West Coast Helps Qb Make Good Decisions: Steve Young

[Sidecar Falcon]

Why is the West Coast offense so popular in today's NFL, more than 30 years after Bill Walsh introduced it? Because the quarterback can make good decisions with the football if his footwork is timed with the receivers' routes.

When I joined the USFL's L.A. Express in 1984, my first professional offensive coordinator was Sid Gillman, who was one of the primary influences on Walsh's West Coast philosophy. I remember what Sid told me: "How can you make a decision if you have no sense of timing? You are just waiting, waiting, waiting. Then you have to set your feet and throw the football. By then it's too late."

The first time Sid saw me, he said, "Look, your footwork is horrible." I had never cared -- and knew nothing -- about my footwork; I just got it done on the field. But Sid was the first coach to tell me that my footwork decided how I would play. If Sid could get a hold of most of today's quarterbacks, he would say the same thing: "Your footwork is horrible."

Sid also told me about Johnny Unitas' footwork. Even though there was no such thing as the West Coast offense when Unitas played, he was probably the original West Coast quarterback, because he and Raymond Berry tried to synch up their plays from a timing standpoint.

Because I played for Sid, I knew footwork was important when I got to San Francisco in 1987. I had gone to the best place to perfect it. Bill was essentially preaching the same things as Sid, knowing by my footwork when to throw the ball.

I remember Bill yelling at me, "Steve, no one knows where you are going to be. You've got to lock this stuff in so you can make reads, give the ball to people on time and make decisions about where to throw the football based on your feet."

On a typical pass play, I would drop back five steps, plant and throw immediately and on time to the primary receiver. But if I hitched, I would move on to the second receiver. Or I would hitch a second time and throw to the outlet. A third hitch told me I had to leave the pocket. Everything is tied together. In fact, I could watch a game film, cut my body in half, watch only the bottom half of my body and tell you how we played.

When a quarterback learns the West Coast footwork, he becomes more developed, because his feet help him with the reads. His mind is free to digest more things happening around him and more of the field, which increases the quarterback's degree of difficulty. I had reads where I would look toward one side of the field -- bounce -- look to the other side of the field -- bounce -- and then hit the outlet in front of me. But the more I played, the more I understood.

Although the West Coast offense has three- and five-step drops as its meat and potatoes, the offense becomes even more explosive when the quarterback can get more protection, drop seven steps and time his footwork with the receivers' routes. Then the quarterback can attack 20-25 yards downfield with timing.

Artists of the West Coast attack

Of today's quarterbacks, Rich Gannon understands the footwork and is able to thrive in the Raiders' West Coast offense. But the quarterback who comprehends it the best by now is Brett Favre.

Mike Holmgren is a stickler about footwork, and Favre has gotten a bit sloppy with his footwork since Holmgren left Green Bay for Seattle. Brett doesn't always have his feet locked in when he throws. But since the timing is so engrained in him, Brett can be erratic with his feet and still get the job done.

Donovan McNabb has great, fast feet and has learned to lock them in to run the Eagles' offense effectively. Although the offense requires disciplined footwork, it doesn't limit a quarterback with McNabb's athletic skills. Donovan is so talented that he can create all he wants if his footwork is trained in conjunction with the routes.

In Andy Reid's West Coast system, Donovan has found that he is getting rid of the ball quicker, he has a higher completion percentage, the Eagles' offense is scoring more touchdowns, and he can still run the ball every once in a while. That is when the offense gets good -- having a mobile quarterback with West Coast footwork.

Michael Vick doesn't run the West Coast offense in Atlanta, but he sounded like he was willing to learn it when I met with him in July. Although he should have a great NFL career regardless of what offense he runs, I can't imagine the things he could do in the West Coast offense.

It's more difficult for a veteran quarterback to learn it. Vinny Testaverde has had a hard time with the Jets' West Coast offense under Paul Hackett because Vinny was taught a different way. He played for a number of years dropping back, looking at the receivers and letting it go when they were open. It's like teaching an old dog new tricks. I can't describe how much work is involved. The footwork needs to be well-coached, and the quarterback has to be willing.

College: The perfect West Coast classroom

If quarterbacks learned the West Coast offense in college, oh man -- it would make a huge difference. Talk about a feeding frenzy for a quarterback. I would make a coalition of NFL West Coast teams and say, "Let's figure out how to coach this in college. Then we'd have a kid coming out of college we don't have to train." I'm sure Bill Musgrave is coaching it as the offensive coordinator at Virginia because he knows the West Coast offense backwards and forwards.

