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AFM Magazine

AFM Magazine


The Pistol Offense - Part I

by: Mike Kuchar
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Without uncertainty, two of the most popular schemes in high school and college football today are the inside/outside zone play and the play action that results from it. Imagine the offensive productivity you’d have by being able to combine those two concepts while adding an element of misdirection? It’s exactly this kind of productivity that Chris Ault, head coach at Nevada, is having with the Wolf Pack since converting from an “I” formation to his own invention, the Pistol offense.

After the 2004 season, Ault decided he needed to establish more of a run game to compete in the pass-happy Western Athletic Conference. But instead of installing the traditional zone and gap schemes most teams were running, he wanted to come up with something a little more innovative. So along came the Pistol, a spread shotgun hybrid, and with it two straight seasons finishing in the top third nationally in rushing offense. The Wolf Pack tied for the WAC championship in 2005 with a 9-3 record, while averaging 200 yards rushing per game and just ended 2006 averaging 170 yards per game on the ground en route to a 8-5 record, good for third in the WAC.

The idea behind many effective offenses is to do as many different things before the snap as possible to confuse the defense. But once the ball is snapped, keep everything simple for the players. This is exactly what Ault had in mind when designing the Pistol scheme. He wanted to keep the philosophy of a hard nosed downhill running attack and mesh it with misdirection. Too many offenses like the Wing-T, although they provide misdirection, focus on players running east and west and not north to south. Ault figured he needed to devise something that would be the best of both worlds.

“After that 2004 season I wanted to do something different in our running game. I figured if we could get the ball to our back faster, instead of the traditional seven yards as in “I” formations, he could make a choice to cut back quicker on zone schemes,” said Ault. But as with any good idea it didn’t come without opposition. “When I first introduced it to my staff they thought I was nuts.” Yet his eccentricity has enabled teams like Florida, SMU, Purdue, Oregon, D-III runner-up Wisconsin- Whitewater and the British Columbia Lions- who won the Grey Cup in the CFL this past season – to use some form of the Pistol. In this, our first installment of the Pistol offense, we’ll take a look at some general concepts that make it effective as well as the Pistol’s three top running plays.

The Concept

The Pistol offense is somewhat of an off-spring from the traditional “I” set, except Nevada does not use a fullback. The Wolf Pack operate mainly out of spread, three wide sets but instead their QB lines up four yards directly behind the center in a shotgun formation. The tailback lines up three yards directly, yes, directly behind the QB (See Diagram 1). The halfback’s alignment is key to making the Pistol work, mainly because it gives the defense fits. “The back is hidden; he’s completely concealed by our quarterback. When you have the traditional I back teams where the back is at seven yards it’s a lot easier for those linebackers to key him. The beauty of the offense is that if you’re an I formation team like we were before we converted, it fits into the same schemes that you were running. You just get the ball to that back sooner on run plays,” said Ault.

Diagram 1: Basic Set

According to Ault, in order to run the pistol, the two most important personnel are the quarterback and the center and their exchange. Although this may seem obvious, because the Pistol’s snap is a yard shorter than traditional shotgun snaps at four yards, it’s vital to making the offense click. So vital that when the rest of the team is working on their flex/stretch period before practice, every center and QB in the Nevada program work on their snaps for twenty minutes. “The snap was my biggest concern when we first implemented this offense,” says Ault. “With it being four yards, it takes a quicker reaction time for the QB which is why you need someone with outstanding athletic ability behind the center. He needs to make the moves and the fakes quickly. Much of it in the beginning became trial and error for us.” Originally more error than trial, as in 2004 spring practice, more snaps hit the turf than the quarterback. But since then, the Wolf Pack have been nearly flawless; there have been only two missed snaps in the last two seasons.

The Run Game

Offensive coordinator Chris Klenakis emphasizes constant movement before the snap in order to generate offensive productivity. He’ll go into any game with up to thirty different formations in the Wolf Pack package, and chances are he’ll get to use most of them before the game is over. So, with all that stress on formation defenses, Klenakis keeps the schemes simple, emphasizing three main run plays: the inside zone, the outside zone and the horn play.

Slice (The Inside Zone)

As with any zone scheme, the key is the patience of the running back to see potential cutback lanes. The slice play (See Diagram 2) is what the Nevada offense hangs its hat on; one that they will run up to fifteen times a game. “The advantage that the Pistol has is that the ball gets to the back much faster. He has a chance to make a decision quicker for cutbacks on zone schemes,” said Klenakis. In the slice play, Klenakis emphasizes vertical push for the offensive linemen. He wants at least two to three double teams at the point of attack. “All linemen keep their shoulders square and take a six inch lateral step to stretch the front. What they need to make sure of is that second step, which should be splitting the crotch of their target, gets down in a hurry. We focus on moving the down man first, before we’re concerned about getting to backers. We won’t worry about linebackers until we get to their level. That’s how we communicate it. We want to come to them, we don’t want them coming to us,” said Klenakis. The term slice talks to the tight end, who will shift back off the line of scrimmage as a wing and on the snap jet in front of the QB to secure the backside C gap.

Diagram 2: The Inside Zone Play

As far as the backfield action goes, the QB, upon securing the snap, opens playside at either seven or four o’clock depending on the direction, and gets the ball as deep to the back as possible while continuing opposite on his boot path. Since the Pistol emphasis is a quick misdirection in the play action pass game, which we will cover next issue, the tailback is responsible for the mesh with the QB. “Unlike traditional offenses when the back will take lateral steps before attacking downhill, the Pistol gets the back downhill in a hurry. The back just takes one lateral step to the playside and gets moving. He pushes to the inside leg of the tackle and reads the first down lineman past the center playside. It has the opportunity to be cut back all the way to the backside B gap. The slice is our bread and butter play. It’s our baby,” says Klenakis.

