In Episode 3 of From Field to Fatherhood, Dustin Whitlock and Ryan Grow sit down with Coach Jake Coulson, current Linebacker’s coach at Georgetown High School (TX). Coach Coulson shares lessons learned from years of coaching, raising three children, balancing football with family life, coaching his own son, and the importance of being intentional as a husband and father while leading a football program.

This conversation is packed with practical advice for coaches, parents, and anyone trying to build a strong family while pursuing excellence in their career.

Chapters

00:00 Welcome & Introduction of Coach Jake Coulson
01:25 Fatherhood, Family Life & Coaching Background
05:56 Locker Room Check-In: Summer Workouts & Family Updates
07:54 Raising Athletes and Helping Kids Reach Their Goals
11:10 When Family Says You’re Not Present
15:32 Transitioning from Coach to Dad at Home
16:56 What Intentionality Looks Like in the Coulson Household
20:29 The Challenge of Finding Balance as a Head Coach
22:40 Choosing a Program That Values Family
24:30 Family Traditions, Birthdays & Holidays
29:43 The Unseen Sacrifices of a Coach’s Wife
32:12 Leadership Lessons Learned from His Wife
36:35 Coaching Your Own Child and Avoiding “Daddy Ball”
40:27 Separating Coach and Dad After the Game
43:26 Apologizing to Your Kids and Learning as a Parent
45:18 Advice for Coaches Coaching Their Own Children
49:31 Why Players Need to See Coaches as Husbands and Fathers
51:10 Building Relationships Through Family Involvement
52:00 Closing Thoughts

If you’re a coach, parent, or leader striving to win both on the field and at home, this episode is for you.

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Tarleton State averaged over 42 points and 457 yards per game, while averaging 6.6 yards every time they snapped the football. They finished the season with 77 offensive touchdowns and a 12–2 record.

Naturally, I wanted to see what they were doing. To my surprise, the offense isn’t all that flashy. If I had to summarize it, Tarleton State blends old-school gap-scheme runs with the modern RPO game. They aren’t reinventing offensive football; they’re taking concepts that have been around forever and pairing them with answers that make those concepts harder to defend.

The next thing I wanted to figure out was simple: What run play do they hang their hat on?

Pretty quickly, one play kept showing up.

I’ve been calling it G-Wrap. I don’t know what Tarleton calls it internally, but it’s a gap-scheme run with the backside guard pulling.

What you’re seeing is a pretty clean gap scheme structure. The backside guard is pulling, the line is working down blocks and double teams, and the back is reading the puller rather than just hitting a predetermined hole.

The Core Idea: Gap Scheme With a Read Element

At its core, this is a simple gap scheme run. It’s the kind of play most offensive lines can install without a ton of stress. You’re not asking linemen to reach everything or handle wide zone rules. You’re asking them to down block, create movement, and let a puller insert.

That matters, especially when you’re dealing with different pressures.

Gap schemes are naturally good versus blitz because they create immediate answers inside. If the defense adds bodies, the run still has a defined structure. You’re not chasing defenders horizontally, you’re creating a vertical crease and inserting a blocker into it.

But what Tarleton does well is they don’t treat the run as static. G Wrap isn’t 36 Power, where we are trying to hit the C gap every single time. There is much more built in freedom for the pulling guard and the running back. This is why I love this play. The defense might be able to stuff the C gap on 36 Power by reading the guards pull, but now the offense has the freedom to simply bounce the play outside.

The running back is not just following the guard blindly. He’s reading the puller and reacting to his block.

The Two Ways It Can Hit

This is where the play becomes more than just a standard gap scheme.

The back has two real options based on what the pulling guard does:

• If the guard kicks out the edge defender, the run hits inside of that block.

• If the guard logs the defender and turns him in, the back can bounce outside.

G Wrap turns a traditional power play into something that behaves more like a zone concept.

You’re still blocking gap rules up front, but the back has the ability to make the linebackers wrong in their run fits.

Why It Works

The reason this concept is so effective is pretty straightforward.

First, it’s easy to install. Offensive linemen understand gap scheme rules quickly. Down blocks, double teams, puller—there’s not a lot of ambiguity.

Second, it handles pressure well. If defenses try to add bodies or blitz the interior gaps, the structure of the play still holds. The puller becomes the answer.

But the third piece is what really separates it.

The running back doesn’t have to be perfect. He’s not guessing pre-snap. He’s reacting post-snap to one key block—the puller. That simplifies the decision-making and keeps the play efficient even when the defense is moving.

