The West Coast Offense - Football 101

[hiwaygal]

I've typed this post up about six times and invariably lose it to the ethernet or something. This time I created it in Word first!

I needed to know what the WCO really was. Lots of folks here throw the acronym around like so much proof of something so I wanted to really understand what the system meant, what it involved. Google is my friend!

WEST COAST OFFENSE OVERVIEW
· Short pass plays replace the running game to control the ball.
· Bill Walsh originated with the Cincinatti Bengals and San Francisco 49ers.
· Long process for QB to pick-up all the reads and adjustments.
· Release all five receivers into the pattern.
· QB has progression read up to five receivers.
· Take what the defensive gives you.
· Make the defense adjust to you.

The West Coast Offense, as developed by former San Francisco 49ers head coach Bill Walsh, is a finesse offense that utilizes a short passing game designed to control the ball.

In most conventional offenses, the idea is to run the ball to draw the safeties and linebackers in closer to the line of scrimmage, thus opening up passing lanes for a vertical attack. The West Coast Offense does just the opposite, using a quick, horizontal passing attack to set up the running game.>>

The West Coast Offense employs a variety of formations and pre-snap motions designed to confuse defenders. It also relies heavily on an ability to flood a defense with more receivers than they can handle. The quarterback often moves around more than in a conventional offense with designed roll outs and bootlegs that are tied in with the patterns being run by the receivers

The objective of the West Coast Offense is to:
Spread the defense out horizontally as well as vertically, forcing slower linebackers into coverage.

Maintain possession of the football by utilizing a short passing attack almost as an extension of the running game.

Create mismatches with speed, size, or number of receivers.

Avoid tendencies that defenses can key on by throwing on any down and distance.

Ideal player qualities:
· Quarterback - More of a focus is placed on decision-making and accuracy over arm strength in a West Coast system. A quarterback must be able to choose from multiple options and deliver the ball quickly. Mobility is also a big plus.

Note: McCoy is still learning. The kid has only had 12 games for crying out loud! He’s young. And he’s had two coaching systems, two different offensive regimes to try and learn. And too many people are ready to kick the kid out. The crap I read about him not being able to make long throws goes completely against the intent of the WCO as explained above. The WCO is not built on long throws, unless I have absolutely no reading comprehension skills at all.

McCoy definitely needs to improve his decision making skills, he needs to get through his progressions much quicker. I believe that will improve as he and his receivers are able to actually develop some chemistry together.

If we can address the right side of the O-line and allow him to feel completely comfortable in the pocket or to move out of it where/when it suits him, it will only help him to continue to progress and be the QB he seems to have in there somewhere.

He looked better last year ‘cause no one had any tape or history on him. Now they do; now the defensive coordinators can game plan against him specifically, and capitalize on our weaknesses. Our offensive folks needs to figure out how to use our weaknesses against our opponents and capitalize on THEIR weaknesses. It’s as if we are only playing defensively, even on offense.

· Running Back - In the West Coast Offense, running backs are generally used more as receivers out of the backfield than in other systems, so you need a guy with all-around skills. Good hands and route-running skills are a must.

Note: We have this! We have two of this!!!! Hillis and Hardesty are more than capable of doing what is required of a RB in the WCO. And guess what? If need be, Hillis can just be a regular ol’ RB stomping, jumping, pushing, and rolling over defenders to get yards…especially in short yardage situations. Why he isn’t being used more is baffling.

· Tight End - The tight end’s role is generally that of a possession receiver and blocker. The ability to catch the ball in traffic is a huge plus.

Note: I’m no TE expert, but Jordan Cameron, Evan Moore, Alex Smith, Ben Watson are names that inspire me. I know I’ve watched these guys make plays and score points. Are we not using them correctly? Are they not getting open? Are they victims of a young and learning QB? I think I’m missing something here…

· Wide Receiver - With the focus on a short passing attack, precision and timing are of the utmost importance, so receivers have to run precise routes. Straight-line speed isn’t as important as an ability to separate in traffic. And an ability to make plays after the catch can turn a good receiver into a superstar in this offense.

Note: There are doubts about our WR’s. But reading this description makes me think Cribbs is a perfect fit. He may need to work on his routes or he could just be getting double teamed. I think we have some work to do here, but for the most part our receivers are as young as our QB. But our receivers have not only had two coaches, two regimes, and two offensive schemes – they’ve also had to deal with a carousel of QB’s over the past three seasons. Hell, it’s no wonder they haven’t finely tuned either their chemistry or timing.

· Offensive Linemen - You’re generally not trying to pound the ball on the ground in the West Coast Offense, so guys who can consistently blow defenders off the line aren’t necessary. Actually quicker, more mobile linemen are more ideal because of their ability to pull or get outside in a rolling pocket on plays designed to get the quarterback outside.

