The H.O.B.O.

Offense
“Coleblooded Style”
O n behalf of Alabama State, Head
Coach L.C. Cole and our entire staff,
it is an honor to contribute to this year’s
Tennessee State 96-99 [OVC], Alabama
State 2000-2002 [SWAC]) the HOBO
offense has averaged 32.0 ppg and 410
AFCA Summer Manual . I have been ypg; I contribute my success to having both
coaching now for 16 years, seven of those a good plan and good coaches.
as an offensive coordinator, and have had
great success running the HOBO offense Practice Time
(High Operated Big Offense). The 2001 With multiple offenses, you can do
season ended with some great numbers for many different things. However, in my opin-
Johnnie Cole the Alabama State program. We finished ion, this is not the best plan because per-
third in the nation in total offense (averag- fect practice makes perfect and to be per-
Offensive ing 486.0 yards per game — 300 pass, 186 fect you must practice exactly what you will
Coordinator run) and we ranked sixth in the nation in be doing. Our practices are broken down
scoring (37.5 points) and passing per by certain run plays, pass plays and forma-
Alabama State game. Over our two years at ASU, our tions, but we also make room for special
University quarterback threw for over 6,500 yards and plays. We open practice every day with
66 touchdowns. With all this success, we screens and draws, which replaces team
Montgomery, Ala. have broken numerous school records. take off. The next several periods are indi-
As with most offenses, we have a vari- vidual and group, where we work on posi-
ety of formations, packages, and schemes tion specific techniques, different pass pat-
which will attack modern day defenses. tern combinations, runs and special plays.
After which we move to our run section of
Our Philosophy practice. During team periods, we coach on
TEAM (Together Each Accomplishes the move and do not repeat incorrect plays
More) since they are already repeated on the call
Perfect Practice Scores Touchdowns sheet. Further corrections are made in our
Chris Kapilovic No-huddle (two minute offense) meetings (individual or team). We end our
Special Plays practice with a scramble drill because it is
Offensive Line Multiple in formation and use of motion great for conditioning (no-huddle offense).
Coach Keep it Simple
Keep protection and blocking schemes No-Huddle Offense
the same We run a no-huddle offense to limit sub-
Run Game stitutions by the defense and to control the
Pass Game tempo of the game. Although we are “no-
Screens and Draws huddle”, this does not mean we are always
in a “hurry-up” mode. If we have a team on
Position Coaches their heels we will “hurry up” and attack,
I believe in any team sport you must however, there are times we want to slow it
have everyone working for the same down to rest our defense or give our quar-
cause, in the same direction and on the terback a chance to get his composure
same page. Additionally, your coaches back and develop a rhythm. There are
have to believe in what you are doing. I like other advantages to the no-huddle offense.
highly motivated guys who are multi- Many times the defense will show their
dimensional and are team players. There front and coverage scheme earlier than a
are many ways to attack defenses, but as team that huddles. This enables us to
an offensive coordinator you must have make checks and audibles at the line of
guys you can work with, so it is very impor- scrimmage. Also, we free up more practice
tant that you choose the right people. I time to work on other game situations,
would like to thank my staff, Darryl Williams since our two-minute offense is already
(wide receivers), Chris Kapilovic (offensive built in.
line), Lane Powell (runningbacks), and
Sadiki Johnson (tight ends). These gentle- Special Plays
men do an excellent job in teaching and We implement our special plays (revers-
motivating our players to learn and execute es, halfback pass, etc.) during camp and
our offense. Good coaches are one part of practice them all year so that it is a regular
a bigger equation which includes my life part of our offense, just as the zone or
motto: “People don’t plan to fail, they fail to screens and draws. The advantage to this
plan.” In my seven years as a coordinator is that no extra pressure or special build up
(Southwest College 92-93 [NAIA], exists to run those plays. If it is successful,

• AFCA Summer Manual — 2002 •

we get a big play or an easy score. If it is Diagram 1: Two-Back Protection Diagram 2B: Inside Zone One-Back
not, it’s just another incompletion or unsuc- Big on Big (Shotgun)
cessful run.