So you get:

• Simple blocking rules for the line

• A built-in answer for blitz

• A read element for the back that adds flexibility without complexity

That’s a hard combination to defend consistently.

Where It Starts to Stress Defenses

Once defenses start fitting the run, Tarleton State uses a tagged RPO system off their G Wrap play. The most often used RPO is “glance” which I call Slant RPO. They also tag quick screens off G Wrap run action and pre-snap read the single WR side out of trips to go vertical off run action.

Slant “Glance” RPO

With the guard pulling towards the TE, the middle linebackers naturally have to react to the pull. This opens up the backside slant, if the outside linebacker hangs with slot WR’s slant, we have a dig behind the 1st slant, in the second window.

What you’ll notice on this clip is how quickly the linebackers trigger downhill. That’s exactly what the offense is trying to create. The run action forces a reaction by the linebackers opening up a nice throwing lane.

Fade RPO

When I think of an RPO I think of short quick routes: Sticks, Arrow, Glance. Tarleton State uses a vertical route in their RPO, which really stresses the defense. They will align in trips, isolating the X WR and pre-snap check to a fade ball, everything remains the same upfront. What a great way to hit big plays!

The Bigger Picture and Final Thoughts

When you put it all together, G-Wrap isn’t just a run play.

It’s the cornerstone of what Tarleton State’s offense is built around.

You’ve got:

• A base gap scheme run that is simple and physical

• A running back read that adds flexibility without adding complexity

• RPO answers that punish overcommitment

What stood out most watching Tarleton State was how traditional this explosive offense actually is. Pro-I teams build their systems around ISO, Wing-T teams build their system around Buck Sweep, Tarleton State builds their system off of G-Wrap.

The run is the foundation. The running back read element gives it flexibility. The RPOs turn it into a modern system.

When everything is tied together you have something that is challenging to defend, and you end up leading the NCAA in scoring.

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The Hall of Fame Game kicked off the preseason last Thursday night in Canton, and it gave us our first NFL look at two rookie quarterbacks, Carson Beck and Haynes King. Neither one arrived with much fanfare. Beck went to Arizona in the third round, and King was not drafted at all before catching on in Carolina. That is exactly why I wanted to watch. When you are calling plays for a rookie who is not the franchise quarterback, you have to decide how much of the offense you are willing to hand him on his first NFL series, and these two staffs answered that question in very different ways.

One caveat before we get going. Beck started and King did not. Kenny Pickett took the first snaps for Carolina, and King entered early in the second quarter and played the rest of the way, so the situations are not identical. What we can compare is the menu each staff handed its rookie. Both teams simplified the passing game, and that part was the same. The difference was in the mix. One staff balanced run and pass to keep the rookie on schedule, and the other put the ball in the air nine times on the opening series, which is a lot to ask of a quarterback taking his first NFL snaps. It ended in a touchdown, so what do I know.

Beck’s First Drive

Beck’s first play is a stick concept, and we will see the same call show up early in King’s drive as well. That is not a coincidence. Stick is about as friendly a first call as you can make for a young quarterback. It is quick game, the read is defined, and the ball comes out on rhythm. Give the rookie something simple, let him complete an easy one, and get him going. Beck handled it exactly that way, made the read and got the ball out fast.

On the second play of the drive, Arizona comes right back with a zone run for a short gain. It did not do much on the stat sheet, but that is not really the point. The staff wanted the run game working alongside their rookie quarterback rather than leaving him to carry the drive by himself, and that is a choice Carolina will not make with King.

Here Beck shows some ability to create and scramble, which is the trait we usually expect from King. This is also the second route combination we will talk about with both quarterbacks. Beck has a Hank combo frontside and a high-low dig concept backside. He works the Hank first, comes back to the dig, then feels an open lane and takes it with his legs.

This is a good combination for a rookie or any young quarterback. The frontside read is simple and gives him a place to start. If it is not there, he works back to the dig, which tends to come open a beat later once the void shows up behind the underneath coverage. It gives a young quarterback a clean progression instead of asking him to solve the whole field at once. We will see King hit this same concept later.

Arizona goes back to the run on the next snap, this time with outside zone. Four plays into the drive, and the rookie has already handed it off twice. The Cardinals want to keep it balanced.

