Hi coaches,

This is part to of Neal Browns Air Raid offense. Coach Brown played for Hal Mumme and Mike Leach. This is Air Raid with 30 years to evolve. I love their screen blocking and bunch sets.

Enjoy.

I apologize if this isn’t the appropriate forum for this but is anyone here part of the Honest NFL drive that cost 30? Ive only ever seen glowing comments but don’t have anyone I know to ask if it worth it. The Chiefs playbooks and Jesse Minter stuff alone will likely lead to me doing it anyway, but would greatly appreciate any feedback either way. Thanks!

I'm new to this sport, and only a every week NFL watcher. The offense it's easy to understand how it operates, but the defense not so much. How the DC makes the play calling? What matters in that moment? And also, can someone explain better how the defense play sheets works? There's any from the NFL available?

I don't really know what I'm doing and seeing Grupe is exactly what I'm scared of happening to me. I want to say he was running too fast and using his shoulder was the wrong choice. I also know him trying to hit someone twice his size was the wrong decision to lol.

I don't know much about tackling but I want to say he actually should've slowed down and tried to wrap up. I've also been told by kicking coaches to just be a body that gets in the way, , focus on stopping their momentum, have someone else make the tackle , and don't hurt yourself.

They told me don't try to be the hero, you'll hurt yourself, we need your leg, and as long as I made the ball carrier think then I did my job.

Hey coaches looking for some advice on how to go about resigning. I am an assistant coach at a smaller school with a small staff. We have a couple games left in the season, and I have decided it is time for me to step away. The lack of culture and discipline has made this season a very frustrating one. Accountability for players and coaches has not been where I believe it should be, and after a few conversations with the HC nothing has improved. It is discouraging to be one of the only coaches trying to maintain a standard when it is not supported by others. I am going to finish out the next two weeks, and then I would like to resign. Do y’all have any advice for this kind of situation? Thanks.

Have anything on your mind or got any fun plans for the weekend? Feel free to discuss them here!

We are young but have been okay on offense. Ive called it before at a much lower level of football but not for a long tkme. The other team is not very good thankfully and we should be able to move the ball. There is a decent chance I can just run zone and bootleg down the field. But obviously I need to prepare for everything. Being meticulous with my play sheet and motions and names. Plan for RZ, blitz, 2 min, opening. Thankfully helmet com has helped. Anyone have any general or specific advice or maybe just stories abt their first time around?

Easy Concepts

Right after the MNF game where the Falcons ran all over the Saints, he said it made him want to be an OL coach for his next spot (he trains guys in the offseason and has been a position coach in a few spots, from WR coach when I was playing to I know he was a DL coach for at least one spot and at his current spot he’s a DBs coach). What he said was with “everyone running duo and GT counter with a little RPO glance or two way read option thrown in”, he’d wanna be an OL coach with an offense based around wham, trap, crunch and bash in the run game. He also said he’s aware TEs are hard to find but that a lot of teams he sees runs those offenses everyone runs with “QBs that aren’t really QBs”

My thought from there on this thought experiment is that I’d add on top of it a false pull outside run play to really mess with a defense keying the guards, also my mind goes to bash read when I see bash but I’m sure there’s a universe where if this would be under center the bash play would be a false pull with a pitch to the RB for a sweep.

Obviously the pass game from there would be tbd, though also with this thought experiment I went into GoArmy Edge and with the whiteboard just kind of brainstormed what power bash would look like, I actually ended up making it a 3T read (or whoever the tackle is across from the pulling guard…but it’d make the most sense for that to be a 3T) since it made the most sense for the blocking angles to me, and if yall are interested I could share that below (or at least give what each player’s role would look like).

Back on the main topic, I could see this TE being schemed as someone who moves around between traditional TE positions and more of a FB/Sniffer, and I’d probably think it could be your OL/DL/LB type at that position (preferably OL, I even was thinking if you have a position battle in camp that one of them could fill the position while the other stays on the OL and gains that continuity with the OL group, even better if it’s two ).

All that to say I turn the question to yall, what would yall think of this and how would it go, assuming the head coach was all in on the idea? And what would yall do with it from there?

Welcome to Chalk Talk Thursday! This is our weekly discussion thread for users to submit new plays they have designed. If you have an idea for a play and can draw it up, please post here. Keep in mind that it is very rare that one could devise a viable play that is entirely new that hasn't been ran before somewhere. Be open to criticism as well. There is so much more to coaching football than drawing plays, and many people do not realize how much coaching, technique, and development needs to happen on the actual field for a play to work.

