Been plenty of boring stuff on the site about statistics and all that mumbo jumbo (hey I like that mumbo jumbo!), so here is a more true-to-form article about some bread and butter: passing offense
Who better to analyze than the Ole' Ball Coach, who will be back this fall at South Carolina? I for one am looking forward to catching some of the other USC games, now that Spurrier is back in coaching.
Despite his lack of success at the Pro level, Spurrier's offense is still one of the most well crafted offenses around. (I still think that Spurrier's lack of success at Washington was for many reasons, and likely it was not purely his offensive scheme as some would like to say. If it was schematic then some of it was due to some of the publicized protection issues, which I have not gotten the opportunity to study on film properly.)
Anyway, if you watch any old Spurrier tapes or if you see them this fall you'll see plenty of post/dig combos, the smash (hitch/corner combo), and the scissors (post and a corner combination), but the play that has always defined Spurrier, at least for me, is his Ralph/Lonnie combo.
Spurrier runs a handful of read routes--nothing like the run and shoot--but this is one that he will run over and over, often on successive plays. In brief it is a play that combines two plays that almost everyone runs into one play: the curl/flat and the corner/flat combination.
For him this is a 7-step drop play that he will commonly run with fake run action in the backfield, usually faking the lead draw. Thus the routes are a bit deeper. However, the same principles can be run at the high school level very easily at a 5 step pass with slightly shorter routes.
The basic theory is that versus cover 3 or off coverage he wants to run a 15 yard curl, and against cover 2 he wants to attack the deep third with a corner route. Below is Ralph/Lonnie drawn up in some common formations.
The read is fairly simple, though, like any other read route, requires lots of repetitions. Spurrier will rep this endlessly--often versus air--using coaches and dummies to help coordinate the reads along with the typical 7 on 7 and one on one drills.
I'll begin with the other receivers first and then finish with the option-route receiver and the QB. Spurrier has traditionally used a FS1, FS2, BS1, etc type system to teach his routes, but this can be integrated with any kind of playcalling system you use.
From a traditional pro-set the backside split end will burst inside for 3 steps, then push upfield to 15 yards and then break for the goalpost versus MOFO (middle of the field open, like cover 0 or 2) and flatten on a square-in versus MOFC (middle of the field closed, like cover 1 or 3).
The running backs will check release to 5 yards over the tackles, or a single back will settle over the ball in the area between the tackles at 5 yards, showing the QB his numbers.
The FS#2 will run a flat route to 4-6 yards. If he is a slot receiver he will push vertical for 3 steps, exaggerating his burst, before breaking to the flat.
The option receiver's rules are as follows:
1) Take normal split. If on the near hash no farther outside than the inside of the numbers.
2) Versus any "off" coverage (3 or loose man) he will simply burst straight off the line at the outside hip of the defender, sell the go, reach to 15 yards and curl back to the QB ("chop, stop, and return" in my terminology), looking for the QB's eyes, finding the window between defenders. There essentially is no read if the corner is playing you way off.
3) Versus "up" or press coverage he will inside release, taking a 3-step inside release, burst to 15 yards. This is the actual read.
The receiver is looking if there is someone deep and to the outside of him (deep 1/3). If there is he will settle at 15 on a curl and look for the QB's eyes. If the defender stays on him, it is man, and he will run his corner at 15, stick his foot, and burst somewhat flatter than 45 degrees.
If the defender lets him go and there is no deep 1/3 defender, he will run his corner route. At 15 yards he sticks his inside foot and breaks to the corner at a 45 degree angle, expecting to catch he ball between 20 and 24 yards downfield. Usually, versus cover 2 another defender--the hash safety--will rotate over and play the receiver heads up if he took an inside release. The receiver will run his corner route off this defender.
4) If you burst straight off the line and the corner comes up or does not move his feet, then immediately inside release for 3 steps and use your read rules: look for the deep outside 1/3 defender. The route may look funny on paper but it will still be effective.
The QB will read the safeties on his drop and should have a good pre-snap read, anticipating what the route will be. He looks down the middle of the field on his first 5 steps, and if the safety(ies) move out of position he can look for the post immediately.
Otherwise the read is option route, to flat, to underneath (backs). On the last two steps of his drop he will look at the deep 1/3, also looking for a deep outside 1/3 defender. His rule is very simple, if there isn't a deep 1/3 defender he will look to throw the ball in the "open grass"--essentially throwing the ball where the defenders aren't and anticipating that his receiver will also get to where the defenders aren't.
If there is a deep 1/3 defender, he should see the curl developing in the same line of vision, and will look through the window looking to deliver the curl route, sticking the ball right on the receiver's numbers.
Included in his read of the "open grass" this includes the flat defender being held short and not dropping back to get in the line of side of the corner or the curl. One of the few good hard and fast rules for QBs is to never throw the ball over a retreating flat defender, be it a cornerback or a linebacker.
It should be noted that Steve's quarterbacks were always very good at going through their progressions; we remember the deep posts, the many curls, the corner routes thrown, but his team's ate the defense up, infuriated defensive coordinators and troubled the linebackers and safeties by consistently finding the check-down and underneath receivers.
Below are diagrams of the play versus Cover 3, Cover 2, and Cover 1 (you can imagine it versus Cover 2-man).
Cover 3
Cover 2
Cover 1
A few more notes on the play:
1) This play is designed versus cover 3 and cover 2. Some good defenses are very good at switching back and forth from these defenses and catching you perennially with curls versus cover 2, corners versus cover 3, and never getting the right call. This play eliminates that, and the corner is a good man to man route versus cover 1 and 2 man. However, the play is not designed for cover 4 a.k.a combo coverage (bracketing by the corner and safety) and, while the post and the corner are often good calls versus cover 0 (all-out man blitz) this may not be the right call because of timing and protection. I'll save cover 4 and ways to defeat it in another article.
2) A very good high school team that I know of uses this play as their go-to play, and they simplify it by always having the option receiver inside release and read the outside coverage. You still get the same curl route you do with the straight stem, but if the deep 1/3 defender shows his intent early they will have the receiver fade his stem back out to the sideline and away from the safety abit, too.
3) Also, this school runs this play as a 5-step drop play where the curl and the corner routes are run at 12 yards rather than 15.
4) Another adjustment that can be made with this play is to make some kind of switch call, switching #1 and #2. In this case it becomes a kind of read smash, but the play and the read for the QB are the exact same. The outside receiver runs a hitch at 5 yards and the inside receiver bursts straight up the field to 12 yards, doing the same outside 1/3 read. Versus a deep 1/3 player he runs the curl, if not he runs a corner either for the open grass in the zone or sticking and breaking away from his man defender.
Below is a diagram of this.
5) Lastly, I didn't cover it (I'm not really the authority since I have always taught a strict progression, though have worked on it with experienced QBs.) but Spurrier teaches a lot of "look-offs." For example to help open up the curl/corner Spurrier's QBs will often look down at the flat during or near the end of their drop to keep the defender short. This has obviously served him well. I have always stressed reading the defense or the appropriate defender (usually free safety or middle linebacker) on the beginning of the drop (1st step in 3 step, 3 steps in 5 step) and then going to a strict 1-2-3 progression for the QB.
However, when I've had experienced QBs who were excellent at reading coverages pre-snap and who quickly got a read on the key defender, they could then use their 2nd, 3rd and sometimes 4th and 5th steps looking at the 2nd or 3rd receiver in the progression before looking back at #1 and then progressing (did I explain that well at all? Haha).
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