The Cardinals come back with boot off that same outside zone action. Most boot concepts are built the same way, a deep route to clear out, a flat route, and some kind of over route. What I like here is that Arizona has the playside tight end hook up right over the quarterback as a safety outlet, and that is exactly where Beck goes with it. That is smart design. Boot can get a young quarterback in trouble when he runs out of grass and has nowhere to go, so giving him a built-in check down right in front of him keeps a bad play from turning into a worse one.

On the last play of the drive the Cardinals call slants on third and two. Simple read, simple throw, though the Carolina defensive back makes a nice play on the ball to break it up. The result was not there, but the formula was. Give the rookie a quick read and let him get rid of the football.

That is the whole Beck drive in one sentence. Six plays, two of them handoffs, and every pass call built around a defined read that comes out on time.

King’s First Drive

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So we sat down and went through all of them. Matt handles the O line side, working through who takes over a shade versus a two eye, why a lineman’s shoulder pads pointed at the sideline is the tell that a block is already lost, and the coaching point he used with his own linemen about not coming off a double team until you can smell the linebacker. Kyle takes the defensive view, including a stretch of tape where a shade occupies two blockers to keep the linebacker clean and a six technique played about as well as you will see it played.

It is backup and third string tape, and neither of us pretends otherwise. It is also some of the clearest teaching tape you will find on a concept that now shows up at every level, with the same mistakes and the same fixes you are already coaching on Tuesday.

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Chapters
00:00 Welcome to Episode 2
01:11 Meet Coach Erik Gibson
01:42 Learning Under Hal Mumme, Mike Leach & Dana Holgorsen
04:45 From Air Raid to Fatherhood
05:25 Parenting Wins & Coaching Your Own Son
10:08 Being Present: Family vs. Football
15:40 Being Intentional at Home
20:04 The Importance of a Supportive Wife
26:35 Coaching Your Own Child
35:12 Leaving Football at the Field
41:17 Building a Legacy Beyond Wins
46:57 Favorite Player Memories
47:22 Coach’s Two-Minute Drill
50:33 Advice for Young Coaches Becoming Fathers
52:20 Legacy Question: What Do You Hope Your Kids Say About You?
52:48 Closing Thoughts

If this conversation encouraged you, be sure to Like, Subscribe, and Share with a coach, dad, or leader who is striving to win both on the field and at home.

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That Rams style offense is the clear direction for Head Coach Mike LaFleur, the former Rams offensive coordinator, moving forward. For what it’s worth, I thought they looked pretty decent running it Thursday night with Carson Beck at the helm. Am I making any sweeping declarations? No. But I do think this offense can be far more efficient in this system and set up for future success. Let’s take a look at what carried over from LA on Thursday night. And yes, I know it’s preseason. It’s the only film we’ve got.

Outside Zone

We know outside zone, wide zone, whatever you want to call it, is the core of this offensive philosophy. Run outside zone several different ways, get the defense moving, then come back with boot and play-action off that core run.

Thursday night the Cardinals ran outside zone approximately 17 times.

One thing is for sure, Jeremiyah Love should thrive in a system built off outside zone.

The Boot Game

With any good outside zone run game comes the counter punch. Boot. The Cardinals ran boot around 10 times Thursday night, completing 70 percent, with several variations out of condensed sets as is usual in this offense. And with a rookie quarterback, I won’t call him young, higher percentage throws are paramount to getting confidence going.

Throwing Dagger & Dig Routes

We outlined these routes earlier this year in an article on the Rams, and you can see that influence carrying over to the Cardinals. Between the two quarterbacks who played, the Cardinals threw Dagger three times. All three were completed, though only two went to the actual dig route.

Let’s take a look at this clip to show where the real difference between the Cardinals and the Rams lies. The quarterback executing it. By no means do I expect Carson Beck to play like Matthew Stafford, but this is a real illustration of the difference.

Both of these windows are similar, but the veteran has the foresight to put the ball into a tighter space, where his receiver is breaking to, while the rookie takes the check down instead. Is the rookie wrong? Not necessarily. But for this offense to go, that’s a window where I believe the quarterback needs to rip it for the explosive. With time, this might be a throw that gets made for the Cardinals later in 2026.

Curl/Flat

The last piece is the simplicity the Rams passing offense actually lived in. They don’t run a lot of complex route patterns, but they do make it complex in how they arrive at those patterns. One route the Rams ran quite a bit in 2025 was a simple curl/flat concept. One you’d see on a Friday night at your local high school. But just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. And the Cardinals threw it twice for completions last Thursday night.

Final Thoughts

Listen, the Cardinals might struggle this year. They might not. But the Rams blueprint is clearly there moving forward on offense. They have an identity. Run the ball, boot off that action, and throw play-action for explosives.

