Running
Wild
If
there is an overarching philosophy to running the Wild Bunch, it is to throw it
where they ain't, and to influence where they ain't through formation, motion,
and deception. That said, this
isn't a wild-eyed deep passing attack -- at least, that's not all it is.
The ball-control pass is as central to the Wild Bunch as it is to the WCO,
while retaining the simplicity and the built-in deep threat of the R&S.
Starting
with the basic threat which Seam represents (and we will come back to Seam
frequently to test the deep defenders), we complicate matters with Cross, and
even further with Switch. Cross
places short inside pass defenders in a bind, since we have removed the outside
deep defenders from the equation after establishing Seam. Switch drives the Bunch-side cornerback and safety deep,
after which we throw the Choice route to H.
One slip on the part of the deep backs, meanwhile, and we score six.
Go
reminds defenders that the Bunch is not the only threat to this offense, and
practically constitutes a pass offense in itself -- there have been games where
our offense has literally turned into "Go, Go, Go!"
An excellent ball-control pass against any coverage, it is also a great
blitz-beater, since our QB is conditioned to look for H breaking outside in a
hurry against Cover 0. Slide also puts great pressure on the flat defender by
creating R&S Trips and stretching the secondary in two dimensions.
Mesh
is in many ways the ultimate Bunch route. There
are too many ways to beat man and zone coverages with Mesh, and that's before we
start responding to coverage adjustments with different tags for our three
Bunched receivers and X on the backside. Triangle
is certainly a great Red Zone package, but is also a very versatile 3rd and
medium-to-long route. Starting H's
Fade from behind Z can give him that all-important extra step on a man defender
at the snap, while both Y's Option and Z's Whip Read are excellent go-to routes
against zone coverage. (When we run
Trap with Bunch motion, we snap the ball when H passes behind Z, to convince the
defense we're throwing Triangle.) If
Mesh, Triangle and Switch get defenses creeping toward the Bunch side before the
snap, we will come right back to attack the Spread side with Smash, Over, and
especially Option Screen. For that
matter, with our best and fastest receiver at X, we will test the backside
defenders regularly from Mesh, Switch and Triangle, as well.
"Spread them out and test them" is another way to state the
Wild Bunch credo.
For
anyone concerned that an offense with "only" 16-18 plays can't provide
enough versatility to combat today's defenses, it should be obvious that, with a
reactive passing offense, numbers can deceive.
We adjust one or more routes in all of our route packages depending on
coverage, giving three or four different "looks" from the same
package. If you multiply coverage
adjustments by route packages, then add running plays, you'll see that the Wild
Bunch actually consists of about 45 plays -- respectable by any standard.
This is why we run from one formation -- to give enough time in practice
to perfect the adjustments called for in running "only" 16-18 plays.
The
running game is no afterthought. We
spread the defense as much to create holes for FB, H and Z as to open passing
lanes for our QB. Glenn
"Tiger" Ellison's original R&S offense consisted of four running
series and only one passing series, since he calculated that running nine
against six in the box - after forcing the defense to spread to cover his
formation - was good odds by anyone's reckoning. The Fly Sweep series provides a mechanism for getting outside
with speed while maintaining the same motion that we use to create the Bunch or
R&S Trips, so the Sweep appears to be a pass play until the ball is snapped.
The FB Dive creates a complementary inside threat, while the Bootleg
reduces backside pursuit and brings the QB outside of containment, often with
single coverage on the backside receiver. This
is basically the same series Coach Manny Matsakis ran from his
"Sting-and-Shoot" at Emporia State during the mid-90's with such
devastating effect.
The
rest of the ground game consists of FB plays between the tackles, and most can
be run with or without motion - Bunch motion or Spread motion, in several
cases, to prevent the defense from anticipating Go, Slide or Draw when we motion
to Spread. Once defenses start
reacting to our ball-control passes to the flats (notably Go, Mesh, and Switch)
as well as the wide running threat of Sweep, we add a new dimension to our
attack -- the more they spread out
to cover the outside game, the more we pound it inside with Trap, Zone, Counter
and Dive. Against Cover 0 and/or on
3rd and long, we can also execute much of our inside game (Zone, Trap and
Counter) from Swap, with devastating results when we pick up the blitz.
Consider
the Wild Bunch from the defensive point of view. When we line up at the LOS, the defense must be prepared for:
¨
100 Seam,
101 Cross, 202 Smash, or Trap, Zone or Counter, without motion.
¨
H starting
in motion, followed by:
-
21 Sweep,
33 Dive, or 333 Bootleg;
-
124
Mesh, 225 Triangle, 126 Switch or 335 Over;
-
Trap (or,
from Swap, Zone or Counter).
