How the run game and RPOs factor into Phil Longo's Air

Raid offense
Pete DeWeese | Special to RebelGrove.com

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This is part two of a multiple-story presentation on new Ole Miss offensive coordinator Phil
Longo's Air Raid attack. This content focuses on the run game, short passes and RPOs. Make
sure to see part one for a more general look at how Longo's teams attack opponents through the
air.

While it is easy to hear Air Raid and think back on Mike Leach throwing the ball 70 times a
game as the head coach at Texas Tech, or Tim Couch setting records as he and Craig Yeast
torched SEC secondary after SEC secondary, the offense has evolved over time.

Shea Patterson and his receivers will still have plenty of opportunities to post prolific passing
numbers, but so will the Ole Miss running backs. Even pass-happy Air Raid coordinators like
Leach and Tony Franklin, who many of you may remember for his ill-fated attempt at bringing
his variation of the Air Raid offense to Tommy Tubervilles Auburn squad, have begun to find
more balance in their play-calling.

While many Air Raid coordinators are showing more and more balance, Phil Longo may be on
the forefront of this trend. Ole Miss will not look like Auburn or Arkansas next season, but I do
expect to see Ole Miss run the ball efficiently and effectively under Longo.

If you watched Longos final game at Sam Houston State (against a very good JMU team that is
playing for a national title next week) you might have been a little worried about what the Ole
Miss running game will look like. Personally, I think that the Rebel run game will look a bit
different than what you saw on ESPN2.

I think that the Ole Miss run game will look more like the 2014 and 2015 Sam Houston offenses
than the 2016 version. Longos starting QB in 2016, Jeremiah Briscoe, was more of a pocket
passer than a runner. His primary starter the two years before, Jared Johnson, ran for over 1,600
yards during his time with Longo, including his 2014 season when he fell just shy of 1,000 yards
rushing.

Johnson was a graduate transfer to UTSA this season and when he left Sam Houston State, so did
many of the QB reads in Longos running game. With mobile quarterbacks, I expect to see many
of those reads come back into the game plan at Ole Miss. Patterson has certainly proven athletic
enough to execute the read schemes if needed.

Before I start breaking down the top run schemes that I have seen on film, I want to take a
minute and talk about overall structure again. Longos team at Sam Houston did utilize different
personnel groupings, but majority of the film that I watched showed his offense in 10 and 20P
formations.

When I say 10P or 20P, the numbers speak to the number of running backs and tight ends in the
personnel grouping. Ten Personnel, or 10P, equates to one running back and four wide receivers.
Twenty personnel gives the offense two running backs, and three wide receivers. In Longos
offense, his 20P sets typically use one true running back and a TE or H-back as the second player
in the backfield. He will, at times, utilize two tailbacks in the backfield together.

In his 10P package, Longo primarily utilizes 2 sets. He uses the standard 2X2 formation as well
as a 3X1 formation, both of which are very common.
In his 20P package, Longo tends to use his tight end as more of an H-Back than as a true in-line
tight end. He will use the tight end much in the same way that Ole Miss fans have seen Hugh
Freeze and Dan Werner utilize them in the running game in the past few seasons. At this risk of
being Captain Obvious, Longo would love to have Evan Engram back.

Engram would allow Longo to bounce back and forth from 1-back to 2-back formations without
changing personnel. That talent, or something close, may still exist on the Ole Miss roster, but it
remains an unproven commodity at this point. Regardless of whether or not one of the young
tight ends can handle that load, Longo will look to one of them to serve as a lead blocker in his
2-Back formations.

Fans will see the H-back lineup in a few different backfield alignments, but majority of the time
he seems to line up on the outside hip of the offensive tackle. He will align both to the passing
strength and away, thus recreating the same formation structure as 10P while adding an extra hat
to the box for the run game but still forcing the defense to maintain the coverage principles that
they need to defend each look.
Overall the scheme shows a balance of runs that utilize both zone and gap blocking schemes. I
will try to focus one some of the top runs from both personnel groupings. Many of the
formations, plays, and over all schemes that you see will look similar to what you have grown
accustom to from an Ole Miss offense, but there are clear wrinkles and strategies that will make
it much different for defensive coordinators next season.