That identity is worth something on its own. LaFleur spent three seasons in that Rams building, and the offense was among the best in football the entire time. Top six in yards per game and points per game from 2023 through 2025. In 2025 they led the NFL in scoring at 30.5 points per game, and Stafford won MVP throwing for 4,707 yards and 46 touchdowns. That is the standard LaFleur watched get built, rep by rep, install by install. The honest part is that McVay called those plays. LaFleur’s own play-calling reps came in 2021 and 2022 with the Jets, and nobody is putting those seasons in a highlight reel. Arizona is betting on system knowledge, not a proven NFL play-calling résumé.

What that means for the Cardinals is simple. The install is going to be sound. The run game marries to the boot game, the boot game marries to the play-action shots, and every one of those pieces was on tape Thursday night. What’s left is execution and personnel. Beck has to grow into the throws that make this offense hum, and the offensive line has to hold up long enough for outside zone to stress a defense horizontally. Neither of those gets solved in August, and Beck won’t even be the starter come week 1.

Only time will tell if they are able to build the talent around these core concepts. But an offense that knows what it is beats an offense that is still figuring it out, and after Thursday night, the Cardinals know what they are.

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The first play I learned in Pop Warner football was Guard Trap out of the classic Wing-T. That first season, I’m pretty sure we ran nothing but the Buck Series: Trap, Buck Sweep, and Waggle. As a pulling guard, I quickly learned to love Trap. There was nothing better than pulling and earholing an unsuspecting defensive tackle charging upfield. For a young offensive lineman, it was about as good as football could get.

When I eventually started coaching the Wing T, Guard Trap was an automatic call. It was one of those plays that simply belonged in the offense. But around 2010, our staff transitioned to the spread, and Guard Trap disappeared from the playbook.

Like many coaches, we questioned whether the timing would translate from under center to the shotgun. The Wing-T is built on precise footwork, deception, and timing. Once the quarterback moves into the gun and the back’s path changes, the play just feels different. To be honest, we never gave it much of a chance. We kept Buck Sweep because it adapted well, but Guard Trap slowly became a relic of another era.

Over the past few seasons, Guard Trap has popped up occasionally from shotgun offenses, but usually as a one off call rather than a staple. Then James Madison arrived in 2025 and reminded me that this old concept still has plenty of life.

Shotgun Guard Trap

Our first example shows JMU aligned in a Trips Squeeze formation. To the trips, they show a shoot screen look to the trips side, helping remove a linebacker from the box before attacking inside.

The blocking rules remain beautifully simple.

Our coaching point was always to trap the first defender past the A gap. Against an over front, that defender is the three technique defensive tackle. The playside guard gets a clean veer release to the linebacker while the backside guard pulls directly into the line of scrimmage. The puller keeps his helmet on the defender’s upfield shoulder, creating a natural seam inside.

The running back aligns tight to the quarterback in the A gap with his aiming point at the center’s hip, attacking downhill at full speed.

Watch the left guard on this rep. He immediately pulls into the line of scrimmage instead of gaining unnecessary depth. That’s a critical coaching point. It is far better to allow a defensive tackle to penetrate than to miss the trap block altogether.

His helmet placement stays squarely on the upfield shoulder, creating a clean lane for the back.

The center adds a nice wrinkle by flashing a fake engagement before swimming off the trap defender. He initially has leverage on the linebacker, but fails to attack the inside shoulder, allowing the linebacker to scrape over the top. As a result, the running back is forced to widen instead of exploding vertically through the hash.

Quarterback Trap

If you have a quarterback who is willing to run inside, this is a fun variation.

The mesh develops a little slower than the traditional handoff, but once the crease opens, the quarterback gets downhill in a hurry for an explosive gain.

Notice how the nose tackle slants into the playside A gap. The playside guard naturally picks him up while the center climbs to the linebacker and washes him out of the hole.

It is not exactly how the play is drawn on the whiteboard, but football is rarely that clean. Great run plays adapt to defensive movement instead of requiring perfect looks.

Empty Quarterback Trap

One of my favorite goal line ideas is lining up in empty and forcing the defense to defend the quarterback with only a five man box.

The pulling guard stays a little flatter than I would prefer. I still want him pulling into the line of scrimmage to attack the upfield shoulder of the trap man. Even so, the concept reinforces a timeless coaching lesson.

The quickest path to the goal line is straight downhill.

