Football terminology has a long and storied history of confusing the uninitiated. A coach picking up a new system gets inundated with numbers, tags and play calls that are completely foreign to him.
Some of that is on purpose. You don't want an opponent picking your offense up quickly, and the calls your kids know cold were never meant to make sense to the other sideline. Short, simple and private works fine inside a program. The problem is coaches move, and the words don't move with them.
Sometimes there's a simple equivalence between two systems. Sometimes one system emphasizes different skills, with different tags and personnel. And sometimes the same term means something completely different in another system.
This glossary is our humble attempt to categorize terms, where they are used and occasionally their etymology, so a coach learning a new system or talking to somebody running a different one can get up to speed quickly.
Four down linemen, two linebackers and five defensive backs, with the fifth back on the field every snap rather than arriving by substitution.
also: 4-2-5 · nickel base
Four down linemen and three linebackers, which puts seven bodies near the line before the safeties are counted.
The same front with a smaller, faster strongside linebacker, usually a response to a spread offense rather than a design choice.
also: 4-3 · base 4-3
One running back. That is what the word names in most rooms. It says nothing about the receivers.
One receiver split out to each side. Doubles is the same kind of word for two to each side.
In the Air Raid it is one specific formation: four receivers, one back, X and Y on the line.
also: ace backfield · single back · ace formation
Center and guard combo one interior defender, with one of them climbing to a linebacker.
'Ace' also names three different formations, none of which has anything to do with this.
also: ace · ace combo · deuce, trey (the same naming system)
A pass-first spread offense: shotgun, four receivers, one back, no huddle, and concepts the quarterback reads off one defender at a time.
An alignment halfway between two reference points, usually the end man on the line and a slot receiver.
The player standing there, named after the alignment.
also: apex alignment · apexed · apex defender
The side away from the point of attack, whose job is usually to stop pursuit rather than to open anything.
also: awayside · back side
One lineman on the defender aligned over him, straight ahead, with no help from anybody.
In a rule-based scheme, 'base' can be the instruction rather than the technique: take the man on you if there is one.
also: drive block · base · man block
The inverse of a zone read, with the back going away from the quarterback's keep.
also: back away · BASH
A fullback run with its own blocking scheme and no pulling trap block, forming its own Wing-T series.
also: belly series · down · belly G
Pass protection: the linemen block the down defenders and a back is responsible for a named linebacker.
also: BOB · big-on-big · back on backer · man protection
A block on an opponent approaching from a direction he is not looking, typically on a return or a play that has reversed field.
It is a named foul in high school and college rules, and this is the sense most coaches are actually looking for.
also: blind side block · blindside
The quarterback fakes a run one way and works back against it, with someone assigned to protect that edge.
The same action with nobody assigned to that edge, so the fake is the protection.
also: boot · waggle · naked · naked boot
A slot receiver takes a step back and out, catches it immediately, and the outside receivers block.
also: bubble · quick screen
outside run to the wing, both guards pulling
Wing-T
Three receivers aligned tightly in a triangle, so no defender can align squarely on any of them.
Receivers aligned directly one behind the other, which makes a man defender choose which one to align on.
also: bunch · stack · cluster · close
A brief hit on a pass rusher by a player who is releasing into a route anyway.
also: chip block · chip and release
The moment one of two linemen leaves the defender they were both blocking and goes to a linebacker.
Used loosely for a lineman getting to a linebacker at all, whether or not he was on a double team first.
also: come off · work up · climb to the backer
Two linemen block one defender and neither of them goes anywhere else.
Two linemen start on one defender and one of them comes off to block a linebacker once the first defender is controlled.
also: combo · double team · deuce · duece
Two safeties each take half the deep field, with five defenders playing zones underneath them.
The same two-safety shell with man coverage underneath instead of zone.
also: two deep · cover two · 2-man
One safety in the deep middle and two corners on the outside thirds, which frees a fourth defender for the run.
also: three deep · single-high zone
Four defenders each own a quarter of the deep field and play the ball rather than a man.
The same four-deep picture, with defenders picking up receivers once the routes start.
also: quarters · quarters coverage
How far out and how deep a defender must align to handle the slot in front of him, which decides whether a safety is free for the run.
also: covering down · cover down to number two
A defender is aligned over the lineman, so the scheme's rule gives him that man.
No defender is aligned over the lineman, which sends him to help a neighbor or climb to a linebacker.
also: covered · uncovered · covered lineman · uncovered lineman
Two neighboring linemen block each other's man, with one going first and the other going behind him.
also: cross · criss-cross block · X block
A blocker goes low at a defender's thighs to take his legs rather than to move his body.
