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32-516: Run & Shoot advocate and chief refiner Darell "Mouse" Davis was hired by the progressive Pardee to install the offense as the team's Offensive Coordinator. (Davis was a former head coach at Portland State University where he developed the St. Louis Cardinals ' future two-time Pro Bowl quarterback Neil Lomax .) Led by former Miami Hurricanes QB Jim Kelly (who snubbed the NFL's Buffalo Bills to play in

64-538: A no-huddle offense before a two-minute drill . The no-huddle would later become Kelly's base offense with the Buffalo Bills . The so-called "hurry-up offense" allowed the Gamblers to come back to win the game 34–33, which Sports Illustrated dubbed "The Greatest Game Never Seen" because it was not televised. In the first 5 games in 1985, Jim Kelly had one of the hottest starts in professional football history. In Week 4,

96-434: A 4th wide receiver instead of a bigger tight end , defenses (usually a nickel defense or dime defense ) would often substitute a smaller defensive back in place of a linebacker to cover that 4th wide receiver. Thus, the defense would often give up a big weight advantage. Running backs were usually bigger in weight, ranging from 210 to 230 pounds, due to the requirement of blocking. Since the running backs were bigger, many of

128-429: A decision based on the defender. One example would be for the Y receiver to run deep if the free safety was in the middle of the field or to run a post pattern inside if the safety was not there. A second example would be for an outside receiver to go deep if he could beat his defender with speed, or stop and hook back to the quarterback if he could not. A key route concept that has continued in today's modern passing game

160-438: A lasting impact on the league. In the 1970s most teams ran the 2-back "pro-set" as their base offense with fixed routes. Today, almost all NFL teams incorporate extensive packages of 4-WR sets and option routes for WRs depending on coverages faced, innovations that are the basis of the run & shoot. The Gamblers appeared in the playoffs in each of their two seasons, but suffered narrow first-round defeats both times. In 1984,

192-630: A merger. Trump immediately hired Pardee as coach. With an offense boasting Kelly and Walker, observers dubbed the new Generals the USFL's "dream team." Kelly was even featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in a Generals uniform. That season however would never be played. The most notable players on the team were Kelly, future Washington Redskins wide receiver Ricky Sanders , future Detroit Lions wide receiver Richard Johnson , future Indianapolis Colts kick returner Clarence Verdin , and future Cleveland Browns wide receiver Gerald McNeil . Todd Fowler ,

224-430: A receiver suddenly change position by running left or right, parallel to the line of scrimmage , just before the ball is snapped), both to create advantageous mismatches with the opposing defensive players and to help reveal what coverage the defense is using. If a defender stays with the motioning receiver, it would imply man-to-man coverage . The basic idea behind the run and shoot is a flexible offense that adjusts "on

256-404: A record for most NCAA completions and passing yards in 2004 and quarterback Colt Brennan set a record for touchdown passes in 2006 with 58. In 2018, Hawaii brought back the run and shoot offense under former Hawaii QB and head coach Nick Rolovich . Todd Dillon Todd Dillon (born January 6, 1962) is an American former professional gridiron football player, a quarterback in

288-547: A single game which were all records. Quarterbacks Ware and Klingler were both drafted in the NFL first round. The success of Houston's run and shoot offense along with the inability of its record setting quarterbacks to translate their success into the NFL led to the label of such quarterbacks in this system being " system quarterbacks ". At the University of Hawaii , June Jones went 76–41 including seeing quarterback Timmy Chang set

320-499: Is an offensive system for American football which emphasizes receiver motion and on-the-fly adjustments of receivers' routes in response to different defenses. It was conceived by former high school coach Glenn "Tiger" Ellison and refined and popularized by former Portland State offensive coordinator Mouse Davis . The run and shoot system uses a formation consisting of one running back and usually four wide receivers . This system makes extensive use of receiver motion (having

