A High School Passing
Offense That Can Be
I want to than the AFCA for inviting me to
speak. I have been to many of these
conventions and have always enjoyed just
Adapted to Your being around all of the great coaches that
attend them. It is an honor to be here, and
Quarterback to have a chance to share with you some of
the things we do with our passing attack at
Farmington Hills (Michigan) Harrison High
School. (Farmington Hills Harrison is locat-
ed about fifteen miles northwest of Detroit.
It is an upper middle class, culturally
diverse high school with about one thou-
sand pupils in grades nine through twelve.)
I am going to talk to you about our pass-
ing offense, which I feel is flexible enough to
be adapted to any quarterback’s individual
physical characteristics and skill levels. Over
the years, we have had quarterbacks of vari-
ous sizes and widely different ability levels,
but due to the flexibility of our passing
offense, each has been able operate an effi-
cient air attack that enhanced the effective-
ness of our running game. As a result, we
have been fortunate enough to win 10
Michigan state championships overall and six
in the last decade. Three of our quarterbacks
have set individual game passing records in
the state finals and one of our receivers holds
John Herrington the yardage record and is tied for first in the
number of touchdown passes.
Head Coach Over the years, Harrison has garnered a
reputation as a passing team. This reputa-
Harrison High School tion is somewhat misleading, however,
because we use the run to set up our pass-
Farmington, Mich. es. Actually, we usually run only about fif-
teen to twenty passes in most games, so
what is important is our passing efficiency
rather than the number of times we throw.
We have accomplished this with quar-
terbacks who possessed a wide variety of
physical attributes. For example, three dif-
ferent Hawk quarterbacks have set passing
records in state championship final games.
In 1988 and 1989 we had a quarterback
who was only 5-9 , but who was a very gift-
ed athlete. While he could execute all of
the plays in our offense, he was best at
sprintouts and play action. (Four years ago,
we set the final game passing record, but
still lost the game. That shows you how
important statistics are.) Three years ago,
we had a tall kid who was most comfortable
with the quickie passing game. He did not
have great speed or quick feet, so we sel-
dom used sprintouts and instead relied on
our draw pass series. Two years ago, we
had a versatile and very smart (4.0 student)
young man who mastered our entire pack-
age. He lacked arm strength but had quick
• Proceedings • 77th AFCA Convention • 2000 •
feet and his execution was flawless. This
past year, we began the season with a tall
kid who had good arm strength, but very
slow feet and not much savvy. When he
had trouble running the offense, we con-
verted a senior wide receiver to quarter-
back after the third game. Because in our
system, a receiver must know all of the pat-
terns for every other receiver, this conver-
sion was a smooth one. Our new quarter-
back had quick feet and a strong arm so we
went to sprintouts and play action passes.
He led us to the state championship, hitting
several key play actions passes in the final
game.
It is my belief, based on more than three
decades of coaching, that we can not get
that cookie cutter prototype, a quarterback
who fits the same mold, year in and year
out. Additionally, our second string quarter-
back has never possessed the same phys-
ical attributes or skill level as the starter,
but in many years, we have wound up hav-
ing to play both kids. Obviously, we have
learned that our offense must be adaptable
enough to utilize both players.
With this in mind, we put in our entire
passing game during the off season and
practice it during the summer passing
leagues. Our theory here is that since we
can not be sure who the starting quarter-
back will be, we will have the entire offense
at our fingertips and ready for use. We can
then easily adapt or change our emphasis
once the season is under way.
We have eight packages in our passing
offense.
1. Sprintouts (Best for shorter, agile
quarterbacks).
2. Quick Game (Tall quarterback with
good arm).
3. Play Action (Our most important
passes, we expect all quarterbacks to be
proficient at play action).
4. Five-Step Drops (Used mostly out of
one-back formations).
5. Shotgun (Quarterback must be able
to read, but may lack foot speed).
6. Screen Passes (All quarterbacks
must be good actors).
7. Dash (for quarterbacks with quick
feet).
8. Trick Plays (all quarterbacks can
learn them, but can execute some better
than others).
