Both Coordinators were Air Raid guys, but they were slightly different in approach to the Air Raid. The best way to look at there ideas of how the Air Raid should be run in the SEC is to look at other teams. Neal Brow was quoted as saying that his ideal offense at UK would have looked like how Oklahoma State runs the Air Raid. Shannon Dawson has been quoted as saying that he'd like his ideal offense at UK to look like Baylor's offense. Yeah we've heard that Neal Brown's approach was more of a horizontal game to get the ball in space, while Shannon Dawson's approach is more vertical, but there are other differences as well I want to go over just one of the biggest differences, WR alignment.
When looking at the Air Raid offenses that these coaches want to mimic there offense after at UK there are some other differences that typical fans may not see. In any spread offense the idea is to spread out the defense, and in doing so you usually use offensive formations with 3 or more receivers. That is the case between Baylor's system and OK State's system, however when you watch film you'll notice that the splits of the WRs in Baylor's system are wider than they are in OK State's system.... Baylor's formations literally reach from sideline to sideline. The Slot WR lines up way outside the hash marks. This however isn't the case in OK State's offense. What are the reasons for extra wide splits by the WRs?
#1 It makes it really difficult for defenses to disguise coverages. With wide splits by the WRs it forces the defense to show its hand way before the snap. Because of this the QB can make better decisions with audibles and the WRs running option routes knows ahead of time how to change up its route. It also makes it difficult for defenses to bring corner blitzes because they'll be rushing the QB from a further distance.
#2 in screens and outside throw packages it forces the defenders to be much faster to get to the perimeter in time to make plays. So even though a team's saying may be "speed kills" and they have a lot of it, because these perimeters are stretched, those teams will have to have more than speed, they'll need to have extreme speed....
#3 Because the WRs splits are extremely wide, including the TE, if the defense is using LBs to cover any of these slot WRs or TE's they are immediately stretched to the perimeters as well, making them less effective in run stuffing. This works wonders for your inside zone and power read plays. It means that LBs will have to come from a further distance to stop the run, with RBs as fast as they are in the SEC, that will be difficult for the LBs to get many tackles for loss.
Something else to note between the two offenses.....
The life blood of Baylor's Air Raid offense is actually the running game. They use the running game to get its passing game going, and when its going its electric and a lot of deep shots. OK State's offense, its an Air Raid offense and the WR splits are more traditional type of splits. OK State also utilizes a physical running game as well, but its done in a different way..... Example OK State includes jumbo sets, where Baylor doesn't but still utilizes a power running game. Baylors jumbo sets are usually happen in short yardage situations. In UK's offense Jacob Hyde will be a fullback sometimes, which indicates jumbo formation, but it will be interesting if they include jumbo sets. Maybe they use a 2 back spread formation with Jacob Hyde where he's the lead blocker on those inside running plays.
All in all, these are the differences in those offenses and these are the differences that we may see in UK's offense as we transition from Neal Brown to Shannon Dawson. Because the way Neal Brown's offense was it had more concepts and more difficult to learn than Shannon Dawson. That same statement is true when comparing OK State's offense to Baylor's offense, OK State's has more concepts and according to others, its more difficult to learn. I've spoken to UK players themselves who tell me that Shannon Dawons offense is much easier and concept just make sense, as to say Neal Brown's didn't all the time.
As you can see, you can have 2 coaches run an Air Raid system, however they aren't created equal and we see that with different ways to run the Air Raid..... You'd be shocked to know that the core of Bobby Petrino's offense has the Air Raid concepts. So all Air Raid's aren't created equal.
Before we get into which Air Raid is better or which OC is better, its important to note that Neal Brown started the rebuilding process of this offense and didn't have all his parts in place. Shannon Dawson will benefit from Neal Brown's rebuilding efforts, while Neal Brown may not have had the personnel in place to run what he wanted to have Shannon Dawson does and its thanks in part to Neal Brown.
When looking at the Air Raid offenses that these coaches want to mimic there offense after at UK there are some other differences that typical fans may not see. In any spread offense the idea is to spread out the defense, and in doing so you usually use offensive formations with 3 or more receivers. That is the case between Baylor's system and OK State's system, however when you watch film you'll notice that the splits of the WRs in Baylor's system are wider than they are in OK State's system.... Baylor's formations literally reach from sideline to sideline. The Slot WR lines up way outside the hash marks. This however isn't the case in OK State's offense. What are the reasons for extra wide splits by the WRs?
#1 It makes it really difficult for defenses to disguise coverages. With wide splits by the WRs it forces the defense to show its hand way before the snap. Because of this the QB can make better decisions with audibles and the WRs running option routes knows ahead of time how to change up its route. It also makes it difficult for defenses to bring corner blitzes because they'll be rushing the QB from a further distance.
#2 in screens and outside throw packages it forces the defenders to be much faster to get to the perimeter in time to make plays. So even though a team's saying may be "speed kills" and they have a lot of it, because these perimeters are stretched, those teams will have to have more than speed, they'll need to have extreme speed....
#3 Because the WRs splits are extremely wide, including the TE, if the defense is using LBs to cover any of these slot WRs or TE's they are immediately stretched to the perimeters as well, making them less effective in run stuffing. This works wonders for your inside zone and power read plays. It means that LBs will have to come from a further distance to stop the run, with RBs as fast as they are in the SEC, that will be difficult for the LBs to get many tackles for loss.
Something else to note between the two offenses.....
The life blood of Baylor's Air Raid offense is actually the running game. They use the running game to get its passing game going, and when its going its electric and a lot of deep shots. OK State's offense, its an Air Raid offense and the WR splits are more traditional type of splits. OK State also utilizes a physical running game as well, but its done in a different way..... Example OK State includes jumbo sets, where Baylor doesn't but still utilizes a power running game. Baylors jumbo sets are usually happen in short yardage situations. In UK's offense Jacob Hyde will be a fullback sometimes, which indicates jumbo formation, but it will be interesting if they include jumbo sets. Maybe they use a 2 back spread formation with Jacob Hyde where he's the lead blocker on those inside running plays.
All in all, these are the differences in those offenses and these are the differences that we may see in UK's offense as we transition from Neal Brown to Shannon Dawson. Because the way Neal Brown's offense was it had more concepts and more difficult to learn than Shannon Dawson. That same statement is true when comparing OK State's offense to Baylor's offense, OK State's has more concepts and according to others, its more difficult to learn. I've spoken to UK players themselves who tell me that Shannon Dawons offense is much easier and concept just make sense, as to say Neal Brown's didn't all the time.
As you can see, you can have 2 coaches run an Air Raid system, however they aren't created equal and we see that with different ways to run the Air Raid..... You'd be shocked to know that the core of Bobby Petrino's offense has the Air Raid concepts. So all Air Raid's aren't created equal.
Before we get into which Air Raid is better or which OC is better, its important to note that Neal Brown started the rebuilding process of this offense and didn't have all his parts in place. Shannon Dawson will benefit from Neal Brown's rebuilding efforts, while Neal Brown may not have had the personnel in place to run what he wanted to have Shannon Dawson does and its thanks in part to Neal Brown.