Detroit Lions coach Marty Mornhinweg, who was my last offensive coordinator in San Francisco, is a great teacher of the West Coast offense. Joey Harrington will benefit from Marty if he gets a chance to continue as the Lions' head coach. There are a number of coaches who have figured out how to teach it, and Mornhinweg is one of them.

The best West Coast coaching job I've seen was when Mike Shanahan left the 49ers, became the head coach in Denver and made it available to John Elway. Shanahan put in the shotgun (something we never did), figured out plays John could feel comfortable with, and amended the offense for an older quarterback who needed to learn it quickly. He told John, "Trust me -- I'll try to make it amenable to you, but trust me."

The best defense? Belichick's Giants

All I heard from defensive linemen my entire career was, "Geez, we rush you and do everything, and we still can't get you because the ball is gone." Try to rush Brady or Gannon or McNabb. The ball is gone. How? Because there is a sense of timing that the offensive players understand.

When I played for the 49ers, we loved to see man-to-man defense. I could get the ball quickly to the receivers. Over the 10 years Jerry Rice and John Taylor played together, how many slant routes did they catch and break for a long touchdown? Several -- and most came against single coverage.

The defense that gave us the most difficulty, however, was the New York Giants through the 1980s and the early 1990s under defensive coordinator Bill Belichick. The defense (generally a two-deep zone) wasn't tactically difficult, and we had the plays for it. But the Giants players -- Lawrence Taylor, Harry Carson, Carl Banks, Gary Reasons, Leonard Marshall, Pepper Johnson -- were together so long and ran it so well, they limited our explosiveness.

The Giants always had 11 eyeballs on the quarterback. They played zone, faced the quarterback, waited for me to throw the ball and tackled everything, forcing us to work our way down the field. No one was able to get free runs with the ball. Belichick also understood that he could affect the quarterback's timing if a defensive back got in the receiver's face.

Belichick's defense disrupted our timing much like Tony Dungy's, except Dungy added one more element -- Dom Capers' zone blitz. That was the defense I hated to see the most.

The late Fritz Shurmur, who was Green Bay's defensive coordinator from 1994-98, played a lot of zone and was tough and physical with the tight ends. Some of his players should have been arrested for how they mistreated our tight ends, particularly Brent Jones. But Shurmur knew he couldn't defend our offense unless he disrupted the timing.

ESPN analyst Steve Young played 15 seasons in the NFL, 13 of them with the 49ers and the West Coast offense.

http://static.espn.go.com/nfl/s/westcoast/popularity.html

[Ironhead1956]

[Dirtybird56]

Everyone should see this, it's going to take about a year despite everyone wishing it could happen overnight:

"It's more difficult for a veteran quarterback to learn it. Vinny Testaverde has had a hard time with the Jets' West Coast offense under Paul Hackett because Vinny was taught a different way. He played for a number of years dropping back, looking at the receivers and letting it go when they were open. It's like teaching an old dog new tricks. I can't describe how much work is involved. The footwork needs to be well-coached, and the quarterback has to be willing."

[rounz]

Thanks.

Very informative.

[TheFatboi]

Great post. I hope this helps fans understand the system more and why Matt is having his growing pains.

[sdogg]

So I assume our FO and coaching staff knew this info and silk procedded to make the scheme change?

So now I have to ask, why make this switch with a 30 yo QB, knowing we would have a year or more learning curve? We cannot afford to waste Ryan's prime years.

[sdogg]

I personally don't like the west coast philosophy

I don't like that we switched to it, knowing that it would take time to fully grasp it. Wasting Ryan's prime years.

[HASHBROWN3]

yeah, tuff learning curve.

It explains a few things. I'm concerned about the fact that Shanny could leave the following year and then all the blood, sweat and tears for nothing.

[YoungHeezy]

I don't like that we switched to it, knowing that it would take time to fully grasp it. Wasting Ryan's prime years.

Matt has about 6 more years left of top play. Either with us or another team.

[sdogg]

Matt has about 6 more years left of top play. Either with us or another team.

But I don't want us wasting 1-2 of those 6 on learning a complex system. With the exception of the run game, our O was not the issue. No need to make such a drastic change.

[Andras]

But I don't want us wasting 1-2 of those 6 on learning a complex system. With the exception of the run game, our O was not the issue. No need to make such a drastic change.

This.

[Sidecar Falcon]

I personally don't like the west coast philosophy

What about the West Coast philosophy don't you like?

Edited November 4, 2015 by Sidecar Falcon

[Sidecar Falcon]

But I don't want us wasting 1-2 of those 6 on learning a complex system. With the exception of the run game, our O was not the issue. No need to make such a drastic change.

