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Quarterbacks can use a snap with two or more accented syllables in the hope of drawing an opposing player offside before the last accented syllable (for example, "hut one ... hut two ... hut three hut HUT ... hut HUT"). A loud home crowd can deprive a visiting quarterback of the ability to use this strategy.
This play is often used in a fourth down situation, when fewer than 5 yards are needed for a first down. If the defense jumps offside, they are penalized 5 yards, resulting in a first down for the offense.
When used on fourth down if the defense does not go offside, the offense can either call a time out or take a five-yard penalty for delay of game and punt the ball away, or purposefully done to burn time near the end of the game and kick a field goal to tie or win the game.
If the defense jumps offside, but the offense begins their play, it is called a "free play", because if the offense gains yardage or scores a touchdown, they can decline the penalty and benefit from the gain or score, while if they execute a risky pass that is intercepted or are in their own end zone and are taken down for a safety, the turnover or defensive score is nullified by the offsides penalty.
The offense may choose to use the hard count throughout the game, in an attempt to confuse the defense, and get them to play more conservatively.
The offense's own offensive line is sometimes fooled by the hard count, resulting in a false start offensive infraction.
The multiple offensive is an American football offensive scheme used by several teams in the National Football League and college football. It is a hybrid offense consisting of formations and plays from various other schemes including the pro-style offense, spread offense, and pistol offense, and possibly more.
The multiple offense allows for a wide variety of play calls and formations, from spreading the field with 4 or 5 wide receivers to utilizing fullbacks and tight ends to establish a power running game. As such, it can be adjusted to fit the skills of available offensive personnel and can be difficult for an opposing defense to scout and prepare for. On the other hand, it can result in an offense which is "mediocre at everything", especially in college football, where practice time is limited.
In American football, the dime defense is a defensive alignment that uses six defensive backs. It is usually employed in obvious passing situations. The formation usually consists of six defensive backs, usually two safeties, and four cornerbacks, and has either four down linemen and one linebacker, or three down linemen and two linebackers. This formation is used to prevent the offense from completing a medium- to long-range pass play. This may be because the offense's running game is inefficient, time is an issue, or they need a long pass for a first down. It is also used against teams whose pass-to-run ratio predominantly favors pass. The formation, however, is vulnerable to running plays as the formation is missing two linebackers, or a linebacker and a down lineman.
A dime defense differs from the nickel defense – from which it derives its name – in that it adds a sixth defensive back to the secondary. This sixth defensive back is called a "dimeback" (D). The defense gets its name because a dime, worth ten cents, is the next step up in United States coin currency from a nickel, which is worth 5 cents.
There are also "quarter" and "half-dollar" formations, each protecting against progressively deeper and more likely pass attempts. In 2010, the New York Giants consistently added an extra safety instead of an extra cornerback, resulting in three safeties and three cornerbacks. This has been called a "giant dime".
A hot route is a short passing route in American Football used to escape a potential sack from a blitzing defense.
A hot route is a variation on the regular running route for a running back. It results usually from an audible called by a quarterback, and is based on a read of a blitzing defense. If the defense does not blitz, the running back runs the regular route. If the defense does blitz, the running back will, instead of blocking the blitzing defensive player, run a short route, such as a bubble screen, and catch the ball which the quarterback dumps off quickly.
The Tampa 2 is an American football defensive scheme popularized by (and thus named after) the Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Football League (NFL) team in the mid-1990s–early 2000s. The Tampa 2 is typically employed out of a 4–3 defensive alignment, which consists of four linemen, three linebackers, two cornerbacks, and two safeties. The defense is similar to a Cover 2 defense, except the middle linebacker drops into a deep middle coverage for a Cover 3 when he reads a pass play.
The term rose to popularity due to the installation and effective execution of this defensive scheme by then-head coach Tony Dungy and defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, and the style helped the Buccaneers win Super Bowl XXXVII.