Legality varies by level and by situation, and a high-low combination on one defender is a separate, more serious foul.
also: cut · chop block (different thing, see below) · low block
A vertical route pulls a deep defender out of the middle, and a dig route arrives in the vacated space.
also: dagger concept
The backside tackle pulls across to lead up on a linebacker; the line zones.
also: tackle pull · dart tackle
Numbers counted outward from the center that name which lineman a defender is on and which shoulder.
also: technique numbers · alignment numbers · 2i · 4i · shade
A sixth defensive back replaces a second linebacker, usually in obvious passing downs.
also: dime package · quarter package
A back takes a fast handoff and hits an interior gap immediately, with no read.
In an option offense, the dive is the first of the three choices and the thing the quarterback rides before deciding.
also: fullback dive · belly dive
Two eligible receivers to each side, written 2x2. The default balanced spread look.
Whether doubles simply means 2x2, or names a specific formation within it, is not settled, including inside our own product.
also: 2x2 · deuce · spread 2x2
Blocking the defender inside you, which gives you an angle on him instead of a straight-ahead fight.
Blocking the defender outside you, the mirror image of a down block and the base of most pass protection.
also: down block · fan block · down · fan
Everybody sells a pass, then the ball is handed off into the space the rush created.
also: draw play · quarterback draw · lead draw
Two double teams at the point of attack, no puller, and a back reading the linebackers rather than a hole.
Whether duo is gap, zone or its own category is genuinely disputed, including by coaches at the highest level.
also: double team run · power without a puller
An alignment on the outside shoulder of the offensive tackle.
also: 5 technique · 5i
Deep, intermediate and short routes to the same side, giving the quarterback a top-to-bottom read against too few defenders.
also: sail · Y-sail · three-level stretch
The defender who owns the outside edge of a run and turns the ball back inside.
also: force · contain · the force defender
four receivers to four deep landmarks
Air Raid
The side of the center the ball is going toward, which decides what nearly every lineman's rule says next.
also: playside · play side · front side
The second man into a double team arrives with a shuffle and strikes with his hip, staying square downfield so he can come off to a linebacker.
The same word names the drill that reps it, which is why a coach hears it used both ways.
also: gallop technique · gallop drill · gallop step
the second man into a double team, hip first, so he can leave for the linebacker
OL
The space between two offensive linemen, lettered A, B, C and D outward from the center.
also: A gap · B gap · C gap · D gap · gap letters
Run blocking built on down blocks and at least one puller, aimed at winning one point rather than moving the whole front.
also: gap-scheme run game · man-gap scheme
Check your inside gap, then the man down inside, then climb to the linebacker. The playside rule for gap-scheme runs.
Check your gap, then the man on you, then the man down inside. The common youth rule. It has no second level.
also: GDB · GOD · gap on down · blocking rules
A player motions out and returns without the ball ever being a possibility for him.
also: ghost · fake motion · sham motion
GT names the two pullers directly: the guard kicks out and the tackle wraps up through the hole.
An older and more famous name for what is usually the same play, though some programs use trey to mean a different second puller.
also: GT counter · counter trey · counter · guard-tackle counter
A defender lined up directly across from a blocker rather than on either shoulder.
also: heads up · zero technique · two technique · four technique · six technique
A lineman steps down into the gap a puller vacated and turns back to protect it.
also: hinge · hinge back
A numbered point of attack on the offensive line, named inside the play call itself.
The middle of a zone coverage: the low hole underneath and the high hole deep.
also: hole numbers · the 4 hole · low hole · high hole
A route broken off short so the ball can come out before an unblocked rusher arrives.
The receiver designated to be that answer, who may or may not change what he runs.
also: hot · sight adjust
The line steps playside in unison and blocks whoever shows up in their area; the back reads the front and cuts.
also: IZ · tight zone
The line takes everybody but one linebacker, and a lead back is sent to block that man alone.
also: isolation · lead · lead draw (different play)
A receiver or wing sprinting flat across the formation, timed to be at full speed as the ball is snapped.
The play in which the player in jet motion actually takes the handoff and runs wide.
also: jet motion · jet sweep · fly motion · fly sweep
full-speed handoff to a man already in motion, blocked gap scheme like the rest of the offense
Wing-T
A defender who is neither a true linebacker nor a true safety, given a role built around what he can do.
