Run-n-Shoot
The Run & Shoot is a type of offense in American Football. It is predicated on using multiple wide receiver sets, and as many formation adjustments as are needed to adapt to the opposing defense's tactics.
The scheme was pioneered by coach Glenn "Tiger" Ellison in the late 1950s and popularized by Mouse Davis in the 1970s at Portland State University and in the mid-1980s in the USFL. The offense has evolved over the years into the fast-paced passing game common to football today. While it enjoyed a brief resurgence with some National Football League teams in the 1980s and 1990s, today it is primarily employed at the high school and college levels.
Examples of successful Run & Shoot offenses include the Warren Moon-quarterbacked Houston Oilers (n.k.a., Tennessee Titans) of the 1990s (coached by Jerry Glanville and then Jack Pardee), and the present-day offense of the University of Hawaii, coached by June Jones. Quarterbacks in a Run & Shoot system usually have comparatively high performance stats (e.g., around 50 pass attempts per game). Because of this, the numbers put up by Run & Shoot quarterbacks are often discredited as being a "by-product of the system", rather than the result of that QB's personal ability. Such criticism is especially prominent at the college level. Critics are often affirmed when QB's who succeeded with this set in college, flounder without it in the NFL, often saddling them with the derogatory descriptor "system quarterback". Prime examples are 1989 Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware (University of Houston), fellow Houston alumnus David Klingler and former University of Hawaii QB Timmy Chang.
Despite regular-season successes, the Run & Shoot ultimately fell out of favor in the NFL; its marginal running game was strongly linked with its teams' early playoff exits. The legacy of the Run & Shoot lives on, though, in the offenses it has inspired: Jerry Glanville's no-huddle Redgun Offense, the pass-happy shotgun formations favored by Urban Meyer, and the Air Raid offense of Texas Tech's Mike Leach. West Virgina coach Rich Rodriguez uses a Run & Shoot offense that favors the run out of the shotgun.
Another criticism of the run & shoot is that with no tight ends in the formation on the offensive line and maybe only one running back in the backfield to pick up linebackers or safeties on a blitz, the quarterback is subject to being hit several times (and injured) during a game. A lot of those hits come from linebackers, safeties or "speed-rush" defensive ends who, due to the lack of blockers, may get to the quarterback completely untouched.
[edit] Formations and motion
The Run & Shoot uses multiple formations, typically featuring at least four wide receivers. Motion (i.e., having a receiver suddenly change position by running left or right, parallel to the line of scrimmage, just prior to the ball being snapped) is used extensively -- both to create advantageous mismatches with the opposing defensive players, and to help reveal what coverage the defense is actually employing. The basic idea behind the Run & Shoot is to ensure that there's at least one open receiver if the others are double-teamed.
In the purest form of the offense, the proper complement would consist of two wide receivers in the outside positions on the line, and two "slotbacks," running-back types who could catch as well as run (ex. Ricky Sanders and Richard Johnson for the USFL's Houston Gamblers, both RBs in college), manning the inside receiver positions (just outside and behind the two offensive tackles). The slotbacks would be the receivers who would go into motion -- as described above -- to reveal the defensee's scheme and matchups. Also, by having stockier converted running backs playing inside in the formation, they would be better suited to handle punishing hits. The NFL teams that used the Run & Shoot in the early 1990s did not deploy the proper type of inside receiver in the formation, instead using true wide receivers, which took away the inside threat of the offense. For example, when the Houston Oilers ran the offense, defenses would typically allow Drew Hill, Ernest Givins and Webster Slaughter to catch short passes in front of them, then unload on them as they turned upfield, sometimes causing fumbles or incomplete passes).
A typical set includes (along with the four wide-outs) one halfback/running back and the five offensive linemen (one center, the left- and right-guards, and the left- and right-tackles). The types of running backs vary from smaller, pass-catching-type backs to big, bruising, power-type backs. The frequent passing formations spread out the defense's players, causing them to expect that the subsequent plays will also be passes. If the repeated pass plays work, the defense is spread thinly across the field; running the ball between the offensive tackles, or just off-tackle, is now possible, and preferred. This is why "the pass sets up the run" is often said of Run & Shoot-type sets.
Run & Shoot offenses have trouble attracting "pro-style" running backs at the pro level because of the low number of carries (i.e., chances to run with the ball) they would get, despite having produced Pro Bowl seasons for running backs Barry Sanders, Lorenzo White and Gary Brown (the first reaching 1,100 yards or more ten times, the latter two played for Pardee's Oilers). Running backs who thrive in the system tend to be smaller, shifty runners who do not require lead blockers. Barry Sanders, Lorenzo White and Gary Brown fit that description, as did Erric Pegram, who reached 1,000 yards with the Atlanta Falcons.
Recently, June Jones and his Hawaii Warrior football team posted some huge numbers once again. The "run & shoot" was very successful with QB Colt Brennan and company. Brennan led the set NCAA single season records for touchdowns, yards and passing efficiency. After much talk of entering the NFL Draft, Brennan decided to return to the University of Hawaii in 2007 for his senior season.