Stretch (The Outside Zone)

In order to stop the cutback lanes produced by the slice play, defenses will start to bring inside pressure in the form of D-line twists and linebacker stunts. In order to get the ball outside in a hurry, and away from all the congestion, Klenakis will run the outside zone scheme. Like most teams, Nevada will use motions by backside receivers in order to get an extra blocker on the edge. When he’s not going to motion anyone, Klenakis will run the stretch scheme out of a trips formation (See Diagram 3) with the tight end playside. Not only does this cause match up problems to the trips side in the pass game, it gives the offense a numbers advantage in the run game, when teams overplay the trips.

Diagram 3: The Outside Zone Play

The difference is when most teams run the outside zone, the back will read the block on the EMLOS (End Man on Line of Scrimmage). Nevada keys one man tighter, usually the 5-technique end to the tight end side. Klenakis figures the tight end will never get that outside backer reached, especially at his level of play, so the backs’ eyes go right to that 5-tech. Every covered linemen focuses on what Klenakis calls working “half the man”; that is aiming to get their helmet on the outside number of their target. Each uncovered linemen takes a deep bucket step to gain leverage and aims to take the next adjacent lineman over by getting to the ear hole of the defender. The back makes one cut and gets through the hole. “Patience to, speed thru” is how Klenakis preaches it. “The ball gets to the back much faster,” said Klenakis. “You don’t have to wait for the QB to open up and reach the ball deep like you see so many other teams do. He gets the snap and bam, he’s right there. The back takes an open step, crosses over and he’s off.”

Horn (Instant Misdirection)

For an element of misdirection in the Pistol, Nevada will run what they call the horn play (See Diagram 4). The play is always run to the tight end side in the Wolf Pack’s spread set. On the snap, the horn play looks much like any misdirection such as counter or power O where you are getting a gap down scheme to the playside. The TE’s rule is gap to backer. He’ll come down hard and seal any pressure off in the C gap. The frontside tackle will pull and either kick or log the 9-technique backer, or force player off the line of scrimmage. “We want that player kicked out to open up a seam,” says Klenakis. “But the tackle will read hips. If the hip closes, he’ll log him and the ball will come outside.” The frontside guard and center will execute what Klenakis calls a fold scheme doing essentially what the tackle and tight end did. The guard will block down as the center pulls up for the fronted backer. The backside of the play runs what Nevada calls R-R Cut, meaning Reach, Rip Cut. They are taking aggressive bucket steps and ripping hard to get to the next adjacent defender’s inside number, causing a wall off backside from the play, eliminating penetration. If they can’t get their responsibilities reached, they will cut.

Diagram 4: The Horn Play

As soon as the QB gets the Pistol snap, he reverse pivots by opening opposite the call in order to hold the weakside defensive end. The back will slide two steps backside and then come back for the ball. His aiming point is the frontside guard. “We need to slide step the back in order to mesh up the frontside of the play. The center becomes the second puller in the play looking to seal off any backside pursuit. It meshes perfectly with the zone because if those backers are reading backs, which they usually are, they have to freeze for a second while the tailback side steps. It’s not like a counter or power O because we don’t pull anyone backside so those backers start flying over the top,” said Klenakis.

According to Klenakis and Ault, if you’re undersized up front, the Pistol could be a formidable scheme to counter lack of size. “We always joke that we play with five guards across the board,” says Ault. “But our philosophy is if they stuff us we won’t back off.” In this offense you have a great opportunity to move linebackers and linemen and provide a great advantage in the play action pass game. To get those advantages, the Nevada staff believes you must be committed solely to running the scheme instead of using it just in chance situations. You need to rep the QB/Center exchange as much as possible. “It’s not a part time deal,” says Klenakis. “We’re never under center, unless at the goal line. It’s got to be innovative enough where teams don’t see it all the time and they have to spend the entire game week preparing for it. The Pistol is not a phase. It’s a philosophy.”


THE PISTOL OFFENSE - THE BLUE VALLEY WAY

Steve Rampy is the Head Coach at Blue Valley High School in Stilwell, KS. His teams have won three state titles with the Shotgun offense. Last fall he changed to the ‘Pistol’ and his offense exploded. Blue Valley won their fourth state title and, in the process, led all high schools in the state of Kansas in total points scored: 594 in 13 games or 46 per game.

“Using the Pistol really helped our offense,” said Rampy. “We improved our total offense from the year before by nearly 1,000 yards and averaged 435 yards a game. That, plus our scoring average also increased significantly.” Blue Valley has become the premier high school program in the country that runs the Pistol offense.

Rampy, in installing the Pistol offense, made a few adjustments. In reviewing the offense, he did not see a zone read play in its arsenal. “We felt the zone read play would really add to our offense,” said Rampy. “We worked with our quarterback and fullback in terms of timing and footwork and it gave us great options. The quarterback had always opened up to the playside but in the zone read, he moves or fakes to the other side, reading the defensive end. The tailback also steps to the weak side before countering and gives our offense many options. With the zone read play we had the ability to attack in a number of areas and really spread the field. It was important to work on the steps, timing, and faking to make it effective.

“A few subtleties in the Pistol alignment also forced defenses we faced to be balanced. If we had a split or tight end alignment, teams knew they couldn’t overload on the strong side. This gave us a great advantage. We could be effective with a play like the bubble screen in spreading the field from the tight end to the split side. It also forced defenses we faced to be less aggressive. Our opponent had a spy on our QB but if the tailback lined up differently, it confused our competition.

“The configuration of the Pistol also enabled our tailback to run downhill which was a big advantage. The alignment of the offense gave him various angles to run from that helped our offense’s productivity.” Last fall's team was led by Zach Rampy, the coach's son and Blue Valley's quarterback.






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