Later in the fourth quarter of a College Football Playoff game, James Madison empties the formation again, this time placing all five eligible receivers to one side.

Oregon answers with a four man front while tightening the corner and safety from outside.

Quarterback Trap becomes an easy answer.

Rather than relying on formation tendencies, JMU simply counts numbers and attacks where the defense is light. It is another excellent example of how a classic run scheme can be dressed up with modern formations.

The Classics Never Die

For the Wing T coaches reading this, don’t worry. James Madison left a couple more treats on film.

Buck Sweep

Sally

Seeing these concepts mixed into a modern shotgun offense is a reminder that great football ideas rarely disappear, they evolve.

Summary

Guard Trap never stopped being a good football play. Coaches simply stopped calling it.

James Madison showed that the concept can thrive in today’s shotgun offenses with only minor adjustments to backfield alignment and pull timing. The rules remain simple, the blocking angles stay favorable, and the play continues to punish aggressive defensive linemen who want to penetrate.

For coaches looking to add a physical downhill complement to zone schemes and gap runs, Guard Trap deserves another look. Whether you pair it with traditional Buck Sweep, build quarterback variations, or package it from empty formations, this old Wing-T staple may be one of the easiest explosive additions you can make to your offense.

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So Matt built one. A full 10 play script for the Zips, complete with the research: Robert Morris in a 4-2-5, concepts already inside Akron’s offense, a running back who can catch it out of the backfield. He moves through trips, two by two, eleven personnel wing sets, split gun, trio wing, and heavy unbalanced, because the point of an opener is not just to move the ball. It is to make the defense show you what it has.

The script opens safe with zone stick, works power read off motion, gets to Y cross and wing counter with a glance RPO, then takes a shot with mesh rail out of condensed splits. Play seven is the one Matt was building toward all along: pin and pull into the boundary with the glance route replacing the force safety. Plays eight through ten assume you are inside the twenty and get progressively heavier, ending on a rub concept against man with the back as the check down.

Kyle counters with a defensive coordinator’s opening script, which is one play, and involves running out of the stadium.

Whether or not you ever get handed a drive at a Group of Five stadium, the underlying lesson stands. Change your formations. Change your personnel. Get every look you need inside those first ten snaps.

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Krause walks through the new weight room the school committed to, a facility he believes is one of the best in the state and puts Bishop Kenny on par with a number of FCS-level programs. But the heart of the conversation is the problem that technology is there to solve. Bishop Kenny plays a lot of kids both ways, and those kids play a ton of snaps. Using Titan GPS through Hudl, the staff tracks the load those athletes carry in games, compares it against the stress of practice, and works to find the sweet spot where a player can get to max speed enough times to be ready without being run into the ground. The goal, as Krause puts it, is simple: fresh, fast, and ready on game day.

What comes through is that the tools are in service of something older than any dashboard. Krause talks about a program marked by kids who play exceptionally hard, a run to the region final in each of the last two seasons, and a standard the seniors are setting for what Bishop Kenny football is supposed to look like. The expectation is that you work extremely hard, you put the team first, and you fight for each other. The technology just helps them do it with more precision.

This is Part 1 of two. Part 2 goes inside the weight room with strength coach Greg Case.

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YY Counter, not my term, has picked up steam over the last few years. But what is YY Counter? Simply put, it’s zone with two slice blocks. Is that really counter? Probably not. But there is still, in theory, a kick and a wrap, so we’ll go with the name for now.

We’re going to break down YY Counter at the FCS level in one of the best conferences in the country, then at the FBS level in one of the best conferences in the country, and look at where the two differ.

Montana State Running YY Counter

The Bobcats are in heavy personnel here with an extra offensive lineman and two tight ends. They’ll motion one tight end over to join the other before running YY Counter. If this was normal split zone, Idaho State has the fit correct. They have an edge fit with a linebacker gap exchanging over the top. The second slicer is what creates the advantage for the offense. That linebacker ends up caught in the wash, and the slicer continues all the way to the third level, leaving the running back one on one with a corner.

They end up calling holding on the tight end downfield. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, but the point stands. By running this scheme, the offense got numbers at the point of attack.

Under center now, 13 personnel, and we see YY Counter again from the Bobcats. Mercyhurst is squeezing the hell out of zone and outside zone like a well coached defense, so Montana State comes back with the YY Counter call. The squeezing defensive end gets logged, and the second slicer pulls all the way to the safety. This scenario is nightmare fuel for a defensive coordinator. An offense getting a tight end to the third level against your post safety is a disaster, and off go the Bobcats for a huge gain.