352-592: Is the Switch where the two outside receivers switch places as they run down the field (the outside receiver runs inside, the inside receiver runs outside). In the early days of the offense under Mouse Davis , the offense was more reliant on a vertical passing attack going down the field and being aggressive. Many of the National Football League teams that used the run and shoot in the early 1990s used true wide receivers in all four receiving positions. Originally,

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384-774: The Canadian Football League (CFL), where he played from 1986 to 1994 for the Ottawa Rough Riders and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats . Previously, he played two seasons in the United States Football League (USFL). Dillon played college football at Long Beach State University . He is now a teacher at Tokay High School in Lodi, California. He's also an assistant coach on the school's varsity football team. Prior, he taught at Lodi High School, which like Tokay,

416-411: The #14 ranked Cougars finished the season 9–2. The Cougars were disallowed from having its football games televised or playing in a Bowl Game that season due to NCAA sanctions imposed some years earlier. The following two seasons Houston quarterback David Klingler continued the success of the run and shoot throwing for 9,430 yards and 91 touchdowns, including 716 yards and 11 touchdown passes in

448-502: The August 22, 1984 USFL owners meeting in which the majority of owners decided to move to playing in the fall, things started to crumble for the league, especially for teams in cities with existing NFL teams, like the Gamblers. Kelly, one of the more public faces of the USFL, voiced the concerns of many fans when he called the schedule switch "100 percent" wrong , saying, "It's the worst thing they could have done." The Run N' Shoot attack of

480-490: The Gamblers beat Mouse Davis's Denver Gold 36–17 in the first pro game to match two Run N' Shoot offenses. After this game Jim Kelly was on pace to throw for 7,434 yards and 78 touchdowns. But Kelly suffered a leg injury that sidelined him for the last six games of the season. However, if you combine Kelly's and backup quarterback Todd Dillon 's stats together, they threw for a combined 6,118 yards (professional American-football record). The Gamblers offense set another record: for

512-518: The Gamblers grew even stronger in 1985. Davis left to become head coach of the Denver Gold and was succeeded by special-teams coach John Jenkins . Jenkins's version of the Run N' Shoot brought more complexity and excitement to the Gamblers. In the first game of the season against the L.A. Express , down 31–13 with 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter, the Gamblers became the first professional football team to use

544-491: The Gamblers would ever play. While the Gamblers had been a solid draw the year before, area fans were not about to abandon the Houston Oilers . Attendance dropped by almost 9,000 from 1984. The resulting financial problems were so severe that at one point, the Gamblers had trouble making payroll. They needed an advance from the league just to go to the playoffs. Although owner Jerry Argovitz had ultimately supported moving to

576-501: The USFL) the Gamblers wrecked secondaries across the USFL, getting national media attention in demolishing the league's single-season scoring record (the Gamblers scored 618 points in 1984; the 1983 USFL record was 456). Kelly became the USFL's answer to the NFL's Dan Marino , and the league's second superstar player (after Herschel Walker ). The Gamblers also got the attention of a few NFL teams. The run & shoot offense would be adopted as

608-416: The W or Y receiver moves to the opposite side of the formation helping force defenses to declare whether they are in man-to-man coverage or zone defense . The Portland State Vikings under head coach Mouse Davis went 42–24 in his tenure installing the offense and putting the system on the map. Quarterback Neil Lomax set many records including career NCAA passing yards. In 1984 the offense came on to

640-496: The base set for the Detroit Lions , Atlanta Falcons and the Houston Oilers . All three teams were in the upper half of the league in scoring while using the run & shoot. In spite of this fact, the offense was widely discredited as a gimmick in the NFL when none of the three teams won a Super Bowl. Even after those teams moved away from the run & shoot as their base sets, the influence of Mouse Davis and Jim Kelly left

672-497: The expansion Gamblers finished the regular season with the best record in the Western conference and were the favorites in the West to go to the championship game. They held a 16–3 lead over George Allen 's star laden Arizona Wranglers with just 7 minutes remaining before falling 17–16 in a furious Wrangler comeback. The Wranglers would go on to play in the 1984 Championship Game. Following

