Football is a changing game and coaches that are able to adapt and transition the most fluidly are usually the ones that are on the cutting edge and can gain the competitive advantage. One of the latest ways the game has changed lately is by combining the newer spread offenses with a more traditional pro style. If your not sure what the difference is, don't worry, I'll try to explain it as best I can.
A spread offense is usually run out of a shotgun center snap and mostly uses formations like 2 x 2 and 3 x 1 to spread out defenses. Spread teams also love empty formations and run most of their plays from a 10 or 20 personnel grouping (that is one or two running backs and no tight ends).
Here's a 2 x 2 spread offense formation:
The traditional Pro Style offenses add in a Tight End and Half Back and therefore are mostly in the 11, 21, 22 personnel grouping. A staple of the Pro Style is the Off-Set I Formation. Quarterbacks are under center and drop back or boot out for the passing game. Spread offenses rely heavily on the Zone style of running the ball while Pro Style run both Zone and Gap concepts.
Here's a traditional I Formation:
When you combine these two offenses you get what I call the Pro Style Spread Offense. This offense uses all of the multiple formations from both styles but primarily uses a shotgun center snap unless the ball is in the Red Zone. The blocking scheme could be zone or gap based.
Here's a sample of a Pro Style Spread Formation:
The passing game of a spread offense falls into a few possible categories. It could be a West Coast, Air Raid or even Run and Shoot style. Some are more simple variations of these but with a heavy emphasis on throwing downfield with the four vertical package. Pro Style Offenses primarly use a West Coast passing offense. A West Coast style looks to take short passes all over the field allowing good athletes to get extra yards after the catch. When the two are combined into a Pro Style Spread, any combination of the above styles could also be run, however, a heavier emphasis on play action will be the most frequent of the passes called.
So why run the Pro Style Spread?
I think there are several compelling reasons.
First off, the Pro Style Spread offers the benefit of running from multiple formations. When a team can utilize formations to their advantage in the run game, the game plan becomes infinitely more complex for defenses to defend. It allows coaches to strategically place personnel in the right positions to have the highest likelihood of success. Defenses then have to track all the different groupings and substitute accordingly, which can be very challenging.
Second, the Pro Style Spread can utilize a power style running attack. A gap scheme that takes advantage of great angles when blocking while also getting double teams and pulling backside lineman to the point of attack give offenses a great scheme to run the ball confidently. Lineman love the blocking angles and double teams because they feel confident in their execution. The blocking rules are simple and effective and stay consistent from game to game.
Third, the Pro Style Spread can utilize the pass game from shotgun. It is widely accepted that throwing the ball from the shotgun is easier because QB's are already at passing depth. Only die hard West Coast Offense coaches may disagree with me here, but just survey the top passing teams and you will see they are in the shotgun formation – this isn't a coincidence!
Fourth, the Pro Style Spread highlights your best athletes. The Power running game is the best way in my opinion to get the ball in the hands of your top 2 or 3 most talented athletes and give them great holes to run through. You can highlight each runners strengths as well. The faster runners can be great on the perimeter and the stronger runners will dominate between the Tackles.
Fifth, you can adjust your Pro Style Spread offense based on your strengths year to year. If you have a QB who can run and throw, you can easily run a wide variety of options with your base schemes such as speed option and power read. If you QB is more of a thrower then you can again have a solid passing attack, but still be able to run the ball effectively with the Power run game. You can even get by with a lower ability QB and an offensive focus on the running game and simply rotate your best athletes through the running back position. That is why I think this style is most compelling to run regardless of the level of play. Week to week it is easy to adjust to your best offensive strengths against each teams defensive weaknesses.
There are many other reasons to run the Pro Style Spread such as having the ability to run a great two minute offense, having a powerful goalline package, utilizing snap counts and hurry up pacing, and even going to a no huddle NASCAR tempo to catch defenses off guard. I could easily go on and on but the key word is adaptable. This gets back to my first point about good coaches finding a competive edge by being adaptable. It's one thing if your best can't beat their best, but if you can't find a way to get your best going up against their best, you will never know how good your team could have been!
