West Coast Offense

SuperbowlSaints · 09-19-2003, 02:24 PM

ok, this may sound pretty stupid, but i have been wondering this for the 4 years that i have been watching football, What is the west coast offense, i hear commentators talk about it all the time, but i dont knw what it is, so could someone please tell me?

BillyCarpenter1 · 09-19-2003, 02:38 PM

The West Coast offense is an offense that is credited to Bill Walsh but Paul Brown and Sil Gidman are the one\'s he learned it from. Walsh did put his own stamp on it though.

When Bill Walsh went to the 49\'ers he didn\'t have the \"playmakers\" he needed to keep up with the good teams, so he came up with a scheme based on short/quick throws to take the place of a running game. It uses low risks passes that keep the clock running and drives down the field, much like a running game. It\'s all based on the QB and receivers being on the same page. It also relies on the YAC by the receivers, because the system doesn\'t throw deep very much.

There are so many more things it relies on such as mulitple formations that take advatage of mismatches. The fullback and tightend are used as receivers also.

That\'s my take on it, but there are many articles on the net if you want to check some of \'em out.

SuperbowlSaints · 09-19-2003, 02:45 PM

Thanks Billy

BillyCarpenter1 · 09-19-2003, 02:52 PM

http://www.sportingnews.com/archives...ds/135237.html

Here\'s a good brief article on the West Coast Offense.

West Coast offense 101
JANUARY 19, 1999

by BILL WALSH The Sporting News

One of the common misconceptions of the West Coast offense is that it began as the name implies -- on the West Coast. In truth it began in Cincinnati, when I was working as an assistant on Paul Brown\'s Bengals staff from 1968-75.

Paul came to me one day and said we needed more motion in our offense, that we needed to be more creative in our thinking. Despite having some talented players, at the time our offense ranked somewhere in the middle of the league and wasn\'t scaring many teams. So I put more man-in-motion plays in our playbook, using players like quarterback Ken Anderson, tight end Bob Trumpy, wide receivers Chip Myers, Isaac Curtis and Charlie Joiner, and running back Essex Johnson. I later took the offense with me to San Diego, to Stanford, and then to the 49ers, but it began in Cincinnati.

By definition, the West Coast offense is characterized by short- and medium-range passing used as part of a ball-control attack. One of the things the offense does best is set up the deep pass, but the deep pass is not used as often in the West Coast as it is in many other offenses.

Being a very structured offense, it requires more discipline on the part of the players to run the West Coast than just about any other offense. The players have very little opportunity to free-lance.

One big advantage of the West Coast offense is that it can help a team that doesn\'t run the ball well. Short, quick passes are the best way to deal with having a weak ground game, and a team can get away with running the ball only one time out of every four plays if it gains 7 or 8 yards per run. The running backs have to be able to catch the ball to play in the West Coast offense. In the ideal setup, the wide receivers would catch 15 passes a game, the running backs would catch 10 and the tight ends would catch five.

It did not surprise me that four of the six highest-rated quarterbacks of 1998 played in a West Coast-style offense: Randall Cunningham, Steve Young, John Elway and Neil O\'Donnell. They excel in it because they are great touch passers, which is key in a passing scheme that relies on the precision of the quarterback\'s throwing rather than the strength of his arm.

Although the offense will raise the completion percentage of just about any quarterback, some are better suited to running it than others. Joe Montana was a master, and so is Young. I think someone like Ryan Leaf, who is a fine athlete, would excel in the West Coast offense, even though at 6-5, 240 he is a much larger man than Montana or Young.

The size of the quarterback is not as important as his athleticism. Kerry Collins is the same size as Leaf, but I have doubts about his ability to excel in this offense. Mobility is key to West Coast success, and Collins just isn\'t real mobile. He also isn\'t what I would call a good \'touch\' passer, a requirement in an offense that calls for a lot of short and medium passes.