Opening the Package

One thing that Ole Miss fans have seen over the past few seasons under Freeze are passing plays
that look like they were supposed to be, or could have been, run plays. These are known as
Packaged plays, or RPOs (Run Pass Options), where the quarterback uses a pre-snap or post-
snap read to determine whether or not to hand the ball off or let it fly.

RPOs have become a big part of college football and have been gaining popularity in the NFL
and high school levels the past few seasons. RPOs have also become a big talking point amongst
both coaches and officials. Many defensive coordinators have called foul when the quarterback is
completing passes seven yards downfield to a wide receiver that is at the same depth as a run-
blocking offensive lineman.

As officials have shifted their focus, and the yellow flags have begun to fly more often, offenses
are having a more difficult time of making down the field throws on RPOs. The result is that
many RPOs have come full circle. Offenses went from packaging run plays with bubble screens
and quick slants to pairing them with deeper developing routes.

Many offenses have now reverted back to quicker passes and screens to alleviate the risk of
linemen being called downfield. One of the most popular RPOs of the Freeze offense has been
the Power/Post RPO.

In this scheme the offensive line blocks a traditional power scheme while the quarterback reads a
second or third level defender. If the defender attacks to fit the run play then the quarterback will
replace him with the football via a receiver on a post route.

While Longo could possibly keep this scheme in the playbook, as it has been good to the Rebels,
I would expect to see more pre-snap RPOs than post-snap RPOs. Staying true to the Find
Grass mantra in his passing game, Longo seems to apply the same rules to his RPOs.

Many of the run schemes that I watched from the Sam Houston State 2015 and 2016 seasons had
complimentary pass routes tagged with them. This gives the quarterback a place to go with the
football when the defense loads the box to stop the run.

10 Personnel Run Game/RPOs

Longo uses his 3X1 formation for both his run and pass schemes. This formation has been a
popular RPO formation for coaches at all levels because it somewhat limits the menu for
defensive coordinators and gets them into a handful of likely checks and blitzes that the offense
has game planned for (or can easily adjust too).

Any time that an offense puts three receivers, or more, to one side of the formation the defense
has to decide how they want to cover them. There are three primary options that every defense
carries in their package.

All three can be exploited with simple adjustments by Longo or with good decision making be
the quarterback. The defense can choose to remain in a zone that places a soft 3 over 3 with at
least one defender deeper than 7 yards from the line of scrimmage.

The defense can tighten all three defenders and play some version of man to man.
Or the defense can play some version of 4 over 3.
All three responses and alignments by the defense have weaknesses that an offense can exploit if
they are sound and can execute. Playing a soft 3 over 3 gives the offense an advantage to the
trips side. Longo like to use a bubble tag to the front-side of his 3X1 run game versus this soft
look. With the safety deep, this soft 3 over 3 essentially becomes a 2 over 3 situation and is an
advantage for the offense.
If the defense tightens the secondary and goes to a more aggressive 3 over 3 look, then the
defense has now become susceptible to the run game, especially with an athletic quarterback. If
the defense chooses to play with five run defenders in the tackle box the offense can hand the
ball off and account for each of the box defenders with an offensive lineman.
If the defense chooses to play with 6 box defenders then the quarterback read game will now
become more important. By reading one of the down linemen, the offense has the ability to
account for all 6 box defenders in the scheme.
This also brings us to the next phase of many RPO schemes: The Gift. An elite defense with elite
athletes on the perimeter has the ability to walk their defensive backs and linebackers up to the
line of scrimmage to take away quick passes to the receivers.

When Alabama rolled out the Press 11 defense in the 1993 Sugar Bowl against Dennis
Ericksons Miami Hurricanes it held one of the nations top offenses to 13 points and picked-off
Gino Torretta three times. Fortunately, not many defenses have the ability to do this on every
snap.

Knowing this, offensive coordinators have built Gift routes into their RPO and quick game
schemes. The theory is as simple as it sounds. Is the defense giving me that route? If so, take the
Gift.

The most common gift route is probably just a quick hitch into the boundary. For many defenses,
the weakest point in their structure is the boundary flats. Because Offensive Coordinators like
Longo make running to grass such a priority, defenses tend to secure numbers to the wide side of
the field so that they do not give up big plays.

Defensive Coordinators are willing to avoid the boundary flats because that is the one area of the
field where good pursuit and sound tackling should, in theory, limit the offense to a minimal
gain. Offenses often combat this in two different ways: they put the strength of the formation into
the boundary (F.T.B.) or they put Gift routes into the boundary (with the passing strength of the
formation into the field). I have seen Longo do both on film, though the gift route is the more
prominent of the two.