The roots of the Tampa 2 system actually come from the Pittsburgh Steelers and their Steel Curtain defense of the 1970s. "My philosophy is really out of the 1975 Pittsburgh Steelers playbook," said Dungy (who played for the Steelers early in his career) during media interviews while at Super Bowl XLI. "That is why I have to laugh when I hear 'Tampa 2'. Chuck Noll and Bud Carson—that is where it came from, I changed very little." Lovie Smith mentions having played the system in junior high school during the 1970s, though Carson introduced the idea of moving the middle linebacker into coverage. Carson's system became especially effective with the Steelers' addition of aggressive and athletic middle linebacker Jack Lambert.
After Dungy became head coach of the Indianapolis Colts and Lovie Smith (linebackers coach in Tampa from 1996–2000) became head coach of the Chicago Bears, they installed the Tampa 2 in their respective teams. During the 2005 NFL season, the Buccaneers, still under defensive coordinator Kiffin, ranked first in the league in fewest total yards allowed, Smith's Bears ranked number two, and Dungy's Colts ranked eleventh. By 2006, the Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs, and Detroit Lions had also adopted the defense. In college football, Gene Chizik is among the coaches that successfully implemented the Tampa 2.
The scheme is known for its simple format, speed, and the aggressive mentality of its players. Tampa 2 teams are known as gang tacklers with tremendous team speed, and practice to always run to the ball. It also requires a hard hitting secondary to cause turnovers.
The personnel used in the Tampa 2 are specific in position and required abilities. All positions in this defense place a premium on speed, and often the result is that they are all undersized by league standards. The defensive linemen in this scheme have to be quick and agile enough to create pressure on the quarterback without the aid of a blitz from either the linebackers or the secondary, with the defensive tackle in the nose position having above-average tackling skills to help stop runs. Warren Sapp is often cited as the primary example of a defensive lineman who flourished in this scheme; indeed, he is now reckoned as the prototype three-technique defensive tackle.
The Tampa 2 is particularly effective against teams who are playing from behind, because it limits big plays. It forces offenses to be patient and to settle for short gains and time-consuming drives. This may be due to the nature of the "bend-but-don't-break" 2-deep zone coverage scheme and responsibilities safeties play in the Tampa 2.
When executed properly, the Tampa 2 defense is difficult to beat, a reason for its longevity, having seen no fundamental changes since first introduced in 1996. Teams that have been successful against this defense have managed to run the ball up the middle past the defensive tackles, or throw passes in the seams between the outside linebackers and the cornerbacks (often the most effective receiver against a Tampa 2 defense is a tight end, since they often line up against this seam).
To defend running plays, the Tampa 2 is a single gap defense where each player is responsible for covering his own gap. The assigned gap changes with game conditions and personnel.
Typically this style of defense utilizes smaller but faster linemen and linebackers with above average speed. Also, the defensive backs must be above average hitters.
The key theme in stopping the run is directing traffic to the weak-side linebacker. It is therefore necessary to have a skilled tackler at the WLB position (e.g., Derrick Brooks, Lance Briggs, Sean Lee).
Wildcat formation describes a formation for the offense in football in which the ball is snapped not to the quarterback but directly to a player of another position lined up at the quarterback position. (In most systems, this is a running back, but some playbooks have the wide receiver, fullback, or tight end taking the snap.) The Wildcat features an unbalanced offensive line and looks to the defense like a sweep behind zone blocking. A player moves across the formation prior to the snap. However, once this player crosses the position of the running back who will receive the snap, the play develops unlike the sweep.
The Wildcat is a gambit rather than an overall offensive philosophy. It can be a part of many offenses. For example, a spread-option offense might use the Wildcat formation to keep the defense guessing, or a West Coast offense may use the power-I formation to threaten a powerful run attack.
One possible precursor to the wildcat formation was named the "wing-T", and is widely credited to being first implemented by Coach Tubby Raymond and Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team. Tubby Raymond later wrote a book on the innovative formation. The wildcat's similarity to the wing-T is the focus on series football, where the initial movements of every play look similar. For example, the wing-T makes use of motion across the formation as well in order to draw a reaction from the defense, but runs several different plays from the same look.
