“Running wide zone to the 3-man surface just got too expensive. If that 3-Tech is a badass, you’re going to have issues. So, why not run Pin/Pull and use the leverage to your advantage?” - Cedric Williams, offensive line coach/run game coordinator, FAMU
By Mike Kuchar
Senior Researcher/Co-Founder
X&O Labs
@MikeKKuchar
For over ten years, the heart of running backs coach Kevin Maurice’s off-season study on Pin and Pull run game centered on how he can prevent the back from getting ahead of his pullers. “I kept wondering how can I remedy this?” he continually repeated. “I had to make sure they understood the blocking at the point of attack” So, this past season at North Carolina Central, he emphasized challenging them to be assignment sound and it started with their alignment. This meant that in shotgun alignments, they would need to stack the backside Tackle to be in alignment with the pullers.
The second point of emphasis post snap was to teach them to make sure they were in line with the second puller and that meant staying within the near hip of that second puller.
“Too many times the running back gets ahead of the pullers because he feels the pressure of the C gap defender and we miss out on opportunities front side,” said Coach Maurice. “What that did is allow him to see the play develop and come up with a contingency plan at the point of attack. Sometimes if those pullers whiff, he has enough space between the pullers and the defenders to either cut the ball up or take it outside.” Essentially, Coach Maurice used two buzzwords to educate his backs on their reads: pin and pierce.
“Pin”- circle the defense
“Pierce”- puncture the defense
Finally, the last emphasis he made was to teach his backs not to put their hands on the pullers because that created ball security issues. “They put the ball on the ground because they lose concentration,” he said. “They are so concerned with the pullers in front of them.”
Why it Works:
Getting the third puller out is all predicated on where the minus one backer is. Typically, a backside lineman is responsible for working for him, but all too often the back block of the Center would take that puller off his course. So, instead, offensive line coach Cedric Williams began to pull his all-conference Tackle to handle the minus one. And he would entrust him with understanding where his leverage was. If that minus one linebacker was out of the box, then he would simply zone to him, without having to pull.
Visual Evidence:
The tutorial below will give you a better understanding of the 3-Puller Man Scheme
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.
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