Offensive Football Trends of 2010

Posted December 06, 2010 by Greg Nelson
Under  • Coaching & Athletics

With the 2010 season winding down, we thought it would be a good idea to put together a collection of trends we have seen in football over the past three months.  These trends don’t cover just pro or college football.  We looked through film from teams at all levels and found a few trends that defined the 2010 season.

1. Mixing Differing Philosophies on Offense

Many teams strive to be diverse on offense. In fact, many offensive coordinators will often only describe their offensive system by saying they want to be “multiple in everything they do.” Well we have seen teams take “multiple” to the extreme. 

This season we’ve seen a lot of teams incorporating spread elements into their offenses. You can see this in effect just by watching college football on any given Saturday. Teams like Oklahoma and Oklahoma State can be seen running a Full House Backfield (also known as the Diamond Formation) from the shotgun. Some teams, like the one below, actually shift from these Full House sets to a 5-Wide set and throw the football.

New formations and motions spice up any offense. Teams are adding new formations and motions that are unexpected based on their offensive type.  In the example below, the team we are looking at runs a Wing-T style offense.  They incorporated more shotgun and use shifts to create a numbers advantage for themselves.  They are able to run the same plays they had before, but they give the defense much more to prepare for.

2. Evolution of the QB Run Game

The zone-read and option plays have been staples of offenses for years. This year we have seen offenses take the next step in the evolution of the QB run game.  Instead of normal zone-read plays, we are seeing reads tagged onto new plays. Counter-Reads are one great example of this. As seen in the film below, the offensive line will execute a normal counter scheme, but instead of blocking the DE that comes free from the pulling tackle, the QB will read him in an effort to prevent him from chasing down the play. 

The outside zone and veer are also seeing new QB oriented variations. Current Hudl Pro Partner, Michigan, has done a great job utilizing QB Denard Robinson’s speed and quickness by running him on QB Sweeps and outside zone schemes. Below, you can see an example of a QB Sweep out of a Bunch Formation. The veer is also experiencing a QB focused face lift. The inverted veer is a staple of many spread offenses and is a great play used to complement the traditional zone read.

3. Tempo

Tempo is often the most overlooked component to an explosive offense. Playing at a good pace allows your players to get in rhythm. We have seen a wide variety of tempos this season. Some teams, like current Hudl Pro Partner Oregon, run their offense at an extremely fast pace. Other teams operate a “Check with Me” system, meaning they get set at the line of scrimmage and then look to the sideline for the signal from coaches. We are also seeing many teams moving in and out of no-huddle tempos during the game. Regardless of what style of offense a team runs, keeping a good tempo is an important component in any offense.

Let us know what trends you have seen in your league/state for the 2010 season.