Enjoy!
Birth of the Air Raid:
Wikipedia
Basics of the Air Raid Offense
Basics of the Air Raid Offense
Top Ten Air Raid Plays
The Air Raid Philosophy
https://footballscoop.com/news/air-raid-philosophy-xs-os/
Clinic Talk: Breakdown of Holgorsen’s Air Raid
Great article. I have forwarded it to my grandson who will be the Q-back at St. Johns this year.
The Air Raid has a low floor and a low ceiling. I can’t name a national champion in my lifetime that ran it. I don’t know why people, especially at the college level, are so infatuated with it.
There is a book called "The Perfect Pass’ by S.C. Gwynne. He wrote the Texas Monthly article on Mike Leach which is the genesis for this book. He lays out how it came about. It really starts with Lavell Edwards at BYU and then Mumme & Leach built it at Iowa Wesleyan.
Funniest part, to me, was when Mumme visited an Iowa high school to recruit this hot shot receiver who was in English class at the time. When the teacher told Dana Holgorsen that Coach Mumme was here to offer him a scholarship to Iowa Wesleyan he told the teacher, “if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather stay here and study English”
He went elsewhere and after 1 year transferred to Iowa Wesleyan
2000 OU team won the National Championship one year removed from Mike Leach being on the staff. They threw nearly 40 times per game with Josh Heupel.
GO SJS!!!
If BYU ran it under Lavell Edwards, then there’s definitely been an Air Raid National Champion during my lifetime. That would be BYU in 1983.
Then again, that national title is somewhat controversial.
Can someone confirm whether Edwards was running it there at the time?
Lavell Edwards is credited as one of the pre-cursors to the Air Raid, they had a big influence on it
Read the book. It’s a great read and Gwynne (Empire of the Summer Moon, Rebel Yell) is a great storyteller
https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Pass-American-Reinvention-Football/dp/1501116207/ref=sr_1_1?crid=E812DHX0MAQ9&keywords=the+perfect+pass&qid=1565727015&s=books&sprefix=the+perfect+pass%2Caps%2C317&sr=1-1
Lavell Edwards’ BYU cougars ran the Air Coryell offense. The offense was the basis of the Air Raid.
Another article I enjoy on the Raid: http://smartfootball.com/offense/the-air-raid-offense-history-evolution-weirdness-from-mumme-to-leach-to-franklin-to-holgorsen-and-beyond
A list of concepts I was able to think of off the top of my head.
Stick
Mesh
Shallow Cross
Y/H Cross
617
Smash
Air Raid Under
Y/H Cross
Sail
Shakes
4-Verts
I’m old enough to remember when most everyone said you could never win a championship with a scrambling quarterback . . . . .
You can view the offenses in that era on YouTube. The first thing that will jump out at you are the words “under center”. None of the air raid QB’s you see today operate from under center.
They were pass-happy perhaps. Still not a true air raid at that point. I would blame the CFP/BCS drought that OU and the Big 12 are in on the fascination with the air raid. The first ten years of the Big 12 yielded three national championships if you include ‘97 Nebraska. Since then, they are 0-5 in BCS championship and CFP games.
That is not completely true, there are some under center plays in the Air Raid, and Holgorsen still uses them. Especially at the goal line. The Air Raid doesn’t do it much of it but it’s in there, as well as tight ends.
I asked one of the players one time when Holgorsen was here the first time, I can’t remember who… I asked him how many offensive plays there were. He said only about 15. But he then said the options are seemingly endless on many of the plays.
I believe John J would say something similar about the R&S. And for that matter probably CAB too.
I’ve heard the R&S was similar amount of plays… AB I heard the opposite. Lots and lots of plays.
Watching the clinic videos up above in the links… the Air Raid puts a lot of pressure on defenses. If you don’t have enough athletes on defense, it’s usually a long night. Especially if you play deep zone. AR has to have a good line though obviously.
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