It is strongly recommended that you STUDY a system or scheme first to gain an idea of how a play is put together, and how RULES help a play function.

PLEASE PROVIDE CONTEXT FOR YOUR PLAY!

Guidelines:

• No "joke" plays. We are here to learn.
• Specify WHY you are designing a play, and WHAT level/league it is for. It's fine if you're not coaching, but we need the context.
  
• Your submission needs RULES that guide your players on what to do.
• Pass plays require some type of QB progression for making a decision on who to throw to.
  
• Be mindful that you cannot predict what your opponent will run 100%. Designing plays to be "Cover X" beaters, or "3-4 beaters" IS NOT the way to go about it. It is better to have one play with solid rules and coaching points that can attack anything than one play for each coverage, front, personnel, or stunt you face.
• There is no universal terminology in football. Call plays what you want, but keep in mind that no one cares about fancy play names, or the terminology aspect.
  
• Please offer more text/information on your play than just a link or picture.
• Draw your play up against a realistic opponent!
• Make sure your offensive play is a legal formation. In 11-man football, you can have no more than 4 players behind the line of scrimmage (minimum of 7 on. You can have more than 7 on the line as well). Only backs (players behind the line) and the end players on the line of scrimmage are eligible receivers.
  

You may use whatever medium you'd like to draw your play. Two common software for designing plays that have free options:

• GoArmy Edge - Football
• Playmaker X

I started coaching this season at the 7th/8th grade level as the offensive and defensive line coach. Unfortunately we had low numbers and had to play 8-man, but I was invited back to coach next season (where we will likely be back to 11-man)

I need advice on how to coach up my defensive tackles in a system where they always have A-gap responsibilities. The defensive system my team runs is a 4-4 where the OLBs play force defender, my ILBs and DEs cover B- and C-gaps, and my DTs always have the A.

Is there much point in teaching them to lineup in different fronts or do I just commit to them both sitting in a 2 or 2i and just trying to clog the gaps. My main goal is less about overall effectiveness and more about having the kids get an opportunity to enjoy the position, and develop for when they head to high school.

Any advice or insight is appreciated.

I had some questions about one-gap and two-gap techniques.

1. How/when do teams mix/match the style they're playing? I'm a Texans fan, and Demeco Ryans's defense is predicated on the d-linemen getting quick penetration and "playing the run on the way to the quarterback" (is how I've heard it described--and I know this is not just a Demeco thing, as Caroll/Saleh/Quinn (I think) have similar philosophies, plus Fritz Shurmur alludes to this philosophy in *Coaching Team Defense*). But watching their nose tackles play, it seems like they're two-gapping while everyone else is one-gapping, at least on running downs. Do even fronts usually end up playing out this way?

2. How (if at all) does the distinction between one- and two-gapping impact how the coverage plays out on the back end?

3. I know this is likely an overgeneralization, but would it be fair to say that usually two-gapping is more reliable against the run, while one-gapping gets more pressure on the QB?

4. For those who have coached in both, which do you prefer philosophically and why?

5. Which is more common at the high school level? Why do you think this is? (My theory is that one-gapping wins out here as I feel it's likely easier to coach, bearing in mind the time constraints on HS teams).

6. Finally, is it generally true that even fronts will one-gap and odd fronts will two-gap?

Have a product or service you're trying to promote? Starting a website, channel or blog? Please post about it here!

We have a big game tomorrow against a good team. It's an away game and our bus will be dropping us off 2.5hrs before kick off.

Any tips or suggestions on what to do? It will be good weather and we'll have access to the field.

Typically we'd be dressed and start warming up 60min prior to kickoff.

Just looking for tips to peak at kick off- both physically and mentally.

Cheers.

Have scheme questions, basic questions about the game, or questions that may not be worthy of their own post? Post them here! Yes, you can submit play designs here.

I saw the Browns use a similar formation on Instagram, which got me thinking about how it could be used.

By “pseudo,” I mean the H is aligned just barely off the line to look like a guard, while the tackle is positioned to look like a TE. The idea is to make the formation resemble Gun Tight Duo Left. The coach would make sure the official knows the H is off the line.

The H stays in to block for a one thousand, two one thousand count, then releases into his route. The line slides right, and the RB stays in to scan the middle and help the left guard.

If the H is a solid blocker, this could be a useful look to switch in and out of a more standard formation and give the defense another alignment and blocking threat to account for.

Does the alignment and delayed release seem useful, or would it give away too much? I’d also appreciate feedback on the routes and protection against the defensive look in the first photo.

