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Conversion Routes in the Empty Offense - The Pivot and Spacing Concept

by: Mike Kuchar
Senior Writer, American Football Monthly
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Running the empty offense has many advantages; the ability to stretch the field both horizontally and vertically, getting advantageous matchups on the perimeter and opening up run seams in the defense are just a few of them. Yet, many coaches are hesitant when it comes to installing the empty-look variation in their playbooks. Some even feel as if it needs to be an integral part of the offense in order to be run correctly. The fact of the matter is, it doesn’t. Where there is shotgun, there is empty; the adjustment is simply making a substitution for the single back. Most empty teams will even use their 10 personnel (one back, no tight end) structure and line the back up as a slot either way or motion him out on cadence. Whichever way one chooses, there is no better way to make a defense declare their rotation, coverage or front than coming out in a five-wide, no-back set.


A no-huddle, empty team by nature, the University of Central Oklahoma runs all their plays from the sideline where offensive coordinator Jay Wilkinson will wait for the defense to tip their hand before making his final selection. “We’re in empty close to 40 percent of the time, depending on how many first downs we get during the course of the game,” says Wilkinson. “We like to use it to keep a high tempo and get the ball out quicker. Since everything is no-huddle in our system, there is no verbiage. The QB has to come up and make his decision based on coverage. This would be an issue for teams that huddle, but for a no-huddle system it’s never a problem. They can roll safeties, but if there are two high you’ll get quarters or cover two depending on a hard or soft corner. If there is one high safety, now you have to determine whether it is cover three or man. The defense has only one or two checks in empty. You need to decipher it. Once your QB has learned what concept we like out of which coverage, it becomes very easy for him.”

The Spacing Concept
One of those concepts is what Wilkinson refers to as his spacing concept. According to Wilkinson, he will start his teaching progression with a two-man side and a three-man side but he will run some of his spacing concepts out of a 4x1 set just to out leverage the defense (See Diagram 1).


In theory, the two-man side of the formation is where Wilkinson likes to run his quick routes, which include double hitches, double slants or a slant bubble combination that stretches the flat defender. The three-man side is where the spacing route occurs. Wilkinson will double call everything, letting the QB make the pre-snap read on the defense based on coverage and deliver the ball. “It’s hard to roll any coverage against empty and not tip your hand because of the horizontal stretch on the defense,” says Wilkinson. “If your QB is confused on the coverage, he has to read the LBs. If the corner is clouding (squatting), then the LBs will push closer to the run box because they have no flat carry. The underneath guys tip their hands early so we key them. When the QB comes to the line of scrimmage and he scans the two-man side he will try to see if he has a soft corner to throw the hitch right away. If he sees a squat corner in cover two, he now scans to the three-man side which is where our spacing route occurs.”


In concept, the spacing route’s rules don’t change. The furthermost inside receiver (H) runs an arrow route. The number two receiver (Y) will set on the number two defender’s hip and run an option route or shoot, usually breaking inside. The receiver closest to the sideline (Z) will run what Wilkinson calls a mini-curl route and shut it down at 6-7 yards (See Diagram 2).


“The key is to put a three-on-two stretch advantage on the defense,” says Wilkinson. “The QB is looking to throw the shoot/arrow right now. If he sees color (defender) he must run with the shoot/arrow, then his eyes and feet go to the mini-curl route by Z, then the sit route by Y. It’s important that the QB moves defenders with his eyes.”


The QB’s read will change depending on coverage, but in any type of quarters or cover three, the read must be that flat defender. “In three it’s an easy read off the flat defender. If he gets width with the shoot/arrow, the mini-curl should be open. If he drops under the mini-curl, then the shoot/arrow is open.” Because the zones change in cover two, so does the QB’s read progression. “The biggest thing in cover two is keeping the Mike LB in the middle of the field. If we can do that, we are still working three-on-two to the spacing side. We can not allow him to push to our trips side,” says Wilkinson. “If he is in the middle, then we are thinking we are now going to play the mini-curl to the sit route because the roll corner would play the flat and take the shoot/arrow. If the Mike starts to overplay towards the spacing side, then we must attack away from him. Our favorite way to do this is to use double slants on the backside (See Diagram 3).”


