Pass Protection When You Go Five Wide

After my last post about the passing game from 5 wide, I was asked to talk a little about what we did for pass protection using the five wide set.  One of the difficult situations when passing from empty is that you will only have five blockers and a defense that can bring six pass rushers while locking up man to man.  So what can you do as an offense to provide protection without giving up big sacks?

This last season I had my line step to protect inside gap to outside gap first.  The reason behind us doing this was because the fastest way to get to the QB is from the middle of the line.  We would step down half a step to protect that inside gap, if no rusher showed then we would look outside.  However as I look back on this past season I would like to make some changes to our empty pass protection to better protect the QB.  Not that we had many problems last season when we went empty but I am always looking to optimize our performance.

What a lot of teams like to do when it comes to pass protection is either slide the whole line right or slide left:

This type of slide protection can help your line pick up outside blitzes to one side but also help pick up a middle blitz that many 4-2-5 teams will employ.  Against a 50 front team, the backside guard and tackle of the slide need to check inside gap first to help teammate and then look outside gap to help pick up rushers.

So if a team brings six rushers what needs to happen?  Again you need to protect inside gap first and the QB is responsible for the sixth rusher to get rid of the ball.  Ideally you want that sixth rusher to be an outside rusher as he will have further to come and the QB can see him and even throw the ball to the area that has been vacated.  Your receivers also need to recognize the blitz and help the QB out by adjusting their routes to help the QB get rid of the ball quickly.  They need to look and see if there are any safeties over the top.  If the QB sees that there is a 6 man blitz coming he can also audible to a hot route.  You might want to slide protect to the backside of your QB since that is the side he won't be able to as easily see the outside rusher coming.  

I have also thought about widening our line splits a little more to widen the defensive front to help slow down their line stunts and also their outside blitzes.  My only concern is the middle blitzes that will come and if we get to wide if our tackles will be able to slide and pick up the defender over the guard.

You can also help make that pass rusher go further by rolling your QB out of empty.  You can use your 3rd receiver to act as a lead blocker and run roll out pass plays.  You can even go quads and do roll out game with the 4th receiver staying in to block.  

By getting rid of the ball quickly, you will start to force that pass rush to slow down.  Every time having to chase the QB then go chase the ball after it is down field will start to wear down the rush.  Combine that with a run game and you can keep the defense guessing instead of just always rushing the passer  

The biggest thing you can teach your line is that they don't need to make a huge block when it comes to pass blocking.  Sometimes all they need to do is give a nice push to knock the rusher off track to give your QB just a few tenths of a second more to get rid of the ball.  Watch this video from FSN's Sports Science to give you an idea of what I mean.

So there you go, just an idea of how you will want to do some pass protection when going five wide.  I would love to hear other coaches thoughts and what they have taught their players.  Any coaches widened their splits when in empty and how did that go?  Like I said I am looking to optimize the blocking for this coming season.

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Run Game Out of the Empty Set

I really do like going empty on the offensive side of the ball and find that it puts the defense into a bind on what they have to do.  While spreading the defense out, this formation also allows you the opportunity to still have a run game out of empty.


Jet Sweep


A great play that is commonly used is the Jet Sweep by teams.  You bring the slot back in motion and at the snap as he is going full speed is given the ball by the QB or if you are really good, he can read the backside D with the QB keeping.  Line blocks just like a stretch play and the ball carrier reads and makes his cut upfield.  If the defense starts to cheat a backer to cut off the run on play side, the slot on the 3 receiver side can align closer to cut that player off.  

If the backside backer goes in motion with the motion of the slot, then your QB will want to pull the ball.  A great compliment play especially if a defense starts cheating to the motion is a QB counter play.  


QB Counter Play


This play is a great way to take advantage of an aggressive defense and allow you the opportunity at some big plays.  As you fake the hand off to the motion back, the QB follows the pulling tackle.  The back can carry out his jet sweep fake or you can have him go pick up the backside end to prevent him from disrupting and chasing the play down from behind.  

Another way to take advantage of an aggressive defense as well is to play action off of the motion and try to take advantage of a safety that is rolling or coming up early to stop the jet sweep play.

Play Action Post SE Drag

This is a just an example of using the run to also set up your play action passing game as you take advantage of a defense that rolls to the 4 receiver side.  By isolating 1 on 1 backside you can have a favorable match up.  If the safety rolls too far the post can take advantage of the defense.  If the safety stays in the middle you can look at the post if the defense isn't in a zone or check down to the drag or swing route.  Another play change that you can do is have the 3 players actually slow block a screen to the motion player if the safety stays in the middle and it looks like the defense is staying in a 3 deep zone.  

There you go just a few examples of having the run game out of an empty set and how you can also take advantage of what a defense gives to you.  You really can force the defense to run a coverage that you like and get them into a position that favors your offense.  Coaches let me know about your experiences running the ball out of an empty formation.  Also what your opinions are of the example plays I have shown here.

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Timpview Sophomore Offensive Line

Here are some pics of the O-line from the 2010 Timpview Sophomore Team.  They had a great season including one game leading the way to rush for 380+ yards.  I am really proud of these kids and we became a very mean offensive line.  I have also included pics of the 2010 Sophomore team.  I am in the middle in the team pictures.

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Smart Football: Evolution of the Spread

Smart Football a blog written by Chris Brown is considered by many to be a pretty dang good expert on football and different schemes.  In his latest blog entry he posted 3 different videos and talked about the evolution of the spread from 2000 to now.

The first video is from the 1999 season.  I was out of the country that year so I missed out on that football season.

Next two videos are from Oregon and Chip Kelly.  Chris feels that Kelly and Malzahn at Auburn are the next to be the big time innovators of the spread.