¨
Z starting
in motion, followed by:
-
49 Sweep or
37 Dive (we can easily install a 337 Bootleg);
-
113 Go, 117
Slide, or 38 Draw;
-
Trap, Zone
or Counter.
Neither
when we come up to the LOS, nor after we send a receiver in motion, can the
defense over-commit to stop a particular threat.
The
Wild Bunch makes life particularly hard for certain defenders.
Y's flexed split complicates defending the Sweep and Counter, and the OLB
or Nickel back over him will be repeatedly humiliated if he can’t
simultaneously cover the flat. That defender is in no position to rush the passer, either.
We will test his mettle early and often.
If he doesn’t follow our Y end out to his flexed position, we will
throw dump passes to Y all day long, right over that defender's head.
Life
is no better for the deep safety against the Wild Bunch.
Run support is out of the question against this gonzo offense, where four
deep receivers are waiting to embarrass him on every play.
We have seen deep safeties line up further and further back on every down
as they attempted to cover the deep routes, which only opens up the crossing and
flat routes even more. Safeties
assigned a line gap to fill against us soon find they have other priorities --
like not getting burned deep.
A
quick word about Cover 4 ("quarters") coverage.
We love to see it, especially on a fast field where we can make our cuts
quick and hard. We'll run patterns that threaten deep and bring people in
underneath, like Mesh and Switch; we'll throw Cross all day long against Cover 4
teams that leave one man to cover the short middle; and we'll come back with Go,
where H cuts his Shoot up and inside the flat defender who is desperate to gain
width against our Spread side.
The
zone blitz has also proven vulnerable to the Wild Bunch.
We can run a pure R&S solution, calling Go against teams that try to
zone blitz us. We will
pre-determine a Cover 0 read, with a quick throw in the cards to H or (less
often) Z. If we have a Bunch route
called, QB can call out "Swap! Swap!"
and run the identical play, but with Y staying in to block backside.
There is even a "Max" call available to keep 8 in blocking (H
motions to behind BT, then blocks the end rusher) while we run 2-man Bunch
patterns. We have rarely felt the
need to use Max, though -- we have found spreading and throwing to be the best
solution to blitz and pressure defenses. Nothing
dampens enthusiasm for blitzing like lots of points on the board, we always say.
I
believe the Wild Bunch shares with the Davis R&S the distinction as a great
equalizer for teams with limited offensive ability. As June Jones has proved once again at Hawaii, (and Davis
established at Portland State), this offense allows kids to play who could never
hope to start in more conventional schemes. There is a place here for "Smurf"-type receivers,
and big lanky pass-catching kids, and tight ends and halfbacks with hands, and
fullbacks who live to block and run for the tough yards inside.
The running quarterback, who might otherwise feature in a sprint-out or
option attack, will appreciate the R&S route packages and the way the Bunch
brings receivers closer to him for easier throws.
The Elway-style mad bomber will enjoy throwing through rubs and the ease
with which he can read and isolate defenders.
This
is only the bare bones of the offense. I
have a PowerPoint presentation that diagrams the plays against Cover 3/2/1/0 and
gives more detail on blocking and play execution, which I'll be happy to e-mail
to interested parties (blocking assignments and other information are on the
Notes pages). Contact me at seayee@hotmail.com.
I would also refer readers to two essential texts, the Coverdale and
Robinson book mentioned on Page 5, and Al Black's Coaching Run-and-Shoot
Football (Haworth, NJ: Harding
Press, 1991), for the mechanics of the Bunch and R&S passing and running
games. We are not particularly
fussy about the technique of quarterback drop that we employ -- either Davis'
system (3-5 steps on the throwing arm side, 4-6 steps on the other) or the more
common practice of dividing passes into 3 steps, 5 quick steps, 5 big steps, 7
steps, etc. Our bias, though, is
always toward simplicity, which brings us back to Mouse Davis' brilliantly
original system whenever we find ourselves getting too complicated.
Black's book does an excellent (and appropriately brief) job of
describing the Davis method.
As
a final note, I should point out that we like to carry about 18 plays at a time
in our arsenal, but this is always subject to change without notice, especially
in response to personnel changes. For
example, we can run the Fly Sweep to either Spread or Bunch or both, depending
on which part of our pass offense we're emphasizing. Some years we'll run Slide and Go patterns from our R&S
repertoire, other years only Go -- and this will affect the direction in which
we run the Fly series. The offense
is hugely adaptable. The bottom
line is that I believe the Wild Bunch will give you the tools you need to win.