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Using motion and shifts to create mismatches

D RevLee said:
This would be the perfect package but when u have a star TE like Brevin it's kinda hard to take him off the field. A split RB formation motioning DJ to the slot and a RPO with Tate and Lingard would be a beautiful thing to see.
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Goalline set with Deejay, Cam/Lo, Brevin, Realus, and Osborn at WR. Line up in jumbo/Coker-T, then shift to shotgun 2 RB, Brevin to slot, Realus to H-back. Walk into the endzone with whomever you choose.
 
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Great post no doubt KUDOS, for all this to work players must take ownership of there jobs , football has evolved to reads and checking off also through practice recognition drills and blackboard , film work example Grudens QB camp not only QB but all positions.

The ultimate check off would be SILENCE , knowing it’s an obvious read imagine that OMG just knowing through long hours after practice study the whole O or D just knows results TURNOVER CHAIN or HOMERUN.

Again awesome OP.

GOCANES
 
ghost2 said:
So in the Enos Era there's been a lot of talk about finally using motion in our offense - to the point where "motion, bro" has become the new "RPO, bro" as something everybody (including me) brings up but might not fully understand. So here's my take on some of the benefits of using pre-snap motion and shifts to maximize our offensive potential...

1) Motion changes the "picture" of the offense. Let's say we break the huddle with the following personnel grouping: 2 WR, 2 TE, 1 RB. We come to the line with the 2 TEs in-line on the strong side and the WRs lined up twins on the weakside. If the defense has watched any film of us running a play from this formation, they're already thinking about our tendencies. Let's say then we shift one TE to the opposite side (creating a new strong side) and the other TE to the backfield creating an I-formation look. Now the defense has to think about the plays we run from THAT formation as well. All this thinking takes time and creates hesitation. If we can catch a defense thinking, we've already won. Further, if we shift and then immediately snap the ball, the defense may not even have time to process the new formation - motion can be a form of tempo.

Example from CMU:




2) Motion flips the field. In the aforementioned TE shift (which incidentally I've seen on film from Enos at least 3 times lol), I mentioned we've created a new strong side by moving the TEs around. That shift may change the defense's coverage and gap responsibilities, again creating hesitation and "thought." All of a sudden a 3-tech becomes a 5-tech, or an over becomes an under, etc.

3) Motion creates mismatches and leverage. By moving a player around, you start to dictate a defense's potential coverage of that player. You also can overload a defensive front and simply outnumber defenders by shifting players around pre-snap. Let's say we want to take advantage of Brevin Jordan's size. Perhaps we break the huddle in that same 2 TE set, but now we motion him into the slot, where he's being covered by a DB or undersized LB. Or we want to take advantage of Jeff Thomas' speed by sending him in motion on a jet sweep (more on that later.) .

4) Motion creates new plays and sequences. In another thread, I looked at a series of plays from last year's Alabama team. Play #1 was a jet sweep, play #2 was a fake jet sweep RB counter, and play #3 was a fake jet sweep/fake counter/playaction pass. Once that WR starts moving pre-snap, the defense has to start "thinking" about the jet sweep, again creating hesitation and misdirection. So now in addition to the 3-4 plays we can run out of a particular formation, by adding a shift or motion that opens up 3-4 MORE play possibilities, and so on. The more options a defense has to consider, the slower they'll play, and the more easily they can be fooled by misdirection. Enos loves counter plays - getting the whole offense flowing one direction, then sending the ballcarrier away from the flow. Motion gets a defense to think about that "flow" pre-snap, and potentially start out on literally the wrong foot.

Example of play #3 from Bama:



A word on "splits": In addition to actual pre-snap movement, another way Enos creates leverage in his offense is simply by how the formation lines up, particularly the WRs. By lining up in bunch or stacked formations, he can create a numbers advantage in either the running or passing game - this is especially useful on screens and tosses, both of which Enos loves to run. An example of using formation splits to create an advantage could be a 4 WR set, but the entire formation stays from hashmark to sideline - a "tight" formation that creates defensive crowding and confusion, especially when the slot WRs start crossing...

Bama 2 TE/2 WR close splits:




A final caveat: Motion in and of itself does not create a successful offense. Like the oft-misused "RPO", it's not a scheme. Motion and shifts by themselves don't put points on the board. Defending multiple looks and shifts can be as easy as just sending more guys than blockers can handle, or playing sound gap assignments and ignoring the pre-snap "noise." Motion is not a cure-all - we still have to play good fundamental football. However, by using motion and shifts and finally dragging our offense into the 21st century, we at least have the potential to do that which we've all been clamoring for in nearly two decades of offensive ineptitude - get our athletes in space and in stride.
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Motion creates opportunity for the offense and havoc for the defense! Excellent overview! Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
 
ghost2 said:
I definitely think we'll see Deejay lined up in the slot on occasion. Cam too. I also think we'll see some of the 2 RB looks from the shotgun that Bama ran last year. Anything that gives the D one more thing to account for.
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I was just looking at the highlights of the Orange Bowl and there was a play in the Shotgun with split two "backs" next to Tua (Not sure if the guy on the right was a true Rb but whatever).
One of the backs (Jacobs?) at the last second ran motion towards the sideline, Tua faked the handoff and had the OU's LBs crash in to respect the run. Then the ball was immediately passed out to the back in motion for a nice gain down the sideline with the help of a nice block by the WR.