Pivot Concept
Would you be interested in installing an offensive scheme that produced a 76.9% completion percentage, averaged 18.5 yards per completion and racked up over twenty yards seven times last season? Chances are you would, just as Villanova did when they integrated the Pivot concept in their empty scheme. “One of the reasons we like running Pivot out of empty, and running empty in general, is we can match up our slot receivers against linebackers or safeties in open space,” said Brian Flinn, the wide receivers coach at Villanova. “Even if teams are in nickel or dime personnel, we still like the match up of our second or third best receiver against their fifth or sixth best defensive back.”


Once Flinn gets the right situation, he’ll run the pivot route concept which gets his better receivers the ball in the open field. “The rules for the receivers are relatively simple. On the snap of the ball, both pivot runners (depending on the call) will depart on a 45-degree angle inside. Their aiming point is 3-4 yards down the field. Once they get to the top of their stem, they will plant off their inside foot and kick their dead leg out flat to the boundary,” said Flinn. At the top of their stem, they will quickly check the quarterback because they are the hot alert on this particular pattern. The dig runner (the receiver adjacent to the pivot) will depart on a vertical stem up to ten yards. At ten yards he will edge break the route flat by kicking his dead leg flat down the line. Once he reads man or zone, he will continue down the edge looking for an open window versus zone or sticking and separating versus man coverage.”


In the X Pivot (See Diagram 4)


out of a 3x2 empty set, the H and Y receivers run the pivot route. The pivot tag, in this case the X, denotes the receiver that is going to run the dig behind the pivot to the call side. Away from the call side the slot receiver runs a skinny post while the Z runs a takeoff route. Now in the Slot Pivot (See Diagram 5),


the slot receiver front side then runs the 10-yard dig over the Y, who still runs the pivot. It’s a simple changeup based on where the play needs to be run. Regardless of the location of the play, it’s the dig receiver that needs to make sure he is a viable option for the QB. “Versus zone we don’t teach that ‘settle and show’ concept where the receiver will stop and show his numbers,” said Flinn. “We try to keep the dig on the run as much as possible so he can advance the ball once he gets it. It’s the QB’s job to throw the dig into an open window.”


At Villanova, Flinn teaches his QBs to use a combination of movement key and progression reads. Whether the Wildcats are running the Pivot to the field or boundary, the routes will build a triangle with a dig high and two pivots down below. The movement key – which depends on coverage – will tell the QB where to go with the ball in the triangle. “For all Pivots, the movement key is the defender over the slot to the call side. If this defender zone-drops out at the snap, the quarterback will throw the ball to his number one read in the progression – the call-side pivot,” said Flinn. “Versus a spot-dropping team we will take this throw early in game and on normal downs as much as they want to give it to us.”


“If the movement key runs out with the callside pivot, the quarterback will immediately go to his number two read in the progression – the dig. Once that movement key runs out of the dig window, the quarterback should replace him by throwing the dig inside. Whether it’s man or zone, the dig should come open if all involved are reading coverage correctly. If both number one and two in the progression are covered, that means any additional defender has moved to the call side. The great thing about empty formations is that they allow us to quickly outnumber defenders in the underneath zones. The quarterback knows that if both the call side pivot and dig are covered, he should be able to work back to read number three is his progression – the pivot away from the call side.”


Every coach has to make decisions about when to call certain plays, but to Flinn and the Villanova staff, any time is a good one to run the Pivot. “When we first started running Pivot it was primarily a long yardage or cover two call because you can high-low the underneath defender to the call/dig side,” said Flinn. “Now we’re at the point where we can run it just as much on normal downs and verses man and bail coverage. It has become one of the primary patterns that we run. So many of our players have become comfortable with it and our QB sees it well too.”






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