Using the same 3X1 formation, Longo will put a gift route into the boundary. If the defense uses
6 box defenders then the quarterback has a chance to throw the Gift. If the corner is soft, the Gift
is open. If the corner is pressed, run the football or look to the screen on the other side.

When you put all of these components together you have an RPO that gives the quarterback three
options.
Proper execution (and talent) allow the offense to stick with Longos mantra and run to grass in
each phase of the offense. If the defense is going to load the box then Ole Miss will look to throw
the ball. If the defense gives the Rebels a numbers advantage in the box then the Rebels will run
the football. From his 10P groupings, I would expect to see Longo use Inside Zone, Stretch, and
quarterback draw to attack defenses.

20 Personnel Run Game/RPOs

As mentioned, Longo likes to use his tight end as a blocker in the offensive backfield. This
personnel grouping, and the schemes employed, will be similar to what you have seen from the
Ole Miss run game in the past. Many of the schemes will be reminiscent of the Auburn offense
uses as well. His primary gap-scheme run play seems to be traditional POWER. In this scheme
the tight end will be used to kick out the end man on the line of scrimmage while the backside
offensive guard pulls around to block the front side linebacker.

One advantage of the POWER scheme is the potential for a double team at the point of attack
versus an EVEN front with 4 down lineman. Regardless of front, POWER is one of the most
utilized run schemes in offenses throughout the country.
Another popular run scheme from this personnel grouping is INSIDE ZONE. Offensive coaches
like zone blocking because it is a versatile scheme that has easy wrinkles that can cause fits for
the defense. Running INSIDE ZONE from 20P allows you to insert the H-back in different ways
that can alter the fits of the defense.

In other words, the offense can install and rep one run scheme with the offensive line and tag the
H-Back with different responsibilities that essentially create a different run-fit for the defense.
One of the first wrinkles of INSIDE ZONE that you will see from Longo will be what I call
ZONE SLICE (also known as SPLIT ZONE).

In this scheme the offensive line will execute their Zone blocking responsibilities. Many fans are
accustomed to hearing the term ZONE READ these days. Television announcers love to point
out ZONE READ when broadcasting a game (though they are often wrong). The idea is that the
offensive line doesnt block one defensive end and the quarterback reads that player to decide
whether or not to hand-off or keep the football.

Carrying ZONE READ and ZONE SLICE in your playbook serves as a way to put the defensive
end in conflict (conflict creates confusion and confusion slows defenders down). On ZONE
SLICE the offensive line will execute the same blocking scheme as INSIDE ZONE. The
difference is the H-back. Instead of reading the defensive end, the offense will block him with
the H-back. To the defensive end the play looks like ZONE READ (diagrammed earlier as
ZONE CHOICE). He recognizes the down block and sees the same mesh in the backfield
between the running back and the quarterback.
Most defenses utilize a mix of two principles to defend ZONE READ. They either ask the
defensive end to SLOW PLAY or FEATHER the ZONE while the linebacker inserts to his
inside gap for the running back or they utilize a SCRAPE/EXCHANGE technique that ask the
defensive end to squeeze to the running back while the linebacker scrapes outside to replace the
defensive and take the quarterback if he keeps the ball.

If the defense is asking the defensive end to SQUEEZE and tackle the running back then the
ZONE SLICE play can be very effective if you successfully kick out the defensive end with the
H-back because the B-Gap is now vacated by the scraping linebacker.

If the defensive end does a good job of squeezing the down block he will likely try to SPILL the
kick-out block. Spilling, or wrong-arming, the block is when the defender takes on the inside
shoulder of the pulling offensive player so that he can try to claim the inside gap and force the
ball to bounce to the outside and into a waiting defender. Coach Longo will counter this action
with what I call ZONE LOAD.

Again, the offensive line will execute the same blocking scheme as they do on ZONE READ and
ZONE SLICE. Now, instead of the H-back coming across the formation and blocking the
defensive end, he will slip past the end and work to the 2nd level defender. The quarterback will
read the end just like he does on ZONE READ. If the emd squeezes to the running back, the
quarterback will pull the ball and follow the block of the H-back.
Much like we discussed with the 10P run game and RPOs, Longo will use different RPO tags
with his 20P run game as well. He seems to have a handful of tags that he uses quite a bit to
attack different defensive structures and the leverage of outside defenders. Again, this is designed
to give the offense a chance to always be right.

