Wyoming's packaged plays: Nike COY clinic

It's the offseason, so that means one thing for any self-respecting coach: clinics. I spent March 1st and 2nd in Portland at the Nike Coach of the Year clinic. This is the largest clinic on the West Coast and quite frankly the only option for West Coast coaches. This is my third year at this clinic and this year was the best by far. Some great talks with some great coaches, both at the college and high school level, and I learned a ton. As such, I thought I would write about each session here. I will start with a presentation by Wyoming HC Dave Christensen and do another one every few days or so.

Going into this presentation, I was excited. Not for the topic, which was "Wyoming Offense", but because coach Christensen had well-publicized breakdown against Air Force last season, and I was curious to see what kind of person he is. Wyoming is certainly not known as a juggernaut, but has snagged a couple of bowl wins over the last few years and is an up and coming program.

You like packaged plays, flyboy?

Typically, college coaches are known for either speaking generically about their philosophy of football or sharing a very basic X and O's concept. These presentations are worth attending, but aren't usually the best of the weekend. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to see an excellent presentation from coach Christensen. He showed several packaged plays that had simple reads but still put a lot stress on defenses.

The main principle for these packaged plays is counting the men "in the box". This is simple arithmetic. With four wide receivers, defenses must commit at least four men to cover each receiver. If the defense wants to keep two high safeties, that means, with basic math, there are only five men in the box. Now, with one high safety, the defense can have six in the box. The QB must identify if there is one or two high safeties in order for these plays to be run properly.

Take Wyoming's zone read. They call it Cow. It's a typical inside zone play. If there is one high safety, that means six in the box, and the Cowboys will read the backside defensive end. If there are five men in the box, they will block the backside defensive end, as now it's five offensive linemen vs. five box defenders. Christensen said Wyoming's running game must establish a psychological advantage over an opponent, and Cow is the building block for that advantage.

Cow's close counterpart is Elk. Elk is Cow, but packaged with a bubble screen. Again, this is relatively common, but the read is a bit different. In Elk, much like Cow, the Cowboys will block five defenders with five offensive linemen. With two high safeties, the QB looks directly at the Mike LB. Post-snap, if the Mike takes even one step towards the trips side, the QB hands off the ball. If the Mike steps towards the line of scrimmage, the QB throws the bubble.

QB reads Mike

The next logical progression is play action. Now, this isn't a packaged play, but I liked the read and how it put the safety in conflict. This play complements Cow and Elk, and it is called the Wave concept. Wave is a shot play, looking for a touchdown. As usual, the safeties are the key, and the QB reads the concept side safety. If the safety gets depth at the snap, then the wheel should be open, as he will cover the post. If the safety stays flat to cover the wheel, then the post is open. The read is post to wheel to bubble to dig. If all  else fails, QB can check down to the feature back.

QB reads concept-side safety

Wyoming also had an intriguing no back empty series. The first concept is called Buffalo. If the QB reads two high safeties (five in box), run the inside zone with the QB as the runner. If the QB reads one high safety (six in box) means throw the bubble. No high safeties, or Cover 0, is usually a big blitz, and the Cowboys will run inside zone with the QB.

Two high safeties (five in box), QB runs the ball

One high safety (six in box), QB throws the bubble

The second concept was more of a principle than an actual play. The main thing I took away was naming how the passing game was structured. In this empty package, the trips side is the concept side, while the doubles side is the blitz side. The concept side is usually a longer developing route that can beat multiple coverages. In Wyoming's particular example, it was an option route by the Y receiver in the trips side. Z runs a rip release inside and gets up the field. X runs a drop out route, where he can run deep or stop on the sideline. That's the concept side. The blitz side is a route that is thrown if the defense shows pressure. It can be a rub route, double slants, etc. Anything that is a quick blitz beater. So the QB must identify presnap if the defense is bringing a blitz or not. If yes, look to the blitz side. If no, look to the concept side.

QB reads Mike, Y is free to get open

A lot of defenses will check to a blitz on empty, and the concept side and blitz side principle is a great way to attack teams that want to blitz in empty.

Now, I am sure that several of you coaches have heard of these plays before. And if coach Christensen is sharing them, they certainly aren't top secret. However, these concepts were new to me and we can implement these now at the freshman football level.

One final thought on these plays: every packaged play here uses one blocking scheme, the inside zone. There is almost infinite variety on what you can do as an offensive coach with the packaged plays concept. Be imaginative and think how you can put the defense in conflict.

Great ideas all around. That's why I love this clinic!

Have a blessed day, and make sure to follow me on twitter @coach_jphillips. Go Colts!