I think that balance is the key to having great success in any offense…not just spread offenses.
You need to be able to throw the ball…and not only when you have to throw it, but also when you
want to throw it. I concentrated on being a good second and 10 team, so that we had a lot of
confidence in throwing the football on first down.
Over my years of coaching, I’ve always tried to create as much balance in my offense as I could. I
installed a “Quick Passing Game”, which really helped balance our offense. I also added a five-step
passing game to help keep drives alive when facing long yardage or when we wanted to take some
shots down the field. I used four signature routes for long yardage or making a deep strike
down the field. One of the routes I used was called the “Panther Route”, a vertical pass route with big
play potential. This route was our top deep ball scoring route and our players loved it. You can run
this route from under center, in the shotgun or off play action pass.
The Panther Route is a vertical route designed to get the ball deep off the reaction of the safety.
We go through a progression read for the quarterback. If under center, the QB will take a
five-step drop and read the corner route by the second receiver to the called side. If the corner is open,
he will hit it on his fifth step. If the corner looks a little cloudy, he will shift his eyes to the safety,
whether in a 1 high or 2 high look. He will throw to the opposite of the safeties reaction, leading the receiver by
placing the pass in open grass. If he doesn’t look open, the QB will come down to
his check down route crossing the formation.
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I’ve always taught the QBs to hit the corner route, if open. They are going to want to go to their
second read because of the big play potential. I tried to teach them to be patient and the big play will
happen. Also, talk check down in their progression. If the linebackers are dropping deep, the check down is
open with yards after the catch.