Renegade Spread Offence
Renegade Spread Offence
Vol. 1 is
free here. For the next generation of this offensive scheme you need The Renegade
Spread Offense. The Renegade Offense combines all the best ideas and plays from
X-treme Schemes vol. 1 and vol. 2 into a condensed, easy to learn, easy to coach, and
very lethal offense. If you are looking for an offense that can be taught at all levels, that
attacks the entire field, and does not require huge linemen the Renegade Spread is
your offense. Check out more info on the Renegade Spread by clicking here >
Renegade
Introduction
The plays are presented on a conceptual basis because I know that coaches
have their own systems and can adapt any of these plays to their own
formations and schemes. As all coaches know, there is always more than one
way to skin a cat.
The goal of this playbook is to simply present you with some new ideas. You
can take what you want and leave what you do not need. New ideas help to
excite players and coaches. They also help in the advancement of our sport.
As mentioned the plays do not have to be run from the extreme sets that they
are diagrammed in. I have drawn them this way because I feel that certain
spread sets take advantage of the defense in several ways.
Take from this book what you will. I hope you enjoy it and can get some
ideas from it that will help your offensive schemes. X-treme Schemes 2 is the
second book in this series. It covers the passing game from these schemes
including the "Zoom Option" (which is the pass run option), play action (off
the plays in this book), and individual/team routes (including bunch routes as
well as isolation routes). You can purchase X-treme Schemes 2 on
www.BigN2Football.com
Thank You,
Robert B. Babcock
Editor of BigN2Football.com
Getting Started
I understand that all coaches have different ways of getting the job done with
their teams. I am not going to try to change the way anyone coaches.
Coaches know their teams far better than anyone on the outside. However, to
give you an idea of how this system works I will attempt to give you a brief
description of the terminology that I use with this type of offense. I am not
saying that it is the best but I think it will help you understand the scheme
better as well as how we have simplified it over the years.
Each one of our players has a letter assigned to them with the exception of
the offensive linemen. Below is a diagram that shows you the letters.
Assigning letters allows us to put any back in motion as well as flipping the formation
and putting an end in motion. On a wristband Tmo would tell the T-back to go in motion
no matter where he was lined up. We always motion towards the QB unless we include
"away" after the motion which would tell the T-back to motion away from the QB. Fmo
would tell the F-back to motion towards the QB. The Cutterback is called this because
he will motion more than any other back. For this reason when the play just says Mo it
means that the C-back will motion. This shortens a good deal of the plays listed on the
wristbands and makes it much easier for the QB to call in the huddle.
Our backs in general will know where to motion to for certain plays. I have heard some
coaches say that this is too complicated but I can assure you that it is not. If they
already know to motion towards the QB they only have to know where they need to be
when the ball is snapped. Sometimes the QB will tell the back whether he motions
through or not. Motion through means he will motion past the QB and to the other side
of the field prior to the snap.
We do not number back and hole. That is not to say that you could not do it but for us it
made the scheme just to complicated and there were too many conflicts with what we
did. We use a series system because it created fewer conflicts for us in the long run.
Here are some of our series numbers. The evens go to the right and the odds go to the
left but they represent types of plays and not holes.
22-23 Leads
16-17 Options
32-33 QB Leads
48-49 Sweeps
58-59 QB Sweeps
78-79 QB Rollout Passes
The trap plays are the 100 series
JAG Mo 49 Mon Cr
Here are some of the formations for this scheme. I am sure that you could adapt some
of these plays into your offense and your own formations. Also, there is nothing that
says you have to run these plays or these formations from the shotgun.
Jag: This formation has 6yd splits with the Ends. The F-back is in the right slot and the
T-back in the left slot. The C-back (Cutter) is right so he can motion. You will soon see
what advantages we are hoping to get from certain formations. However, it is still hard
to scout us by formation because we do so many things from each one.
Renegade: This is a very good formation for most of the offense. It has a short slot to
the right with the R and the F. On the left you have a trips set. The C is to the left.
Here the L is split wide.
Wide: This is a great formation for motion. This formation is good because it spreads
the field from one sideline to the other while still giving you decent protection with up
to seven blockers up front and eight with motion.
Cobra: Cobra is a very good formation for sweeps to the wing side, counters, power
plays, and cross traps. The inverted twins are great when mixed with motion. We use
the inverted twins and motion for "Shadow" routes. On shadow routes we would snap
the ball when the C-back was even with the split end or the L in the formation drawn.
Reno: Reno is much like Renegade but with a tight end and a halfback to the right.