Another possible precursor to the wildcat is the offense of Six-Man Football, a form of high school football, played mostly in rural West Texas and Montana, that was developed in 1934. In six-man, the person who receives the snap may not run the ball past the line of scrimmage. To bypass this limitation, teams often snap the ball to a receiver, who then tosses the ball to the potential passer. The passer may then throw the ball to a receiver or run with the ball himself.
The virtue of having a running back take the snap in the wildcat formation is that the rushing play is 11-on-11, although different variations have the running back hand off or throw the football. In a standard football formation, when the quarterback stands watching, the offense operates 10-on-11 basis. The motion also presents the defense with an immediate threat to the outside that it must respect no matter what the offense decides to do with the football.
"The Wall Street Journal" credited Hugh Wyatt, a longtime coach in the Pacific Northwest, with naming the offense. Wyatt, coaching the La Center High School Wildcats, published an article in "Scholastic Coach and Athletic Director" magazine in 1998, where he explained his version of the offense, which relied on two wing backs as the two backfield players directly behind the center, alternating to receive the snap. Other high school football programs across the United States adopted Wyatt's Wildcat offense.
Alabama's David Palmer was one of the first "wildcat" quarterbacks on the national scene running the formation in 1993.
The wildcat was popularized on the college level by Bill Snyder, head coach of the Kansas State University Wildcats with Michael Bishop as quarterback in 1997 and 1998 when they made a run at the top of the national rankings. Bishop rushed for 1304 career yards in two seasons, including 748 yards on 177 carries during the '98 season. Snyder's success inspired Urban Meyer at the start of his career. Meyer's subsequent success with quarterback Josh Harris at Bowling Green helped the formation come to the fore.
Other college teams have used the wildcat formation regularly, including the wildcats of Kansas State, Kentucky, and Villanova, as well as the Pitt Panthers. Pitt had great success with the formation having star running back LeSean McCoy or running back LaRod Stephens-Howling take the snap. The Panthers scored numerous times from this formation during those years. Villanova won the 2009 FCS championship with a multiple offense that included the wildcat, with wide receiver Matt Szczur taking the snap. Szczur scored a key touchdown in the Wildcats' semifinal against William & Mary out of the formation, and made a number of big plays out of the wildcat against Montana in the final.
UCF uses a wildcat formation they call the "Wild Knight". It was originally intended to be run by Rob Calabrese, even after he lost the starting job in 2010 to Jeff Godfrey, but he tore his ACL using the play to score a rushing touchdown against Marshall on October 13, 2010. At the time, most agreed that Calabrese was effective at running the Wild Knight formation.
The wildcat formation made an appearance in 1998, when Minnesota Vikings' offensive coordinator Brian Billick began employing formations where QB Randall Cunningham lined up as a wide receiver and third-down specialist David Palmer took the direct snap from the center with the option to pass or run.
In the 1998 NFC Championship, with 7:58 to go in the third quarter, on a second and 5 play, the Atlanta Falcons deployed quarterback Chris Chandler wide left as a receiver while receiver Tim Dwight took a direct snap and ran 20 yards for a first down.
As the popularity of the wildcat spread during the 2008 NFL season, several teams began instituting it as a part of their playbook.
Defending plays from the wildcat requires linemen and linebackers to know and execute their own assignments without over-pursuing what may turn into a fake or a reverse. The formation's initial success in 2008 can be attributed in part to surprise—defenses had not practiced their countermeasures against such an unusual offensive strategy. Since then, most teams are well prepared to stop the wildcat; an example came in November 2008 when the Patriots traveled to Miami nine weeks after the Dolphins win in Foxborough; Bill Belichick's defense limited the wildcat to just 27 yards and forced the Dolphins to try a conventional passing attack; the game lead changed six times but the Patriots wore out the Dolphins with a 48–28 win.
