2025 Choice System Research and Development – Case 1: Lafayette’s Slot Choice Build-In

“When that defender plays into the box, we talk about how it plays into the box.”
- TJ DiMuzio, offensive coordinator, Lafayette College (PA)

By Mike Kuchar
Senior Researcher/Co-Founder
X&O Labs
@MikeKKuchar

“It all starts with spacing.” That’s the common mantra being thrown around the Lafayette offensive staff room these days. As an RPO offense that is built around 10 and 11 personnel groupings, the Leopards are hell bent on providing enough space for their receivers to make plays in the open field.  And when you study the Leopards film you’ll notice that nearly 80 percent of their formations are built off either 2x2 open or 3x1 open sets.

So, offensive coordinator TJ DiMuzio and receivers coach Ryan Roeder work meticulously with his receivers on understanding base split rules in these formations. He uses the following framework as a guide:

2x2 Open Formations (MOF):

• The number one receiver divides the bottom of the numbers to the sideline
• The number two receiver is three yards outside the hash

3x1 Open Formations (On Hash):

• The number one receiver divides the bottom of the numbers to the sideline
• The number three receiver is on hash
• The number two receiver aligns between the two of them

“Clear the Picture and Read the Tightest Defender”

These base split rules clean the picture up for the quarterback to identify the extra run fitter and read off him in the RPO game.  And most of the time in 2x2 formations extra run fitter will be the Sam or Nickel linebacker to the field and the Will linebacker into the boundary. The quarterback will just read the defender who is tighter to the box.

In 3x1 formations, that extra run fitter will be either the Sam or Nickel linebacker to the field or safety into the boundary. Again, the quarterback is asked to read the tightest defender.

Of course, the outlier is three-high defense, where the middle safety is typically taught to be the number six defender, and the read of the quarterback.

How it Works:

How Coach DiMuzio teaches the quarterback to read and throw off that defender will be the premise of this report. While there are many offensive coaches who have built a system around these similar principles, the way in which Coach DiMuzio goes about teaching the quarterback to be decisive is impressive. Lafayette’s run/pass ratio was nearly even last season, which tells us that his quarterbacks have a good understanding of how to make the right decision. Even so, the reinforcement for Coach DiMuzio is not for the quarterback to be right; but for him to be decisive. “We don’t talk about making a decision,” he told me. “We just talk about being decisive.”

In this report we are going to reveal both the inside choice and outside choice menu Lafayette builds into his RPO system and how Coach DiMuzio teaches the quarterback to make the right pre-snap and post-snap decision.

Editor’s Note: In this report, Mike reveals the details of how this works, and best practices, and he identifies who else is using it. And, as always, Mike includes a lot of video and diagrams, as well as shares where to find more game film in X&O Labs’ Film Room. Log in below to unlock the full report (and if you’re not a member, click the ‘Join’ button in the upper right-hand corner of this page).