Mullen offense playbook

Swamp Donkey

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Just want to put this here for now. It shows really the two basic plays we run, although of course we have many variations:

Film Study: How Dan Mullen’s scheme opens up Florida’s running game - Read and Reaction


A little more depth in inside (izzy) and outside zone (ozzy) plays, which we run more w Trask (vs options with EJ). This is Chip Kelleys bersion of Izzy and Ozzy, but the basic concepts are the same for us.

Chip Kelly Playbook 101: Shotgun, Inside- & Outside-Zone Run




Also interesting, some Mullen pass: Follow-pivot pass concept | Smart Football


More on Meyer's evolution, which Mullen has followed, to some extent, although obviously mollen isn't interested in tempo at all.

Ducking the Bucks: Inside the Evolution (and Oregonification) of Urban Meyer’s Ohio State Offense

Despite being known for the innovative spread offenses his Utah and Florida teams had fielded, Urban Meyer had few obvious offensive coordinator candidates in mind when he took over as Ohio State’s head football coach following the 2011 season. Dan Mullen and Steve Addazio, Meyer’s former UF coordinators, had already become head coaches, and Meyer faced another complicating factor: Though he remained committed to his vision of a power-based spread offense, he also wanted his system to evolve with the times, and he knew he needed a coordinator who could help him achieve that balance.

At Florida, Meyer’s offense revolved almost entirely around the quarterback. From 2007 through 2009, Tim Tebow led the SEC in pass efficiency while also leading the Gators in rushing yards, and the lasting image of those UF offenses is of Tebow plunging into the line on power runs. That approach worked with a 6-foot-3, 235-pound rhinoceros at quarterback, but with Tebow off to the NFL in 2010, Florida’s offense began to fall apart, and the Gators limped to an 8-5 finish. Meyer stepped away from the game in 2011 to spend more time with family, and during that time he was able to study many of the sport’s most innovative coaches and schemes. When Meyer rejoined the coaching ranks and started searching for a coordinator who could mesh the newest trends with what Meyer had done before, he asked around for suggestions, and several of his closest friends in the business suggested the same name: Iowa State offensive coordinator Tom Herman.

Herman, who will take over as Houston’s head coach after coordinating Ohio State’s offense in Monday’s title game, has helped morph the Buckeyes’ offense from Meyer’s traditional system into an updated version that carries many of the hallmarks of the team OSU will face in Arlington on January 12. Specifically, Herman has shifted the Buckeyes away from the single-wing-esque QB power runs that Meyer preferred during the Tebow years and that since-injured QB Braxton Miller leaned on while leading the Buckeyes in rushing in 2012. At Florida, Meyer preferred “gap blocking” schemes: running plays designed to grind out a few years at a time, with “down” blocks from linemen to the side the play was directed, backside linemen pulling to lead the way, and Tebow often lowering his shoulder behind them.

In contrast, Herman has based Ohio State’s offense around the inside zone: an inside, downhill running play that uses zone blocking to automatically adapt to the defense, a crucial trait when used with the no-huddle, another tactic now featured far more in Columbus than it ever was in Gainesville.

Many coaches, including Meyer, have said that zone blocking plays are “finesse” runs. Meyer has always viewed his offense as a power attack, albeit one run from the spread, but Herman helped convert him, resulting in Ohio State building its offense around the inside zone, with quarterback reads and receiver screens coming off that same basic action. Meyer bought in because the Buckeyes’ version is all about power: It’s a true gut shot right up the middle, with the runner aiming for the “A” gaps next to the center. (Mullen prefers more B or C gap, staying away from the big eater usually residing at NT w most SEC teams.)

*****

This is a work in progress. Im going to update tonight. I may break them.down further for your comments.

But it is a bye week so we need something to do, other than harass you guys.
 
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Keene-Flint

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I clicked on this thinking it was going to be something like Daz’s play calling wheel. Kinda disappointed but grateful for actual insight.
 

Sec14Gator

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So, one of the top 10 greatest to ever coach college football looks to hire new minds to keep the offense innovative?

While I think the original staff hires probably already tell us what we need to know, we will learn whether the final pieces of Mullen as a potential championship coach may ever materialize this off season.
 

