20 Personnel Gap Schemes from Slant/Stack Formations

Oct 9, 2017 | Offense, Run Game, Gap Run Concepts, 20 Personnel Concepts, Personnel

By Mike Kuchar
Senior Research Manager
X&O Labs
Twitter: @MikekKuchar

 

Introduction:

The following research was conducted as part of XandOLabs.com special report on “Spread Gap Schemes,” which can be accessed in full by clicking here.

20 Personnel Groupings

Stack Formation:

We found one of the more prevalent formations used to run the single pull Power concept has been what most coaches are referring to as the Stack formation (Diagram 21). It’s a 3x1 formation with the sniffer (or H back) aligned in the B gap to the trips side. The name “Stack” is derivative of Auburn University head coach Gus Malzahn, who ran the same formation while he was at Shiloh Christian High School (AR) in the late 1990s. Jeff Conaway, a Malzahn disciple who is now the head coach at Shiloh Christian is still using it to run Power with a great deal of success. In Coach Conaway’s system, the Stack is a 20 personnel grouping that puts the H, slot and A back to the right side. The H in “rip” alignment, which he calls in B gap and in easy arms reach of the offensive tackle while the back is aligned in what Coach Conaway calls a 1.5 alignment, which is six yards deep straddling the inside leg of the guard.