Shotgun formation
Encyclopedia
Formation (American football)
A formation in American football refers to the position players line up in before the start of a down. There are both offensive and defensive formations and there are many formations in both categories.-Offense:...
used by the offensive team in American
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
and Canadian football
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
. This formation is used mainly for passing plays, although some teams use it as their base formation. In the shotgun, instead of the quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
receiving the snap
Snap (football)
A snap starts each American football and Canadian football play from scrimmage.-Action:...
from center
Center (American football)
Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
at the line of scrimmage
Line of scrimmage
In American and Canadian football a line of scrimmage is an imaginary transverse line beyond which a team cannot cross until the next play has begun...
, he stands farther behind the line of scrimmage, often five to seven yards back. Sometimes the quarterback will have a back on one or both sides before the snap, while other times he will be the lone player in the backfield with everyone spread out as receivers.
The shotgun formation can offer certain advantages. The offensive linemen have more room to maneuver behind the scrimmage line and form a tighter, more cohesive oval “pocket” in which the Quarterback is protected from “blitzing” by the Defense. If the Quarterback has speed, mobility or both, he can use this formation to scramble before his pass; or, to run to an open field position in the defensive secondary or to the sideline, usually gaining first-down yardage. The formation also has weaknesses. The defense knows a pass is more than likely coming up (although some running plays can be run effectively from the shotgun) and there is a higher risk of a botched snap than in a simple center/quarterback exchange. If the defense is planning a pass rush, fast defensive players are given more open, and exposed targets in the offensive backfield; with less cluttered “blitzing” routes to the Quarterback; and any other half-back in the offensive backfield in this formation.
Combining elements of the short punt
Punt (football)
In some codes of football, a punt is a play in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it touches the ground. A punt is in contrast to a drop kick, in which the ball touches the ground before being kicked....
and spread formations ("spread" in that it had receivers spread widely instead of close to or behind the interior line players), it was said to be like a "shotgun" in spraying receivers around the field. (The alignment of the players also suggests the shape of an actual shotgun). Formations similar or identical to the shotgun used decades previously would be called names such as "spread double wing". Short punt formations (so called because the distance between the snapper and the ostensible punter is shorter than in long punt formation) do not usually have as much emphasis on wide receivers.
History
The shotgun evolved from the single wing and the similar double-wing spread; famed triple threat manTriple threat man
In gridiron football, the phrase triple-threat man refers to a player who excels at all three of the skills of running, passing, and kicking. In modern usage, such a player would be referred to as a utility player....
Sammy Baugh
Sammy Baugh
Samuel Adrian "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh was an American football player and coach. He played college football for the Horned Frogs at Texas Christian University, where he was a two-time All-American. He then played in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins from 1937 to 1952...
has claimed that the shotgun was effectively the same as the version of the double-wing he ran at Texas Christian University
TCU Horned Frogs football
The TCU Horned Frogs football team is the intercollegiate football team of Texas Christian University. TCU competes as a member of the Mountain West Conference in the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, but will move to the Big 12 Conference for the 2012 season. TCU began playing football...
in the 1930s.
In the latter part of the 1940s, the Philadelphia Eagles, under Hall of Fame Coach Earl "Greasy" Neale, implemented the shotgun formation in their offensive attack with Quarterback Tommy Thompson.
The formation was named by the man who actually devised it, San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
coach Red Hickey
Red Hickey
Howard Wayne "Red" Hickey was an American football player and coach who played for two teams and served as head coach for the San Francisco 49ers, where he was most famous for creating the shotgun formation in 1960....
, in 1960. John Brodie
John Brodie
John Riley Brodie is a former professional American football quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, and had a second career as a Senior PGA Tour professional golfer.-Early years and education:...
was the first NFL shotgun quarterback, beating out former starter Y. A. Tittle
Y. A. Tittle
Yelberton Abraham Tittle , better known as Y. A. Tittle, is a former football quarterback in the National Football League and All-America Football Conference who played for the Baltimore Colts, San Francisco 49ers, and the New York Giants...
largely because he was mobile enough to effectively run the formation.
The shotgun was used by the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
as they employed the formation during the latter part of the Joe Namath
Joe Namath
Joseph William "Joe" Namath , nicknamed "Broadway Joe" or "Joe Willie", is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Alabama under coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and his assistant, Howard Schnellenberger, from 1962–1964, and professional football in the...
era, as documented in the 1971 Sporting News article "Joe and the Booyah Tribe", to give the bad-kneed, and often immobile quarterback more time to set up plays by placing him deeper in the backfield.
