I'm out of town and away from my computer and hence did not do your daily Coffee and Cigarettes column. But, you can still read about football and maybe learn a little! Some of these are repeats but you may have missed them the first time around. Go back, right now, and read them.
Pete Carroll Interview - Bio of USC Coach Pete Carroll - Esquire
Five intimate moments with a coach unlike any other frickin' football coach in the land
Combining quick passes, run plays and screens in the same play | Smart Football
Given that humans lack clairvoyance, there is no such thing as the perfect play-caller and thus much of the development in football strategy has centered on how to get into (or out of) a given play because the defense is well suited to defend the one that was called. Indeed, quarterbacks have called audibles at the line of scrimmage for decades, and a few years ago the hot idea was calling multiple plays in the huddle.
A very simple explanation of the zone runs, and the difference between inside zone and outside zone | Smart Football
On zone plays, the linemen keep the same blocking schemes, regardless of how many tight-ends or wide receivers they use. The aiming point for the runningbacks remain about the same. Many zone teams begin by focusing on the outside zone. Once that is established and the defense is flowing fast to the sideline, the offense comes back with the inside zone.
Outside zone variant: The "pin-and-pull" | Smart Football
Here is a basic explanation. Generally, one way to think of it is that uncovered linemen pull; alternatively uncovered linemen "block back" to get a good angle and the covered linemen pull. Just depends how you teach it. Here are some sample rules:
Chris Brown on Gary Kubiak and the Houston Texans' running game - Grantland
The key to Gibbs' zone running game is that the foundational play is the outside zone (the "wide zone," in Gibbs' terminology), not the more common inside zone. The inside zone is a "vertical push" play that aims to move the defense backward and have a running back carry the ball forward with a full head of steam to get yards. The outside zone is more about lateral movement.
The crack toss sweep and the double crack screen against an overloaded defense | Smart Football
No matter what offense you run, it’s important to have counters. In the video clip below, legendary offensive line coach Alex Gibbs shows his "crack toss sweep" counter to an overloaded defense.
Cripes! Get back to fundamentals...: Alex Gibbs: Stretch/Gun Run Developments (Part 1)
Here may be the beginning and end to your education on stretch runs and how the concept has evolved through reduction in the past five years (and adapting itself to the proliferation of the gun). Gibbs sits down with Steve Addazio (now head coach at Temple), Dan Mullen (now head coach at Miss State) and the rest of the Florida staff brainstorming how they can improve their gun run game after Chris Leak left. Gibbs begins by explaining his entire system in great detail, going over the terminology that is integral to how his stretch runs are packaged, how his quarterback in Atlanta evolved the game, and the new challenges of today presented by defenses out of the gun (and more)…..