How is that for irony, after Tony Franklin's run at Auburn now Malzahn is loved.  Makes you kind of wonder if it wasn't the head coach that was holding back that offense there.

As you watch the clips notice that there is more that Oregon does compared to Clemson in terms of personnel and plays.  But it is only part of the natural process of offenses.

Check out Smart Football to see some of his thoughts on the video that you can see.

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3 Best Run Plays

If someone were to ask me what our three best run plays are I would say inside zone, outside zone, and counter.  Personally I love when we run QB counter, it's probably one of our best plays and fun to watch when run correctly.

I already posted about the inside zone so I figured I should talk about the outside zone and counter.  Here is a 5 minute video regarding running the outside zone and counter.  The video quality isn't the best, but watch how the O-line does with the double teams and getting their hips around in front of the blocker.  Unfortunately you can't hear the sound of the coaching points.



I hope that the first thing you notice is how there are a lot of cutback lanes with the outside zone.  This is because the defense starts to run hard to the outside allowing there to be cutback lanes.  The most important blocks for this play to succeed is the Guard/Tackle combo play side.  As they take their steps it is important that the O-line take a nice lateral step to try and hook around the defender to open the outside for the back.  If the defender has beaten them to the outside, then the line will just push the defender to the sideline.

Play side OG and OT work in combination to block both the play side DE and LB in the play.  As they both step together whatever the DE does will tell them who is coming off to backer.  The clip shows various times where the OG steps over and bumps the OT off to the backer; while the OT takes the DE out and the OG steps up to the LB in other clips.  The aiming point for the back is the butt of the tackle.  Our RB coach teaches the backs that as they are running this play if he sees opposing helmet on the outside of the OT then he cuts up.  If opposing helmet is inside of OT then take it to the outside.

Another key to successful OZ is getting the defensive players to run with you.  Staying engaged and having them run actually will open up those running lanes that will allow your back to find a lane and hit it hard.  As you see in the video there were times when even pro players over ran the zone allowing for more yards to be gained.  From what I have heard a lot of teams prefer to run outside zone first then go to inside zone once they have the defense over pursuing.

As you watch the counter, notice that the pulling players are trying to get to outside of the line and lead up for the back.  However also notice that the pulling players don't allow a defensive player to cross their face.  You have plays where the pulling players don't make it to the end of the line but pick up the opposing player to allow the back to run.

Key to this play is that the back follow the second pulling player through the hole.  Once through the hole, the back then leaves the tackle and runs to daylight.  We don't run counter exactly the way it is shown in the video but I will write more about that later.

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The Hogs up Front

I am putting the pictures up of the O line from this year.  The reason is because well I was an O line coach this year, but the line is the starting point of your success on offense.  Coach Wong has taught me that you are only as good as your O line is.  So here are pics of the O linemen from the state title game.

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Sophomore/Freshman Banquet

Well we had our Sophomore/Freshman end of the year Banquet today. We had it at Magleby's in Provo which is really good food. I was able to get some pictures of the crowd but then also got a couple pictures with the O linemen that I worked with this year on these young teams.

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Timpview Football vs Provo Game Footage

I always do find it interesting to hear the commentary from the opposite side. I think we are hitting our stride right now to make a deep run in the playoffs.

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Timpview Sophomore Game vs Provo Sophomores

So a parent of one of the Provo players taped the Sophomore, JV, and varsity games of Timpview football vs Provo and put them up on Youtube. I have wanted to show a little bit of our Sophomore team on this blog and this is a great opportunity. They put the game up on Youtube so I am going to place the game by Quarter for you to see.

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Running Inside Zone Part 1

I wanted to diagram out our inside zone play. I have drawn it up being run to the right but the same rules will apply if running to the left.

The rules I will go over are when you run at either an odd front or an even front. First drawing is against an odd front, second is against an even front.

Against an odd man front the key is the Nose Guard(N). Center (C) and Backside Guard (BG) double team N to the Backer. If Nose slants to his right BG takes Nose and Center goes to Backer. If Nose slants to his left Center takes Nose and BG takes the Backer. If Nose plays straight up then your O-Line has to stay with the double team until the backer commits. Your RB aims for the Playside Guard's(PG) butt; If he sees the Nose slanting to his left then RB cuts back towards the BG. If Nose has slanted to his right RB hits the hole behind the PG.

Against Even Front the key is the DT in the 1 Technique. If the 1 tech slants hard to his left the BG should just push the DT down the line. If he plays head up the BG needs to reach the DT and block him. Same rule applies to the RB running this play. if he sees the 1 tech in the hole cut back is open. If 1 tech isn't there then take the hole behind the PG.

It is important to emphasize to your O-Line that they must stay with the double as long as possible until the backers commit. Doing so and your team will have a lot of success.

This is what makes the inside zone such a hard play to defend. The O-line isn't really wrong, the Running Backs make the O-Line always right.

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Switching to offensive line

We have had some changes within our coaching staff. No surprise right? I mean most of the times programs that have a ton of success are gonna get poached for other programs. Our Safeties/D-Coordinator (Jason Walker) has left to take over Westlake High School a new program here in Utah. Going with him is the other O-line coach, (Bruce Pitcher) to help run the O-line just as we do here at Timpview. Both are great coaches and I am confident that they will have Westlake turned into a power program. With all the growth that area is experiencing I look to see that school become a powerhouse in Utah.

Since Bruce is leaving, I am the only other coach besides Coach Wong that knows any of the blocking schemes or some of the drills to run for the O-line. Coach Wong has decided to move me over to the O-line to help the sophomores out and will bring in a new D-line coach for the sophomores. So if anyone checking my blog out has questions don't hesitate to ask me questions. as I get going into the drills that we do for our offensive line. Remember in the last 3 years we have sent 4 O linemen on to college to play D-1 ball. X committed to UCLA on National TV.

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