Starting with the 1975 season, the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
used the shotgun frequently with Roger Staubach
Roger Staubach
Roger Thomas Staubach is a businessman, Heisman Trophy winner and legendary Hall of Fame former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys from 1969 until 1979. Staubach was instrumental in developing the Cowboys into becoming one of the best teams of the 1970s and led the team to nine of the Cowboys'...
at quarterback. No other NFL teams used this formation during this time and it is assumed this formation was devised by Tom Landry
Tom Landry
Thomas Wade "Tom" Landry was an American football player and coach. He is ranked as one of the greatest and most innovative coaches in National Football League history, creating many new formations and methods...
; it became a "signature" formation for the Cowboys, especially during third down situations. Landry re-introduced the shotgun to give Staubach more time to pass as the Cowboys had a relatively young and inexperienced team that year - 12 rookies were on that 1975 team.
The Cowboy shotgun differed from the 49er shotgun as Staubach generally had a back next to him in the backfield (making runs possible) where Brodie was normally alone in the backfield. The shotgun was adopted more teams throughout the 1980s, and was part of almost every team's offense in the pass-happy 1990s.
Recent use
In recent years, fewer and fewer teams used the shotgun since the two-deep (or Tampa 2Tampa 2
The Tampa 2 is an American football defensive strategy popularized by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Football League team in the mid 1990s-early 2000s. The Tampa 2 is typically employed out of a 4-3 defensive alignment, which consists of four linemen, three linebackers, two cornerbacks, and...
) zones allow effective defense against offenses that don't or can't run the ball. Most NFL teams only used the shotgun on obvious passing downs or when they are behind and need to pass almost every down to catch up. Many college quarterbacks, such as Tim Tebow
Tim Tebow
Timothy Richard "Tim" Tebow is an American football player who is currently the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League . He was drafted by the Broncos as the 25th overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft...
(now with the Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
) who almost exclusively used the shotgun at Florida
Florida Gators football
The Florida Gators football team represents the University of Florida in the sport of American football. The Florida Gators compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference...
, have difficulty adapting to NFL offenses where most snaps are taken under center. However, with the spread offense spreading to the NFL, the shotgun is used more since the spread allows for more effective running.
The shotgun formation is often run during 2nd-and-long or 3rd-and-long situations to give the quarterback enough time before the receivers run deep routes. However, Peyton Manning
Peyton Manning
Peyton Williams Manning is an American football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League . Manning holds the record for most NFL MVP awards with four. He was drafted by the Colts as the first overall pick in 1998 after a standout college football career with the...
of the Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
often audibles to plays that use this formation to take advantage of the fast receivers like Marvin Harrison
Marvin Harrison
Marvin Daniel Harrison is a former American football wide receiver for the Indianapolis Colts. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the 1996 NFL Draft. He played college football at Syracuse...
and Reggie Wayne
Reggie Wayne
Reginald "Reggie" Wayne is a professional American football wide receiver for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League. Wayne was selected in the 1st round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the Colts...
to gain handsome yardage in a single play. In 2007, the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
used the shotgun with great effectiveness as a base formation for the most potent offense in the history of the NFL; in fact, they were the first team in NFL history to use it for the majority of their offensive plays. The Patriots have also used the formation to directly snap the ball away from the quarterback, snapping it instead to a running back (usually Kevin Faulk
Kevin Faulk
Kevin Troy Faulk is an American football running back for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Patriots in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He played college football at LSU.As of 2010, Faulk is the longest-tenured current member of the Patriots,...
); the Patriots scored a two-point conversion
Two-point conversion
In American and Canadian football, a two-point conversion is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point convert immediately after it scores a touchdown...
via such a direct snap to Faulk in Super Bowl XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game played on February 1, 2004 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas to decide the National Football League champion following the 2003 regular season....
and again against the Chargers
2006 San Diego Chargers season
The 2006 San Diego Chargers season began with the team trying to improve on their 9–7 record in 2005. They finished the campaign as the #1 seed in the AFC ending the season at 14–2, best record in the NFL...
in the AFC Divisional Playoffs.
Draw play
A draw play, or simply draw for short, is a type of American football play. The draw appears to be a passing play, but is actually a running play; in this way, it can be considered the opposite of the play action pass. The idea behind a draw play is to attack aggressive, pass-rushing defenses by...
can put defenses off-guard and a fast halfback can get good yardage until the defense recovers from their mistake. A further development of the play is a halfback option pass, with the quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
being one of the eligible receivers. Roger Staubach
Roger Staubach
Roger Thomas Staubach is a businessman, Heisman Trophy winner and legendary Hall of Fame former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys from 1969 until 1979. Staubach was instrumental in developing the Cowboys into becoming one of the best teams of the 1970s and led the team to nine of the Cowboys'...
