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Power Football From the Spread
In 2000-2001, Floyd won 19 games in a row and a state title running power football from the slot spread formation. Floyd was blessed with outstanding athletes, but this formation allowed them to get one-on-one open field situations. Here are the basics of the formation and the fur basic plays that can be run from the the formation.
The basic set shown above has the ends spread at least 10-15 yards, the slot is usually about 2 yards deep and 2 yards to the strong side of the formation. The upback is about 4 yards deep and the seep back is another 4 yards deeper than that.
The basic plays are The sweep, the dive, dump and release. These four used
with a solid passing scheme can put pressure on the defense and give the offense
many options. The bread and butter play of the power spread is the sweep shown
below.
The first step to running
the sweep is to snap the ball one yard to the direction of the sweep. This gets
the play started much faster than snapping the ball straight back. Both back are
moving as soon as the ball is snapped. The up back then catches and pitches to
the deep back as quickly as possible. A good upback should not have the ball
longer than one step. The blocking scheme is very important. The center should
block the back side end or the linebacker. The slot back blocks the first man
that shows and should take this defender anyway he can. If the defender goes
out, the slot should block him out and in if the defender goes in. The upback
reads the block of the slot back and looks for the second man that shows and
take the defender the way he wants to go. The deepback reads the block of the
upback and cuts off this block and usually gets a one-on-one with the safety or
corner. In this diagram, the end is blocking. If the man over the split is not
covering the end, the deepback can just pass over the defender's head, it
is very hard for the safety to get to this point to cover the pass.
The point of this play is to put pressure at the flank of the defensive
formation and give your deepback a pass/run option. Make sure that the
back read the blocks, as the hole will move from game to game depending on
defense and often play to play as the defense tries to adjust. I have seen this
sweep run as close as 2 or 3 feet from the center all the way out to the
sideline. It is not designed to go to a specific place, but just to the open
spot.
The next play is just a dive. When I started coaching, I discovered that most
team that ran spread did not run inside from the spread formation at all or not
on purpose. I installed this play early in my career and found that it was very
successful if used correctly. 
The play is very simple. The
center and the slot cross block and the upback blocks between them for the
deepback. The exchange is slightly different. The upback will catch a straight
snap and then just float the ball about a yard behind where he is. The upback
then sprints to his block. The deepback runs up and catches the ball while it is
still floating and then follows the upback and cuts off his block. The ends can
either go deep or button hook as in the diagram. The deepback should keep his
head up and watch the ends. If the corners sell out on the dive, the deepback
should be ready to pass to the ends.
The other two basic plays are pass plays and I have found they used correctly
are very good plays to force the defense to play honest. The first one, is
called dump.
This is designed to look
like the sweep, only change is that the slot fakes the block and runs a quick
out and deepback looks for him to open quickly. It is important that the end
runs a good deep pattern as the corner now has to decide who he will cover, and
the end may be open. The deepback still has the run option and if the defender
goes with the slot the run often opens up.
The other pass is the release.
This is a dangerous play
if not run correctly as it requires a long cross field pass, but good scouting
and correct timing this can be a big play. (I had only one release picked off in
2 years.) The release still looks like a sweep except now the center releases
short to the back side. If he is not covered, the center should just float and
keep the pass short. If the center is covered, the deepback should look to run
or pass to the end.