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You can be home and still not be there.

That is where Dustin Whitlock and Ryan Grow start episode one. Two active high school football coaches. Five kids between them. Fall camp in Florida heat, side jobs, a house full of lice, and an IV in the arm after a 7-on-7 tournament. This is the life behind the whistle.

They get honest about the phone problem, why it is easier to pour into your players than your own kids, and what your wife carries that nobody in the stands ever sees. Plus the birth stories. Cash was born at three o'clock on a Friday and Dustin coached that night. Brady was born in the middle of a hurricane and Ryan went straight from the hospital to paint the field.

If you have ever walked through your front door with practice still running in your head, this one is for you.

Presented by the Board Drill Network.

Coaching Men. Leading Families. Leaving a Legacy.

THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY SIDELINE HQ

Head coaches do not need one more thing to track. SidelineHQ is an equipment and operations management platform built for football programs. Gear, inventory, and operations in one place, so you can spend your time coaching.

👉 https://sidelinehq.co
Tell them Board Drill sent you.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome to From Field to Fatherhood
01:02 Locker Room Check-In: lice, IVs, and week one of camp
08:08 Who gets the best version of you?
09:39 How to transition before you walk through the door
15:28 Why it is easier to pour into your players
18:53 A word from SidelineHQ
19:30 Being intentional: put the phone down
22:08 The family tradition you refuse to miss
26:08 Supporting your wife: what nobody sees
32:32 Have you taken her support for granted?
35:12 Born in a hurricane, born on a game day
41:21 Why coaches are hardest on their own kids
46:39 Leadership starts at home: are you the same man?
50:22 What coaching girls taught us about being dads
51:31 Football principles that made us better fathers
58:51 The Coach's Two Minute Drill
1:02:37 Your challenge this week
1:03:10 Coaching is what we do. Fatherhood is our legacy.

THE CHALLENGE THIS WEEK

Ask your wife one question. What is something you are struggling with right now that I can take off your plate? Then listen. That is it.

ABOUT THE SHOW

From Field to Fatherhood is a weekly conversation for coaches who are also husbands and fathers. New episodes every Tuesday morning. Hosted by Dustin Whitlock and Ryan Grow. Presented by the Board Drill Network.

Subscribe so you do not miss next week. If this episode hit home, drop a comment and tell us the one thing you are working on.

Coaching is what we do. Fatherhood is our legacy.

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This has been one of my favorite film breakdowns because it’s a simple play that I can see helping a lot of coaches across many age levels.

If you’re looking for a pass concept that you can install easily, teach a few practices, and call with confidence, I think this is one of the best ones out there.

Now, Curl-Flat isn’t anything new. Coaches have been running it for years. But Montana State does one little thing differently, and I think this subtle change makes it effective.

It’s one of those small adjustments where you look at it and think, “Why haven’t I been teaching it this way?”

Normally, when we talk about Curl-Flat, it’s pretty straightforward.

Your outside #1 receiver runs a ten-yard curl. I prefer to teach 12 yards back to ten to help with landmarks.

Your slot receiver runs the flat route. Everybody’s probably seen this concept at some point or in some variation.

But Montana State changes one assignment that makes it a dynamic play.

Instead of sending the slot receiver to the flat, they let the running back handle that job.

Now that might not sound like a big deal, but it completely changes what you can do with your slot receiver.

That’s where I think this concept becomes really interesting. Think about who your slot receiver usually is. He’s probably your quickest kid. He’s the guy that can make somebody miss in space.

So why would you send him running sideways to the boundary when you can put the ball right in his hands over the middle of the field?

That’s exactly what Montana State is doing.

They’re creating an easy completion while giving one of their best athletes a chance to make somebody miss.

Sometimes football really is that simple.

The other thing I love is the spacing. When all five eligible receivers finish their routes, the field is stretched beautifully.

You’ve got curls on the outside. You’ve got the running back stretching the defense into the flat.

You’ve got the slot settling right over the football. The curl flat concept is providing the horizontal and vertical stretch everyone talks about.

Now let’s talk about the quarterback.

This is such an easy throw. It is meant to be a 3 step drop but often the QB looks like he is playing pitch and catch backyard football. It’s pretty easy to dump it over the line to the slot receiver. The ball is out quick and it’s great against the blitz.

There’s no dancing around in the pocket waiting for somebody to get open. The quarterback trusts the concept, trusts the spacing, and gets the football out.

