Bill Walsh, the Stick Concept, and the Constraint Theory of Offense

By Wesley Ross

Bill Walsh is widely regarded as one of the great minds in the history of football, a visionary who ushered the NFL from the ground and pound dark ages into the modern pass oriented game we know today. However, before he became the infamous “West Coast genius” and 3 time Super Bowl champion, he was the little known offensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals.  Like many schematic innovations throughout football history, the West Coast offense was born out of desperation. The Bengals starting quarterback at the time, Greg Cook, had gone down in the fourth week of the season with a torn rotator cuff. Cook was no ordinary quarterback, as Walsh commented years later that he “was the greatest talent ever to play the position-like Steve Young, but bigger.” The backup Virgil Carter, though a successful college player, was undersized and had below average arm strength.  The style that dominated the game at that time in the NFL was centered around establishing a physical run game and then taking the occasional deep shot.  As a result, a quarterback’s ability to throw the ball down the field and create a vertical threat was prized above all else.  

Though he didn’t possess the skills valued at the time for his position, Carter was intelligent and could throw with accuracy. Walsh decided to entirely revamp his system and design it around Carter’s strengths.  He took what he learned from Sid Gillman, Al Davis, and Paul Brown (he worked under Brown during his time with the Bengals) and developed a short, ball control passing game that relied primarily on timing and rhythm to move the ball.  Walsh explained the thought process behind this strategy in his book Finding the Winning Edge:

“Because the Bengals weren’t strong enough on the offensive line to be able to run the ball consistently, we decided that our best chance to win football games was to somehow control the ball.  As a result, we devised a ball-control passing game in the hope that if we could make 25 first downs in a given game and if we also had good special teams play, we would have a reasonable chance to stay competitive in the ball game.  In the process, hopefully something good would happen.”

Short routes that stretched the defense horizontally would compliment Carter’s unique skill set and act as extended handoffs that gave receivers opportunities to create yards after the catch.   Walsh built the system around the player, rather than trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. What resulted was the genesis of the West Coast offense, and over the next two decades Walsh’s teams revolutionized professional football.  

One of the short, ball control passing plays prevalent in Walsh’s West Coast offense and often utilized during his time with the Niners was called stick, which was a quick hitting concept that created a triangular stretch on the defense.  From the backfield, Roger Craig would run a quick route to the flat, while the TE would run a 5 yd out route.  The Z would run an outside release vertical route and try to run the corner off. The primary read of the play was the horizontal conflict placed on the flat defender. Joe Montana would take one long and two short steps before throwing off of the flat defender’s reaction. If he took the flat route (which was usually the case), he would fire the stick to the TE.  If he squatted on the stick, he would hit Roger Craig on the move in the flat:

Below are some old cutups of the Niners running stick from the Walsh era:

Air Raid Adaptation

Air Raid pioneers Hal Mumme and Mike Leach took the concept from Walsh during their time at Valdosta State and made some slight adjustments.  For example, the stick route runner would run straight up the field and then hook inside instead of bending out.  The objective for the tight end was to position his body between the Mike and the ball. He would sometimes push off of the Mike or step on his foot before separating, thus cutting the Mike off from getting into the throwing window.  The idea was to be covered early and open late, much like a basketball player does when trying to get open on an inbounds play. They would also teach the stick as a 3-4 yard route to create a tougher downhill tackling angle for the Mike once the Y made the catch.  The QB’s first read in his progression was the shoot route by the back, who would take 3 steps into his route before looking for the ball. If the flat defender covered the back, the QB’s eyes would then work to the stick route runner who at the point would be starting to work away from the Mike.  The QB would try to throw to the Y’s left shoulder so that he could catch and turn away from the Mike before knifing upfield.   

Mumme explained at a recent clinic that stick was primarily designed as a 2 high coverage beater, as “the defense mathematically runs out of people who can stop it.”  As long as the Z did a good job on the outside release vertical route and forced safety help over the top, the flat defender would be left in a bind. The concept develops so quickly that the Sam is forced to cover the flat route immediately.  The Mike is then left to try and work over to try and take the stick. If the defense doesn’t try to banjo, now a natural pick is created as the Mike has to try and work through the stick route before getting to the flat:

If the corner starts to jump the shoot route, the quarterback needs to hit the Z on the hole throw:  

The backside of the play was designed to punish the Mike if he started cheating towards the stick route.  For example, if the Mike was lined up over the play side guard, the QB automatically knew he would be working the backside concept.  If the H was facing tight man coverage he would run a 1 step slant and expect the ball. Against off coverage he would run a 3 step slant.  Even if the defense played the stick side perfectly, it would create a massive gash in the middle of the field for the H to fill.  If the H didn’t get the ball then when he got to the center line, he would return and break back towards the sideline.  The X would run either a vertical to gain the attention of the FS or a 3 step slant depending on the hand signal the QB gave him.  They would also have the right tackle and left guard cut the defensive line to clear throwing lanes for the stick and slant.  If there was any hesitation for the quarterback on the stick side he would shuffle back and work the backside:

Out of a trips formation if the defense stayed 2 high and the Sam played outside of #2 and took the shoot, the Mike would not be able to cover the stick by #3.    Leach and Mumme also began using different variations on the backside of the play.   For example, they would have the back run a swing and put the X on a slant.  If the Will was working hard to cover the swing and the Mike took the stick route, a huge hole in the middle of the field was created for the slant:

When the Will started to over pursue the F’s flat route, they would put the X on a vertical and have the F run an angle route:

At Washington State Leach now runs a similar version of stick with a few differences.  If the Y is facing man coverage, he will now run a whip route instead of the traditional stick.  He will attack the inside shoulder of the hole defender and then whip back out.  If the Sam starts to go inside with the whip, the ball should immediately go to the back.  Leach even refers to this route as an option route by the Y instead of stick.  The quarterback will read the flat defender and throw the stick or shoot based off of his coverage reaction.  Pre-snap if the flat defender is lined up inside the Y, the QB knows it is very likely he will be throwing the shoot.  If the flat defender is lined up outside the Y, the QB is now thinking stick.  If the flat defender flies out to cover the shoot, the QB must now be aware of where the Mike is and fit the ball into the stick before he can get there.   Leach also gives the Z receiver the freedom to break down and block the corner if he is facing soft coverage.  Normally he will just outside release to try and turn the corner’s eyes and prevent him from jumping the shoot route.  In the clip below Washington State runs stick out of a 2×2 formation, which they call “Ace 618”.  The flat defender flies out with the shoot, so the QB throws the stick:

Here is the same concept but with the H in motion.  The H will now run the flat route and the back will stay in and block:

On the backside of stick Washington State runs double slants. The quarterback will decide which side to work pre-snap based on numbers, space, and leverage.  He will always check the double slant side first.  A blitz look or cover 2 is advantageous for the double slant side.   He will read inside slant to outside slant. If the hole defender over the inside slant blitzes or or does not go with the slant, the quarterback needs to get the ball to the H before he runs into an inside backer.  If the hole player covers the slant and runs with the H, this should create a throwing window for the outside slant:

Out of trips, the H will run a wheel and the Z will run a post.  The QB will still read the flat defender for the stick or flat, but if the defense is in cover one or cover zero the post can become a viable option.  If there is a safety in the middle of the field the post will turn more into a dig. The width of the backside hole player will give the QB an indicator of whether he should work the slant side or not:

Below are 2 clips of WSU running stick out of trips:

RPO Evolution

One of the first coaches to start packaging the stick concept with a run was air raid disciple Dana Holgorsen during his time as offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State.  He began pairing stick with a draw, usually out of a trips formation. This was especially effective against a cover 4 look because it put the Mike in a bind.  The Sam would be forced to play over 2 or at least split the difference between 2 and 3 to prevent the easy throw to the H.  The offense would then just read the Mike.  If he stayed inside and played the run, the QB would take the snap and fire the ball to the open stick route.  If however the Mike worked out to cover the stick, now instead of a route concept (like a slant) filling that vacated middle area of the field, the quarterback would just simply hand the ball off to the back on a draw.  In essence, no matter what the Mike did he couldn’t be right:

 Here is a clip of Holgorsen’s West Virginia team running stick/draw:

Stick has become a popular quick game concept to marry with an inside running play to ensure favorable numbers in the box.  At Glen Rose High School, we used stick a variety of ways in our RPO game. Here we run fold/stick. You can see the QB keying the conflict defender, who in this case is the stack backer.  He steps up to honor his run responsibility, so the QB pulls the ball and throws the stick:

On the next drive, we run the same concept.  The stack backer steps up to his run fit, and again the stick is wide open.

The third time later in the game, with the same result:

At this point the defense had to make an adjustment.  They roll a safety down over the #3 receiver, and the QB is forced to hand the ball off:

With the safety moved down over the Y, the stack backer can now hang in the box without worrying about stopping the stick route.  This is where the constraint theory of play calling comes into effect as Chris Brown explains in his book “The Essential Smart Football”:

An offense consists of what are your base runs, base drop back passes, base options, or other base, core plays.  The idea is that you have certain plays that work on the whiteboard against the defenses you hope to see. But we don’t live in a perfect world: the constraint plays are designed to make sure you live in one that is as close as possible to the one you want, the world on the whiteboard.

Constraint plays thus work on defenders who cheat.  For example, the safety might get tired of watching you break big runs up the middle, so he begins to cheat up.  Now you call the play action and make him pay for his impatience. The outside linebackers cheat in for the same reason: to stop the run.  Now you throw the bubble screen, run the bootleg passes to the flat, and make them pay for their impatience. Now the defensive ends begin rushing hard upfield; you trap, draw, and screen them to make them pay for getting out of position.  If that defensive end played honest, your tackle could block him; if he flies upfield, your tackle cannot. Constraint plays make them go back to the basics. Once they go back to playing honest football, you go back to the whiteboard and beat them with your bread and butter.

With the safety cheated down over the Y, the obvious constraint play would be some sort of deep shot to make them pay.  We came back with what basically amounted to a stick and go route by the Y packaged with the same fold run scheme.  The safety bites and is caught flat footed thinking the Y is again running the stick. The result is a 60 yard gain:

As Brown notes in his book, “That’s the beauty of football: punch, counterpunch.”