A position name that means whatever a given program says it means, which is the useful thing to know about it.
also: joker linebacker · the joker
The puller arrives from the inside and drives the end man on the line away from the formation, opening a lane inside the block.
also: kick · kick out block
The puller turns the edge defender in toward the formation and the ball goes around him, outside the block.
also: log · logging him
Extra rushers with man coverage behind them, so no defender is sitting in the space the blitzer vacated.
also: man pressure · zero blitz when nobody is deep
Quarters where each deep defender picks up a receiver once the routes have started, rather than dropping to a landmark.
also: matched quarters · pattern-match quarters
Where the quarterback and a back meet and the ball is exchanged, or kept.
Two receivers crossing shallow in opposite directions, one under the other, close enough to brush.
two shallow crossers passing within a yard of each other, with an out and a flat underneath
also: mesh point · the mesh
The quarterback reads an interior defender, usually a tackle over or near the guard, and the dive goes right up the middle.
also: midline option
One player moving continuously before the snap, who may still be in motion when the ball is snapped.
Players move from one set position to another and must be set again before the snap.
also: motion · shift · in motion · shifting
Substituting so the four fastest rushers are on the field together, usually in obvious passing situations.
also: NASCAR package · rocket package · lightning
A substitution: a fifth defensive back comes on for a linebacker, usually against a passing look.
The player himself, who is often a distinct position with his own techniques rather than a spare safety.
also: nickel package · nickelback · nickel defense
The widest alignment on the line, outside the tight end or outside the last man.
A player archetype: the speed rusher who plays there.
also: 9 technique · 9-tech · wide nine
A side of the formation with a tight end and nobody split outside him at all.
also: nub side · nasty side · solo side
A back takes a curved path behind the quarterback, arriving in the backfield rather than at the line.
also: orbit · loop motion
The line tries to get across defenders aligned outside them while the back stretches the defense sideways and cuts up behind whatever gets reached.
also: wide zone · stretch · OZ
The defender aligned outside the box toward a slot, close enough to fit the run and wide enough to carry a receiver.
also: overhang defender · apex player · flat player
Two digits: running backs, then tight ends. 11 is one back and one tight end, so three receivers.
also: 10 personnel · 11 personnel · 12 personnel · 20 personnel · 21 personnel · 22 personnel · 10p · 11p · 12p · 21p · personnel package
Blocking a defender down and holding him there so the ball can get outside of him.
also: pin block · pinning
Whether a lineman pins or pulls is decided by whether somebody is aligned on him, so the same call blocks itself against different fronts.
also: pin-pull · pin and pull sweep
Quarterback a few yards back with the running back lined up directly behind him rather than beside him.
also: pistol formation · pistol backfield
Quarters with the corners pressing the outside receivers, which frees the safeties to play downhill.
also: press quarters coverage · quarters with press corners
A lineman opens, leaves his alignment and runs to block a defender somewhere other than in front of him.
A flat pull to kick out an edge defender and a deeper pull to lead through the hole are taught separately.
also: pulling · puller
The lineman has to beat a defender to a spot he is already closer to, and finish with his helmet on the defender's outside shoulder.
also: reach · hook block
A player motions in one direction, then reverses and comes back toward where he started.
also: return · re-motion · back motion
A safety or overhang who reads the quarterback rather than covering anybody, and breaks on the throw.
In man coverage, the extra defender left over with no man, told to sit in the middle and help.
also: robber · rat · rat in the hole · hole player · lurk
The line blocks a run, a receiver runs a route, and the quarterback throws or hands off based on one defender.
also: run-pass option · run pass option
The defensive assignment of every defender to a gap, an edge or a space once the blocks declare.
On offense, the body position at the point of contact: pad level, hands, hips and feet.
also: run fits · fitting the run · fit
Two backside linemen work together to get across a defender who is aligned playside of both of them.
also: scoop · backside scoop
A linebacker flowing sideways behind and over the top of his down linemen rather than through them.
A defensive end and a linebacker deliberately swap jobs so the read the quarterback is making gives him the wrong answer.
also: scrape exchange · scraping · scrape over the top
Any pass where the point is the blocking in front of the receiver after he catches it.
The original version: linemen release, the rush is let through, and a back catches it behind them.
also: screen pass · screen game
A defensive lineman aligned on a blocker's shoulder rather than head up on him.
Used alone, it usually means the nose tackle on a shoulder of the center.
To shade is to move a defender off a man toward a gap, side of the field or receiver.
also: shading · shade the center · a shade
The whole line steps one direction and each lineman protects the gap beside him rather than a named defender.
