Flexbone Issue – Case 4: Weak Side Veer Concepts from Unbalanced Formations

By Nate Teichgraeber
Head Coach
Council Grove High School (KS)
Twitter: @CoachCGBraves

Unbalanced formations in our Flex Bone system presents problems for defenses and how they adjust. We run our core base plays out of unbalanced formations (inside veer, outside veer, midline, zone option, belly, rocket toss, and counter iso) without making changes to our blocking rules and schemes, and we want to run them to both the strong (heavy side) and weak side. Being primarily an option team, we feel unbalanced gives us an added advantage when teams have to adjust by still forcing teams to account for the dive/QB/pitch while still lining up sound to our unbalanced formations. Y over (Diagram 32) Twins (Diagram 33), and Trips (Diagram 34) are (3) three ways we run inside veer triple or double option to the weak side of an unbalanced formation. We are giving the defense a lot of looks to prepare for, and we aren’t changing what we do for our OL. We can modify our blocking schemes to any front with our blocking rules and scheme our wings to block either the force player, high safety, or corner, which gives us a numbers advantage to the weak side of an unbalanced formation.

Y over unbalanced weak side inside veer vs 4-4

• QB - reading 1^st man 4i or + play side.
  • pitch key is called-in from the sideline pre-snap to the QB and play side wing.
  • in this play, the high safety has been designated the pitch key.
• F - regular inside veer path right
• R (play side wing) - sideline call to block the corner
• L (backside wing) inside veer pitch path
• Y – backside inside veer rules
  • unbalanced TE scoop, climb, and hinges (SCH) inside and tracks to 2^nd level
• X – inside veer rules
  • TOE SS combo block with LT
• LT – inside veer rules
  • TOE SS combo block with X
• LG – inside veer rules
  • GOT SS combo block with C
• C – inside veer rules
  • GOT SS combo block with LG
• RG – inside veer rules – since uncovered and #1 is read key, track to 2^nd level
• RT – inside veer rules – since #1 is read key, best path release and track to 2^nd level

In the clip below, the QB knows the wide 5 will have a hard time squeezing the dive, and our G & T will release w/good angles to LB. Good decision by the QB to give the ball. The play side wing is assigned to block the corner, with the pitch key the high safety. We don’t block very well weak side, or this would have been a bigger play.