Double Load Power Read from 12 Personnel

By Mike Kuchar with Pete Jennings
Head Coach
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Twitter: @PeteyBananas

Utilizing a power read from a three-man surface has its advantages: you’re able to widen the read defender a gap further and you’re able to get an extra blocker (the tight end) on the perimeter for the QB pull. University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh head football coach Pete Jennings spent several seasons as the offensive coordinator at Division 3 powerhouse Wisconsin Whitewater, so the A-gap power was a major staple in his arsenal. The problem was, he didn’t have an athletic enough quarterback to run the power read element.

That all changed when he took the job at Oshkosh which had a good amount of tight ends on the roster. He had an elite athlete running quarterback, but couldn’t get him on the edge on zone read. So, he started looking at different ways to affect not just the defensive structure but the individual technique of defensive players. So, Coach Jennings merged his teachings of power with a read principle and did it out of 12 personnel with the intent of getting an additional hat on the perimeter to block for the quarterback pull and get his athlete in space.

“Force the Log:” Backside Guard Technique:

Defensive ends have become better at surfing to take away the frontside A gap and retracing back to a QB pull on the play. “If you don’t have an elite quarterback, that would be a problem,” said Coach Jennings. So, rather than read the end, he decided he would block him with the backside puller. As noted in the video, Coach Jennings teaches a shuffle pull technique for that backside Guard. And having him get a piece of that C gap defender has been a major advantage against squeeze and spill defensive ends. “Now he sees the down block from the Tackle which forces him to squeeze,” said Coach Jennings. “This forces a pull read by quarterback and how you’re out on the edge with the QB just like zone read. We’re forcing the technique of the defensive end. Something he’s been taught to spill since eighth grade. We use this technique against him.”