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704-571: The fall, he and his partners knew they could not even begin to compete with the Oilers and decided to get out. After briefly entertaining an offer to move to New York City , they agreed to sell controlling interest to real estate magnate and future Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross . Just days later, Ross announced he was merging the Gamblers with the New Jersey Generals . Although the Generals were

736-516: The featured running back on the team, was also notable as the first USFL player the rival NFL signed away from the league in 1985 (by the Dallas Cowboys ). The Gamblers were well known for a 7-Eleven promotion in which two huge dice were dropped onto the field from the roof of the Astrodome. Sources Sources Run %26 Shoot The run and shoot offense (also known as Run N' Shoot )

768-399: The first time ever in professional football, a team had 3 receivers each catch over 1,000 yards: Clarence Verdin , Gerald McNeil , and Richard Johnson . The Gamblers made the playoffs with a 10–8 record and again lost in a nailbiter to an excellent team, the 13–5 veteran, Cliff Stoudt / Joe Cribbs / Jim Smith -led Birmingham Stallions , 22–20. As it turned out, that would be the last game

800-516: The fly," with the receivers changing their routes based on the defensive coverage and play of the defenders covering them. The quarterback then not only reads the defensive coverage to determine where to throw the ball, but must also read the defenders to determine the probable route his receivers may run. As a result, the offense is considered complex and difficult to implement due to the intelligence and communication required between quarterback and receivers. The offense also typically relies heavily on

832-425: The pass, sometimes throwing the ball upwards of 65 to 75% in a game or over the course of a season. In the purest form of the offense, the proper complement would consist of two wide receivers lined up on the outside edges of the formation and two " slotbacks " (wide receivers who line up one step back from the line of scrimmage, so as not to be considered "covered" and thus ineligible) lined up just outside and behind

864-401: The pistol, thus creating an opportunity for a mobile quarterback to become a second running back. This led to increased success in the running game. Another formation that can often be seen with the run and shoot is the trips formation , where three wide receivers are situated to the right or left side of the line of scrimmage. Most of the time, this formation will be created out of motion when

896-406: The run and shoot was set up so the quarterback would be under center with the running back lined up a few yards behind him. Later, during his tenure with the University of Hawaii , June Jones used quarterback Colt Brennan out of the shotgun. In this case the running back is usually offset to the right or left of the quarterback. Also at Hawaii, Nick Rolovich tweaked the formation to run out of

928-419: The runs were designed to go inside or behind the offensive guard to take advantage of the two smaller defensive backs trying to tackle them instead of bigger linebackers. Due to the spacing of the wide receivers, this also made the interior of the field less packed with defenders, allowing for a blocking advantage for the offensive line. A lot of the core concepts involved option routes where receivers would make

960-569: The scene nationally in the USFL with the Houston Gamblers . Quarterback Jim Kelly , under offensive coordinator Mouse Davis , would set the professional football passing yard record in a season with 5,219 yards. The 1989 Houston Cougars football team demonstrated the scoring potential of the run and shoot offense as quarterback Andre Ware set 26 NCAA records and won the Heisman Trophy while

992-405: The surviving team, Ross would be a full partner with Generals owner Donald Trump , and Argovitz became the merged team's president. However, Ross backed out of the merger after discovering the Gamblers' debt load was larger than he anticipated. Trump reimbursed Ross for his interest and became sole owner. However, Trump retained the Gamblers' player contracts, so the deal was still widely reported as

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1024-561: The two offensive tackles . The formation would look very similar to the Flexbone Offense formation. The original inventor of the run and shoot, Glenn "Tiger" Ellison, first started out with a formation that overloaded the left side of the offensive line for his scrambling quarterback. He called it "The Lonesome Polecat ". In many cases, the receivers used were shorter (often ranging from 5'7" to 5'11" in height) but faster, so they could outrun their defender more easily. By incorporating

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