There are no speed limits on the road to championships. The faster we play the game the higher probability of great things happening. The success of our offense is imbedded in the foundation of our no-huddle attack. The speeds at which we play and the lengthening of 60 minutes only enhances our ability to win football games. At North Carolina Wesleyan, we utilize four different tempos throughout the course of a season, each producing a changing speed and another deception for opponents to prepare for.
Base Tempo
In our base tempo, we want to have the football snapped no later than 18 seconds left on the play clock. Our offensive line is always on the football and in the ready position. We signal our formation and play from the sideline to our skill players (quarterback, running back, and wide receivers) as soon as the previous play ends. It is the job of the quarterback to make sure we are in the correct formation as we work to the new LOS. The receivers and running back are in a constant state of movement in getting to the proper alignment as the ball is being set.
When we are set, the QB will scan the field to check to make sure the proper play has been called (audibles are limited in our system) or to see if a blitz is coming. His next job is to call the play to the offensive line. We utilize a very intricate coding system that tells the OL what the play and direction are. It has always been my belief that the offensive line should receive one call. This forces the QB to do all the thinking for any type of audible check. The offensive line will receive only the final call and can then go to work without having to switch in mid-stride. The easier you can make it for your offensive line, the more aggressive they will be. At this point, we are into our cadence and off. This continuous process works from day one and is the hallmark of our no-huddle approach.
Lightning Tempo
The next tempo I want to cover is our lightning tempo. When we go to this tempo we want to get the football snapped with no later than 22 seconds left on the play clock. For this tempo we go to a wristband template. Each of our two-deep offensive personnel is placed into a wrist coach with anywhere from 20 to 80 plays (See Diagram 1).
Each number would have formation, movement, motion, and play call on it. The signal caller on the sideline now has to only signal a number to our offense. The quarterback is responsible for making sure we can communicate the number to each of the offensive players (as well as making sure we are in the proper formation). In this tempo, again, the offensive line is on the football. They will only listen for the QB to tell them the number of the play we are running (again allowing for them to receive only the final possible call). When the QB has scanned the field and called the number to the offensive line, we are again ready to call the cadence and snap the football. This tempo allows us to do away with the signaling and coding part of our offensive package. The simple change over to numbers only allows our offense to work that much faster to gain an advantage.
Air Raid Tempo
Our Air Raid tempo is one of the fastest tempo paces you can work out. It is our goal to have the football snapped with no later than 25 seconds left on the play clock. For this tempo we also utilize a wristband. However, on this wristband is a listing of only five plays listed as Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo (See Diagram 2). When we move to an Air Raid tempo, we cut our formation down to only one. It might be a 2x2 or 3x1 set depending on what type of attack we are in (if we are planning on moving to this tempo our personnel is notified on the sideline what formation we plan to use).
The 2x2 formation makes it easier as you have less movement from your personnel from play to play regardless of hashes (See Diagram 3), allowing for more speed. If we do utilize a 3x1 we will stay right-hand dominate. If the ball is in the middle of the field or left hash, we will stay trips right (See Diagrams 4 and 5). The only reason we would move to trips left would be if the ball were placed on the right hash (See Diagram 6). Here, the emphasis is all placed on speed. Again, our offensive line would be on the LOS. Our skill position players on the move after the previous play would look to the signal caller, who would only signal Alpha, Bravo, etc. The QB would then say the appropriate “Alpha” and call his cadence. Upon the snap and play,we work to the next available call “Bravo”. The quarterback only looks to the sideline to make sure we are keeping the Air Raid alive. This is one of our best tempo changers and a huge mental lift for our offense as this helps to gas out a defense.
Zen Tempo
This is our final tempo that we utilize and our most difficult to master. It is our goal to have next to no time off the play clock with this tempo. As soon as the ball is spotted, we want it to be snapped. This tempo is similar to the Air Raid. We will utilize a single 2x2 formation (no trips for this as we want to cut down on the movement) and cut the play count down to only three plays. However, for this tempo everything becomes memorization.
The three plays are memorized in order by the entire offense. Our offensive line would be on the LOS. Our receivers and running back would align in the 2x2 formation and our QB would go straight to his alignment. Audible checks are non-existent in this package in an effort to gain maximum speed. A change from our earlier tempo packages is the QB will only say, “Ready” and we will snap the football on the first sound. We have found the super-fast tempo coupled with the unnerving silence creates the potential for unlimited big plays.
Our players and coaches believe in no-huddle and the unique speed advantages each of these tempos affords us. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me at North Carolina Wesleyan.
About the Author: Darrin Hicks just completed his first season as offensive coordinator at North Carolina Wesleyan. He previously was the offensive coordinator at Delta State and led the program to its first ever back-to-back Gulf South Conference Championships in 2007 and 2008. Hicks was a two-time All-Conference lineman at Washington & Jefferson College, graduating in 1996.