12/7/2020 USA Football

Running muddle huddle as a two-minute offense

JOHN FIORE

https://usafootball.com/coaches-notes/view/5206/running-muddle-huddle-as-a-two-minute-offense 1/7
12/7/2020 USA Football

I have spoken at various clinics all over the country, and two of my favorite topics have been
muddle huddle and two-minute offense, so it only made sense to merge the two concepts.

Two-minute offense

Throughout my career as a head coach and play caller, I have found that the first play of the two-
minute drive is the most important. I am always looking to call a high-percentage play that can
stop the clock by either getting a first down or getting out of bounds.

In muddle huddle, I usually call a run-pass option to the four-on-four side of the formation. In the
last seven years, we have had 98 opportunities to utilize our two-minute offense, and we have
been successful 91 of those times. In the 91 successes, we had a failed first play just three times. In
the seven failures, we had a failed first play six times. If you have success on the first play, it
usually calms your team down and starts to put pressure on your opponent.

The second aspect of our two-minute offense is automatic calls. You need to have a run and a pass
automatic that can be run from multiple formations. You also need an automatic to stop the clock.
These need to be done at an extremely high tempo (ball snapped within two seconds of the ready
for play signal).

The third aspect is tempo. Two-minute offense by nature is up-tempo. How are you going to get the
desired tempo to be successful? Hand signals, wristbands, signs or verbal’s?

We are a fast-paced offense in our normal pace of play, so tempo has never been an issue and is
practiced all the time. If that is not your offensive philosophy, you will need to practice tempo as
well as the situation.

https://usafootball.com/coaches-notes/view/5206/running-muddle-huddle-as-a-two-minute-offense 2/7
12/7/2020 USA Football

The last aspect we practice is the situation/result. During the regular season at Montclair, we
practice two-minute drill once a week for five to seven minutes. During camp, we dedicate one full
offensive practice to two-minute offense in which we install our two-minute tempo, philosophy and
package. We start every two-minute drill with how much time is left, the number of timeouts that
we have left and our goal (field goal or TD). We remind them that in high school the clock stops on
incomplete passes, getting out of bounds, defensive penalties and (temporarily) on a first down.

Muddle huddle

Muddle huddle has been one of my “pride and joy” packages since I became a head coach. I felt
that I couldn’t always take a team on 11-on-11, but that I was as good as anyone 4-on-4. It started
out as a two-point option, then I used it as a third- and fourth-down option. We started to have
success in these situations, so we expanded it to a full offensive package.

Some of our basic philosophies about muddle huddle are:

Looking for a numbers advantage to determine which play we will call

Getting our best four playmakers on the four-man side of the formation
Have an RPO on as many plays as possible
Be able to run our base motions and shifts from muddle huddle
Be able to run our regular offense from this formation
Have at least two trick plays from this formation

We practice muddle huddle three times a week in our normal practice plan. On Tuesdays, we
practice our two-point plays for that week (usually four used every week and one new per team).
This is done as part of our 10-minute PAT/FG period.

Throughout my career, I noticed as a play caller and offensive coordinator that most defensive
coordinators have one check they work on for the muddle huddle. Since they usually only see it in
a kicking situation, they usually check to an automatic that has a man concept in the secondary.

If I told you as a play caller that the defense wasn’t going to blitz and play a man concept, you
would sign up for that in any two-minute situation. The muddle huddle allowed us to get our best
wide receiver or running back in a desirable match up without any help. If we are outclassed in the
front seven, the muddle huddle formation neutralized the opponent’s advantage in this area,
allowing us to play four-on-four football.

We are guaranteed a one-on-one shot to the outside receiver to the right (right-handed long
snapper). Our left side becomes an option when defenses overplay the four-player side. We can
run all our pass concepts from this formation (three-step, five-step and sprint out). Every sprintout
pass becomes an RPO near the sideline, which puts the playside corner in a real bind. Our base
play to the four-players side is an RPO in a sense.

We have a center with an eligible number, QB, H-back and receiver to the four players side. Ten to
12 yards left of the center we have our offensive linemen, running back, tight end. This creates a
numbers advantage one way or another (you can see our base play diagrammed below).

Muddle Huddle 1

https://usafootball.com/coaches-notes/view/5206/running-muddle-huddle-as-a-two-minute-offense 3/7
12/7/2020 USA Football

QB: Playmaker, doesn’t have to have great speed, but it helps. Must be fast thinker and
fearless.
Center: Smart, good hands and spatial awareness.
Personal Protector: Team player, smart, good hands, good blocker and spatial awareness.
X: Good leaper, good hands and spatial awareness.

Alignment as an offense

Center: Eligible No., over the ball.

QB: Heels 7-10 yards.
FB: 4 yards deep offset away from swinging gate.
TB: Behind swinging gate, 2 yards deep, between the 2nd and 3rd offensive lineman nearest
the center.
WR: Opposite the swinging gate, off the ball and usually on the numbers.
TE: End of the swinging gate, near the sideline.
OL: 5 players, 50-79.
No Kicker

Our base play for the two-point conversion and our offensive play to the right are identical except
for the Z. Our Z runs a slant corner on a two-point play and a Go route as the offensive base play.

Muddle huddle 1 - “right”

https://usafootball.com/coaches-notes/view/5206/running-muddle-huddle-as-a-two-minute-offense 4/7
12/7/2020 USA Football

The QB attacks the pylon full speed, ready to throw. X runs corner route, H reach defender on (run
the hump) and finds open hole. Y snaps then reaches (if necessary) and find open hole. Z runs to
goalpost. TB shallow cross to open hole.

The QB’s progression is:

Run it in
X in the back corner
H or Y in the open hole
Z or tail back in the open hole.

The key is always being aware of where pressure is coming from and to throw at pressure.

As you can see, this is a true RPO and you never have to worry about an illegal player downfield.
There are many different offenses you can run from this formation. We run our vertical passing
game jet sweep series and a bunch of trick plays from this formation. We also use variations of the
muddle huddle such as muddle middle.

Muddle huddle 2

https://usafootball.com/coaches-notes/view/5206/running-muddle-huddle-as-a-two-minute-offense 5/7
12/7/2020 USA Football

Here, we have alignment changes from muddle huddle No. 1 but responsibilities do not alter.

Tags
Two-Minute Offense (/coaches-notes/browse/tag/two-minute-offense)
RPO (/coaches-notes/browse/tag/rpo)
Play calling (/coaches-notes/browse/tag/play-calling)
Two Point Conversions (/coaches-notes/browse/tag/two-point-conversions)
Coach Philsophy (/coaches-notes/browse/tag/coach-philsophy)

https://usafootball.com/coaches-notes/view/5206/running-muddle-huddle-as-a-two-minute-offense 6/7
12/7/2020 USA Football

https://usafootball.com/coaches-notes/view/5206/running-muddle-huddle-as-a-two-minute-offense 7/7