TheGridironGeek
Jolly Good Fellow
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- 276
(Disclaimer: The Flexbone from under center is a perfect offense for Georgia Tech. Also, in my opinion, it is aesthetically the most artistic and exciting offense in football.)
I've been wanting to posit this to the board for a while, but now in mid-offseason it seems like the time. I've always thought that the Pistol snap could and should work at GT, but I understand why it was a failure with Vad Lee (and it wasn't entirely Vad's fault).
Maybe it was the one time CPJ has let outside influences get to him. The GT Pistol formation looked an awful lot like some of the Spread, Zone-Read teams run, like Oklahoma State. I was actually disappointed at the time to see CPJ using the Diamond backfield. It looked cool, but was it missing the real benefit of having the QB behind the LOS in the first place?
Different blocking, slower ball-handling -- it threw the offense out of rhythm. A big football no-no is breaking the Red Blaik Rule -- singleness of purpose.
But if HS ball can be a lab for college (like college can be a lab for the NFL), I submit that in the Midwest, Muskegon is currently setting up franchises. I mean, a coach will be dating a gal whose brother used to coach at Muskegon, and the Big Red coaching staff will walk him through exactly how to install their system at his program. Here in STL where coaches are less connected, there's lots of cute imitations too.
But Muskegon runs power. Fullback belly. Man blocking. Their offense IS the Flexbone, it just puts the QB in a better position to throw and uses hybrid WR/A-backs. Really good defenses can get more lateral momentum and stuff the B back when they want to, but then they're cutting their own throat because the passing game just annihilates them.
The Reds have an aggressive passing game, by that I mean always looking to break the big play, whether routes are short or deep...in a way that reminds me of the GT passing game because sometimes the "timing" for a pass is throw it as soon as you accurately can.
All this to say a true Pistol-Flex series of plays would not actually change the concept or rhythm of the offense in general. I would love to see Justin Thomas get a few snaps against a 'D that was even more spread-out and off-balance due to the passing threat and the B-back looping from hash to hash.
But it would need to be genuine, an extension of the Flexbone instead of some Urban Meyer-influenced stuff you put in to appease young coaches or your QB(?).
The potential problem could be from a game-management POV, down & distance. A Muskegon-offense team will often run the B-back up the middle 6 plays in a row for 11 yards, then spring the outside stuff for 3 touchdowns in 10 minutes. The Jackets can't afford that luxury. CPJ feels that the program's best chance is to hog the football and beat teams the old-fashioned way.
But a 3-and-out problem also might be avoided with smart use of a Pistol series.
Any thoughts appreciated -- Lord hope there's none of those "No. Please, just no" posts, haha.
I've been wanting to posit this to the board for a while, but now in mid-offseason it seems like the time. I've always thought that the Pistol snap could and should work at GT, but I understand why it was a failure with Vad Lee (and it wasn't entirely Vad's fault).
Maybe it was the one time CPJ has let outside influences get to him. The GT Pistol formation looked an awful lot like some of the Spread, Zone-Read teams run, like Oklahoma State. I was actually disappointed at the time to see CPJ using the Diamond backfield. It looked cool, but was it missing the real benefit of having the QB behind the LOS in the first place?
Different blocking, slower ball-handling -- it threw the offense out of rhythm. A big football no-no is breaking the Red Blaik Rule -- singleness of purpose.
But if HS ball can be a lab for college (like college can be a lab for the NFL), I submit that in the Midwest, Muskegon is currently setting up franchises. I mean, a coach will be dating a gal whose brother used to coach at Muskegon, and the Big Red coaching staff will walk him through exactly how to install their system at his program. Here in STL where coaches are less connected, there's lots of cute imitations too.
But Muskegon runs power. Fullback belly. Man blocking. Their offense IS the Flexbone, it just puts the QB in a better position to throw and uses hybrid WR/A-backs. Really good defenses can get more lateral momentum and stuff the B back when they want to, but then they're cutting their own throat because the passing game just annihilates them.
The Reds have an aggressive passing game, by that I mean always looking to break the big play, whether routes are short or deep...in a way that reminds me of the GT passing game because sometimes the "timing" for a pass is throw it as soon as you accurately can.
All this to say a true Pistol-Flex series of plays would not actually change the concept or rhythm of the offense in general. I would love to see Justin Thomas get a few snaps against a 'D that was even more spread-out and off-balance due to the passing threat and the B-back looping from hash to hash.
But it would need to be genuine, an extension of the Flexbone instead of some Urban Meyer-influenced stuff you put in to appease young coaches or your QB(?).
The potential problem could be from a game-management POV, down & distance. A Muskegon-offense team will often run the B-back up the middle 6 plays in a row for 11 yards, then spring the outside stuff for 3 touchdowns in 10 minutes. The Jackets can't afford that luxury. CPJ feels that the program's best chance is to hog the football and beat teams the old-fashioned way.
But a 3-and-out problem also might be avoided with smart use of a Pistol series.
Any thoughts appreciated -- Lord hope there's none of those "No. Please, just no" posts, haha.
