtheballandquickfakehisfullback;hewillglancetotheoppositeside,sethisfeet,andthrowonrhythm.Thefullbackwillfakeandblocktheman

over