Though defenses now understand how to stop the wildcat, it does not mean the formation is no longer useful. A defense's practice time is finite. Opponents who prepare to stop the wildcat have less time available to prepare for other offensive approaches. Many teams admit to spending an inordinate amount of time having to prepare for this scheme. The Philly Special, an iconic play during Super Bowl LII, was run out of the wildcat.
Other teams that use the wildcat formation in the NFL have used different names for their versions. At one time, the Carolina Panthers called their version the 'Mountaineer formation', named after the Appalachian State Mountaineers, the alma mater of their wildcat quarterback Armanti Edwards, who played quarterback for the Mountaineers. The Denver Broncos utilize 'Wild Horses', developed in 2009. The New York Jets referred to their version as the Tigercat formation in reference to Brad Smith having attended the University of Missouri when Smith played for New York from 2009–2010. The 2011 Minnesota Vikings referred to their formation as the "Blazer package" which employed former UAB Blazers quarterback Joe Webb.
Until the 2009 season, a technicality in the league rules made the wildcat offense illegal; essentially, the rule stated that a designated quarterback must be in position to take all snaps. This has since been changed.
In American football, the pro set or split backs formation is a formation that has been commonly used as a "base" set by professional and amateur teams. The "pro set" formation features an offensive backfield that deploys two running backs aligned side-by-side instead of one in front of the other as in traditional I-formation sets. It was an outgrowth of the three-running-back T-formation, with the third running back (one of the halfbacks) in the T becoming a permanent flanker, now referred to as a wide receiver.
This formation has been particularly popular because teams can both run and pass the football out of it with an equal amount of success. It keeps defenses guessing what type of play the offense will run. Because the backs are opposite each other, it takes the defense longer to read the gap through which the offense will run the ball.
The set can be run with a single tight end and two receivers or no tight ends and three receivers.
A standard pro set places the backs about 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage, spaced evenly behind the guards or tackles. In this look, teams may utilize two halfbacks, or one halfback and one fullback.
A variation of the pro set places the backs offset toward either side. This look is almost universally used with one fullback and one halfback. The backs line up closer to the line of scrimmage than in a standard pro set, about 3 yards deep. The fullback lines up directly behind the quarterback, in the same spot as in the I-Formation. The halfback then lines up behind either the left or right tackle.
Once the run has been established, it can be a dangerous formation. Because of the real threat of a team running out of the pro-set, defenses must respect the play fake and play run. This pulls the safety to the line and opens up the middle of the field deep. Also, with both backs in position to "pick up" an outside blitz, the pro set gives a quarterback an abundance of time to find an open receiver.
The formation has lost its popularity at the college and professional level recently with the rise of shotgun split back formations. It remains common at the high school level.
In the National Football League, in the mid-to-late 2000s, the formation was used almost exclusively by West Coast offense-based teams in occasional third down passing situations and goal-line situations. In the early 2010s, the pro set almost completely disappeared from the NFL, however in the late 2010s it was used once again as an occasional goal line and passing down formation by West Coast offense based teams.
The following is a list of common and historically significant formations in American football. In football, the formation describes how the players in a team are positioned on the field. Many variations are possible on both sides of the ball, depending on the strategy being employed. On offense, the formation must include at least seven players on the line of scrimmage, including a center to start the play by snapping the ball.
There are no restrictions on the arrangement of defensive players, and, as such, the number of defensive players on the line of scrimmage varies by formation.
This list is not exhaustive; there are hundreds of different ways to organize a team's players while still remaining within the "7 on the line 4 in the backfield" convention. Still, this list of formations covers enough of the basics that almost every formation can be considered a variant of the ones listed below.
The T formation is the precursor to most modern formations in that it places the quarterback directly under center (in contrast to its main competitor of its day, the single wing, which had the quarterback receiving the ball on the fly).
