Jacksonville Jaguars 2009 Offensive Perspective: The Air Coryell Offense

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Jags' fans want to see some points put up in this upcoming season. Some want the prominent defense to return to form, but the majority want a balanced offense, something the Jaguars really lacked last season. I'm sure Dirk Koetter has the same wishes. 

With the new additions to this teams offense, it is safe to say things are looking up. The saying goes, "players, not plays". Well, to an extent this saying makes sense. You've got to have the game plan to let the players prove this statement. The Air Coryell is something that just might work.

Don Coryell is accredited with the creation of the general Air Coryell offense. Coryell definitely didn't create the play action pass, but he was the first to really use it in coordination with a seriously threatening passing attack. Stretching the field is the basic concept of this system.

Don Coryell started his coaching career at the college level. He coached the San Diego State Aztecs, bringing a winning record and respectability to a program that had(and still does) trouble gaining respectability. Coryell then went on to assist the USC Trojans in the prime of their years. Coryell began his NFL career by taking over the not so illustrious Cardinals. However, he brought them two division titles during his tenure there. 1978 was the year that Coryell took over the San Diego Chargers, and the AC offense was truly born. Dan Foutes was the quarterback of the highly dangerous passing attack, and the NFL, being the copycat league that it is, immediately tried to follow suite with other versions. Coryell went on to win division titles with the Chargers, and made the playoffs four consecutive years in a row. Kellen Winslow also saw his emergence during this time, becoming one of the first true pass catching, deep threat tight ends.

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The AC relies first and foremost on a heavy running game. A power running attack is critical in setting up the kind of passing that the Coryell offense wants to accomplish. Power running wears a defense down, and fast. By running the ball, the defense must stay on the field, tiring and grading the defense down. If your running campaign is successful, the defense will start to cheat a safety down into the box, and the passing lanes begin to open up. Thats when the fun starts.

Using play action out of I and Strong formations, the offense will then begin to throw the ball. The ball is intended to be thrown downfield, aggressively attacking a now weakened and out of position defense. Deep and intermediate routes run by skilled receivers, tight ends, and even passes to running backs are included. The defense can pick their poison. The Air Coryell is now in full effect. 

The ideal receivers for the Air Coryell don't have to be huge, but it never hurts to have size. Speed and good, if not great route running, however, is required. The receivers need to be able to go up and get balls downfield, as well as track a ball and adjust accordingly. 

Tight End is used, and even featured in some versions of the system. The TE needs to have adequate speed, but the more speed, the better. Remember that Kellen Winslow Sr. was the prototype tight end of his day, and he blew up in this system. He ran and caught like a receiver, but was still physical and big enough down field to be a load to handle for a defensive back. 

Running back is critical for this system to work. Sometimes it can be a backfield by committee approach, while other times the AC can use one feature back with a change of pace back. A between the tackles runner is needed, but whether it is the same back or an alternate is inconsequential. The RB must have good all around receiving skills. In this system, even the running back will occasionally go deep.

The Fullback should be versatile. Run blocking is his most important priority, but catching passes is important as well in some versions of the AC system. 

Quarterback. The most critical position for any team, correct? Yes, especially in a deep strike offense such as this one. The QB needs to be accurate on the deep throw, as well as a strong arm to drive the ball downfield, and be able occasionally split the zone and beat the DB to the receiver with the ball. Numerous types of styles of quarterbacks are acceptable. A traditional, drop back passer is ideal. But it is also great to have a mobile quarterback that can take advantage of the large amounts of space left by backpedalling DBs. 

The offensive line logically needs to be good at both run blocking and pass blocking. Maulers are good to have for the power running, add in some pass blocking tackles and the line should be AC worthy.

While these are the favored characteristics of the position of players, it is not required that all of the offense's players fit the bill. But the more players that a team has that fall under their respective positions category, the better. 

The Jaguars personnel already matches up well with the preferred types of players at each position. At receiver the Jags have Torry Holt and Mike Walker as the starters right now. Both have prototypical size, as well as the good route running and speed required of AC receivers. Under these two, Dennis Northcutt, Mike Thomas, Jarrett Dilliard, and Troy Williamson are fighting for playing time. None of these four guys are big, but in the AC that is okay. So, the Jags' receiving corps matches up well with the typical AC personnel. 

At Tight End, the Jaguars have Marcedes Lewis. Lewis is a good fit for the system. He is great at blocking in the running game, and has deep speed to be a threat down the seam. He was plagued by drops last season, but this could have been from losing his focus and trying to do too much in a struggling offense. Behind Lewis we have Greg Estandia, Richard Angulo and Zack Miller. One of these guys will likely be gone come week 1, most likely being Angulo. Estandia has proved to have good hands, and Miller could be used in creative ways with his good speed.

Running back could be one of the strongest positions on the roster for the Jaguars. Maurice Jones Drew is inked for the long term, and is on the brink of a Pro Bowl season. MJD's versatility allows him to fill all of the roles the AC likes. Jones Drew runs between the tackles like he is twenty pounds heavier, always gaining more yards after first contact. Drew can go outside as well. He can take a toss or a stretch for a first down with ease; meaning the defense must respect the run wherever it goes. And then Jones Drew has his pass catching capabilities. He can take them out of the backfield, or he can run a route and go deep. Behind Drew the depth chart is a little unclear as of right now. The "true" running backs are Rashad Jennings, Chauncey Washington, and Alvin Pearman. Greg Jones and Montell Owens, however, could be the most likely to be the secondary back to Jones Drew.

