This package uses the H-Back in a new position in pre-snap motion to confuse the defense.
A college coach recently convinced me that we needed to add some motion to our offense. We do not motion much because we prefer to operate at a fast tempo. However, we realized we needed some new wrinkles. The Air Raid Offense is primarily a one-back offense but the H-back position is very versatile and that athlete can often play in the backfield as well as lining up in the slot position. We wanted to be able to put the H-back in the backfield without complicating what we do offensively.
The first reason we utilized what we call “The Bounce Package” is because it allowed us to place the H-back in a new position and use him in pre-snap motion to confuse and distort the defense. The second reason is that it created a way for us to get the ball into the H-back’s hands on every snap. The key for us was to keep the concept simple and make sure it worked within our framework. In order to accomplish this, we altered what we had learned and set some simple rules for the package to drastically reduce the amount of teaching we had to do.
The first rule is that, when we are in the Bounce Package, we always have the H-back start in motion when the quarterback says the first word of his cadence. The next rule is that the H-back must always motion toward the two-receiver set. The final rule is that we do not fundamentally alter the basis of the plays we run. The result is a series of plays that we were already running with almost no changes except for a radically different appearance to the defense and a chance to get a playmaker the ball in a new and dynamic manner. There are many ways this can be done.
This, we’ve found, can be a large or small package of plays. It is a great wrinkle to get the H-back more touches and confuse the defense without confusing your own players. You can call any pass play you want off of this package. Included are eight variations (Diagrams 1-8).
Diagram 2.
Diagram 3.
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Diagram 7.
Diagram 8.
This package is a great example of what can be done with the Spread Air Raid Offense today. These concepts are all plays that are already being run by our team. We are simply adding motion from a new formation to give defensive coordinators one more thing to digest.
About the Author: Rich Hargitt recently completed his first season as the passing game coordinator and receivers coach at Ashbrook High School in Gastonia, North Carolina. He previously was the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator at Nation Ford High School (SC). Hargitt recently completed a series of DVDs on his offense, now available at AFMvideos.com.