It consists of three running backs lined up abreast about five yards behind the quarterback, forming the shape of a T. It may feature two tight ends (known as the Power T) or one tight end and a wide receiver (in this case known as a split end). When legendary coach George Halas' Chicago Bears used the T-formation to defeat the Washington Redskins by a score of 73–0 in the 1940 NFL championship game, it marked the end of the single wing at nearly all levels of play, as teams, over the course of the 1940s, moved to formations with the quarterback "under center" like the T. George Halas is credited with perfecting the T formation.
Two other I formation variations include the Maryland I and the Power I. These formations lack a flanker, and use the maximum 3 running backs rather than the standard 2. They are used primarily as running formations, often in goal line situations. These may employ either tight ends or split ends (wide receivers) or one of each. The Maryland I was developed by Maryland head coach Tom Nugent. More recently, Utah has utilized this formation with quarterback Brian Johnson.
A variation of the ace is known as the spread formation. It utilizes four wide receivers and no tight ends. In the NFL, this formation was the basis of the run and shoot offense that was popular in the 1980s with teams such as the Detroit Lions and the Houston Oilers but has since fallen out of favor as a primary offensive philosophy.
It is often used as a pass formation, because of the extra wide receivers. It also makes an effective run formation, because it "spreads the field" and forces the defense to respect the pass, thus taking players out of the box. Certain college programs, such as the University of Hawaii and Texas Tech still use it as their primary formation. Brigham Young University also uses the spread offense, although they tend to employ their tight ends more frequently than Hawaii and Texas Tech. Minnesota and TCU are also starting to employ the spread offense.
Joe Gibbs, twice head coach of the Washington Redskins, devised an ace variation that used a setback, or "flexed" tight end known as an H-back. In this formation, the normal tight-end is almost exclusively a blocker, while the H-back is primarily a pass receiver. This formation is often referred to as a "two tight end" set. Some teams (like the Indianapolis Colts under Tony Dungy) use this formation with both tight ends on the line and use two flankers. Many other teams in the NFL, even those that do not use this as a primary formation, still run some plays using a variant of this formation.
Also called the "split backs" or "three-end formation", this is similar to the I-formation and has the same variations. The difference is that the two backs are split behind the quarterback instead of being lined up behind him.
Clark Shaughnessy designed the formation from the T Formation in 1949 after acquiring halfback Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch. Shaughnessy thought he would make a great receiver but already had two great receivers in Tom Fears and Bob Shaw. Schaughnessy moved Hirsch to the flanker position behind the right end. Thus started what was known as the three-end formation.
This formation is most often associated with Bill Walsh's San Francisco 49ers teams of the 1980s and his West Coast Offense. It was also the favored formation of the pass-happy BYU Cougars under the tenure of legendary coach LaVell Edwards. A modern example of the "pro-set" can be seen in the Florida State University offense, which favors a Split Backs formation. The Seattle Seahawks under Mike Holmgren also favored this type of formation with the tight end usually being replaced with a third wide receiver.
Another variation of the single wing was the A formation.
The single wing has recently had a renaissance of sorts with high schools; since it is so rare, its sheer novelty can make it successful.
Though the wildcat concept was successful for a time, its effectiveness decreased as defensive coordinators prepared their teams for the change of pace play. The player receiving the snap is usually not a good passer, so defenses can bring linebackers and defensive backs closer to the line of scrimmage to clog potential running lanes. As such, its use has declined since 2009, particularly in the NFL.
The double wing, as a formation, is widely acknowledged to have been invented by Glenn "Pop" Warner in 1912. It then was an important formation up to the T formation era. For example, Dutch Meyer at TCU, with quarterback Sammy Baugh, won a college national championship in 1935 with a largely double wing offense.
With Markham's success came many converts to his offense and many variations of the offense over the years. Perhaps the most well-known of Markham's converts is Hugh Wyatt, who brought more Wing-T to the offense and a greater ability to market the offense. Jerry Valloton also marketed the offense well when he wrote the first book on the offense. Since that time, Tim Murphy, Steve Calande, Jack Greggory, Robert McAdams, and several other coaches have further developed the offense and coaching materials thereof. Their materials may be seen on their respective websites.