Formation
We use multiple looks to manipulate the
defense into lining up a certain way. We
also employ motion and shifts to create
mismatches and help our quarterback to * QB responsible for B’s defensive end.
* Back’s check LB’s and release
determine the coverage. This situation pro- He can give it or keep it.
vides an edge for us over the defense Diagram 1A: One-Back Protection
because they have now become pre- Passing Game
dictable. Our game plan includes at least We have had great success throwing
15 different formations, various motions the ball, and believe this is due to our
and shifts because we always seek to emphasis on several points. First, it is very
exploit mismatches. To help accomplish important that our receivers know where
this, we drill our players on formations and they are going and why, so we keep our
teach them defenses so they know where routes simple. All of our routes are pack-
to look for mismatches. Using multiple for- aged and include the vertical game, option,
mations means the defense will have a horizontal, tight end, bunch and fast break.
more difficult time preparing and using var- Diagram 1B: Sprint Out Protection If there is a pattern that we feel is effective
ious front and coverage combinations. We against a certain defense we will run that
utilize this advantage by scripting most of pattern out of multiple formations (Diagram
our formations in the beginning of the game 3). The primary goal we communicate to
plan and determining which ones create our quarterback is to take a pre-snap read,
the most mismatches, providing us a find the safety and put the team in the right
greater chance of success. protection. Next, we teach to read the near-
est defender, safety (vertical game) and
Keep It Simple * Zone Protection inverted defender (horizontal game).
We try to keep all of our run blocking, Finally, follow the progression and find the
pass protections, and screen and draw while keeping the blocking scheme the primary, secondary and third receivers and
schemes the same to minimize time spent same up front. Our favorite run is the inside deliver.
thinking and limit mistakes up front. We feel zone and we can run the play out of a vari- Diagram 3A: Regular Formation
that a knowledgeable, confident athlete is a ety of formations. We run it out of a two-
much better player. Our run game has sim- back set with the fullback blocking force or
ilar blocking schemes but different back- away and give the ball to the tailback. We
field action. Some plays we use include may also give the ball to the fullback and
inside zone/outside zone, speed option, run the belly. Out of the one-back set we
power and guard trap. Keep in mind that all can have a two tight end, one tight end or
of our formations tie into all of our no tight end set and can be under center or
schemes. out of the shotgun (Diagram 2).
Diagram 2: Inside Zone Diagram 3B: Double Formation
Pass Protection
As discussed in the previous section, we
feel if our players understand the schemes,
we have a better chance of protecting our
quarterback (seven sacks in 12 games last
year). We have protections for two-back,
one-back, and no-back and also use a turn
back, sprint out, and slide protection. At
times we will cut block in our quick throwing
game. In pressure situations, we allow our Diagram 2A: Inside Zone (FB Away) Diagram 3C: Ace Formation
quarterback to change the protection
and/or throw hot (Diagram 1).

Run Game
We have a basic run package, but we
try to use different motions, backfield sets
and action to give the plays a different look

• AFCA Summer Manual — 2002 •

 Diagram 3D: Double Tight Ends Diagram 4A: Slide Protection Diagram 6A: Bootleg/Naked

* Aggressive to the gap (1 & 3 step), pass * Regular Formation

set to the gap (5 & 7 step drop).

Blitz Diagram 5A: Screen Diagram 6B: Bootleg/Naked

We must always be prepared for the
blitz, so most of our routes have blitz beat-
ers automatically built in. We prefer slide
protections when the secondary is
involved. Using multiple formations pro-
vides an advantage in a blitz situation,
especially our one-back and no-back sets.
* We can call screen to any No. #. * Double Formation
These formations spread the defense so
the quarterback can get a better idea who
and from where the blitz is coming Diagram 5B: Draw Diagram 6C: Bootleg/Naked
(Diagram 4).

Diagram 4: Blitz Off the Edge

* Give ball to halfback or QB draw * Double Tight Ends

* QB checks from big on big to a slide

Play Action and Bootleg Hopefully, you’ve found this information
protection. If SLB comes, throw hot route
We feel it is important to have a play useful. On behalf of Alabama State Hornet
Screens and Draws action pass and/or bootleg off of all of our football, we would like to again thank the
We use two different blocking runs. Again, we can keep the routes the AFCA for the opportunity to contribute to
schemes in our screens and draw pack- same for both (Diagram 6). this year’s Summer Manual. Our doors are
age and have multiple ways of distribut- Our offense is predicated on attacking the always open, feel free to call or drop by
ing the ball to the desired carrier or defense. We are constantly working to find dif- when you are in Hornet Country
receiver (Diagram 5). ferent ways to take advantage of the defense. (Montgomery, Ala.).

Avoid Teaching
Blind-Side Blocking
Below The Waist
Even though blind-side and peel-back blocks are legal near or behind the neutral zone in cer-
tain instances, the AFCA Ethics Committee reminds the membership that teaching players to
block below the waist in those instances is ethically improper and should be avoided because
of the high possibility of serious injury.

The Football Code states: “Teaching or condoning intentional roughing, including blind-side
blocking an opponent below the waist anywhere on the field, is indefensible.”

• AFCA Summer Manual — 2002 •