Part of the line slides and the rest plays man, which is the compromise most offenses actually use.
also: slide · half slide · full slide · zone protection
A hitch or quick route under a corner route, putting one defender in a two-level bind.
also: smash concept · hi-lo corner
No handoff phase at all: the quarterback goes straight to the edge and reads one man to keep or pitch.
also: load option · quarterback option
The horizontal distance between a receiver and the next player inside him, which is a coached instruction rather than a habit.
A receiver aligned unusually close to the formation, often just outside the tackle, to compress the defender covering him.
also: split · nasty split · receiver split · nasty
The receiver who lines up ON the line of scrimmage, usually the X, which is why he cannot go in motion freely.
The receiver split wide but OFF the line, usually the Z, which is what lets him motion and gives him a free release.
Any receiver aligned inside another one rather than out at the sideline, which changes his leverage and who covers him.
also: split end · flanker · slot · X · Z · the three-receiver names
Inside zone with an H-back or tight end coming back across the formation to seal the backside end.
The crossing block itself: a non-lineman traveling against the flow to take an edge defender.
also: split zone · sift · sift block · split flow
Dividing the field down the middle and giving each half its own coverage rule based on the receivers it faces.
also: split field · half-field coverage · quarter-quarter-half
Receivers split wide across the field rather than gathered near the ball, which forces the defense to cover width.
A family of offenses built on that alignment, many of which are run-first despite the reputation.
Often used simply to mean a current-era offense, in contrast to a tight formation, with no scheme content at all.
also: spread offense · spread formation · spread to run
The first-down markers.
A coverage that aligns the secondary at the line to gain rather than at a fixed depth.
A route where an inside receiver pushes vertically and settles back inside at about six yards.
also: the sticks · sticks coverage · stick route
Cover 2 with the middle linebacker running to the deep middle to take away the seam between the safeties.
A modern tag meaning simply that somebody carries the deep middle, often a safety or a nickel out of two-high.
also: Tampa two
An alignment on the outside shoulder of the guard, already in a gap at the snap.
A player archetype: the quick, disruptive interior lineman who plays there.
also: 3 technique · 3-tech
A pre-decided backward throw to a back running wide, made immediately at the snap.
The same physical action arrived at by decision, at the end of an option, and usually while running.
also: toss · pitch · toss sweep · option pitch
The tight end relocates to the other side of the formation, flipping which side is strong.
also: tight end trade · trading the tight end
A run leaving a defensive lineman unblocked, then blocking him from the side with a puller.
The pulling lineman's angle block on that unblocked man.
A coverage where a defender sits on a short outside route and drives on the throw.
inside run, backside guard pulls to trap the first man past the hole
also: mousetrap · trap block · trap coverage
Three eligible receivers aligned to one side of the formation with one to the other, usually written 3x1.
also: trips formation · 3x1 · trey (program-specific)
An outside receiver works back inside behind blockers who have released in front of him, and runs up the resulting lane.
also: tunnel · middle screen to a receiver
More offensive linemen aligned to one side of the center than the other, which moves where the actual edge is.
Moving linemen changes who is on the line and therefore who is eligible, which is where the penalties come from.
also: unbalanced line · tackle over · tackle-over
A triple option in which the quarterback reads a defensive lineman for the dive and then an edge player for the pitch.
A whole family of option offenses named after the play, run as an identity.
A lineman releasing past a down defender to the second level, which has nothing to do with running the option play.
also: veer option · inside veer · outside veer
A lineman ignores the defender in front of him and releases inside or outside him to block a linebacker.
also: veer · veer block · skip release
boot pass away from run action, both guards pulling to protect
Wing-T
Getting between a defender and the play, with no requirement to drive him anywhere.
On a second-level block you are setting a pick to separate the defender from your back, not trying to deliver a hit.
also: seal · wall · cut off
An interior defender is intentionally left alone by the line, then blocked from the side by a back or tight end crossing the formation.
also: wham · wham trap
A run-first offense built on gap-scheme blocking, pulling guards and misdirection, with plays grouped into series that share one snap picture.
A T backfield with one back moved up beside the tight end as a wing, which puts a tight end and a wing on the same side and declares a strong side before the snap.
X is the split end, Z the flanker, Y the tight end, H and F the movable backs, with real program-to-program variation.
also: position letters · receiver letters · skill letters
Extra rushers from one area, with an unexpected defender dropping into the space they left and zone coverage behind it.
also: fire zone
One backside defender is left unblocked on purpose; the quarterback reads him and either gives or keeps.
also: read option · the read