This formation is very good for the option as well as isolating the C-back for individual
routes.
As you can see we have produced formations to accomplish the things that
we need to get done. However, we can run so many of our plays from each of
these formations that we can mask the real reason we introduced the new
formation to begin with.
These formations were dreamed up to support both the running game and
the passing game. Sometimes it may not be apparent as to why we run a
formation the way we do until you see the passing scheme as well. A decent
running game is important at any level of competition and most of these
formations have been designed to let the offense get a back one on one with
a defender. As mentioned earlier they are also designed to put blockers in
positions that give them advantages over the defenders.
Pass protection is crucial to any team that uses the pass even in its most
basic form. Some of these formations are designed to get skill position players
in positions to not only help with pass protection but also to run delays and
screens. Pass protection will be discussed in detail in X-streme Schemes vol.
2.
X-treme Schemes
Playbook
This is the basis for many other plays. Monster Crack tells the playside to get double
cracks. The R (right end) is split about 6 yards. If there is a threat to the inside that is
within eight yards of the L.O.S. he will crack the defender covering the F (slot). I have
drawn both blocking plans for the R. Here he has the option to block the C or the S.
The F-back will crack the DE and must line up outside of him. If the DE refuses to let
the F-back line up outside him we will run the ball inside of him and can audible to a
play that takes advantage of this.
The C-back needs to be at full speed when the handoff is made. You may think that
this takes too much timing to work out but it just does not. This is not to say that the
timing is not important. Timing is important to this entire scheme but it is not as hard to
obtain as many might think.
Depending on the defensive alignment the blocking scheme is fairly basic. You may
have to adjust it to what certain teams run against you but the formation cuts down the
number of defensive formations that you might encounter. The spread formation limits
the defense by formation, alignment, and reduces blitz options.
The QB will simply handle the snap and hold it out in front of him at handoff level. As
the handoff is being made the QB will swivel in the direction of the handoff then run a
counter to the opposite side. The swivel makes it harder for the defense to know if the
handoff was made or not. On plays where the QB keeps the ball the back making the
handoff fake will slap his elbow or chest to simulate the sound of the ball hitting him.
After the handoff the QB can fake a drop-back pass, QB trap up the middle, or roll
opposite the play. In general I would have him fake either the trap off the backside or
the QB roll. These fakes set up future plays.
The most important part of the play is the timing of the snap. The QB must not only
make sure the motion man is in position but also needs to focus on the ball as it is
being snapped. Here is a diagram of where we try to snap the ball. You may have to
adjust it for the speed of your back and the speed of your snap.
We will snap the ball at this point no matter what formation we are running. We do
motion the motion man through from time to time but on all handoffs or handoff fakes
our snap occurs at this point.
If the QB can not make the handoff, or has miss handled the snap we have him run the
QB blast play to the sweep side because the blocking is identical for that play. This way
we do not waste a play unless the snap goes over the QB’s head.
This is the "Blast" play to the motion side. Here the C-back will lead on the CB or the
first defensive player that does not get sealed. The ball is snapped in the same position
as before. As mentioned before this is also the play that we run if the handoff is missed
on 48 and 49 Monster Crack.
We call this play a Monster Crack because there is no lead blocker on the corner like
there is on the Blast play. You may have to adjust your blocking scheme on defensive
backs because some teams respond to motion in a different way than others.
Jag lft Mo 59 Mon Cr "P"
This is a variant of the crack where you can pull the tackle to the corner. You can give
the linemen an option to pull the tackle or guard depending on which is uncovered. This
is also a good way to deal with the motion blitz (a blitz from the motion side). P is the
letter designated for our left tackle.
The next variant is a basic play with a unique twist. You can see that we have motioned
the T-back to take the handoff but I have also drawn a dummy pull by the Tackle to
keep the defense guessing. You can do this with many of these plays on the backside. I
just threw this in as an example.
One thing to keep in mind with this play is that the T-back did not have near the
distance to cover before the snap that the C-back usually does. The snap must be made
quicker.
Jag lft Mo 48Mon Cr "S"
Plays with pulling linemen take pretty quick tackles. In this case the C-back is moving at
a high rate of speed when he gets the ball so the tackle needs to get out on the corner
as quickly as he can. This also gives the running back an option to cut inside. The fake
of the QB is very important. You may want to fake the QB trap onside, backside, or the
sweep backside. If the QB makes a good fake to the inside the slot may not have to
chip to the onside LB.
This is the basic sweep with a single crack playside. The QB can fake a QB sweep away
(59), a QB trap to the right side (158) to freeze the LB, or a drop back pass. You can
pull the playside T here to get more blocking playside but the LB might key his pull.