1. Hook & Ladder
2. Bounce Pass
3. Third & Ridiculous
4. Double Pass
 5. Tailback Pass
6. Transcontinental
By way of explanation, I should mention
our receiver designation system. We letter
our receivers based upon alignments
rather than individuals, thus, the same per-
son is not necessarily assigned the same
letter on every play: X is the widest receiv-
er to call side; Y is the second widest
receiver on the call side; and Z is the back-
side receiver. Hence, any one of our
receivers may be running a pattern
assigned to X, Y, or Z on any given play.
We use this system because it allows us to
incorporate many different motions or to
interchange our players to achieve better
personnel match ups.
First, I shall discuss our sprintout series.
We have six passes in the sprintout series,
but I will only discuss one in detail. Over the
years, our best play has been sprintout
switch. It is especially good against a three-
deep secondary. In this, pattern our X (the
split end in the diagram) receiver runs a
sideline route; our Y receiver runs to the
flag if is open, if not he breaks off his route
and hooks up; our backside (Z) man runs a
post versus a two-deep secondary, or
breaks off and hooks up versus a three-
deep secondary. We prefer to tandem
block the end of the line, but sometimes
must peel the tailback off to pick up a blitz-
ing linebacker. We usually throw this pass
to the X receiver as he breaks for the side-
line, but sometimes we get lucky and hit the
Y receiver deep for a touchdown. Because
the quarterback must either pull up short or
throw across his body, we generally do not
throw the post.
Diagram 1: Sprintout Series
Our quickie series includes four basic
passes: Hitch, slant, out, and fade. Which of
these patterns we run is dictated by the
defensive alignment. I send in instructions to
run a quick pass, then the quarterback calls
the appropriate route based upon how the
defense line up. This example shows our
hitch route. Both our wideouts (the split end
X and flanker Z) take off then stop short and
• Proceedings • 77th AFCA Convention • 2000 •
Diagram 2: Quickie Series
face in at three yards; the backside receiver
(tight end Y) stays in to block; we flare the
tailback to the split end side; and the U-back
blocks away from the call.
The power pass has been a staple in our
offense for more than thirty years. The off-
tackle power play is our signature running
play, so the power pass is a natural comple-
ment to this play. We prefer to run this out of
our power formation which features the tight
end as X, the swingback as Y, and the split
end (lined up tight on the backside) as Z.
Because this is a play action pass, we must
sell the run first. Therefore, our quarterback
must ride the tailback, not just roll outside
after a cursory fake. The tight end must
block down before he goes to the flag, and
the swingback must put a block on the
defensive end before he releases to the flat.
If your quarterback has good feet, this is an
excellent play for him to keep the ball and
run. We particularly like to use this play with
short motion at the goal line or in short
yardage situations.
Diagram 3: Power Pass
Another favorite play action pass is the
draw pass. This particular pass was called
the MAC pass in our area because every
team in the Mid-American Conference ran
it in the mid-1980s. Obviously, this play
relies upon an effective draw threat. The X
man runs a post, Y man runs a drag, and Z
runs a square-in (sell a post route at 15
yards deep, then break off horizontal and
face the quarterback at 17 yards). This
pass works best when we have a tall quar-
terback who is a good ball handler. His
main read is the weakside linebacker. We
fake the draw then usually hit the square-in
or drag, but occasionally get a big play by
hitting the post if the safety jumps the
square-in. The tailback is also an outlet
receiver on the lag.
Diagram 4: Draw Pass
Another play in our play action series is
the blast bootleg. We like to run this play
from the power I or slot formations. From
the power I the routes are as follows: the
split end (X) blocks down, then releases to
the flag; the swingback (Y) runs a drag; and
the tight end (Z) runs a post. The key to a
successful bootleg is not to rush the play.
The quarterback can not run outside his
guardís block, and he must let the play
develop. We have had great success hit-
ting the X receiver on the flag or the Y
receiver on the drag.
Diagram 5: Bootleg Series
We have eight passes in our five-step
drop series. We usually use some type of
four-receiver set when throwing a five-step
drop. I feel these passes are the most com-
plex and require the most individual skill.