At fullback the Jaguars have Greg Jones. He is virtually perfect for the role of an AC fullback. Jones has great run blocking capabilities, allowing the power running game to churn out yards. In addition, Jones also offers great fullback speed and pass catching capabilities.

At quarterback, right now the Jags have David Garrard. Vic has even said himself that Garrard could be very effective in a system that allows him to take a seven step drop and have good protection. Garrard offers the mobility as well, which could be used to the teams advantage. Garrard can make all of the throws required, but is not a gunslinger, meaning he may not take as many risks, but he won't kill you with turn overs either. 

The offensive line is looking good after the draft. Eugene Monroe and Tra Thomas are fighting for the left tackle job, while Eben Britton will either be starting at right tackle or right guard. Overall, the line looks good on the interior as well. Either Britton or Tony Pashos will be at right guard, Brad Meester at center, and Vince Manuwai, who is one of the leagues best run blockers, will play left guard. For the first time in a while, the offensive line has some good depth behind it as well, meaning the season won't be shot if somebody goes down with an injury.

Above is a typical running play in the Air Coryell offense. Jaguars fans should be used to seeing this type of run, an I formation, strongside lead slam, up the B gap. The power running is done out of an I formation, fullback leading the way. The receivers will block down field as well. If the offensive line can get to the second level, the running back will as well. The fullback will clean up any remaining linebackers. The running back should then be in the open field and either pick a safety or finishing the run with positive yardage. 

Above is a halfback sweep play, up the D gap. Notice this run is still out of the I formation. The RT neutralizes the DE, and the tight end and fullback lead the run. The flanker should take care of the cornerback lining up against him. The tight end will usually either take on the an inside linebacker, or an outside backer. Depending on the type of defense the opposing team is running, and whether a middle backer has begun to cheat over to the strong side of the formation. The fullback will then take on a linebacker, or a safety, again depending on who the tight end has picked up. If all of this happens, the running back should have an easy first down, plus any additional yardage that he can pick up.

The run is set up, the defense is on its heels, and it is time to begin passing the ball. The tight end is the first read here, and is sent on a post route. If the defense is in man to man coverage, the tight end can offer a mismatch here. A tight end such as Marcedes Lewis is hard for a SAM or a Mike linebacker to handle in man coverage, and is big for a FS or a SS. The Flanker will in most cases be the second read. He too, is running a post. If the tight end occupies the safety, or for some reason is double covered, the wide receiver should have to only deal with his corner. A good route, combined with speed, could get this receiver open once he breaks after 7-9 steps. The third read would be the running back on the wheel route. Once the quarterback has gone through two reads, the running back should be out of the backfield, and turning up field. If the tight end is occupying the linebacker and/or safety, and the flanker receiver has not been able to beat his man, the running back should have some open field to work with, or could get the ball deeper down field, perhaps up to 15 yards. If the SAM linebacker for some reason is left, he should have trouble getting to the back before the ball is caught.

The Split End is unlikely to get open on this play, if the ball is not to the tight end before he crosses the left hash, there would be too much of a cluster on that side of the field.

If the defense decides to play it in cover 2, the tight end again could be the first read. In the cover two, the linebackers and cornerbacks all have underneath zones, protecting against anything 12 yards and shorter. The two safeties have deep zones. Going up the seam is the way to beat the cover 2, so it really depends on who the safety chooses. If he chooses to cover the flanker, the tight end should get the ball as soon as he passes through the linebacker zones. If the ball is delivered strong and on time, it should beat the other safety, before he has a chance to get to the ball. If the safety plays the tight end down the seam, he will leave the receiver with about a second of being open. If the ball is to be delivered to the flanker, it must be done before the safety on the right passes the tight end to the safety on the left. If the defense somehow covers this, it will probably be incomplete or interception, because the safety would somehow have to make an amazing break on the ball. But if the quarterback doesn't like what he sees downfield, the running back on the wheel is a good dump option. The back won't pick up as many yards against the underneath zones, but it can gain 3-8 yards on first contact.

If the defense plays this in cover three, the deep element is harder to achieve. The Mike linebacker has an underneath middle zone, much like he has in the cover two. The two outside linebackers, assuming the defense is 4-3, have zones covering the flats on their respective sides. The Strong Safety has a middle zone beside the mike linebacker. And the cornerbacks and FS have deep zones. The tight end could still get the ball in between the the Mike linebacker's underneath zone and the Free Safety's deep middle zone. The Flanker could get the ball quickly when he breaks on his post, before he gets into the FS; as a result he could be the first read against a cover three. The Split End is likely to have a good read as well. When he breaks on his skinny post, the flat zone will not be a threat, and he should be in the middle of the cornerbacks deep zone and the FS deep zone. If all else fails, the running back still has the wheel.

The Jaguars clearly have the right personnel to make a system such as the Air Coryell work. While there are many different versions of the offense, the Jaguars could use the most basic one. With Garrard's newfound weapons on offense, the Jaguars could give themselves a respectable, and even feared offense next season... Add in a few defensive pieces, and the Jags could be looking at a Super Bowl run in the next three years or so.

-Best Jag Fan