The Bixby offense has several ways they can introduce multiplicity in their offense. One of the most common is to have a wide variety of schemes that the opposing defense has to account for. By adding more plays, however, there is a higher chance that the players can become confused as they have to learn more rules and assignments.
Rather than having a grab bag of plays on a call sheet, Bixby High School Offensive Coordinator Tyler Schneider chooses to tag his formations to give the defense a different picture while running the same schemes.
Bixby’s base alignment for their receivers is as follows: outside receivers are on the numbers or wider, while the inside receivers never line up inside the hash. Schneider uses formation adjustments to change these alignments while reducing the teaching of different concepts. He makes a point that all of the adjustments outlined in this article can be used for any formation that they have.
This is taken directly from our video release The Bixby Offense: The Complete Series.
Watch the video below or keep scrolling to learn more.
Tite Formation
“Tite” tells the outside receiver to line up on the hash instead of the numbers. One of the reasons the Spartans use this tag is to create space to the Tite side. For example, if Schneider wants to throw a bubble screen to the Tite side of the formation, the outside receiver has more room to obtain leverage on his block and the bubble has more room to work after the catch.
A second reason for this adjustment is to condense space and create realistic throws for the QB. Schneider mentions that Bixby is a big Y-Cross team; therefore, this Tite adjustment allows the QB to have an easier throw to the field-side out route. It also gives the outside receiver more room to work with on a vertical/fade and the QB more room for error on the throw.
Lastly, the Tite tag allows for crossing routes to get across the formation quicker.
Stack Formation
“Stack” tells the slot receiver to line up directly behind–or stack–behind the outside receiver to his side. Depending on the game plan for that particular week, Bixby will have the stack the field, the boundary, or on both sides. Schneider says that the Stack adjustment is a great way to disguise their base plays.
Trey Formation
“Trey” is an adjustment that Bixby uses specifically for their 3x1 formations. Similar to the “Stack” adjustment, Bixby’s Trey tag tells the two slot receivers to the trips side to stack on top of one another.
Schneider says that one of the first things that he’ll do when he installs the Trey adjustment is to throw the bubble screen to the slot at the bottom of the stack. Not only does he have a lead blocker directly in front of him after the catch, but there is slightly more room for him to work after the catch. He adds that once defenses start to key in on the bubble screen when the Spartans use their Trey tag, they complement it with a slant bubble with the first receiver in the stack running the bubble.
Pinch Formation
“Pinch” is another way of condensing the formation. It’s similar to the “Tite” tag in the way that it brings a receiver in, but Pinch is specific to the slot receivers. If a 3x1 Open formation has a Pinch tag, that puts the #3 receiver in something similar to a wingback alignment outside of the Tackle. One of the primary reasons that Schneider likes to bring the slot down closer to the core is for them to crack block Inside Linebackers on Buck Sweep.
Double Pinch Formation
Schneider can take this Pinch adjustment and apply it in multiple ways. Going back to that 3x1 Open example, Bixby can “double Pinch” where they bring both the #2 and #3 receivers in wingback alignments side by side. They can also take a 2x2 Open formation and apply the Pinch adjustment to both slots on either side to create a double-wing look.
Adjusting the pre-snap presentation of a play can be just as effective as running a different concept altogether. Not only that, but formational adjustments allow the offense to build on pre-existing formations that the players already know and are comfortable with. Bixby’s system of formational adjustments is an example of how this idea can be highly effective on game days.
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Check out our entire video series on the Bixby Offense HERE.