Our quarterback must be smart enough to
make the correct read, agile enough to set
up properly, and able to deliver the ball with
authority. In short, he must be able to read
and must have a strong arm.
Our main pass is four verticals out of
either four quicks or using tailback motion.
Unlike our other passes, this one requires
close attention to specific landmarks. Our
wideouts (usually X and Z) run up the field
exactly three yards from the sideline; our Y
receiver is split out and in a two-point
stance, his landmark is one yard outside the
hash; the tailback (who may be coming in
motion or may line up in the slot) has the
same landmark (one yard outside hash) on
the opposite side. When our opponents use
a four-across , we pre-call a bender route by
one of our inside receivers. This means the
designated receiver will break off his route at
15 to 20 yards then turn his numbers to the
quarterback. We must have great pass pro-
tection and the quarterback must make the
correct read rather than force the ball into
coverage.
Diagram 6: One Back (5 Step Drop)
Another of our five-step drops is
designed to get the ball to our tailback in
space so we can use his speed and agili-
ty in the open field. Alternately, we may
get the ball to our tight end 16 yards
downfield. In this pattern X runs a 20 yard
square-in; Y crosses the field at 16 yards;
while Z runs a streak to draw the corner-
back deep. Our tailback, operating from
the slot position, has the option of releas-
ing quickly into the flat or can curl back
into the area vacated by the weakside
linebacker. We have found that our tight
end crossing the field frequently gets open
behind the linebackers.
Diagram 7: One Back - 5 Step or Gun
Our screens are designed to initially
look like our other pass patterns with
regard to wide receivers. One of our
favorites is the sprint screen: the X receiv-
er runs a sideline, the Y receiver runs a cor-
ner route, and the Z receiver runs a post.
We hope that the defensive backs will turn
and run with our receivers, or at the very
least will be giving such a large cushion
that they can not react fast enough to break
up the play. Our upback (fullback) take two
steps frontside then release parallel down
the line of scrimmage until clear then turns
his numbers to the quarterback; the tail-
back blocks the end man on the line of
scrimmage; the quarterback starts his
sprintout procedure, then drops two addi-
• Proceedings • 77th AFCA Convention • 2000 •
tional steps and hits the upback. If there is
a hard backside rush, the upback must chip
block the end before releasing. Although
shown here in a spread formation, we also
run it out of four quicks or the shotgun.
Diagram 8: Screen
The dash is a great play for a mobile
quarterback. X runs a sideline and go, Y
works up the middle of the field reading the
safetY, and Z performs a deep square-in.
The upback blocks the frontside and must
pin the end inside; the tailback blocks the
backside; the quarterback executes a nor-
mal five-step drop looking the defense off,
then reverse pivots and dashes outside
looking for the X receiver---He may either
run or throw depending upon the defense
reacts. We like to run this play to the left
because we feel it is more deceptive that
way. In fact, many opponents believe this is
actually a broken play and scramble. Some
of the keys are the block of the upback and
the tailback, and the ability of the X receiver
to sell the sideline route before going upfield.
Diagram 9: Dash
Last, I want to show you a play that does-
n’t look very sophisticated, but the blast
streak has gotten us off our own goalline on
many occasions and has repeatedly been
very effective in short yardage situations. We
run a single receiver deep out of the Power I,
thus we have maximum protection with only
one read so this is a safe throw. If the receiv-
er is not open, the quarterback is instructed to
throw the ball away rather than to try to force
it or to make something out of nothing. We
line up our best receiver (usually the split end)
tight on the backside in the X position. He
should not come off hard, but should fake a
block to draw the safety up, before running
the streak. Everyone else must sell the off-
tackle power run. We expect the quarterback
to put some air under the ball so the receiver
can run underneath it and take the ball in
stride.
Diagram 10: Blast Streak
We also have a few “gadget” passes
which we use in certain situations or take
advantage of our personnel.
In summary, our philosophy is to have a
flexible passing offense that allows us to
concentrate each year on those packages
that we can execute best with our available
players. We feel this total offense approach
effectively allows individual quarterbacks to
do what they do best, and we are con-
vinced in the soundness of adapting the
system to players rather than trying to force
players to adapt to the system.
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