Flexbone Triple Option Football in 2019: The Three Concepts You Must Run
December 27, 2018
All data was compiled by Dr. Lou Cella, Sport and Performance Psychologist. He can be found at tripleoptionfootball.com and can be reached at (570) 332-0265.
Army, Navy, and Georgia Tech combined to do the following in 2018:
- Played 39 games.
- Executed 2,653 plays.
- Averaged 68 offensive plays/game.
- Ran the football 86% of the time.
- Averaged 58 running plays/game.
45% of Army, Navy, and Georgia Tech’s combined offense consisted of the following three concepts:
1- Zone Option with Variations.
- This includes Speed Option, Quarterback Power, and Quarterback Sweep.
- Zone Option with variations was run 461 times.
- This concept was 17.4% of Army, Navy, and Georgia Tech’s 2018 Offense.
- Zone Option with variations is the featured constraint when they don’t get four yards on the give phase of the Triple Option.
Video of Zone Option with variations can be found right here.
2- Triple Option
- This is the “Inside Veer” concept.
- Triple Option was run 403 times.
- This concept was 15.2% of Army, Navy, and Georgia Tech’s 2018 Offense.
- Triple Option is more than just a singular concept, the Triple Option is the foundation of the offense.
An example of how to run the Triple Option can be found right here.
3- Zone Dive with Variations
- This is where the read key on Triple Option is blocked by either the Playside Guard, Tackle, A-Back (Slotback), or a combination thereof.
- Zone Dive was run 323 times.
- This concept was 12.2% of Army, Navy, and Georgia Tech’s 2018 Offense.
- Zone Dive is often utilized when they don’t get four yards on a pull/pitch off the Triple Option.
An example of how to run the Zone Dive can be found right here.
The average high school football game consists of 48 offensive plays, and 31 plays/game run by Army, Navy, and Georgia Tech are the Zone Option (with variations), Triple Option, and Zone Dive (with variations).
By sheer quantitative data, these are the three concepts you must run to identify your offense as a Flexbone Triple Option Offense.
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Other areas of interest are the following:
- The next most utilized concept was the Rocket Toss. This concept was utilized 134 times, the Rocket Toss was 5% of Army, Navy, and Georgia Tech’s Offense, and they averaged running Rocket Toss 3.4 times/game.
- The Pass off the Triple Option was executed 124 times, which was 5% of Army, Navy, and Georgia Tech’s Offense, and they averaged throwing the Triple Pass 3.2 times/game. Consider the fact that Army, Navy, and Georgia Tech combined to average 10 overall passes/game.
- Other concepts utilized were the Zone Belly (120 times, 5% of offense, and run 3.1 times/game), Follow (116 times, 4% of offense, and run 3.0 times/game), Trap (97 times, 4% of offense, and run 2.5 times/game), and Counter Option (88 times, 3% of offense, and run 2.2 times/game.)
- The Midline Option has been a popular topic over the last 25 years; however, Midline as a Double Option was only run 84 times this year (3% of the offense and run 2.1 times/game).
- Midline Triple Option was run slightly more as this concept was executed 95 times this year by Army, Navy, and Georgia Tech. This was 4% of their offense and was run 2.4 times/game.
- In 2007, Navy (then coached by Paul Johnson) averaged Midline Double and Triple 11% of the time. Currently, Midline Double and Triple Option is 7% of the Army, Navy, and Georgia Tech Offense. This is a significant decline over the last 11 years.
- Outside Veer, another popular topic, was run less than 10 times all season by Army, Navy, and Georgia Tech. This concept was run less than 1% of the time.
In conclusion, Zone Option, Triple Option, and Zone Dive are the three concepts proven, through quantitative analysis, that you must run to execute a Flexbone Triple Option Offense in 2019.
