Many of the best play callers use the philosophy, "Players, Formations, Plays". The whole idea about this philosophy is play-calling should be designed in regards to getting your best player touches because ultimately that's what is going to determine the success of the offense. Another common saying with coaches is "It's not about the X's and O's, it's about the Jimmy's and Joe's". Again, it's the same idea of regardless of what you call, the success of the play is predicated on who the play is designed for. With that in mind, I decided to look at the Semifinal game from the 2014-2015 season and see how Lane Kiffin and Alabama tried to get the ball to one of their best players, Amare Cooper through out the Sugar Bowl against Ohio State. Ohio State is obviously well-coached and knew in order to win the game, they had to slow down Cooper. With that being said, I wanted to see some of the strategies Alabama used to get him the ball even though they knew Ohio State was identifying where he was on every snap.
Alabama's wasted no time to get the ball in Coopers hands. On their first play, Alabama lines up in a bunch formation and runs Cooper on a jet sweep. No easier way to get the ball to your playmaker then to flip it to him on a jet sweep. The bunch formation also creates space for him on the edge once he touches the ball.
The third play of the game, Alabama calls a RPO play with inside zone and a screen to the playside and a fade route to the Coopers side. With the press coverage, the QB decides to take a shot to Cooper even though it's only 3rd and 3. I'm sure they wanted to exploit this opportunity any time it was given to them. However, With the safety helping over the top and a 2 high look, Alabama has even numbers in the box, so they could of probably ran for the first down. It would be interesting to be in the film room with Saban and Kiffin and see if they would of preferred the QB to just run the ball here.
Later on in the first quarter, Alabama puts Cooper in the backfield and tries to get him matched up on an LB and running a seam in the middle of the field to split the safeties. Alabama knows Ohio State is always trying to account for him so by putting him in the backfield, they were hoping to create a mismatch that they could exploit. The QB opts for the cushion throw instead. Here is the clip below:
The very next play they line up in a trips bunch formation. Cooper is the single WR this time away from the trips. In this look they fake the toss play to the field and Cooper sells a crack block initially which gets the safety to step up. After selling the block he accelerates and breaks to the corner and does a great job getting the corner turned around which frees him up for a touchdown. Play-action is a great way to get the Cover 4 safety to play the run which gets your WR one on one with the corner. Targeting key players is even more important in the red zone to convert drives into points.
The very next drive Alabama has the ball, they again start by targeting Cooper . This time they use a run pass option with motion. Alabama puts Cooper in short motion which is a great way to get a corner to soften up his coverage. Once the QB sees the corner giving him cushion with the motion he throws the speed out to Cooper instead of running the ball.
The very next play they get in a different formation, put Cooper in a different spot, and target him again on another RPO (run-pass option). The QB felt Cooper had the LB outleveraged so he throws the bubble screen to him instead of executing the called run play. The ball is thrown a little behind which stops his momentum, but Ohio States defense does a great job tackling him in space.
On another first down to start the drive, Alabama targets Cooper again to get the offense going. This play is another RPO with him in short motion. Again, the corner gives cushion with the short motion, but this time he executes a now screen instead of an out route and the QB gets him the ball in space instead of running the ball. Ohio State does a good job swarming to the ball but he still gets 7 yards on the play. Which again shows the importance of getting your best player the football.
Later on in the third quarter, they use zip motion again to create a stacked look with the other wide receiver. This again makes it hard for Ohio State to bracket him, and Cooper gets open running a curl route.
At the beginning of the 4th quarter trailing Ohio State, Alabama again goes to Cooper early on in the drive. Again they use an RPO, to get the ball in his hands. This time it's out of tight end trips so it's more of a post snap read for the QB. As the QB meshes with RB he sees the OLB step in towards the run so he pulls the ball and basically runs option with the LB as the pitch key. The LB plays him so he flicks it towards Cooper and again gets him in space and he gets 10+ yards.
The very next play they try and use him as a decoy for a big play. This time they fake the screen to Cooper and try and get the RB to fake the block on the corner and then go deep. Ohio State does a great job staying disciplined giving Alabama no where to go with the ball and gets a sack to get them behind schedule. This could of been a huge play for Alabama and could of given them a big play with a chance to take the lead.
After that drive, Alabama fell behind which made them one dimensional which made it even harder to get Cooper the ball. Cooper did manage to score one more touchdown at the end when Alabama got man coverage in the red zone. Cooper beats his man to the inside and scores a touchdown. It looked like a safety was there to help but the team caught him in a check and took him out of the play.
As you can see from some of the clips and his recent success in the NFL, you can see how dynamic Cooper is on the football field. Coaches that have these types of players need to build the game plan around them. Almost every good offensive coordinator has a spot on their call sheet on how they can get their best players touches throughout the game. These clips illustrate some of the ways Kiffin managed to do it throughout this game: RPO's, Motions, lining him up in different spots, jet sweeps, and play-action. It was also no coincidence that a lot of his touches were to start the game and to start drives. There is no better way to generate momentum than to get your best player the ball. Getting him involved early also eliminates any type of frustration building up from that player through out the game. How many times do you watch a game and you see the star player frustrated on the sideline. Great football players want the ball in their hands so it's crucial to have a plan to get it to them, even when the opposing defense is keying on that particular player.
Hopefully, this blog post gives offensive coordinators some ideas on how to get your best player touches. I would love to hear some ideas on ways you incorporate your best players into the game plan!
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