The Double Wing is widely used at the youth level, becoming more popular at the high school level and has been used at the college level by
The short punt is an older formation popular when scoring was harder and a good punt was an offensive weapon. In times when punting on second and third down was fairly common, teams would line up in the short punt formation and offer the dual threat of punt or pass. "Harper's Weekly" in 1915 calls it "the most valuable formation known to football."
The formation differs in two significant ways from the single wing. It is generally a balanced formation, and there are backs on both sides of the tailback, offering better pass protection. As a result, it was considered a much better passing formation than running, as the premiere running formation was the single wing. That said, it was regarded as a good formation for trap plays.
The formation was used extensively by Fielding Yost's Michigan Wolverines in their early history, and was the base formation for the Benny Friedman led New York Giants in 1931. In the 1956 NFL Championship, the Chicago Bears shifted into a short punt formation in the third quarter, after falling way behind.
The Shotgun's invention is credited to Red Hickey, coach of the San Francisco 49ers in 1960. Historically, it was used to great success as a primary formation in the NFL by the Tom Landry-led Dallas Cowboys teams of the 1970s and the 1990s Buffalo Bills teams under Marv Levy, who used a variation known as the K-gun that relied on quarterback Jim Kelly. The shotgun offense became a staple of many college football offenses beginning in the 1990s.
This offense was originated with Chris Ault at the University of Nevada, Reno. It is essentially a shotgun variation, with the quarterback lined up closer than in standard shotgun (normally 3 to 4 yards behind center), and a running back lined up behind, rather than next to, the QB (normally at 3 to 4 yards behind quarterback).
The pistol formation adds the dimension of a running game with the halfback being in a singleback position. This has disrupted the timing of some defenses with the way the quarterback hands the ball off to the halfback. This also allows the smaller halfbacks to hide behind the offensive line, causing opposing linebackers and pass-rushing defensive linemen to play more conservatively. The Pistol can also feature the option play. With this offense, the quarterback has the ability to get a better look past the offensive line and at the defense. Pistol formations have gained some popularity in NCAA football, and in fact, variants of this offense were used by the 2007 and 2009 BCS National Champions, LSU and Alabama, respectively.
In 2008, Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Chan Gailey began using the Pistol prominently in their offense, and are the first NFL team to do so. He brought the philosophy with him to the Buffalo Bills in 2010. The San Francisco 49ers added the Pistol to their offense in after former Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick became the team's starter. By the late 2010s, the pistol had become a favored formation of teams running the run-pass option (RPO) offense, such as the 2019 Baltimore Ravens with quarterback Lamar Jackson.
This formation is typically used for trick plays, though it is somewhat counterintuitively effective in short-yardage situations: a screen pass thrown to the strong side of the formation will have enough blockers to generate a push forward, and the mismatch can create enough of an advantage that the center and quarterback can provide enough blocking power to clear a path for the running back. The most recent use of this formation was in 2019, when the Miami Dolphins played the Philadelphia Eagles in the second quarter on 4th and goal when Matt Haack took the snap and flicked the ball to Jason Sanders for a touchdown.
The wishbone is a 1960s variation of the T-formation. It consists of three running backs: a fullback lined up directly behind the quarterback, and the two halfbacks split behind the fullback. It can be run with two tight ends, one tight end and one wide receiver, or two wide receivers. Most offensive systems that employ the wishbone use it as their primary formation, and most run the ball much more often than they pass. The wishbone is a common formation for the triple option offense in which the quarterback decides after the snap whether to hand the ball to the fullback for a run up the middle, pitch the ball to a running back on the outside, or keep the ball and run it himself.
The wishbone was developed in the 1960s by Emory Bellard, offensive coordinator at the University of Texas under head coach Darrell Royal. The offense was an immediate success, and Texas won the national championship in 1969 running a wishbone / option system. It was subsequently adopted by many other college programs in the 1970s, including Alabama and Oklahoma, who also won national titles with variations of the offense. However, as with any hugely successful formation or philosophy, as teams learned how to defend against it, it became much less successful.
