Book about Air Raid - The Perfect Pass

[Jarius]

Fair point. I'm just saying that it's rare for ALL of the swing games to go for you or against you. So maybe we should have beaten Memphis but lost to LaTech. Or maybe we should have beaten Arkansas but lost to A&M. The record would have been the same.

You are arguing 2 different things. The ceiling is what you can be if everything goes right. The floor is what you can be if everything goes wrong. What you're talking about is the mean. Our ceiling is higher than 8-4. It's unlikely that we hit our ceiling, but if everything goes right we can beat everyone on the schedule outside Alabama and Georgia. That's best case scenario, though unlikely.

[RiverCityDawg]

I'm not talking about finding Trevor Lawrence. There are plenty of good dual threat QBs around the country. And I specifically said "good" not "great". We don't need a Deshaun Watson to make this offensive hum.

The problem is many of our fans want someone like Will except a "good" runner and a stronger arm. And I'm saying there are not plenty of guys that are as accurate as he is with the same kind of leadership skills that are also good runners and have an even stronger arm. In our offense, if you have to sacrifice somewhere - and we typically do at Mississippi because we don't get the pick of the litter - it should be running ability.

With all that said, Sawyer does have better mobility (and size and arm strength), we just have to see if he has the accuracy, leadership, work ethic, etc. that makes for a winning QB in this offense.

[TrapGame]

The problem is many of our fans want someone like Will except a "good" runner and a stronger arm. And I'm saying there are not plenty of guys that are as accurate as he is with the same kind of leadership skills that are also good runners and have an even stronger arm. In our offense, if you have to sacrifice somewhere - and we typically do at Mississippi because we don't get the pick of the litter - it should be running ability.

With all that said, Sawyer does have better mobility (and size and arm strength), we just have to see if he has the accuracy, leadership, work ethic, etc. that makes for a winning QB in this offense.

Texas has a bunch of dudes like Sawyer. Leach loves him some Texas QBs.

[MoreCowbell]

I read the book "The Perfect Pass" by S.C. Gwynne. It was about Hal Mumme, the invention of the Air Raid, and the genius behind it. Obviously it mentioned Mike Leach prominently. After reading it, I'm convinced of the great genius of Mumme and Leach and the implementation of this offense. I'm also convinced that it won't work consistently in the SEC at a high level in today's game.

Rosters - Mumme and Leach took advantage of the defensive rosters in college football. Football was all about 3 yards and a cloud of dust. So rosters were stacked with run-stopping linebackers wearing neck-rolls. There weren't as many defensive backs on the roster. So when Mumme and Leach showed up with the Air Raid, defenses didn't have the roster to handle it. Now defenses have tons of safeties and corners on the roster. And those guys have defended the pass in high school and 7-on-7 camps. And middle linebackers can run and cover. There is a lot of difference in Brian Bosworth and Nakobe Dean when it comes to defending the pass, even though both were great linebackers.

Scheme - Mumme took a team at Valdosta state and played Mississippi College. MC ran a 5-3 defense. You read that correctly, a 5-3. Because MC was built to stop the run. So what happens when the Air Raid rolls in and your defense normally only plays 3 defensive backs? But defenses today are used to being multiple. They run tons of nickle and dime coverages in practice and games.

Repetition - Defensive units always practiced stopping the run. 90% of defensive team practice time was spent on it. Now defensive units see the pass every day. Even conservative Alabama throws it around a ton on offense, so their defense gets to see Jalen Waddle, Jameson Williams, Henry Ruggs, Jerry Jeudy, Devonta Smith, etc. in practice. Defenses now get tons of reps against the pass all year long.

Tape - when Mumme and Leach started the Air Raid, they were in a small conference. There was very little tape available for defensive coordinators. And that tape had to be mailed on a VCR tape. Now in the day of televised games, cut-ups, digital footage, email and dropbox, defensive coordinators can get plenty of good film on anything a team does.

Mumme and Leach succeeded because they invented the anomaly. The offense was so different compared to what other teams ran, that defenses were unprepared. The defenses didn't have the roster to defend the air raid, they didn't have a scheme to defend the air-raid, they didn't have repetitions to defend the air-raid, and they hadn't watched enough film to understand the air-raid. The air-raid isn't such an anomaly anymore. So that huge advantage is gone. It's more accepted, more understood, and more easily defended. That's why I don't think it will work consistently at this level. I think pass-protection could always be an issue against defensive ends who are pass-rush specialists. I think the run game has to be developed and tweaked. I see 8-4 as our ceiling.

My opinion, feel free to tell me I'm an idiot. Keep in mind that what I'm using as the advantages back during the implementation is straight from the mouth of Mumme and Leach. They invented the offense to take advantage of the defenses being at a huge-disadvantage against the pass in roster, scheme, repetition, and preparedness.

I played QB under Mumme. Literally the offense is dependent on the QB. Someone is always going to be open, it is up to the QB to make the right read and I think we are in good hands with Will.

Now saying that, even though someone is always open, you have to have athletes that can YAC and our weapons are not on par with what we play every week in SEC. That is why our dump offs do not go for much.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

I played QB under Mumme. Literally the offense is dependent on the QB. Someone is always going to be open, it is up to the QB to make the right read and I think we are in good hands with Will.

Now saying that, even though someone is always open, you have to have athletes that can YAC and our weapons are not on par with what we play every week in SEC. That is why our dump offs do not go for much.

Good info. Let me ask this. If we have 5 people in a route (11 minus 1 QB and 5 OL), and they are covering with 8 people (rushing 3), how are we sure "someone is always going to be open? Certainly it seems that all 5 could be covered by 8 defenders, especially if an offensive lineman gets beaten. My personal opinion is that there is no such offense in existence where "someone is always going to be open"

[somebodyshotmypaw]

You are arguing 2 different things. The ceiling is what you can be if everything goes right. The floor is what you can be if everything goes wrong. What you're talking about is the mean. Our ceiling is higher than 8-4. It's unlikely that we hit our ceiling, but if everything goes right we can beat everyone on the schedule outside Alabama and Georgia. That's best case scenario, though unlikely.

Fair point. I guess by ceiling I meant the realistic high point that is realistically achieved. I don't look at "everything goes right" or "everything goes wrong" because that doesn't happen.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Now saying that, even though someone is always open, you have to have athletes that can YAC and our weapons are not on par with what we play every week in SEC. That is why our dump offs do not go for much.

And this is one of my points. It seems like Mumme/Leach had the advantage when they could match up an offensive weapon against these thumping linebackers wearing a neck roll, these safeties trained for run support, and these corners who know how to come up to take the pitch-man on the option. That made YAC a lot easier. But now with the evolution of lots of passing offenses, you have linebackers who run sidelines to sidelines, safeties and corners that can really run and cover. It makes YAC harder because you don't have the athlete match-up advantage.

[coachnorm]

I have nothing good to say about the Air Raid; likewise I have little to say bad about it either. Air Raid and Spread offenses all line up similarly. Doubles, tight bunch, loose bunch, etc. are all the same in Air Raid or Spread. There are limited amounts of pass combination in either AR or spread.

Air Raid clinics have existed for well over a decade and it is my opinion that any high school or college football coach that did not attend and learn the basic AR concept is a garbage coach. The same can be said for coaches that have not attended clinics that feature the Spread.

Being that the MONEY high school football coaches have paid their dues, the AR will not surprise them. The same applies to the college football community, thus there are no schematic surprises in football. This means that there has to be another business model and that is match-ups.

Receivers dominating defenders is the new business plan in football. This means receivers being dominant players, not scheme participants, wins games. This applies to either AR or Spread. Whether a team is AR or Spread, the coach that develops some match up within his ATTACK will not be weeded out; Darwinism.

Money high school football teams, in America, are incorporating match-up principles by hiring former NFL veterans. If programs like in the Trinity League are concisely implementing this content, there is just too much being developed to be ignored at the college level. Any scheme that suppresses the evolution of a high school or college receiver or his genetics is a bad scheme.

High school or college football coaches who strictly comply with any scheme will be weeded out by the new sheriff in town, the match up guy; Darwinism?

[Kingbarkus]

I'm gonna be that guy.

We give UGA a tight game. We might even win. They lost a lot of guys on defense.

As usual Bama will skull**** us.

I also think we will beat Georgia.

[QuadrupleOption]

And we could have lost against A&M, La Tech, and Auburn. There will always be some close wins and losses.

We also beat NC State and Kentucky. Point is every sports season has close wins and close losses. We had 4 good wins, 1 terrible loss, and a couple of should-have-wons in there. We also had a couple of 'how did we win those' thrown in there. More good than bad though.

[coachnorm]

I also think we will beat Georgia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDgWq16tjBo

I think you might be correct. I'm flying in from San Diego for this one.

[EdwardDrayton]

I played QB under Mumme. Literally the offense is dependent on the QB. Someone is always going to be open, it is up to the QB to make the right read and I think we are in good hands with Will.

Now saying that, even though someone is always open, you have to have athletes that can YAC and our weapons are not on par with what we play every week in SEC. That is why our dump offs do not go for much.

Will and the receivers are the two keys to how successful we will be this fall. Not at all sure we have receiver playmakers. And Will has been slow to process and utilize the ENTIRE field and too many times drops his eyes when under pressure. I want to believe but there are serious doubts. He must make a significant step change improvement.

[coachnorm]

Will and the receivers are the two keys to how successful we will be this fall. Not at all sure we have receiver playmakers. And Will has been slow to process and utilize the ENTIRE field and too many times drops his eyes when under pressure. I want to believe but there are serious doubts. He must make a significant step change improvement.

Most quarterbacks do not have the demands Will Rogers has. Reading the whole field during play evolution is not the important issue. Many times the quarterback first counts the box, second interprets the safety alignment which is depth and width. The safety alignment tips the quarterback if a cornerback is in retreat or squat assignment. If a safety is excessively wide this tips the quarterback that the defense is in cover 2 and the safety has over top responsibility. If the safety has not widened out, the defense is in cover 4 which means the cornerback has over the top responsibility. The quarterback also observes the cornerback depth to help understand cover 2 compared to cover 4. Cover 3 is obvious.

Based on this pre snap information the quarterback determines which half field he is going to throw to. Half field determination is also determined by your quality match up receiver against the defense’s poorer DB. He is thrown to unless double teamed. If the alignment is balanced, the quarterback has to throw to his comfort level and not the coach’s comfort level. If a program has budgeted sufficient time with contested catch periods, receivers will prove ability to match up and quarterback will understand where the match up advantage is in cover 2, 3, and 4 secondary alignments. The receivers will also get the same understanding. Also, understand 50-50 wins are different than yards after catch

Clemson put 2 first round quarterbacks in the NFL with this simple concept. Alabama will send quarterbacks into the NFL after Bryce Young is drafted. Ohio State is the same story and list just grows. These NFL quarterbacks have not had to be as concise as Will Rogers while in college. In the AR, why does Will Rogers have to read the complete field? Reading a half field during play duration gets done faster than the whole field: fewer sacks? The coach has to improve with the quarterback also?

[Maroonthirteen]

Now saying that, even though someone is always open, you have to have athletes that can YAC and our weapons are not on par with what we play every week in SEC. That is why our dump offs do not go for much.

Yep. You still need players. Fans (and Leach)act like the Dink and dunk is some magical/"smarter than you" offense. It isn't. The reason Leach won 11 games at Tech, Micheal Crabtree.

Minshew had the same tendacies to dump down that Rogers has. Except Borghi could make a defender miss more often than Marks. Marks got much better last year but we still need more speed, more speed and physical RBs and WRs.

[Maroonthirteen]

About the Memphis game..... ANY TIME Memphis plays an SEC team, they are bringing their best game. They are going to play physical for 60 minutes. I hope the football team learned a lesson last year to take Memphis seriously. Because all these ifs ands and buts about the Memphis game, could have been avoided. Fumbling a simple QB/RB handoff exchange. Not properly downing a ball (yeah the call was bullshit but the effort was halfass as well). Missing FGs. On and on. Memphis was extremely physical that day. State was just trying to notch a w and leave. What IF State would have been better prepared that day???? Leach better have them prepared when the Tigers drive down this year. It won't be a cake walk.

[Jarius]

Most quarterbacks do not have the demands Will Rogers has. Reading the whole field during play evolution is not the important issue. Many times the quarterback first counts the box, second interprets the safety alignment which is depth and width. The safety alignment tips the quarterback if a cornerback is in retreat or squat assignment. If a safety is excessively wide this tips the quarterback that the defense is in cover 2 and the safety has over top responsibility. If the safety has not widened out, the defense is in cover 4 which means the cornerback has over the top responsibility. The quarterback also observes the cornerback depth to help understand cover 2 compared to cover 4. Cover 3 is obvious.

Based on this pre snap information the quarterback determines which half field he is going to throw to. Half field determination is also determined by your quality match up receiver against the defense’s poorer DB. He is thrown to unless double teamed. If the alignment is balanced, the quarterback has to throw to his comfort level and not the coach’s comfort level. If a program has budgeted sufficient time with contested catch periods, receivers will prove ability to match up and quarterback will understand where the match up advantage is in cover 2, 3, and 4 secondary alignments. The receivers will also get the same understanding. Also, understand 50-50 wins are different than yards after catch

Clemson put 2 first round quarterbacks in the NFL with this simple concept. Alabama will send quarterbacks into the NFL after Bryce Young is drafted. Ohio State is the same story and list just grows. These NFL quarterbacks have not had to be as concise as Will Rogers while in college. In the AR, why does Will Rogers have to read the complete field? Reading a half field during play duration gets done faster than the whole field: fewer sacks? The coach has to improve with the quarterback also?

Well I can save Will some pre snap read time and let him know that the defense is going to drop 8 into coverage about 80 % of the time until we show we can beat it consistently.

[Jarius]

Yep. You still need players. Fans (and Leach)act like the Dink and dunk is some magical/"smarter than you" offense. It isn't. The reason Leach won 11 games at Tech, Micheal Crabtree.

Minshew had the same tendacies to dump down that Rogers has. Except Borghi could make a defender miss more often than Marks. Marks got much better last year but we still need more speed, more speed and physical RBs and WRs.

We had the offensive players to win 9 or 10 last year. Our field goal kicker, punt team, and defense lost the Arkansas, LSU, and Memphis game last year. I feel like we are a lot more worried than we should be about the wrong thing on our football team.

[Maroonthirteen]

We had the offensive players to win 9 or 10 last year. Our field goal kicker, punt team, and defense lost the Arkansas, LSU, and Memphis game last year. I feel like we are a lot more worried than we should be about the wrong thing on our football team.

We gave.... gave.... Memphis 14 points on carelessness. Coaching.

All this talk about.... if only a FG kicker..... how about if the "air raid" didn't stall in the redZone over and over. Btw, it was a game tying FG at Arkansas. We were behind the the entire game.

As for talent, an OT drafted, no skill players drafted and no offense players on the 2022 will be drafted. We need a huge infusion of talent across the board.

[WhiskeyPirate]

Air raid is not outdated. Execution and personnel will determine its success. Air raid principles are growing in college football and the nfl not declining.

[Coach34]

About the Memphis game..... ANY TIME Memphis plays an SEC team, they are bringing their best game. They are going to play physical for 60 minutes. I hope the football team learned a lesson last year to take Memphis seriously.

Serious question- in the last 15 years- has State or Mississippi blown out Memphis? They really get up to play the SEC. They slammed Kimchee on his head. Expecting us to blow them out is pretty unrealistic