It’s weird how this thread went down the path of “Arch is the problem”, rather than discussing the Sark scheme vs what Tech is supposedly doing. My original comment wasn’t specific to this year.
So, in the interest of getting back to the original comment by Klatt, here is what a combined Leach, Malzahn and Briles offense looks like compared to the Sark Pro/West Coast scheme, which has some complexity,according to an LLM analysis:
Leach (Air Raid core)
Philosophy: Simplicity, small playbook, repetition, high completion %.
Signature Elements: Mesh, Four Verts, Y-Cross, shallow crosses, spacing concepts.
QB Role: Quick decision-maker, distribute ball, throw accurately.
Malzahn (Power Spread tempo)
Philosophy: Play fast, wear out defenses, force misalignments.
Signature Elements: Inside zone, power, buck sweep, QB run game, jet sweeps, RPOs.
QB Role: Must be a run threat, making zone-read and RPO decisions.
Briles (Baylor wide-split vertical spread)
Philosophy: Maximize horizontal space to open vertical shots.
Signature Elements: Ultra-wide WR splits, deep choice routes, glance/slant RPOs, power run paired with vertical bombs.
QB Role: One- or two-read throws — if safety creeps, bomb it deep.
A Hybrid “Leach + Malzahn + Briles Offense”
It would look something like this:
Base Identity:
Air Raid passing core (simplicity, repetition, QB-friendly concepts).
Run game from Malzahn (power spread, tempo, QB run threat, jet sweeps).
Formational stress from Briles (extreme splits to force defenses to declare coverage and create space).
Tempo & Install:
Playbook size: Small (like Leach/Briles), maybe 20–25 core concepts.
Play speed: Malzahn-style hurry-up, one-word calls.
Execution: Drill same plays endlessly until automatic.
How it Attacks Defenses:
Horizontal stretch: Briles’s extreme WR spacing widens the field.
Vertical stretch: Air Raid Four Verts + Briles deep shots keep safeties honest.
Run-game stress: Malzahn’s inside zone, QB power, and sweeps force defenses to load the box.
Tempo stress: Defenses have no time to sub or disguise coverages.
QB Responsibility:
Make simple RPO/zone-read decisions (Malzahn).
Identify coverage leverage pre-snap using wide splits (Briles).
Execute quick timing throws and progressions (Leach).
Must be mobile enough to be a run threat.
What It Would Look Like on the Field
Formation: WRs spread almost to the sideline (Briles).
Tempo: Snap ball within 10–15 seconds of play end (Malzahn).
Play Call: One-word code (e.g., “Vegas” = inside zone + glance RPO + backside mesh tag).
Options Built-In:
QB can hand off (Malzahn),
Throw quick glance/slant to WR if DB is off (Briles),
Or hit a mesh/spacing route if pressure shows (Leach).
✅ Bottom Line:
This hybrid offense would be simple to learn (like Leach/Briles), brutal to defend (like Malzahn/Briles), and adaptable across talent levels.
It would stress defenses in every dimension — width, depth, tempo, and assignment discipline.