I can certainly see us doing things like that with our backs and h-backs and wrs too.
 
Colombie said:
I was just looking at the highlights of the Orange Bowl and there was a play with the Shotgun with two "backs" next to Tua (Not sure if the guy on the right was a true Rb but whatever).
One of the backs (Jacobs?) at the last second ran motion towards the sideline, Tua faked the handoff and had the OU's LBs crash in to respect the run. Then the ball was immediately passed out to the back in motion for a nice gain down the sideline with the help of a nice block by the WR.

I can certainly see us doing things like that with our backs and h-backs and wrs too.
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I remember that play. Nice little RPO wrinkle. Can give it to the up back, throw the screen, or keep it.
 
Then that set up another play in which their was a shotgun split backfield , one of the backs goes in motion, Tua fakes the run handoff, looks the way of the back in motion briefly to make the back 4 defenders hesitate/ react then threw the ball deep for another nice gain.
 
D RevLee said:
This would be the perfect package but when u have a star TE like Brevin it's kinda hard to take him off the field. A split RB formation motioning DJ to the slot and a RPO with Tate and Lingard would be a beautiful thing to see.
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So many combos, a beautiful thing to think of! But ya, in my scenario you could even replace Harley. 2 wr set of JT/Pope or KJ. with Brevin. LL or Cam with Deejay in the backfield. Deejay with a swing/flare route, Cam/LL on a wheel. No ones catching LL with a full head of steam WOO!
 
Canedog said:
Motion don’t do diddly squat unless da defense fails to shift accordingly.
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Making the defense shift accordingly on a play by play basis is the whole point.

Sure, it’s not some magical guaranteed advantage. But it’s adding an additional varied wrinkle for the defense to account for on the regular. Another oppprtunity for mistake to exploit.
 
gcane44 said:
Making the defense shift accordingly on a play by play basis is the whole point.

Sure, it’s not some magical guaranteed advantage. But it’s adding an additional varied wrinkle for the defense to account for on the regular. Another oppprtunity for mistake to exploit.
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Can’t believe that needed to be explained to dude
 
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Canedog said:
Motion don’t do diddly squat unless da defense fails to shift accordingly.
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That’s the point though. Giving the defense something to think about instead of just lining up, reading keys and attacking. Give the something to think about. Give them a reason to shift or not.

Go Canes!
 
ghost2 said:
I remember that play. Nice little RPO wrinkle. Can give it to the up back, throw the screen, or keep it.
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Technically, this was not Enos' offense unless you are presuming he will be taking these concepts with him. Probably fairer to look at Arkansas and Central Michigan games when he had more influence over the offenses due to his position.
 
Salt said:
Technically, this was not Enos' offense unless you are presuming he will be taking these concepts with him. Probably fairer to look at Arkansas and Central Michigan games when he had more influence over the offenses due to his position.
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he has stated he will bring things from alabama as well
 
great post, Enos' phrase - look complex, but be simple'(or something to that effect) is what I love about his approach

Joe Gibbs during his heyday said that while his system looked complicated, it was really about running a limited amount of plays out of different formations and dressing them up. It wasn't this deep well of plays and concepts
 
k9cane said:
great post, Enos' phrase - look complex, but be simple'(or something to that effect) is what I love about his approach

Joe Gibbs during his heyday said that while his system looked complicated, it was really about running a limited amount of plays out of different formations and dressing them up. It wasn't this deep well of plays and concepts
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Did you know that Gibbs one-back was the basis for Dennis Erickson's one-back? Dennis said they watched tons of Redskins film to design his offense, which he brought with him from WSU. People forget that in addition to a potent passing offense with Timm Rosenbach he had two 1000 yard rushers at WSU the year before he came to Miami. I don't remember if Dennis ran a lot of motion and I do know that one difference from the Redskin offense was that the Redskins used an H-back a lot, as I recall. Dennis didn't.
 
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We getting motion? And a QB? And a kicker?

I almost feel sorry for the Gators - not really - but Gators are so delusional and compeltely FOS - they actually think they have a chance this year.
 
gcane44 said:
Making the defense shift accordingly on a play by play basis is the whole point.

Sure, it’s not some magical guaranteed advantage. But it’s adding an additional varied wrinkle for the defense to account for on the regular. Another oppprtunity for mistake to exploit.
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Look at what Maryland did to osu this year, McFarland had huge runs because of shifts and putting your team at an advantage at the snap.

Whereas, our offense did next to nothing to keep the defense off-balanced or guessing.
 
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