Honestly, that’s one of my favorite parts about this play.

The offensive line doesn’t have to block forever because the quarterback isn’t holding onto the football forever.

If the ball is out in under two seconds, pass protection becomes a whole lot easier.

I also think this concept gets even better when defenses start bringing pressure.

Let’s say the middle linebacker is on a blitz. Well, now you’ve created even more room right over the football.

Let’s say an outside linebacker comes. Now somebody has to replace him in coverage. If they don’t, your running back is standing all alone in the flat.

Pressure is supposed to speed up your quarterback.

This concept says, “That’s fine.” “We wanted to throw it quickly anyway.”

That’s why I think it’s such a great answer against aggressive defenses.

One thing I noticed watching Montana State is how disciplined everybody is.

Nobody freelances.

The curl is at ten yards.

The slot knows exactly where he’s settling.

The back gets width immediately.

The quarterback makes quick decisions.

And that’s probably the biggest coaching point I’d take away from this film.

Good offenses don’t always have better plays. They usually have better execution.

If I were installing this with a high school team, I’d tell my players three things.

Trust your landmarks, trust the timing, and don’t make the play harder than it has to be.

The concept already gives you the answer.

That’s why I think this play works at every level. Youth football, JV, Varsity, or College.

The read is simple. The timing is simple. It’s easy to teach and sometimes those are the concepts that stay in your offense for years.

That’s really why I wanted to share this Montana State breakdown. It isn’t because they invented Curl-Flat. They didn’t. It’s because they found a small wrinkle that makes an already great concept even better.

Sometimes the biggest improvements in football aren’t new plays.

They’re small adjustments that help your players play with confidence.

And I think this is one of those adjustments.

If you haven’t looked at using the running back as the flat player and freeing up your slot receiver over the football, I’d encourage you to give it a try.

I think you’ll be surprised how quickly your quarterbacks become comfortable with it.

And more importantly, I think your slot receiver is going to end up touching the football a lot more. Which is great for any offense.

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We are going grouping by grouping through the Missouri boot game to see how they dressed it up, how they used tight ends and motion to seal the edge and create runway, and how they built the void for the over route that shows up on nearly every one of these clips. Some of this is standard boot architecture. Some of it is worth putting on your own call sheet.

21 Personnel

This boot works off the same outside zone action we covered above, paired with a slice block look coming across the formation. The difference is what happens after the slice. Instead of climbing to the second level, that blocker releases into the flat, and the interior linebacker carries him. That pull creates the void, and the over route coming from the far side runs right through it. It is a clean piece of design. The backside defenders are put in conflict on the same snap, and there is no answer that covers both.

12 Personnel

Another well designed boot here, with a few unique wrinkles. Missouri aligns in an unbalanced formation with just the guard and both tight ends to the boundary. From there the Tigers run boot off jet sweep action, bringing one tight end underneath the formation while the other climbs on the over route we see so often in this boot game. The underneath tight end pulls two defenders with him, and once again that leaves the void behind for the over route. Eye candy from every direction on this one.

Pistol this time for the Tigers, paired with an outside zone look to the field. The beauty here is in the Y/Y set to the boundary. The wing inserts and pulls a lot of attention from the corner and the safety on the boot, while the in-line tight end blocks first and then releases wide open in the flat. Missouri uses tight ends to seal the boot side often in this package, and you will see those clips later in the article, but this one is a perfectly timed block and release.

Similar design here but out of a condensed formation.

Another great look off “boot action”, throw leak.

11 Personnel

We mentioned this above, but here is a clean example of the Tigers using short motion with the tight end to help seal the edge on the boot. That seal bought the quarterback runway, and the extra time let him work all the way to the deep over route again.

Here the Tigers shift the tight end from a bunch set over to the field and cover him up, which leaves a version of that unbalanced look again. From there they motion the outside receiver across the field and bring the remaining receiver underneath the formation into the opposite flat.

The routes matter on this one. Curl by the play side receiver, wheel by the motioning receiver, and the final receiver working into the flat. The defense is in cover 2. All of the interior linebackers react to the run fake, and that leaves a deep half safety and a flat corner to handle everything on that side.

The quarterback takes the easy throw to the flat, and it is the smart one, but the curl was open too and likely for a bigger gain. The layers are what make this work. Well designed boot concept, and one worth stealing.

Here’s the same concept without the tight end shift, but this time the Tigers hit the curl route.

This is another good one from the Tigers. They bring the tight end in this motion often as the slice block in their outside zone run game. This time he sells the block, slips the defender, and slides into the flat for a solid gain on second and long.

