Chris Ault retiring & the rise of the Pistol

Submitted by Leaders And Best on

Chris Ault, the creator of the Pistol offense, is reportedly stepping down at Nevada. I was going to post this article here earlier this week and it seems even more relevant now:

http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2012/12/27/3792740/pistol-offense-nfl-redskins-rg3

I hope Hoke and Borges reevaluate their philosophy long-term on dual threat QBs as I still feel having a dual threat QB who can run the read option will give teams the best chance of winning in the future. Running it out of the Pistol allows you to run it as a power attack.

Brayden09

December 28th, 2012 at 4:39 PM ^

Fun offense to watch, in my opinion. Qb gets a chance to survey the field and gets the benefit of not having to take 3 steps to throw a pass. Plus the hb can get momentum before he receives the hand off. Plus you can still incorporate a fb/H back.

Blue eNVy

December 28th, 2012 at 5:16 PM ^

Did great things for Nevada, but so many frustrating in-game decisions.  Our AD is stepping down, so it's a pretty good bet he goes back to that role.  

Hopefully Ault brings in some folks who will continue to run the Pistol effectively, but there definitely needs to be some change.  It would be nice if he brings in a defensive mind with an agressive, gambler type attitude/atmosphere.  Maybe take some chances rather than pussy foot around late in games with piss poor clock management.  I get it's Nevada, but 8-4 should be the bar.

madmaxweb

December 28th, 2012 at 5:26 PM ^

I've been a big Nevada fan for awhile, no where close to UM of course, and I've always thought that Nevada could be so much better than what they have showed in the past. I agree 100% on bringing in someone that's a little more aggressive and D minded. It would be perfect for their program in the future. Hopefully Ault does stay on as AD and does just that.

Rabbit21

December 29th, 2012 at 11:30 AM ^

Grew up in Nevada and have watched them over 20 years, Ault's record of replacement coaches is....mixed at best and Nevada is an offense first school and culture. I'd be surprised if he went away from what has made Nevada successful in the past and tried to make a drastic switch to defense first.

BrownJuggernaut

December 28th, 2012 at 5:20 PM ^

I hope we run some of this with Gardner next year (and the year after). I'm a huge fan of the pistol because with all the wrinkles, there's so much potential.

If Borges isn't comfortable running it though, I don't know if it's wise. 

 

LSAClassOf2000

December 28th, 2012 at 6:05 PM ^

One thing about how Ault ran in the pistol that I think would make it especially intriguing with the personnel we have is the veer, or at least some version of it. As I recall, it basically has the entire offensive line blocking down to where the run  will go while leaving a defender unblocked - the "read" for the QB in this scenario. You get double-team blocks if done well and you would have a greater ability to make the guy that the QB is reading "wrong" in a huge way. It worked really well with Colin Kaepernick at Nevada anyway, but I think we could potentially do something similar. 

dayooper63

December 29th, 2012 at 10:12 AM ^

As a youth coach (middle school level) who runs a veer (the High School we feed into runs the split veer), I have gone almost entirely to the pistol.  Our offensive formations look very much like GT's and AF's do.  The result is somewhat less attractive, but we manage.

The main benefit for running the veer in the pistol is time.  It gives the QB more time to make his reads in the run and the pass games.  The snap is a pain, but it works.