We are in rebuilding mode right now. It'll be another 2-3 years before we are set to make a deep playoff run (hopefully). Trying to change the entire offensive scheme for one player (Even a starting QB) isn't beneficial in the long run to a team. We have players that we drafted to fit this scheme. And while our offense was potent in previous years, all too often we were shut down completely by top tier teams. This offensive identity shift could potentially remedy that issue.

Edited November 4, 2015 by Sidecar Falcon

[HASHBROWN3]

We know Ryan is a bright guy. Still tough to implement and get all the muscle memory & timing things down pat.

Drops, footwork, progressions, route trees, etc. Not to mention the snap from center not being a gimme or a breakdown in protection.

It's affecting him to a degree, but we'll get that rythm going if we can just sustain a few drives without turnovers.

[DirtyBird8711]

Why is the West Coast offense so popular in today's NFL, more than 30 years after Bill Walsh introduced it? Because the quarterback can make good decisions with the football if his footwork is timed with the receivers' routes.

When I joined the USFL's L.A. Express in 1984, my first professional offensive coordinator was Sid Gillman, who was one of the primary influences on Walsh's West Coast philosophy. I remember what Sid told me: "How can you make a decision if you have no sense of timing? You are just waiting, waiting, waiting. Then you have to set your feet and throw the football. By then it's too late."

The first time Sid saw me, he said, "Look, your footwork is horrible." I had never cared -- and knew nothing -- about my footwork; I just got it done on the field. But Sid was the first coach to tell me that my footwork decided how I would play. If Sid could get a hold of most of today's quarterbacks, he would say the same thing: "Your footwork is horrible."

Sid also told me about Johnny Unitas' footwork. Even though there was no such thing as the West Coast offense when Unitas played, he was probably the original West Coast quarterback, because he and Raymond Berry tried to synch up their plays from a timing standpoint.

Because I played for Sid, I knew footwork was important when I got to San Francisco in 1987. I had gone to the best place to perfect it. Bill was essentially preaching the same things as Sid, knowing by my footwork when to throw the ball.

I remember Bill yelling at me, "Steve, no one knows where you are going to be. You've got to lock this stuff in so you can make reads, give the ball to people on time and make decisions about where to throw the football based on your feet."

On a typical pass play, I would drop back five steps, plant and throw immediately and on time to the primary receiver. But if I hitched, I would move on to the second receiver. Or I would hitch a second time and throw to the outlet. A third hitch told me I had to leave the pocket. Everything is tied together. In fact, I could watch a game film, cut my body in half, watch only the bottom half of my body and tell you how we played.

When a quarterback learns the West Coast footwork, he becomes more developed, because his feet help him with the reads. His mind is free to digest more things happening around him and more of the field, which increases the quarterback's degree of difficulty. I had reads where I would look toward one side of the field -- bounce -- look to the other side of the field -- bounce -- and then hit the outlet in front of me. But the more I played, the more I understood.

Although the West Coast offense has three- and five-step drops as its meat and potatoes, the offense becomes even more explosive when the quarterback can get more protection, drop seven steps and time his footwork with the receivers' routes. Then the quarterback can attack 20-25 yards downfield with timing.

Artists of the West Coast attack

Of today's quarterbacks, Rich Gannon understands the footwork and is able to thrive in the Raiders' West Coast offense. But the quarterback who comprehends it the best by now is Brett Favre.

Mike Holmgren is a stickler about footwork, and Favre has gotten a bit sloppy with his footwork since Holmgren left Green Bay for Seattle. Brett doesn't always have his feet locked in when he throws. But since the timing is so engrained in him, Brett can be erratic with his feet and still get the job done.

Donovan McNabb has great, fast feet and has learned to lock them in to run the Eagles' offense effectively. Although the offense requires disciplined footwork, it doesn't limit a quarterback with McNabb's athletic skills. Donovan is so talented that he can create all he wants if his footwork is trained in conjunction with the routes.

In Andy Reid's West Coast system, Donovan has found that he is getting rid of the ball quicker, he has a higher completion percentage, the Eagles' offense is scoring more touchdowns, and he can still run the ball every once in a while. That is when the offense gets good -- having a mobile quarterback with West Coast footwork.

Michael Vick doesn't run the West Coast offense in Atlanta, but he sounded like he was willing to learn it when I met with him in July. Although he should have a great NFL career regardless of what offense he runs, I can't imagine the things he could do in the West Coast offense.

It's more difficult for a veteran quarterback to learn it. Vinny Testaverde has had a hard time with the Jets' West Coast offense under Paul Hackett because Vinny was taught a different way. He played for a number of years dropping back, looking at the receivers and letting it go when they were open. It's like teaching an old dog new tricks. I can't describe how much work is involved. The footwork needs to be well-coached, and the quarterback has to be willing.

