Putting Tremendous Stress on the Defense
By Lee Jackson • Offensive Coordinator • Charles W. Flanagan High School (FL)
I live, eat, and breathe football, 24 - 7. It is both the gift and the curse that has put me on the path I’m on. However, if it is a curse, I humbly accept all the opportunities that it has afforded me.
Ten years ago when I began coaching at Oxford High School in Mississippi, they participated in the state championship. This success, along with my passion and devotion for the game, inspired me to create something I believe very special – my ‘Go Get - It Offense.’ This misdirection, ball concealing, and deceptive offense can be compared to the wing - t, jet, spread, and run ‘n’ shoot offenses. The major benefit of this offensive scheme is to put the defense under a tremendous amount of stress. This offense eliminates turnovers, stops the swarm defense, and causes the opposition to play ‘vanilla.’
The ‘Go Get - it Offense’ gives the coach carte blanche to call plays on pure instinct, which magnifies the intensity of the game. There are no headsets or playsheets. This offense uses only hand signals to call plays.
Ultimately, this offense is designed to maximize speed and space, stretch the defense horizontally and vertically and put tremendous stress on the defense the entire game with its no - huddle system. Proper execution of the offense will generate productivity and players will enthusiastically assimilate to this style of football.
The offense is composed of four outside running plays – Dirty, Leebo, Jai, and Swag – that are easily identifiable in the package by way of name association. Dirty is the base play and the most dangerous of the four plays. It is a traditional outside zone play but the slot back will have a running start before the ball is snapped. It’s a great play to use against any defensive scheme and is the first running play we install (See Diagram 1).
In each diagram, the left WR is ‘X’, the left slot is the ‘T’, the RB next to the QB is ‘B’, the right slot is ‘W’, and the WR on the right side is ‘Z.’
Here are the assignments for each player:
QB - He will hand the ball off to the ‘T’ then continue to the backside C gap, becoming a blocker.
B - Will take a green light path and block the Most Dangerous Man.
W - Will trey block with the right tackle to the playside LB.
T - Will go in motion on ‘set’ aiming at the back hip of the QB taking the hand off and running towards the hash marks and sideline.
LT - Cut block.
LG - Cut block.
C - - Cut block.
RG - Cut block.
RT - Will trey block with the ‘T’ taking over the DE himself.
Z - Will block the name over him.
X - Will cut off the FS.
Leebo is a very powerful running play. It is similar to the traditional buck sweep that wing - t coaches have been using for years. This is one of my favorite plays, extremely innovative, and enjoyable to watch (See Diagram 2).
The assignments for each player:
QB - Will hand the ball off to the ‘T’ and then continue to the backside C gap, again becoming a blocker.
B - Will take a green light path and block the MDM.
W - Will block down on the DE.
T - Will go in motion on ‘set’ aiming at the back hip of the QB getting the hand off and taking three steps. He then cuts upfield. (It is important for him to get behind his blockers and find a hole).
LT - Will block first man inside him without letting him cross his face.
LG - Will pull and lead up on MDM.
C - Will step playside and block MDM.
RG - Will pull and lead up on MDM.
RT - Will block first man inside him.
Z - Will block man over him.
X - Will block man over him.
Jai is very special to me because this play can put speed in space and get the ball to the perimeter quickly. Also, the misdirection and deception of the backfield action will slow down the defensive swarm (See Diagram 3).
Assignments:
QB - Will fake ‘Dirty’ right, then hand the ball off to the W, then move to the backside B gap and become a blocker.
B - Will take a counter step, then move and block the MDM to the outside.
W - Will attack the hip of the QB and take the handoff and follow the blocks to the outside.
T - Will go in motion on ‘set’ aiming at the back hip of the QB faking ‘Dirty’ right.
RT - Will mongo block.
RG - Will pull and block MDM on outside hip of the LT.
C - Will replace for the RG.
LG - Will mongo block.
Z - Will block man over him.
X - Will block man over him.
This is a great play with two blockers at the point of attack.
Swag is a unique shovel pass triple option. This play is really difficult for the defense to stop. Swag can be used for any down and distance situation. It is also a great play to run when the DE is getting upfield (See Diagram 4).
Assignments:
QB - Will take three steps reading the DE. If the DE stays at the LOS, he pitches to the outside slot. If the DE comes upfield, he pitches to the inside slot.
B - Will line up at the outside WR and block the man over him.
W - Will go in twirl motion and be ready for the pitch.
T - Will come flat down the line and be ready for the pitch.
LT - Hard mongo block.
LG - Will pull around and lead up on the playside LB.
C - Will replace for the LG.
RG - Will double team with the RT to the backside LB.
RT - Will double team with the RG to the backside LB.
Z - Will block man over him.
X - Will block man over him.
About the Author: Coach Lee Jackson is the offensive coordinator at Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines, FL. A player and coaching veteran for the past 20 years, Jackson played for David Cutcliffe at Mississippi. The ‘Go Get - It Offense’ is available in an 80 – page playbook by going to www.CoachLeonidas.com.