Harbaugh Pistol Offense

Submitted by Tate on

So I found this last night on a deep plunge into the internet. I'm not sure if this is news to all, but it was certainly surprising to me.

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FreddieMercuryHayes

April 2nd, 2015 at 8:29 AM ^

Ehh, you wouldn't think so, but...never underestimate what a disgruntled former employee will say to make themselves look better compared to their employeer.  And I could have sworn I had read in the past that Larry Coker at Miami had used recruiting service rankings when recruiting guys (he was fired).  Anyway, this poster is probably making this shit up, but if he isn't I could see something like this being said.

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LJ

April 2nd, 2015 at 9:23 AM ^

It's one thing to use recruiting services to aid in evaluating players--I find that totally plausible.  But I don't think it's plausible that coaches bring in players that they don't think are good simply because of the recruiting stars.  

It would be one thing if Fred said "I didn't think Green was a good player, but Coach Hoke did, so we brought him in."  It's totally different if he said "I didn't think Green was a good player, but he was ranked very highly, so we brought him in."

I mean, these coaches did not rise to this level by being totally stupid.

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alum96

April 2nd, 2015 at 11:29 AM ^

Well green was the #1 overall back that year so I wouldnt call it "stupid" that Hoke went after him.  Maybe a guy who evaluates offensive players better would look at his film and say "solid player but no way do I see this guy as #1 in the country" and instead have his own board and go after his own #1.  While Hoke went for the hype.

Do you really think that is impossible?  Looking at how many guys we have whiffed on. 

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Avon Barksdale

April 2nd, 2015 at 9:02 AM ^

Just a question, not in an asshole type of way, but how do you substantiate that Rivals is the most accurate site? Obviously Scout ranks more 4 and 5 stars overall, but what makes Rivals better in your opinion?

I haven't seen any studies that prove Rivals is by and far the supreme leader in recruiting rankings. In fact the only evidence I've seen is some dimwit named Mike Farrell promoting himself as "The Godfather of Recruiting."

Personally, I've used Rivals for some time but have started to veer over to the 24/7 composite rankings more and more.

 

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OldDad67

April 2nd, 2015 at 9:34 AM ^

What defines "accurate"? Not trying to be a jerk. I just don't understand how a subjective evaluation can be defined as accurate. Did they go by eventual success on the field? If so, how was that evaluated. As we all know very well coaching has a critical effect on the development of talent. Just look at our basketball program over the last 4 years compared to the football program. 

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gbdub

April 2nd, 2015 at 10:50 AM ^

Even if that's correct in aggregate, it's still not a good reason to totally ignore Scout's opinion on a particular player. And anyway, regardless of ranking, Smith's been apparently competitive against Green, who was a consensus blue chip prospect.


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Magnus

April 2nd, 2015 at 11:28 AM ^

The point is simply that Smith was not an all-world recruit. Michigan did not need to offer him when they did. IIRC, he did not have many offers when Michigan stepped forward. He was the #11 running back at Scout, but he was #37 at Rivals. Neither one of those means that he's necessarily elite, so I don't buy the argument that any coach would say "I've got to get this guy because star rankings!"

If he were a consensus 5-star recruit, or even the #1 running back (like Derrick Green was), then I might be able to buy it.

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alum96

April 2nd, 2015 at 11:30 AM ^

Cumooong Magnus. 247 Composite is the fairest way to judge a guy's ranking.  There is no "best" - that one compliles multiple ones and averages it out.  D. Smith was highly rated RB (top 200 player, top 20 RB) with the average of the main services. lol

 

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Space Coyote

April 2nd, 2015 at 8:30 AM ^

And how he manages to utilize the width of the field even with condensed formations, I included a video of a lot of pistol formations from his days in San Fran.

The pistol is right up Harbaugh's alley because he can utilize offset I and threaten between the tackles (both with Inside Zone and Power O) and the edge. The offset gets the FB closer to the flat for play action scenarios but still allows the use of the FB as a lead blocker and as a split zone block. Lastly, the FB can be used for an arch block in the read option with the QB keeping, or for an alley filling block for stretch zone or Lead T (pin and pull). On top of that, it provides a lot of "option" capability, from Inside Zone read with the deep back, to Outside Zone Read with a triple option from the deep RB, you can run Power Read as well with the offset back. You can use a variety of personnel at the different positions and get matchups and defensive looks that are advantages for the offense.

Essentially, the offset I with the pistol allows Harbaugh to maintain tight formations and threaten the defense in a lot of ways on the ground and with the play action pass game. And Michigan has experience with it so it's a smooth transition (both Borges in 2013 and Nuss ran some pistol).

Anyway, here's the video

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Space Coyote

April 2nd, 2015 at 9:16 AM ^

Which is fairly common for two-back Inside Zone offenses. He ran quite a bit of Wham (have an H-back block a DT; OSU ran it a ton against Oregon) as well, but I'm not sure you'll see that this year. I think to start off with he'll keep it a bit more simple, but I could be wrong, maybe he fell in love with it in San Fran.

I don't think he ran a lot of true traps though with pulling OL. Counter F is essentially a long trap, so he did a bit of that, but not a straight trap or short trap (blocking a DT with an OL) from what I've seen. All of which, in my opinion, is egregious. The short trap may be the best play in all of football. I love the short trap. Works like clockwork at the high school level. But it's fallen out of favor in higher levels unfortunately, I'm just waiting for it to come back around as most fads do.

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Space Coyote

April 2nd, 2015 at 2:09 PM ^

I tend to focus more on the college game (both when watching film of Harbaugh teams and just as I enjoy it more) and I haven't lived in Michigan for some time now, so I don't get to catch many Lions games. I know he's made pretty extensive use of the Wham play. He may use a standard trap play too (I haven't seen it from his Stanford days). If he does, all the better. I love me some traps, especially with so many on the DL these days looking to rush the passer.

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