Final Thoughts

The through line across every one of these clips is the same. Missouri gets one player to occupy the underneath defenders, and then attacks the space that player vacates. Slice block turned flat route. Jet motion tight end running underneath. Wing insert holding the corner and the safety. The dressing changes, the math does not.

That is the piece worth taking, Coach. It is not the boot itself. Every staff in America has boot in the playbook. It is the discipline of building a defined conflict on the backside every single time, then layering the routes so the quarterback has a full read rather than a hope. Curl, wheel, flat on one snap. Flat, over, comeback on another. There is always a short answer and a shot answer on the same call.

The second lesson is what the tight ends do. Missouri did not just line them up and release them. They blocked, they sold, they slipped, they sealed. That short motion seal is what bought the runway to hit the deep over, and the timed block and release is what got a tight end wide open in the flat. Boot game lives or dies on the edge, and their tight ends were the reason the edge held.

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We got beat in the 2019 state semifinal after leading 21–0 at halftime.

Final score: 22–21

The play that got us?

Mesh.

As disappointing as that loss was—and honestly, still is—we simply got outcoached.

Their staff invested the time to truly study the Air Raid. Instead of becoming a spread team, they borrowed some of its most effective passing concepts and blended it into their traditional Pro-I offense. The result was an offense that became nearly impossible to stop.

With the game on the line, they elected to go for the two-point conversion and the win. They called Mesh from a condensed bunch formation, executed it to perfection, and hit the OTB (Over-the-Ball) route to their big receiver.

The rest is history.

They had talented players, but their coaching staff maximized every ounce of that talent. There’s a reason their head coach is a 3x New York State Coach of the Year.

Sometimes, you just have to tip your cap.

That loss also taught me something valuable: if one passing concept could completely change a game, I needed to understand it inside and out.

This article is that guide.

What Is 92 Mesh?

At its core, Mesh is nothing more than a basketball pick play disguised as a passing concept.

One receiver becomes the “setter”, creating natural traffic in the middle of the field, while the faster receiver crosses underneath him. The two receivers “mesh” together approximately 4–6 yards beyond the line of scrimmage before separating.

Against man coverage, the crossing routes naturally create rubs that force defenders to fight through traffic.

Against zone coverage, the receivers simply settle in the open windows once they identify soft spots.

It’s an incredibly simple concept, yet one of the hardest to defend.

Why Mesh Is So Effective

The beauty of Mesh is its versatility.

It works against both man and zone coverage and can be installed from almost any formation:

• 2x2

• 3x1

• Empty

• Deuce Gun

• Bunch

• Stack

• Condensed formations

If a defense doesn’t have an answer, an offense can continue calling Mesh until the defense proves it can stop it.

Few passing concepts have that kind of staying power.

The Coaching Point That Changed Everything

One reason Mesh can be confusing to teach is figuring out which receiver goes underneath on the crossing routes.

This is where Air Raid legend Mike Leach made it simple. The Y is always the setter. The Y receiver always runs the 6-yard mesh route, serving as the “pick” in the concept. The opposite receiver always works underneath the Y.

That single coaching point removes the confusion. Regardless of the formation, every receiver knows exactly where they fit in the concept.

Once you understand the rule “Y is the setter”, Mesh becomes much easier to teach, install, and execute.

The Double Pick Mesh Variation

Now for the variation of Mesh I wanted to highlight in this article, “The Double Pick.”

It’s hard enough to cover the base mesh play. This double pick variation makes it essentially impossible. Here’s the concept.

The double pick variation adds another setter above the Y WR. The Y will set up the pick for the linebackers while the X WR sets the corner trying to chase across the formation to stay with the Z WR.

It ends up being a double rub with full intention of hitting the underneath route, running through man or settling right in front of the double pick.

The RB wheel is another very dangerous aspect of this play. If the outside linebacker carries the wheel route, the flat window for the underneath WR is wide open. If the outside linebacker doesn’t cover the wheel, he is uncovered up the sideline for a TD.

Mesh From a 2x2 Formation

Mesh From a 3x1 Formation

Mesh From Empty

Final Thought

Mesh is important regardless of the offense you run. It’s a simple concept that gets WR open regardless of coverage and formation. Remember, regardless of formation “Y is the setter” this will allow you to establish the base rules for your players and make it easier as formations change. The “Double Pick” with the RB wheel is my favorite variation and I hope I never have to defend it.

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