Paul Johnson’s Explanation of the Triple Option in His Playbook
February 12, 2017
This is an excerpt from Paul Johnson’s playbook dating back to his time as Head Football Coach at Georgia Southern. You can find copies of this playbook throughout the Internet.
Coach Johnson explains these four points.
“12/13 is our inside veer play. We load when the run support (#3) is inside the tackle box. Our option count begins with the first down lineman touching the Playside Tackle (#1). This is the read key. #2 is the next man outside of #1 to Linebacker to Secondary. #3 is the run support.” –Paul Johnson
Example:
- Playside Tackle calls “3” or “4i” to determine #1.
- Playside Tackle calls “inside” or “outside” to determine if the Linebacker is in the option count. “Inside”= Offensive Line or A-Back account for the Linebacker; “Outside”= Quarterback counts him as #2, reads him, and prepares for the EZ stunt (#2-1 exchange).
- Find #1, 2, 3, and Deep Defender. The Deep Defender is the defender who drops over the top of the Playside Receiver at the snap. There are two Deep Defenders on the field with one on each side; however, if the formation is Over and Heavy, both Deep Defenders are to the formation side.
- Load when #3 is inside the box.
