The Drive Concept is a very popular play in all levels of football that has been around for decades.
This play is used to flood the middle zone with a simple triangle read.
What happens is the middle two linebackers that are responsible for the hook to curl zones are challenged to cover the three receivers that make up the triangle around them.
This is a very simple play with simple quarterback reads that allow for easy completions in most cases.
But where can you learn everything you need to know about it?
Look no further than Penn State’s Offensive Coordinator, Mike Yurcich.
Coach Yurcich knows the Drive Concept incredibly well.
He’s been running it for over 20 years at places like Oklahoma State and is now the Offensive Coordinator for Penn State University.
Recently he delivered a deep dive into the Drive Concept in a Virtual Clinic talk for Texas High School Coaches Convention.
And he didn’t leave anything out! (Quite rare in most of these virtual seminars, let me tell you!)
So let’s dive into the Drive Concept!
History of the Drive Passing Concept
This is the same “Drive” concept, which Bill Walsh popularized as a technique for getting his flanker (or “Z”) receiver the ball running at top speed across the formation.
If defenses shut down their Z Receiver (who happened to be Jerry Rice), there was usually lots of space for the quarterback to target the tight end running a dig or square in route over the middle of the field.
Here’s a quick peek at the way Walsh had it drawn up in one of his playbooks:
Reading through this you can see that Coach Walsh wanted the Quarterback to work the Drive route – who is running the shallow drag across the middle (1).
This is the Lo read that most defenses won’t touch because of their drop.
But if they do, then Coach Walsh would have them go to the Center Route (2).
What you don’t really see here is the Triangle Read.
And that is how Coach Yurcich teaches it using a strict 1 to 2 to 3 progression.
That means that every time the Quarterback drops back he is simply looking to throw the ball to the first player open in the progression – no matter where they are.
If someone isn’t open, then he automatically moves on to the next in the progression.
Let’s take a look at how coach Yurcich teaches the Drive out of 3 popular formations.
Base Drive Concept out of 2×2
In this diagram, the Drive is paired with a Seam Read from the H and a Comeback by the X. Most offenses see these as “Alerts” which means that they are only throwing them if the defense is very favorable.
Otherwise, they are always going to progress through the Drive Concept (Z to Y to T).
In the photo, there are two linebackers inside the box (W and M) that must defend the triangle read of the Shallow drag by Z, the Dig (or Basic, or Hunt route) by Y, and the Short Option route by T.
The Quarterback’s drop from the Shotgun can be a Quick 5 or even a Big 3.
The Z has the Drive route at 4-6yds. that works shallow under the linebackers and will then settle down no earlier than the Tackle vs zone to form the triangle.
If the defense is in Man, then the Z will continue running.
Coach Yurcich makes a great point on the Drive route in saying, “Grass Trumps All Man/Zone Principles”,
This means that no matter what the defense is doing, if there is open green grass, going there is always a good idea for the receiver.
3×1 Set
In the 3 x 1 formation, Drive gives your X receiver an opportunity for one on one combinations and opportunities to run Choice routes.
The key to this concept is that the Read Key is the FS to the boundary. Based on his post-snap reaction, the Quarterback knows who to look to throw the ball to.
If he is a deep half or quarters player, the progression starts with the Drive like normal.
But if he is a Cover 1 or 3 defender, then the Quarterback knows he can eliminate the Dig route and go straight to the T on the Checkdown.
Drive Concept from Empty
Lastly, Coach Yurcich has a great option for Empty that he remembers learning from Al Borges when he was a graduate assistant under him.
In Empty, the reads are still all the same for the Quarterback keeping things simple.
But now you can spread the defense out stressing them with covering 5 receivers instead of 3 or 4.
This looks a bit like a version of Mesh, but you still have the simplicity of the triangle read.
Other solid lessons from Coach Yurcich
The more I watch it, the more I appreciate the detail found in these videos above and the entire course.
It also includes his thoughts on the following concepts:
- Verticals with a Hi-Lo on the backside
- How to run and effective India Route.
- Using Motion to beat Man coverage
- Drive from Bunch
- And the Run Up Drill that can help your QB net Huge gains from staying in throwing position while moving up in the pocket.
If you are interested in learning more from Coach Yurcich, check out this course that gives a lot more detail on everything you need to know about running one of the most popular plays in all of football!
One other additional resource I have found that really helps explain Drive from the NFL perspective is this video from QB School:
