Book about Air Raid - The Perfect Pass

[somebodyshotmypaw]

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.