Gig Em Gazette
Fansided

Texas A&M Football: Aggies have pieces to install flexbone and triple option

By Grant Britton

ANNAPOLIS, MD - SEPTEMBER 09: The Navy Midshipmen offense lines up against the Tulane Green Wave defense at Navy-Marine Corp Memorial Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Annapolis, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
ANNAPOLIS, MD - SEPTEMBER 09: The Navy Midshipmen offense lines up against the Tulane Green Wave defense at Navy-Marine Corp Memorial Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Annapolis, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
7 of 7
Next
(Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
(Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

An offense of controlled chaos

There are passing concepts inside the flexbone offense, but they are not a focus as much as the run is. Teams that run the flexbone do not throw the ball often. For example, in 2013, Georgia Southern defeated Florida without completing a pass. Many of the passing concepts are the same as more spread oriented teams, with the slot receivers closer to the center than in those offenses.

Quicker throws, and play action are deadly here. But the heart and soul of this offense is the run game. 3-yards per play is successful, as many flexbone teams will go for it on fourth-and-short with their powerful run game.

The flexbone is incredibly intricate, and there are additions to each and every play I have diagrammed above. A team that runs just those three plays will not make it very far! But, the flexbone is an interesting offense, and one that is still shown today. Curious, read Paul Johnson’s 2002 playbook here or check out a video explanation.

Next: Top 10 RBs in Aggie football history

Again, Texas A&M is not going to implement the flexbone over the bye week. But, this is a chance to learn about a new style, and imagine the Maroon and White coming out in this old-school system to smash some SEC teams in the mouth.