This play is great in conjunction with the "Zoom" Option and "C Zoom Go." A QB so
involved with the running game creates problems for the defense when an offense
strikes as quick as this one.
This is a good play if the LBs are over pursuing the sweep.
Here is the slot reverse off the sweep. This variant takes more work. The handoffs are
very quick but also very hard to follow for the defense. Here the C-back motions and
takes the handoff from the QB. The C-back must put the ball in position for his handoff
to the F-back as soon as he has the ball. The F-back needs to make a good pocket and
level the pocket so that the C-back does not have to adjust the height of the ball for the
handoff.
This play is actually a "Monster Blast" play because we use the QB to lead on the
backside corner. We do not call it a blast because our team associates the word "blast"
with the QB sweep. If you do not like the idea of leading your QB on the corner or you
would rather bring him inside on a fake QB trap you can pull your center or guard
(most likely which ever one is uncovered).
Faking the handoff and the reverse with a QB trap or play-action pass is a good twist to
throw at a team late in the season.
This is the same play from a formation that spreads the field even more. If the defense
decides to motion blitz (blitz the man covering the motion man) the QB or the T-back
will have to pick the blitz up. We do not call this play a "Monster Crack" because we do
not have a double crack on the playside.
This play looks very complicated but it really is just a combination of two plays. The 48
reverse play with a "Loop" block. "Loop" means we will pull the Guard to the end man
on the L.O.S. Loop left means we will pull the right Guard to the left. The QB will drop
back to and pump fake to the T-back who is faking a rail route to the left. This will pull
the LB away from the play.
This is one counter to the sweep. You can run it with any motion fake. This is the QB
trap and can be run from all of the formations. It can also be run to the same side the
fake is made on.
At times you will want to motion your motion man completely to the other side before
snapping the ball. This keeps the defense honest and cuts down on motion blitzes. The
QB trap is a good play to run with or without motion. The motion makes the QB trap a
counter to the sweep.
S/T lft Tmo lft 159
This is a 159 QB trap with "motion away" (from the QB). Depending on how teams
respond to motion you may be able to use it to gain an advantage in the running game
just like you can in the passing game.
S/T Mo 131
131 is actually designed as a fullback trap. Here I have drawn it to the C-back. We have
the QB fake the QB trap to the right or drop him to fake the swing route to the left. In
general the QB trap fake is better because it gets the LBs moving and tends to slow
down the safety as he moves to cover the motion man.
The motion man (in this case the C-back) slows his motion before the handoff. If he
does not he will fly past his trap block. When this play is run in conjunction with the QB
trap it looks much like the old cross trap play that has been run for many years from I
and the Splitback formation.
The blocking rule for the trapping "G" is to block the first man on the L.O.S. past the
center.
This is the same play as the last but with the field spread even more. Defenses may try
to pinch the 2techs (DG) if they are in a four-front. If this happens you can have your
playside Guard take his Defensive Guard down and have the pulling G pull to the
defensive end or tackle just like 148 or 149.
Here is the counter to 149 and 131. It is the same QB counter to the sweep. You do not
have to run motion to run this play. The motion is good because it allows you to fake
for the counter but it also pulls a defender back to the formation. You also have to
realize that all these plays have play-action passes to make them even harder stop.
On this play you have two receivers faking quick spot passes while the other receivers
are faking longer routes. It is good to combine some combination routes with these
receivers to get the secondary focused on more than the running game.
These formations also get some players into the secondary that may not be used to
being out there.
Tri Mo 149
148 and 149 are traps using the motion man or a halfback. Here again 158, and play
action are great counters. You could motion C-back, T-back, or F-back to run this play.
This formation is also great to run cluster and bunch routes.
This is a great variant to 149 and the sweep play (48 & 49). The QB will fake to the
motion man (here the F-back) then hand the ball to the T-back (lined up at halfback)
for the trap. We can add the letter T to the end of the play if we need to. This tells the
team the T-back is going to run the trap play. A great pass counter to this play is to
make the fakes then fire a pass to the F-back on a rail routes down the left sideline.
Trips Fmo 158
This play takes a little more time to run but attacks a large portion of the defense and
from many sides. The QB fakes to the motion man for the sweep then fakes 149 trap to
the T-back, and finally runs the QB trap (158).
You will have to adjust the blocking scheme to what the defense is running but you
would not have to trap block these plays if you did not want to. You could adjust them
for your own base run block schemes.
Our Reno formation gives us a tight end but also adds a defensive man to the mix as
well.