Today, the wishbone / option offense is still used by some high school and smaller college teams, but it is much less common in major college football, where teams tend to employ more pass-oriented attacks. The United States Air Force Academy (aka Air Force), the United States Naval Academy (Navy) and Georgia Tech are among the few NCAA FBS teams that commonly use the wishbone and its variations.
The wishbone has very rarely been used in professional football, as it was developed after passing quarterbacks became the norm. NFL quarterbacks are not necessarily good runners, and are in any case too valuable to the offense to risk injury by regularly running with the football. During the strike season of 1987, the San Francisco 49ers used the wishbone successfully against the New York Giants to win 41–21. Coach Bill Walsh used the wishbone because of his replacement quarterback's familiarity with a similar formation in college.
The flexbone formation is a variation of the wishbone formation. In this formation, one back (the fullback) lines up behind the quarterback. Both ends are often split wide as wide receivers, though some variations include one or two tight ends. The two remaining backs, called wingbacks or slotbacks, line up behind the line of scrimmage just outside the tackles. Usually, one of the wingbacks will go in motion behind the quarterback before the snap, potentially giving him another option to pitch to.
Like the wishbone, the flexbone formation is commonly used to run the triple option. However, the flexbone is considered more "flex"-ible than the wishbone because, since the wingbacks line up on the line of scrimmage, more run / pass options and variations are possible.
The Wing T has its roots in what Otto D. Unruh called the "T-Wing" formation and is known to have called the play as early as 1938 with the Bethel Threshers.
Both the Giants and Eagles developed similar formations of this design. The Eagles named their version the "Herman Edwards" play after their cornerback who scored the winning touchdown on the above fateful play.
The tackle spread or "Emory and Henry" formation is an unusual American football formation that dates to the early 1950s, when the Wasps of Emory & Henry College under head coach Conley Snidow used it as part of their base offense. Instead of the conventional grouping of all five ineligible offensive linemen in the middle of the formation, the Emory and Henry spreads the tackles out to the edge of the field along with two receivers or slotbacks, creating two groupings of three players near each sideline. Meanwhile, the center and the guards remain in the middle of the field along with the quarterback and a running back.
The formation has also been used as a basis for trick plays such as a backwards pass to a player near the sideline followed by forward pass down the field.
The Emory & Henry formation was revived in the 1990s by Florida and South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, who coined its commonly used name when he explained that he'd seen Emory and Henry College run it in the 1950s. The New England Patriots used a variation of the formation by placing a (legally declared) eligible-numbered receiver in the ineligible tackle position; the confusion this caused prompted the league to impose a rule change prohibiting that twist beginning in 2015.
A tackle-spread formation was included in the video game "Madden NFL 18" under the name "Gun Monster;" it proved to be a problem for the game's artificial intelligence, which could not discern eligible receivers from ineligible ones.
The Cincinnati Bengals under Marvin Lewis occasionally used a variant of the Emory and Henry formation, which they called the "Star Wars" formation; in their version, both offensive tackles line up on the same side of the quarterback, thus creating a hybrid between the Emory & Henry and the swinging gate.
The A-11 offense combines the Emory and Henry with the wildcat, in that either of the two backs in the backfield can receive the snap and act as quarterback. In its earliest incarnation, it also used a loophole in the high school rulebook that allowed players wearing any uniform number to play at either an ineligible or eligible position, further increasing defensive confusion and allowing for more flexibility among players changing positions between plays. However, this facet of the offense was never legal at the college or professional level, and the high school loophole was closed in 2009.
There are no rules regarding the formation of defensive players or their movement before the snap of the ball as the choice of when to snap the ball is that of the offense which would consequently deprive the defense of an opportunity to take a set position. Therefore, the deployment and tactics of defensive players are bound only by the imagination of the play designer and the line of scrimmage. Below are some of the most popular defensive formations through the history of football.