's backup and successor, Danny White
Danny White
Wilford Daniel "Danny" White is a former quarterback and punter for the Dallas Cowboys, an American football coach in the Arena Football League and also occasionally appears as an analyst on broadcasts of college football games. He was named the head coach of the Arena Football League expansion...
, once caught such a pass for a touchdown. It was noted at the time that he was only eligible because of the shotgun formation (an NFL quarterback who takes a snap from underneath the center was and still is an ineligible receiver, a rule not found in any amateur level of American football).
The shotgun is also used in college but running is used more often than in the NFL. Most offenses in college who run in the shotgun have a fast quarterback. They often use a play where the quarterback has an option of handing the ball off to the running back who runs to the side opposite the side he was lined up on. The quarterback can also run the opposite way depending on how the defense reacts. Urban Meyer
Urban Meyer
Urban Frank Meyer, III is an American football coach and former player. He is head football coach at Ohio State University, having been hired for the position in November 2011...
and the Florida Gators
Florida Gators football
The Florida Gators football team represents the University of Florida in the sport of American football. The Florida Gators compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference...
used this effectively from 2006 to 2009 with Tim Tebow
Tim Tebow
Timothy Richard "Tim" Tebow is an American football player who is currently the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League . He was drafted by the Broncos as the 25th overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft...
.
Related formations
The Nevada Wolf PackNevada Wolf Pack football
The Nevada Wolf Pack Football program represents the University of Nevada, Reno in college football. The Wolf Pack competes in the Western Athletic Conference at the Football Bowl Subdivision level of the NCAA...
currently employs a formation called the "pistol
Pistol Offense
The pistol offense is an American football formation and strategy developed in 2004 by Chris Ault, the University of Nevada head coach. It is a hybrid of the traditional shotgun and single back offenses. In the pistol offense, also commonly referred to as the "pistol formation", the quarterback...
", in which the running back, instead of lining up next to the quarterback, lines up behind the quarterback, who in turn has lined up two to three yards behind the center.
Coach Urban Meyer
Urban Meyer
Urban Frank Meyer, III is an American football coach and former player. He is head football coach at Ohio State University, having been hired for the position in November 2011...
has added elements of the option offense
Option offense
The option offense is a generic term that is used to describe a wide variety of offensive systems in American football. Option offenses are characterized as such due to the predominance of option running plays employed in these schemes. Option offenses have traditionally relied heavily upon running...
to the shotgun offense he employed as coach at Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green Falcons football
The Bowling Green Falcons football team is the interscholastic football team at Bowling Green State University. Bowling Green competes as a member of the Mid-American Conference in the East Division. The Falcons have won ten conference championships....
, the University of Utah
Utah Utes football
The Utah Utes football program is a college football team that currently competes in the Pacific-12 Conference of the Football Bowl Subdivision of NCAA Division I and represents the University of Utah. The Utah college football program began in 1892 and has played home games at Rice–Eccles...
, and University of Florida
Florida Gators football
The Florida Gators football team represents the University of Florida in the sport of American football. The Florida Gators compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference...
. This "spread option
Spread offensive
The spread offense is an offensive scheme in American and Canadian football that is used at every level of the game including professional , college , and high school programs across America and Canada. The spread offense begins with the quarterback in the shotgun formation most of the time, and...
" offense is also used by the Michigan Wolverines
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
, Missouri Tigers
Missouri Tigers football
The Missouri Tigers football team represents the University of Missouri in NCAA Division I FBS college football. The team has competed in the North Division of the Big 12 Conference since the conference's inception in 1996...
, Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State Buckeyes football
The Ohio State Buckeyes football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of The Ohio State University. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the NCAA, playing at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A, level. The team nickname is derived from the state...
and other college teams with quarterbacks who can run as well as throw effectively.
Use in Canadian football
At times the formation has been more common in Canadian footballCanadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
, which allows only three downs to move ten yards downfield instead of the American game's four. Canadian teams are therefore more likely to find themselves with long yardage to make on the penultimate down, and therefore more likely to line up in the shotgun to increase their opportunities for a large gain. Teams such as the Saskatchewan Roughriders
Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a Canadian Football League team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. They were founded in 1910. They play their home games at 2940 10th Avenue in Regina, which has been the team's home base for its entire history, even prior to the construction of Mosaic Stadium at Taylor...
use the shotgun for a vast majority of their plays.