Note: Uhhhhh….right side. ‘Nuff said.

The point here is that I don’t think some folks here understand what the WCO is (or I am completely missing the point and these references that I’ve found are lying).


Dink and dunk is EXPECTED.

Long throws are not a staple of the WCO.

We have room for improvement, but damn, we’re a young team.

Maybe my fandom is getting in the way – but damn, even I’m not ready to throw the whole damn team to the wolves just yet.

Oh, and those 4^th and short calls? I’m GLAD Shurmur is going for them! Unless we are in our own territory, we should go for it. But, they need to give it to Hillis! LOL

(whew - I did it)

Now, tell me how wrong I am.

[OzDawg]

from the southern hemisphere your post looked pretty correct.

[hiwaygal]

Originally Posted by OzDawg

from the southern hemisphere your post looked pretty correct.

LOL is that a good thing or a bad thing???

[Neo]

Originally Posted by hiwaygal

Oh, and those 4th and short calls? I’m GLAD Shurmur is going for them! Unless we are in our own territory, we should go for it. But, they need to give it to Hillis! LOL (whew - I did it)

That is the whole problem right there. When you have a running back like Hillis that completely destroys people when he hits them, and it's 4th and 1, you don't give it to Armond Smith. The lack of focus by the team in certain situations doesn't help either. Shurmur needs to step it up. However, I do like how they did motion Smith out of the backfield today. Pat challenged McCoy, but I think he needs to call himself out. He needs to understand WHAT he has on this team and get the best usage out of his players. Armond Smith on 4th and 1 when you have Hillis is not the best usage.

[OzDawg]

good

[hiwaygal]

Originally Posted by Neo

That is the whole problem right there. When you have a running back like Hillis that completely destroys people when he hits them, and it's 4th and 1, you don't give it to Armond Smith. The lack of focus by the team in certain situations doesn't help either. Shurmur needs to step it up. However, I do like how they did motion Smith out of the backfield today. Pat challenged McCoy, but I think he needs to call himself out. He needs to understand WHAT he has on this team and get the best usage out of his players. Armond Smith on 4th and 1 when you have Hillis is not the best usage.

Agreed!

[Brown Warrior]

Well, it's complicated. Almost every offense is either WCO or looks an awful lot like it, with quicker, safer passes as the bread and butter. That's why completion percentage and QBR are way up and INTs are way down.

BUT... the Packers play the WCO. So do the Eagles. And if you haven't watched Favre, McNabb, Vick, or Rodgers go deep often and well? Get a TV. Prices are awesome, even on the big flatscreens. Montana went over the top plenty to Rice, too.

It is an offense where you're gonna throw a lot of quick slants and expect your QB to complete 65 percent on the season. You're gonna want some receivers who can take it in stride and gain some YAC. But the WCO has evolved and been interpreted and reinterpreted a lot over the past 30 years.

[hiwaygal]

Newsflash - I not only have a tv, but a 55" screen HDTV. I've watched a lot of football.

I don't want a QB like Vick. Aside from my personal distaste of him and his nasty habit of whining, he RUNS TOO DAMN MUCH!

If a QB is going deep and often, then they are not playing based on the basic premises of the WCO - or they are making up for NOT having the right pieces at the other positions (i.e. RB). Guess it depends on the OC. Could be they are capitalizing on their strengths AND weaknesses as well as the weaknesses of their opponents. Of course, with the possible exception of Vick, they've all had a whole lot more time to develop their games than our own QB has.

[Brown Warrior]

Originally Posted by hiwaygal

Newsflash - I not only have a tv, but a 55" screen HDTV. I've watched a lot of football.

I don't want a QB like Vick. Aside from my personal distaste of him and his nasty habit of whining, he RUNS TOO DAMN MUCH!

If a QB is going deep and often, then they are not playing based on the basic premises of the WCO - or they are making up for NOT having the right pieces at the other positions (i.e. RB). Guess it depends on the OC. Could be they are capitalizing on their strengths AND weaknesses as well as the weaknesses of their opponents. Of course, with the possible exception of Vick, they've all had a whole lot more time to develop their games than our own QB has.

Oh, we agree: I despise Vick. And a girl who appreciates a good TV? Important stuff, man.

[King of Kings]

Okay all those faces make it hard to read. What happened? Anyways I tried and i'll try to explain.

The WCO as used by Walsh came to be because the Bungals had a noodle armed QB. He designed short, high % throws for said QB(I want to say Virgil Carter?) to make. It worked. Teams had a hard time stopped those WCO QB's who already had the ball in their WR's hands by the time they finished dropping back.