The original 6-1 was invented by Steve Owen in 1950 as a counter to the powerful passing attack of Paul Brown's Cleveland Browns. It was called the "Umbrella" defense because of the four defensive backs, whose crescent alignment resembled an opened umbrella, and the tactic of allowing the defensive ends to fall back into pass coverage, converting the defense, in Owen's language, from a 6–1–4 into a 4–1–6. If offenses grew wise to the drop back, the ends could pass rush instead. Using this new defense, the Giants defeated the Browns twice in 1950 during the regular season.
It saw use during the 1950s in Owen's hands, but never became a significant base defense. It was functionally replaced by the more versatile 4–3.
In this variation of the 3–4, known also as the "3–4 eagle", the nose guard is removed from play and in his place is an extra linebacker, who lines up on the line where the nose guard would be, sometimes slightly behind where the nose guard would be. It allows defenses more flexibility in man to man coverages and zone blitzes. It was created by Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur, and evolved from Buddy Ryan's 46 defense. Shurmur created the defense in part to take advantage of the pass rush abilities of Kevin Greene, a defensive end sized linebacker. The "eagle" in the formation's name comes from the late 1940s-early 1950s Philadelphia Eagles coached by Greasy Neale.
The original Eagle defense was a 5–2 arrangement, with five defensive linemen and two linebackers. In Neale's defense, as in Shurmur's variation, the nose tackle could also drop into pass coverage, thus Shurmur's use of the Eagle defense name.
The 4–4 defense consists of four defensive linemen, four linebackers, and three defensive backs (one safety, two corners). It puts "eight men in the box" to stop the run, but it sacrifices deep coverage against the pass, especially if the opponent's receivers are better athletes than the cornerbacks. The formation is popular in high school football as well as smaller collegiate teams. If the opposite team is a good passing team, outside linebackers are usually called on to defend slotbacks.
The 5-3 defense consists of five defensive linemen, three linebackers, and three defensive backs (one safety, two corners). It appeared in the early thirties as a response to the improving passing offenses of the time, particularly the T formation. It grew in importance as the 1940s progressed, as it was more effective versus the T than the other standard defense of the time, the 6–2. By 1950, five man lines were standard in the NFL, either the 5-3 or the 5-2 Eagle. As late as the early 1950s, the Cleveland Browns were using a 5-3 as their base defense.
The 6-2 defense consists of six defensive linemen, two linebackers, and three defensive backs (one safety, two corners). This was the primary defense in football, at all levels, during the single wing era (the 1930s), combining enough passing defense to handle the passing attacks of the day along with the ability to handle the power running games of the times. As the T formation grew popular in the 1940s, this formation was replaced in the NFL with the 5-3 and the 5-2 defenses.
In colleges, this defensive front has remained viable for a much longer period of time, because colleges, historically, have run a lot more than the NFL. Three common six man fronts seen in this more modern era are the tight six (linebackers over offensive ends, four linemen between linebackers), the wide tackle 6 (linebackers over offensive tackles, two linemen between linebackers) and the split 6 (linebackers over guard-center gap, all linemen outside linebackers).
The 5–2 defense consists of five defensive linemen, two linebackers, and four defensive backs (two corners, two safeties). Historically, this was the first major defense with 4 defensive backs, and was used to combat the passing attacks of the time. A later evolution of the original 5-2 is the Oklahoma 5–2, which ultimately became the professional 3-4 when the defensive ends of the original 5-2 were substituted over time for the outside linebackers of the 3–4. The differences between the Oklahoma 5-2 and the 3-4 are largely semantics.
Seven-man line defenses use seven down linemen on the line of scrimmage. The most common seven-man line defenses were the 7-2-2 defense and the 7-1-2-1 defense. They were most common before the forward pass became prevalent, but were still common prior to the inception of the platoon system. They are still sometimes used in goal-line situations.

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