Cobra Mo 48 Fly
The "fly" is the basic handoff sweep. It occurs at high speed. From this formation you
can slow the defense’s ability to react by faking the T-back trap (148) after the handoff.
The QB can fake the QB trap (158) or a drop back pass. This Cobra formation is a very
good formation for the passing game and brings a tight end to help block.
The Fly (48 &49) can be run from many sets. You can run it with our without a tight
end. There are times when you can run right past the DE and never have to block him.
As a suggestion I would say that I would not run the fly without a block on the tight
end too often. However, about once a game or so you could run it after you ran the
trap to the inside.
Cobra Mo 48 Cr Arc
This is just a different way of blocking the fly. Here we use the F-back (in the wing) to
crack or seal the DE to the inside. The TE will rocker step just like a pulling G and pull
to the Corner. The ball carrier has the option to stretch it to the sideline or cut up by
reading the block of the end.
This is another good counter to the sweep (48 Crack). This shovel pass uses a trap
block to the left which we call "Loop Left." The QB fakes the handoff, drops two steps,
and pitches the ball forward to the F-back. These are some great play action pass plays
off this look as well. You can see the C-back sitting down behind the outside back for a
pass. If the back clears this pass should be open.
This is a motion to an option play with the "Monster Crack" blocking scheme. The
motion man becomes the pitchman. You may have to adjust your motion if people start
to key the deeper motion that the option requires. You may want to have the motion
man stay at regular depth until the last second before bouncing out for the pitch. He
must stay in pitch relation with the QB. On the backside we have the T-back faking a
screen. Here is a good opportunity for an assistant (in the press box) to check for a
possible play action screen to the backside of this option play. The seal on the DE is
very important. Anything outside the DE should be positive yardage. If the safety is
playing deep you may want the Split End (R) to block the corner.
S/T Fmo 17 Cr
This is the Crack Option from the Super Trips set. We hope to pitch off the defender
covering the left slot (T-back). You do not have to crack down on the DE. At times you
may want to arc release the slot to block a DB and pitch off the DE. Here again play
action & QB traps counter these plays very well.
This is actually a QB trap with our Loop blocking scheme. We fake the option play to
the left and running the QB trap to the left. If something goes wrong (blitz or missed
assignment) we do not want to waste a play so even though we are countering the
option we allow the pitchman to be "hot" that is the QB can run the option if he needs
to. This blocking scheme is much like the blocking scheme of the "Freeze Option" that
many teams have run from I.
S/T Fmo Lp Rt
Here is the QB counter trap off the option play. This play keeps the backside LB honest
and is effective in slowing down the secondary flow to the option and sweep plays. The
QB will take a few steps into the option play then break back for the counter.
Adding the "Zoom Option" (pass run option), play action, and a spread passing attack to
these plays makes the scheme even more lethal. If you have taken some ideas from
this playbook I would encourage you to checkout the other playbook that goes with this
scheme X-treme Schemes volume 2.
It will not take you long to see how play action passes compliment this scheme. I am
sure you have already thought up some good routes off the plays you are interested in. I
am currently working on X-treme Schemes Vol 2 which will cover the passing game off
these plays.
In preparing to run a spread scheme similar to this one your drills do not need to change
much if at all. Fundamentals and techniques are the same wherever football is played. It
may be a case where you just have to do more of a certain type of drill and less of
another.
1. The Shotgun Snap: If you are going to use the shotgun, even a small percentage
of the time, your center must be able make that snap in his sleep. Practice your
center every chance you get. Practice your second and third string center every
chance you get as well.
2. Timing: When you first look at this scheme you may think it looks like it would
take months of work to get the timing down with all the motion and shotgun
snaps. This is really not the case. With that being said I must also add that the
timing of the motion and snap are extremely important and should not be taken
for granted. Just as repetitions in the option game are important reps in this
scheme are paramount to its success. The more reps you get the lower the risk
of fumbles and missed snaps.
3. Communication with the team: Even with simplified terminology it is not hard for
players to get confused especially during a game type situation. After coaching
for several years we sometimes take for granted that our players understand
what we want because they are shaking their heads in agreement as we talk to
them. This is just not always the case. You must make sure that you and your
players are speaking the same language. Here, no matter what vocabulary you
choose, you must practice your communication in a game type environment.
Getting your players to do exactly what you want without letting the other team
know what is going on is not always easy.
4. Polish: If you want to run several formations and several play combinations your
players need to know exactly where to go and exactly what to do when they get
there. In general teams that run spread attack type offenses need to spend more
time in a "team" type of practice environment.
