The rapid explosion in “QB breakdown” videos this year from QBSchool, Kurt Warner, Brees, Daniels and a million copycats made me realize that they seem to have their own name for basically every route combination. “Oh yeah, I call this one Jimmy 2 Shift” proceeds to draw out the route combination.
I get that there are definitely some broad differences like Shanahan offenses leaning on zone run and bootlegs but it’s not like they’re running some extra special sauce right? Seems like everyone else knows the same plays and could just run more of them if they wanted to have a “Shanahan offense”.
What is it that actually separates the quality of these different coordinators and schemes?
Plays are about way more than just the playcall and the Xs and Os. Everyone knows the same basic set of plays, what really makes the difference are the tiny details that fans could not possibly understand. You have to worry about the play sequence, the combos, the rules within each play for how everyone matches up, the subtle differences in technique and leverage with every single player on the field. It’s not just as simple as go run this route, its also about breaking off the same route 2 yds shorter or if the DBs are lined up a certain way, things like that. The actual playcalls are sort of universal, everyone knows what “all verts” means, but there are an infinite number of tiny variations in terms of the specific rhythm and timing and the players you line up and how you motion them around, etc etc etc, which can force a slight hesitation from the defense, which is how big plays are actually made in the nfl. People think playcallers just call “the right plays” whatever that means, but it really comes down to extremely minor details and clever little nuances that you would only notice if you were an nfl coach.