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THE DIAMOND OPTION RUN GAME

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© August, 2012


by JohnAllen W. Snyder
Offensive Coordinator • Pequea Valley High School (PA)

This new formation includes a power element, a misdirection element and an option element - all in the same play.

At Pequea Valley High School, we wanted to have a package we could use against teams that hadn’t practiced against it. Out of this need came the Diamond formation and its accompanying running game. It was very successful for us this past year when we took over a program that hadn’t experienced much success. While we did not invent the Diamond formation, we feel it gives us an opportunity to be successful.
We keep the formations very simple. We had three formations out of the Diamond this year. We have been adding to our package this off-season as well (See Diagram 1-1).

Diagram 1-1: Diamond Right and Left

This formation has your typical five linemen, two wideouts split out from the EMOLOS in typical wideout alignments. The change for us was that we moved the QB to the shotgun position with his heels at four yards. Beside him, splitting the outside leg of the guards, are the two running backs. We label them as fullbacks. Finally, behind the QB, aligned with his heels at five yards, is the tailback. This creates the diamond look in the backfield and gives us a lot of options (See Diagram 1-2).

Diagram 1-2 –Diamond Right Over and Left Over

This formation is the same as the base except it puts both wideouts on the same side of the ball. We use this formation to have the defense align to it and leave the other side eithe ...The full article can only be seen by subscribers.
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