Team Practice- scrimmage type atmosphere with no hitting below the waist.
Team Practice- Full speed to the ball with no one taken down to the ground.
Play Polish Shields- The offense hustles through plays with a defense that stands in
place with hand shields. You can do this with or without full pads.
Play Polish No D- Full speed polish as linemen fire off and go through their steps.
Walk Through- Players walk through blocking schemes against a defense as position
coaches talk through each players responsibilities.
Talk Through- The offense will line up in formations. The coach will talk through each
position’s responsibilities for the play and hypothetical defenses that might be faced
during games. This is good for new plays, audibles, blitz prep, and possible new
defensive fronts.
1. The water snap: Knowing that we may play in rain, at least at some point in the
season, we have one ball that we wet down during certain practice sessions. We
have the center snap it as wet as we can get it. We continue to wet it down
during practice. During the practice we will alternate a dry ball with the wet one
from time to time. This makes the center focus on making good snaps in different
kinds of conditions. Snapping the wet ball also makes the QB and other skill
position people concentrate on working with a wet and heavy ball. We will use
the water snap about once every two weeks.
2. Working centers during individual routes: When we work our backs and receivers
on individual routes we save the medium routes for the end so that we can bring
our centers over from their pass blocking drills to get extra snaps. We do this
during medium routes because the snaps slow down our individual short routes
and the long routes do not get the center enough snaps. Medium routes (10 to 20
yards) provide plenty of snaps.
3. Rolling Thunder Drill: This is the best drill that we designed to work on the timing
of this scheme. Here we utilize our centers, QBs, and skilled players. You may
use this drill for conditioning at the end of practice.
Here we line up our backs in two lines on the cones. The QB will send them in
motion (full speed) then snap the ball and make the handoff to them. The
back will decelerate then toss the ball to the coach so the center does not
have to hesitate before making the next snap. This drill is great for the timing
of the snap and working the high-speed handoffs.
Here we are running the Rolling Thunder Drill and working the reverse
handoffs at the same time. We have our motion man at full speed and taking
the handoff from the QB. After the handoff he hands off to the slot-back
coming back from the other side.
This is the Rolling Thunder Drill working the option. We put a coach at each end so the
QB can make a read off him just like he would a defender in a game. To practice the
option the other direction you would have to lineup the backs on the opposite side. After
the pitch the QB will jog to take a snap from the opposite center.
In Closing
I hope that you were able to get some good ideas from this playbook. I want to repeat
myself by saying that you could run almost any of these plays from many different sets
than the ones displayed in this book. The plays were drawn to extremely spread sets
because I wanted to simplify the blocking scheme as much as possible. I feel the best
way to do that is to get as many defenders away from the ball as possible.
The defenses displayed in the diagrams are just basic alignments. I realize that all
teams will have different alignments and many will develop new ones to try and stop the
new super spread sets that teams are running today. If you choose to run any of these
plays you will have to adjust the blocking scheme to several possibilities. However, the
spread sets also limit the alignment options that the defense has. This is good because
you do not have to prepare for as many sets as normal offenses do.
Many coaches choose to fight the spread offense with the blitz. The good thing is that
you know this going in and can prepare your team for this early in the season. Knowing
that a team will try to blitz you can be an advantage for you as well. As mentioned
before the spread formations also reduce the number of possible blitzers for a blitz
attack.
Keep in mind that this book has concentrated on the motion running game from various
spread sets. You can add much more to the offense with the addition of the play action
passing game as well as the "Zoom Option." As I mentioned before the passing game is
covered in detail in X-treme Schemes 2 and can be purchased on
www.BigN2Football.com . I am currently in the process of completing another X-treme
Scheme series. X-treme Schemes III should be completed by Feb 08. The new book
has everything that coaches have been asking for for many years including
Plays vs. two deep, three deep, and four deep zone secondaries
A condensed version for younger players
Simplified trapping game that has been adjusted to odd and even fronts
Plays to counter the blitz and plays that counter LB reads on traps
Stand alone routes with no motion
2 minute drill playbook from 4 wide and like formations
Wristband options
More Zoom Option (refined)
Tried and true battle tested plays that counter new defensive adjustments for the
spread running game and passing game.
I really think that X-treme Schemes III (The Renegade Spread Offense) will take this
offense to the next level while condensing it and simplifying it. Each new book (5 in all)
has been an evolution of the next in a sport that is ever changing.
I encourage you to email me and tell me what you think of this playbook.
Robert B. Babcock
Email- voc@lvcisp.com
IGWT t 2k2