Stretch-Power-Pass
O n behalf of the Baldwin-Wallace
College offensive staff, we are
extremely honored to be presenting some
of our ideas to you. Over the years, we
have found the AFCA Summer Manual to
be a great resource and have been able to
incorporate and effectively utilize some of
the concepts that different coaches have
shared. It is our hope that you can take
away something from what we are doing
with our Stretch-Power-Pass combination.
We decided in 1994 that we were going
to commit to the inside and outside zone run
game. Even though several programs have
moved away from using the outside zone
run play, it has continued to be our base run-
ning play and essentially, one of our top two
running plays. We felt that in order for the
outside zone play to continue to be effective,
we must continue to build off it.
How do we build off of the outside zone
play? The possibilities are:
1. Run your outside zone with the out-
side zone blocking scheme, but use differ-
ent backfield action (bounce play).
2. Use different schemes to block the
outside zone play.
3. Have play-action passes off of it.
John Snell 4. Use different formations and motions
to run the outside zone.
Offensive Coordinator 5. Run a different running play, but give
it an initial outside zone look.
Baldwin-Wallace College 6. Have some “check-with-me” plays
(quarterback has the ability to check into
Berea, Ohio one of two plays at the line of scrimmage),
to go along with the outside zone. If the
outside zone is not the best choice, then
the check-with-me allows us to go to anoth-
er play depending on the defense.
7. Off-set the play with the inside zone.
But, we found that we kept running into
the “what-if-they-do-this” syndrome, and
we felt compelled to take it a step further
than just a two-play check-with-me. So, we
then came up with the three-play check-
with-me package and felt that it gave us the
best chance for success. We wanted to put
together a package of plays that initially
looked the same, but were ideally three dif-
ferent plays. The three plays may look the
same based on backfield action and/or
blocking scheme. We wanted this package
of plays to all look initially like the outside
zone running play. In this three-play pack-
age, the quarterback has the option of call-
ing three plays instead of just two. In this
particular three-play package, the quarter-
back has the choice of calling the outside
zone, the power off-tackle, or what we refer
• AFCA Summer Manual — 2000 •
to as the stretch pass. In order to keep this
three-play, check-with-me package simple
for the quarterback, we tried to structure it
so he only had to focus on one area or one
defender to determine what to call.
What We Look For
The first thing the quarterback will check
is the coverage. The secondary alignment
will tell the quarterback whether we will
check to one of the run plays or to the
stretch pass. If the quarterback sees some
form of three-deep scheme, then in most
cases, we will check to the pass. The depth
of the corner and the width of the flat
defender are the two areas that we focus
on. This is a simple read for the quarter-
back and if for some reason he doesn’t like
how it looks for the pass, then he can
always go to the run. If he wants the run
play, then to keep it simple, we have the
quarterback check the alignment of just
one defender. We do not want the quarter-
back to have too many things to look at, so
if it is possible we try to make it simple and
keep his checks focused on just one
defender.
Against Three Deep
As previously mentioned, in our three-
play package, if the quarterback comes to
the line of scrimmage and has some form
of a three-deep coverage, then we will
most likely be checking to our stretch pass.
The stretch pass will give the defense the
impression that we are running the outside
zone run play because of our play-action
fake and blocking technique. Without ques-
tion, we feel the key to selling the running
play is the backfield action and frontside
lineman. The quarterback will give his out-
side zone run play fake by extending his
arms with the ball and he should have his
eyes on the flat defender. After the fake,
the backs will block off of the frontside
edge. The quarterback is pressing the cor-
ner with full sprint out action and as soon
as the flanker breaks on the out, the quar-
terback should release the ball. We want to
put the flat defender in a bind by giving him
the run play look and either have him hold
his position or step up to play run. Our
flanker is driving off at the corner to give a
run play look, but breaking off his pattern at
eight yards and working outside, away from
the flat defender. Up front, we are giving
the run look with our outside zone blocking
scheme, but we are not trying to come off
the first level defender to get to the second
level. If the flat defender should read pass,
expand to the flat and get underneath the
flanker’s out pattern, then the quarterback’s
next option would be to go to the tight end.
We coach our tight end to push up the field
vertically to about eight yards and work out
towards the flat defender in a three-deep
scheme. If both patterns are covered, then
the quarterback can continue pressing the
corner. Most of our success has been
throwing to the flanker.
Diagram 1
This pass has had our highest percent-
age of completion for the past three years.
If we are having success running the out-
side zone, then the stretch pass is an
excellent change-up and very difficult for
the flat defender to read. If they start to
defend the stretch pass, then we have soft-
ened them up and it is easy for us to go
back to just running the outside zone run-
ning play.
Against Two Deep
If we should get any form of two-deep
coverage, then we feel it is best that we run
the ball. Before we decide which running
play we will check to, the quarterback has
another step in this process. With two-
deep, the quarterback has two things to
look at and two running plays to choose
from. After the quarterback has determined
that it is some form of two-deep, we coach
him to then look at the defensive end to the
play side. We want to determine if we have
a wide rusher or an inside alignment on the
tight end.
Diagram 2A
Diagram 2B
Against Wide Defensive End
If we get the wide rusher, then the quar-
terback is taught to check to the power run
play in our three-play package. Again, ini-
tially this may look like the outside zone
play because both backs are working
frontside, but with a tighter aiming point
and the tight end is working out to the wide
defensive end. We do not have the tight
end come down inside on the power
because we want him to give the defensive
end the idea that we are running the out-
side zone. If we were running the outside
zone versus a wide defensive end, the tight
end would work out for the defensive end.
The defensive end is put in a position to
defend the outside zone and the power.
They initially look the same to him, based
on what the tight end is doing. By exchang-
ing the fullback and tight end responsibili-
ties, we are putting a bigger body on the
defensive end and giving the outside zone
look. The fullback attacks the frontside line-
backer and we still have the backside
guard pull for the middle linebacker. The
frontside guard and tackle will double team
the defensive tackle. We really try to get
movement with the double team before we
would even consider coming off for the
backside linebacker.
Diagram 3
Against Inside Alignment
If we get the two-deep coverage and
the defensive end is aligned inside on the
tight end, then we will check to our outside
zone play in our three-play package. We
give the runningback an aiming point of
two yards outside the tight end and the
fullback is assigned the support. We will
have the flanker block the corner, but we
• AFCA Summer Manual — 2000 •
may exchange the fullback’s and flanker’s
responsibilities. We may have the flanker
work inside to block the safety and the full-
back block the corner. The tight end is
helping the tackle to overtake the defen-
sive end and then trying to get off to the
next level. The quarterback will finish the
play with sprint out action to give it the
stretch pass look.
This three-play package gives us the
flexibility of running the best play vs. the
defense that we are getting. If we can
avoid the defense that is prone to stopping
certain things, then we are putting our-
selves in the best possible position to
have success. Again, ideally we want the
stretch pass and the power to initially look
like the outside zone, so we have all three
plays look similar.
Diagram 4
In conclusion, we want to thank the
AFCAfor giving us this opportunity to share
some of our ideas. We are very honored to
be a part of this outstanding organization
and proud to be in the greatest profession
on earth. If we can be of further assistance,
please feel free to contact us at (440) 826-
2069. Have a great season in 2000.
The American Football
Coaches Association
Promotes Positive
Recruiting Practices
All Coaches: Be positive. Talk
about your institution and not other
institutions.
Head Coaches: If you have a
recruiting problem with another insti-
tution or have rumors flying that
should be stopped:
Call the head coach of the institu-
tion involved and talk straight. It
will eliminate a lot of problems
and hard feelings towards one
another.