09-19-2003, 02:24 PM	#1
SuperbowlSaints Registered Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 90	West Coast Offense ok, this may sound pretty stupid, but i have been wondering this for the 4 years that i have been watching football, What is the west coast offense, i hear commentators talk about it all the time, but i dont knw what it is, so could someone please tell me?
SuperbowlSaints Registered Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 90

09-19-2003, 02:38 PM	#2
BillyCarpenter1 Banned Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,209	West Coast Offense The West Coast offense is an offense that is credited to Bill Walsh but Paul Brown and Sil Gidman are the one\'s he learned it from. Walsh did put his own stamp on it though. When Bill Walsh went to the 49\'ers he didn\'t have the \"playmakers\" he needed to keep up with the good teams, so he came up with a scheme based on short/quick throws to take the place of a running game. It uses low risks passes that keep the clock running and drives down the field, much like a running game. It\'s all based on the QB and receivers being on the same page. It also relies on the YAC by the receivers, because the system doesn\'t throw deep very much. There are so many more things it relies on such as mulitple formations that take advatage of mismatches. The fullback and tightend are used as receivers also. That\'s my take on it, but there are many articles on the net if you want to check some of \'em out.
BillyCarpenter1 Banned Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,209

09-19-2003, 02:45 PM	#3
SuperbowlSaints Registered Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 90	West Coast Offense Thanks Billy
SuperbowlSaints Registered Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 90

09-19-2003, 02:52 PM	#4
BillyCarpenter1 Banned Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,209	West Coast Offense http://www.sportingnews.com/archives...ds/135237.html Here\'s a good brief article on the West Coast Offense. West Coast offense 101 JANUARY 19, 1999 by BILL WALSH The Sporting News One of the common misconceptions of the West Coast offense is that it began as the name implies -- on the West Coast. In truth it began in Cincinnati, when I was working as an assistant on Paul Brown\'s Bengals staff from 1968-75. Paul came to me one day and said we needed more motion in our offense, that we needed to be more creative in our thinking. Despite having some talented players, at the time our offense ranked somewhere in the middle of the league and wasn\'t scaring many teams. So I put more man-in-motion plays in our playbook, using players like quarterback Ken Anderson, tight end Bob Trumpy, wide receivers Chip Myers, Isaac Curtis and Charlie Joiner, and running back Essex Johnson. I later took the offense with me to San Diego, to Stanford, and then to the 49ers, but it began in Cincinnati. By definition, the West Coast offense is characterized by short- and medium-range passing used as part of a ball-control attack. One of the things the offense does best is set up the deep pass, but the deep pass is not used as often in the West Coast as it is in many other offenses. Being a very structured offense, it requires more discipline on the part of the players to run the West Coast than just about any other offense. The players have very little opportunity to free-lance. One big advantage of the West Coast offense is that it can help a team that doesn\'t run the ball well. Short, quick passes are the best way to deal with having a weak ground game, and a team can get away with running the ball only one time out of every four plays if it gains 7 or 8 yards per run. The running backs have to be able to catch the ball to play in the West Coast offense. In the ideal setup, the wide receivers would catch 15 passes a game, the running backs would catch 10 and the tight ends would catch five. It did not surprise me that four of the six highest-rated quarterbacks of 1998 played in a West Coast-style offense: Randall Cunningham, Steve Young, John Elway and Neil O\'Donnell. They excel in it because they are great touch passers, which is key in a passing scheme that relies on the precision of the quarterback\'s throwing rather than the strength of his arm. Although the offense will raise the completion percentage of just about any quarterback, some are better suited to running it than others. Joe Montana was a master, and so is Young. I think someone like Ryan Leaf, who is a fine athlete, would excel in the West Coast offense, even though at 6-5, 240 he is a much larger man than Montana or Young. The size of the quarterback is not as important as his athleticism. Kerry Collins is the same size as Leaf, but I have doubts about his ability to excel in this offense. Mobility is key to West Coast success, and Collins just isn\'t real mobile. He also isn\'t what I would call a good \'touch\' passer, a requirement in an offense that calls for a lot of short and medium passes.
BillyCarpenter1 Banned Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,209

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