Original Air Raid Film

I ran across some of the videos last night as I was searching YouTube for some Air Raid footage. Here we have some video of the original Air Raid system that was put in place by head coach Hal Mumme while at the University of Kentucky. At this time the Wildcats coaching staff also consisted of Mike Leach, Tony Franklin, Sonny Dykes, and Chris Hatcher. It’s almost hard to believe that so many influential spread coaches were working together on the same staff. Since then, each of these coaches have went their respective ways and continued to implement and innovate their own versions of the spread offense. But it all stemmed from what is taking place in these videos. From 1997-2000, the Kentucky football program became the catalyst for what is now a spread offense revolution in college football. The Wildcats offensive innovation also trickled down to the high school level, and by the early 2000's, the spread offense was taking Kentucky high school football by storm. I personally owe Coach Franklin thanks because it was due to his influence that my high school switched to the spread offense a few years before I began my high school career as a quarterback. I hope that watching these videos allows you to see the simplicity of the original Air Raid system. These cut-ups were all I watched when I was running the system as a high school qb. Tim Couch has flawless mechanics here and runs the system to perfection. I think that in today's game, coaches often over analyze the spread scheme. I believe it comes down to perfecting simplicity and allowing your playmakers to get the ball in space. As you can see, Kentucky isn’t doing anything revolutionary here; they just simply execute their scheme to perfection. As an offensive coach, I believe many of us need to stop trying to overthink our schemes and just get back to the basics of the spread game. Sorry the videos are not the best quality but still effective in seeing some of the original aspects of the system.

* Notice the use of the backs out of the backfield during these clips.  The golden rule is "when in trouble, find a back".  Not only is this a pain for the defense to defend but it also provides easy completions for your QB that will build his confidence and keep him from taking unnecessary hits.  Also using the backs more effectively is a great way to force the defense into defending laterally (sideline to sideline) as well as forcing the secondary to defend closer to the line of scrimmage.  Using the backs consistently in your passing game will lead to more opportunities to take shots down field later in the game.  You as a coach must instill this mentality in your QB.  Finding backs consistently only comes through reps during practice and constant verbalization of this concept during meetings.