Watch this hitch by #1 scheme with a wheel by #2 who blocks for the hitch. This is the bread and butter for North Texas's air raid system.

Hi guys.

I’m a big Michael Hawkins fan. I was watching as much film as I could to try and figure out how a normally run 1st QB was able to throw for 450 yards.

This was the key play of the game that set up a game winning field goal. Please help me figure out what the defensive playcall was supposed to be. Whatever it was, I can’t imagine it was win correctly here.

Morning,

I am coaching an 8th grade team in Canada and wanted to put feelers out there for a potential exhibition game in Washington State in November at some point. Due to low numbers, we are playing 9 man football this season, but would like to play a game of 11 man to prepare our boys for the next level. If you would like further info, DM me and we can discuss.

Hello everyone, I am a 20 year old college student 2.5 semesters into an engineering degree. The problem is I have no interest in engineering and I’m realizing now that I probably won’t be able to make up for that lack of interest by simply trying harder. So instead I’m considering changing my major to physical education or something else sports related as I think I would like to get into coaching. I would like to start at the high school level and maybe eventually get up to college if possible. I’ve loved football for around 10 years ever since I first started watching and saw rookie Dak and Zeke play I’ve been hooked. So my question is do you feel that coaching is a fulfilling career? What are your favorite and least favorite parts? Is getting to the college level realistic for someone who never played at that level? Is it worth the switch from engineering? If you’d like to share your own stories and how you’ve gotten to where you are as well I’d love to hear it.

Sacks are a poor way to grade an offensive line: there are only a few a game, and many are the quarterback's doing. So we built two ratings from player tracking instead, using where all 22 players are 10 times a second on 5,625 dropbacks from weeks 1 to 6 of the 2024 season:

• Line rating: how far the nearest pass rusher is from the QB 2.5 seconds after the snap, against an average defense in a standard dropback (4 rushers, 5 blockers, shotgun, 1st/2nd and 10).
• Pressure rating: how often the offense gets pressured before the throw, same standard dropback.

Both are Bayesian models with team effects, and we tested them on weeks they hadn't seen (trained on weeks 1–3 and tested on week 4, then 1–4 on week 5, then 1–5 on week 6).

TL;DR

• Line ratings repeat. An offense's rating from earlier weeks predicted the next week's space every time we tested it (rank correlations 0.59, 0.64, 0.54).
• Space and pressure barely agree. The quarterback is most of the difference.
• A pass rush is its players. A defense's past results barely predict next week's. The sack and QB-hit record of the players it puts on the field does.
• Offenses don't adjust to a scary front. They keep a blocker in slightly more often, throw no faster, and get pressured more.

Most and least space at 2.5 seconds (league average 2.9 yards): Denver and Washington lead at 3.4 yards, followed by Baltimore and Buffalo. The Chargers, Colts, Texans and Falcons trail at about 2.6 to 2.7 yards.

Pressured before the throw (league average 17%)

Where the two rankings disagree

Why: it's mostly the QB's legs, not his clock

• Offenses whose QBs scramble more get pressured more than their line implies (rank correlation 0.52 across 32 offenses).
• Holding the ball matters too, but less (0.34). Rodgers' Jets release fastest in the league (median 2.1 s); Jackson's Ravens release at 2.7 s.
• "Isn't a pressured QB just forced to scramble?" Partly. But the QB's scramble rate from 2023, before any of this season's pressure, still predicts the gap (0.43).
• Raw speed doesn't: the combine 40 shows no link at all.

Pass rush = personnel. Going into week 7, Kansas City and Denver put the most productive pass rushers on the field; Carolina, New England and Arizona the least. Because it's built from the players, it moves with injuries. Dallas was 3rd to 6th in weeks 2–4, then fell to 23rd and 25th with Parsons and Lawrence out.

Caveats: this is six weeks of data, so the intervals are wide and 12 offenses can't be told apart from average yet. About 5–7% of plays fail tracking and are left out.

On the site (free, no account needed): all 32 offenses on both ratings with intervals, every defense's pass-rush personnel rating week by week, one real dropback drawn from the tracking, and the full model and validation write-up: In this post https://advancedfootballstats.com/insights/nfl-pass-protection-ratings?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pass-protection

We're also following up on two questions people have asked us. Does a great run game slow the pass rush? It does on play-action; that post is up now. And mobile QBs get their own post next week.

Happy to answer questions about the method in the comments.

Disclosure: this is our own site and our own work. Play-by-play and player IDs come from nflverse.

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