One of the first ones that I noticed on film was a simple HITCH tag on his run game. Much like
the thought process with the GIFT concept described earlier, the quarterback will look for soft
coverage and make a pre-snap decision to hand the ball off or get it out of his hand to a receiver.

When is this likely to happen? If the defense chooses to load the box with seven defenders to
stop the run they will likely go to some version of a 1-high MOFC coverage. If they choose to
play Cover 3 then the cushion will likely be there for the HITCH route.
If the defense remains in a 2-high MOFO shell then the offense should have a numbers
advantage in the box. If the quarterback doesnt like what he sees, there are still tags designed to
attack these defensive alignments too. Longo can use a DOUBLE SLANT tag or a
SLANT/BUBBLE tag to place the alley defender in conflict.
The addition of these multiple tags allows Longo to aid his run game against aggressive defenses
that are focused on stopping the run. In my mind, Longos tags are more diverse than what Ole
Miss fans are accustom to seeing from Freezes offense the past few seasons. I believe that this
system has simple adjustments that allow the offense to respond to what the defense is doing. In
no way does this mean that he will always be right, or that the play will always work, but I do
think that his system is versatile enough to attack SEC defenses.

One of my favorite things about Longos offense is how he uses play-action passes on virtually
any down and distance. Much of this play-action is set up off of his ZONE SLICE play-scheme.
The scheme allows the offense to protect with quarterback with seven blockers. This is one way
that I expect to see Longo get DK Metcalf, AJ Brown, and his other playmakers down the field
for big plays.

Overall, I appreciate the way that Longo called the games that I watched. He utilizes tempo,
personnel groupings, formation and play design to effectively stress the defense. I cannot
guarantee you record setting numbers or even long-term success from Longo and the Ole Miss
offense, but I do think that this offense will grow under Longo.

Longo clearly likes to throw the football, but I also think that we will see a greater commitment
to running the football. While I didnt have the time or resources to specifically analyze Sam
Houston States Red Zone offense, I did like what I saw from Coach Longo in the limited Red
Zone snaps that I watched. His efficiency numbers speak for themselves.

I understand that some people are concerned about how Longos offense will translate to the SEC
where he will, in theory, be facing better coaches and, most certainly, face better players.

First of all, Longo will not only be facing better players, but he will be coaching them too. Plug
the current Ole Miss receiving corps into this offense and it should only get better. From a
coaching standpoint, he will see some great defensive coaches, but dont make the mistake of
thinking that coming from FCS means that Longo cant coach.

In his press conference where he announced Longo, Coach Freeze (whose history we all know)
referenced Joe Moorehead as an example of successful coordinators making the leap to FBS.
Moorehead left Fordham for Happy Valley and has sparked the turnaround for James Franklins
Nittany Lions.

Note from the author: First off, a big thank you to Chase Parham, Neal McCready, and the
Rivals network for granting me this opportunity. It started as an idea that I expressed on Twitter
and evolved into this. I hope that you enjoyed the articles. If you are a casual fan that wants to
learn more of the Xs & Os of the game I certainly encourage you to do just that. There are
plenty of resources out there.

It is understandable that passionate fans are critical of coaches. Sometimes the criticism is
deserved, sometimes it is not. Anyone that has followed me on Twitter can likely trace some of
my criticism back for years.

That said, the more educated that you become on the topic, the more valid your criticism
becomes. Enjoy football for what it is, a game. I just hope that you understand that football is a
complicated game with many more intricacies than what you often think that you see playing out
in front of you.
On another note, Im hoping to find the time this spring or summer to make it to Oxford and
actually learn some of the offense from Longo. I am also excited to see what Wesley McGriff
will bring to the table. Ive sat in the room with McGriff as he worked to recruit a five-Star and
that players family. I fully understand the job that he will do on that front and I can think of few
better.

I also believe that he has a clear understanding of the defensive principles necessary to build a
solid unit on that side of the ball. Again, I cannot promise that the Ole Miss defense will rise to
one of the top units in the country, but I do believe that if McGriff is surrounded by the right staff
and given an opportunity to recruit the type of players that it takes to be successful in the league
that we will see the Ole Miss defense improve leaps and bounds next fall.