Semi-OT: pre and post-snap reads in the Marshall offense

One of the major issues we've had on offense the past two years has been the apparent ease with which defenses can read what we're about to do pre-snap. So I came across this article on Bill Legg, the OC for Marshall, and how they've adjusted the reads for the QB since the Byron Leftwich days. Sort of underscores how, when we're talking about "modern offenses," we're not just talking about how one structures a play spatially (spread vs. pro-style) but now one structures a play temporally (pre vs. post-snap reads, when/how to signal, how audibles are integrated into the structure of the play, etc.). Key quote:

 

The system in the 1990s was quite different, Legg said. Then, a quarterback like Byron Leftwich would come to the line of scrimmage, survey the defensive formation, then check into a play more suitable for that specific defense. The drawback was that it gave the defense time to adjust, too.

“Byron would have three or four plays in his head,” Legg said. “This is what they’re playing, this is what they’re giving up. All we’ve done is put a modern twist to that concept of system, where things are now built together and the decision is being made without having to check.”

Marshall’s offense benefits from the diligent work of its coaching staff, plus the defense for throwing so many formations at the offense that Cato has to keep thinking. That repetition makes the actual games so much easier.

“It kind of gets locked in your head, where if this guy does this, I know what I’m going to do,” Cato said. “I have three reads in my head where, if one doesn’t work, I know where I’m going next. It’s a chess match. If you move, a move’s going to happen. Whatever they’re doing, we just adapt with what we’re doing.”