In the process of discussing Canada, and then watching him get hired, there’s been a lot of discussion of style with the standard clichés like “spread” and “pro-style” and “power-spread” and all these buzzwords that fans hear on ESPN and think give them what they want in an offense. Pitt also ran a few gadgets off of the action in the Pinstripe Bowl versus Northwestern, like this designed pass for offensive tackle and Piesman Winner Brian O’Neill. (all gifs courtesy of Coach Alex Kirby’s twitter) Defenses occasionally forget about him as well, once they see he doesn’t have the ball. I particularly like these, because the sweep player gets a free speed release, making him difficult to cover. And of course, there are a variety of play-action passes off of the look. The H-motion can also provide a useful look for non-sweep action plays like the split-zone. And that’s before any other defenders are influenced by the motion, as detailed by this Inside the Pylon post, and the following video. The blocking of the play, at minimum, creates a five-on-five matchup for the offensive line and the defensive front seven on the handoff, and two-on-two on the sweep side. The diagram also shows the biggest benefit this play provides, in that it essentially cuts the defense in half to provide the numbers advantage previously discussed. Pitt’s most frequent sweep variety, coupled with an inside zone run, generally relies on an unblocked edge player on the back-side (typical for directional zone blocking), and incorporates the play-side tight ends by having them arc block in the direction of the sweep, to provide a convoy for the receiver.Ĭoach B Dud’s blog has a fantastic breakdown here, including this diagram: Pitt’s Inside Zone/Jet Sweep Reverses and other types of end-arounds for receivers can sometimes take too long to develop and rely too much on defensive mistakes. For one, it’s a quick-hitting misdirection play that can get some speed on the edge. Personally, I’ve always been a big fan of the play, and lamented how limited its use has been for LSU. But nowhere near to the commitment of Canada – his Pitt offense last year used the jet motion out of every set and personnel group, to the tune of 103 rushing attempts for non-running backs or quarterbacks, most noticeably 60 carries for 631 yards for slot receiver Quadree Henderson. Obviously, we have some familiarity with the concept here at LSU, as the Tigers have used it in a portion of the offense since 2014. And some of those principles are at the heart of what’s made Matt Canada a successful offensive coordinator, particularly in how he’s implemented the jet sweep into a significant series of his offense. That’s why option and triple-option offenses work after all this time, and why Gus Malzahn can be successful with the Wing-T, albeit slightly altered. I.E., even if the defense does exactly what it’s supposed to do, the offense still wins.

“Playing assignment football” as a way of planning to stop a play should draw way more eye-rolls than it does, because if the offense knows what it’s doing, it’s just going to use those assignments against the defense. Pulling guards, counter-action, even the option. That’s the heart of every major innovation this side of the forward pass.

Get more of your guys to the ball than the other team and advance it in your direction. Each team has 11 players on the field, and the essence of everything coaches do in game-planning is trying to make those numbers work in their favor one way or another. As much as football has always been characterized as a game of violence - and it is, make no mistake - its appeal for me has always been more in the strategic elements of the game.

Jet sweep football