TLB

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I appreciate the links - several of those sites are too smart for me, but overall they help an idiot like myself at least 'think' I understand the plays a bit better. In a general sense, I can appreciate the movement and intent to create opportunities in all sports, even if I don't know the football specific terms. As such, I like to read such articles but tend to not follow the sites all that much, and appreciate the idiot's version when available. Cheers.
 

BMF

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So, one of the top 10 greatest to ever coach college football looks to hire new minds to keep the offense innovative?

While I think the original staff hires probably already tell us what we need to know, we will learn whether the final pieces of Mullen as a potential championship coach may ever materialize this off season.

This is something I pointed out a few times: Meyer did not hire a single on-field coach at Ohio State that coached with him at Florida. Think about that. Not one!

Mullen needs to bring in a couple of fresh minds to give this offense a shot in the arm. Relying on a fullback to play QB is so 2008. He needs to "modernize" this offense, just like Meyer did at Ohio State. Sure, we're throwing the ball well right now, but can't run worth a sh*t (I know, the OL is garbage). I think Mullen's O can work, if he recruited like Meyer did at Ohio State....but it would work much better if he 'modernized' it.

Bringing almost his entire staff from MSU was a lazy (for lack of better term) thing to do - not to mention the poor impact it's had on recruiting.
 
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G8trwood

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I liked the quote, this scheme works well if everyone does their job and the OL doesn’t allow immediate penetration
 

Sec14Gator

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Bringing almost his entire staff from MSU was an lazy

It was lazy, but that can be remedied. The bigger problem, long term, is I think it was more a function of hubris which is probably too late to fix. Self reflection is hard to acquire at 50.
 

bayou gator

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Lots of good info there. Unfortunately, Dan is not Urban. He's not as smart, nor does he seems as rabidly hungry to win as Urban. I was hoping we were going to see some passion and brutal honesty from Dan after the ugay loss that would remind us of how Urban broke down when he realized things weren't working well enough to get us over the hump. That's when I knew Urban was a coach who would not settle. Instead, we now have a guy who says everything will be peaches if we can just get 7 more points... after a game where our offense looked dysfunctional and inept. And don't even get me started on the defense...

Were Spurrier and Urban perfect? No. However, I never felt like we had hit our ceiling with them. I always got a sense from them that they were always striving to improve and would do anything, including CHANGE whatever they needed to, in order to win. I haven't gotten that sense from Dan. Like others have mentioned, I think this offseason will tell us a lot about his ability to not just coach this team, but manage every aspect of this program.

I'm not using this post as just a chance to slam Dan. He is who he is. I think he is a very good man. And he damn sure isn't a charlatan like Chump and the Sharkf*cker. Dan has proven he is a good, if not great, coach. I hope he surprises me someday and proves me wrong.
 

BMF

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Lots of good info there. Unfortunately, Dan is not Urban. He's not as smart, nor does he seems as rabidly hungry to win as Urban..

Sadly, I agree w/ this. No way Meyer would have stayed at MSU as long as Mullen did. He would have assessed the situation and gotten TFO upon the first better job option.
 

Bushmaster

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The links above were nothing earth shattering. We use the same blocking and plays as shown above. Went to three straight state title games running this offense and won two of them. Won four games with it this year. BTW, its also the same offense Clemson runs. Play call terminology is different though.

Why so much success in those last three years versus this past year.

Players.

We had the receivers, just not the OL (2-3 really good ones, 1-2 reall bad ones), not the QB, not the RB.

You can run the wishbone and win NCs. Look at Nebraska in the 90s. They won 3 out of 4 years.

The difference then??

Players.
 

Swamp Donkey

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The links above were nothing earth shattering. We use the same blocking and plays as shown above.
Of course it isnt anything even slightly earth shattering.

But people throw a fit everytime we run an option w Trash, the tackle lets the DE free...who smashes Peerine in the backfield. So we hear about "Peerine dancing and the tackle sucks."

Or why zone running plays are being used, and not particularly effectively.
 

Bushmaster

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Where did I mention bama in my post??

I think it's you who needs to put down the bottle. You are reading things I didnt post.

Bama doesnt have the backfield, specifically full back and QB to run the wishbone. Again. Players.
 

oxrageous

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Where did I mention bama in my post??

I think it's you who needs to put down the bottle. You are reading things I didnt post.

Bama doesnt have the backfield, specifically full back and QB to run the wishbone. Again. Players.
Wow, you're saying you need great players to win titles? Consider my mind blown.
 

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