Eventually however teams finally caught onto how to stop it and control it, LB's and DB's got faster and better with coverage skills and the passrush became more pronounced. I'll take heat for saying it again but that WCO is dead. It is obsolete. The game has changed and caught up to it and the days of dinking and dunking up and down the field 2-5 yards at a time with a lasting, sustained success rate are over. Hardly anyone uses the old school Walsh WCO anymore, they've adapted it to the other philosophies in football and created a mix. In the modern NFL game you've gotta be able to open up multiple parts of the field. You don't have to open up the field 60 yards deep but you at LEAST have to be able to open up the 25-30 yards that are in front of you. Opposing D's have to know if they stack the box you'll toss it in the breadbasket 30 yards down field and make them eat it.

As this is a thread defending McFrye and asking why people are down on him simply put: Aside from being as mentally weak as Sean Penn he cannot open up the field. If this were the 1980's McFrye would be a fucking beast and torching those slow assed DB's. It however isn't. He HAS to open up the field and make those passes 20, 30 yards down the field and COMPLETE them. He isn't even TRYING to make the damn throws, he's checking down to his closest targets 2-5 yards in front of him and here and there throwing it 10 yards. That doesn't work in Today's NFL.

Now, do teams have film on him causing a drop off in production? Absolutely they do. They're seeing what many of us are seeing, that McFrye has a minuscule window in front of him where he is comfortable(2-5), a window he is lesser comfortable in(5-12) and a window he has a fear of(20+). He also as the announcers said is only really comfortable throwing into the middle. He looks nervous throwing anywhere else, another issue that further limits our throwing area. The announcers blame it on not trusting his WR's, I disagree. He doesn't trust himself. Anyways yeah his play diminishing since last season IS because teams are getting film. Unless we change it up and he can get his head into it we're going to see it diminishing further still. The other issue that still hasn't been fixed despite being a day one fix is he's staring down his WR's way too much.

Anyways it boils down to this: To be a success they need to somehow quickly coach him up to open the field, get some zip on his intermediate passes(as well as accuracy), nip this staring down the targets in the bud and get him to stop dumping it off because we cannot take a pass on several promising prospects with twice the natural ability in the hopes he gets it together in year 2 or 3. Especially not when you have an extra first rounder. Maybe he will somehow turn it around and in the next two months turn into Bret Favre but I won't be holding my breath and I as well as others are taking it that we'll need to draft the right guy next year and chalk it up as a 3rd rounder that didn't quite pan out. It's not the end of the world and it's not a big deal, these things happen.

[Brown Warrior]

King, you're right on, and that scares me: That DC just said what you said, that if you defense McCoy's short game you don't have to worry about a long game because he doesn't have one. Lombardi on NFLN feels the same way, that the Browns should've been looking QB in THIS draft.

[hiwaygal]

Interestingly KoK, I don't disagree with much of what you said.

Sorry about the type faces - some of the post was cut and pasted from multiple sources and in the Word version looked all the same...but it didn't translate well into the message board world.

As this is a thread defending COLT MCCOY and asking why people are down on him simply put: he cannot open up the field. If this were the 1980's MCCOY would be a fucking beast and torching those slow assed DB's. It however isn't. He HAS to open up the field and make those passes 20, 30 yards down the field and COMPLETE them. He isn't even TRYING to make the damn throws, he's checking down to his closest targets 2-5 yards in front of him and here and there throwing it 10 yards. That doesn't work in Today's NFL.

This is NOT a thread that solely defends OUR QB. It's defending the team as a whole, and trying to put a positive spin on where we appear to be headed.

Anyway, I agree, for the most part with what I quoted (taking out the obvious personal issue you have against our QB). He does need to make quicker decisions and he does need to make those long throws. But they don't need to happen on every down. Yes, I agree he has some timing issues right now. I think the lack of OTAs and just so much other crap going on is having a bad effect. He may not feel comfortable right now because of a perceived lack of protection. And, remember, he's only played in 12 games - 4 in this new system.

To be a success they need to somehow quickly coach him up to open the field, get some zip on his intermediate passes(as well as accuracy), nip this staring down the targets in the bud and get him to stop dumping it off

Maybe he will somehow turn it around and in the next two months turn into Bret Favre but I won't be holding my breath

Agree again with the first part. But again, he's only into game 4 of this regime.

And was Brett Favre Brett Favre after 12 games?

You are giving up too quickly on him. But I know I'm not going to change your mind.

I for one don't expect we'll be taking a QB in the 1st round next year. I will be shocked if we do. We've done that before and it hasn't worked. I'm willing to give this thing more time.