College: The perfect West Coast classroom

If quarterbacks learned the West Coast offense in college, oh man -- it would make a huge difference. Talk about a feeding frenzy for a quarterback. I would make a coalition of NFL West Coast teams and say, "Let's figure out how to coach this in college. Then we'd have a kid coming out of college we don't have to train." I'm sure Bill Musgrave is coaching it as the offensive coordinator at Virginia because he knows the West Coast offense backwards and forwards.

Detroit Lions coach Marty Mornhinweg, who was my last offensive coordinator in San Francisco, is a great teacher of the West Coast offense. Joey Harrington will benefit from Marty if he gets a chance to continue as the Lions' head coach. There are a number of coaches who have figured out how to teach it, and Mornhinweg is one of them.

The best West Coast coaching job I've seen was when Mike Shanahan left the 49ers, became the head coach in Denver and made it available to John Elway. Shanahan put in the shotgun (something we never did), figured out plays John could feel comfortable with, and amended the offense for an older quarterback who needed to learn it quickly. He told John, "Trust me -- I'll try to make it amenable to you, but trust me."

The best defense? Belichick's Giants

All I heard from defensive linemen my entire career was, "Geez, we rush you and do everything, and we still can't get you because the ball is gone." Try to rush Brady or Gannon or McNabb. The ball is gone. How? Because there is a sense of timing that the offensive players understand.

When I played for the 49ers, we loved to see man-to-man defense. I could get the ball quickly to the receivers. Over the 10 years Jerry Rice and John Taylor played together, how many slant routes did they catch and break for a long touchdown? Several -- and most came against single coverage.

The defense that gave us the most difficulty, however, was the New York Giants through the 1980s and the early 1990s under defensive coordinator Bill Belichick. The defense (generally a two-deep zone) wasn't tactically difficult, and we had the plays for it. But the Giants players -- Lawrence Taylor, Harry Carson, Carl Banks, Gary Reasons, Leonard Marshall, Pepper Johnson -- were together so long and ran it so well, they limited our explosiveness.

The Giants always had 11 eyeballs on the quarterback. They played zone, faced the quarterback, waited for me to throw the ball and tackled everything, forcing us to work our way down the field. No one was able to get free runs with the ball. Belichick also understood that he could affect the quarterback's timing if a defensive back got in the receiver's face.

Belichick's defense disrupted our timing much like Tony Dungy's, except Dungy added one more element -- Dom Capers' zone blitz. That was the defense I hated to see the most.

The late Fritz Shurmur, who was Green Bay's defensive coordinator from 1994-98, played a lot of zone and was tough and physical with the tight ends. Some of his players should have been arrested for how they mistreated our tight ends, particularly Brent Jones. But Shurmur knew he couldn't defend our offense unless he disrupted the timing.

ESPN analyst Steve Young played 15 seasons in the NFL, 13 of them with the 49ers and the West Coast offense.

http://static.espn.go.com/nfl/s/westcoast/popularity.html

OMG Thank for putting this thread up I've trying to explain to people outside of TATF about the complexity of the West Coast offense and people will not listen here's a few links and a few videos to anybody on this board that wants to know more about The West Coast Offense

http://www.westcoastoffense.com/terminology.htm

http://www.westcoastoffense.com/

http://www.footballxos.com/download/offense/west-coast-offense/West%20Coast%20Offense.pdf

http://football.calsci.com/WCOHistory.html

Edited November 4, 2015 by DirtyBird8711

[Sidecar Falcon]

OMG Thank for putting this thread up I've trying to explain to people outside of TATF about the complexity of the West Coast offense and people will not listen here's a few links and a few videos to anybody on this board that wants to know more about The West Coast Offense

http://www.westcoastoffense.com/terminology.htm

http://www.westcoastoffense.com/

http://www.footballxos.com/download/offense/west-coast-offense/West%20Coast%20Offense.pdf

http://football.calsci.com/WCOHistory.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6mFQvZxX88

No problem, there are a lot of misconceptions about Ryan's ability vs his acclamation to the scheme.

[Flying Falcon]

Can't tell by MR'S play.

[Flying Falcon]

I personally don't like the west coast philosophy

I don't either.

[Flying Falcon]

So I assume our FO and coaching staff knew this info and silk procedded to make the scheme change?

So now I have to ask, why make this switch with a 30 yo QB, knowing we would have a year or more learning curve? We cannot afford to waste Ryan's prime years.

That's what AB said.

[Bawse]

"ESPN analyst Steve Young played 15 seasons in the NFL, 13 of them with the 49ers and the West Coast offense"

How long has Matt been playing again, and we are now implementing this after almost 8 years in the league???

[Flying Falcon]

Yall do know where Bill Walsh got this system from, right? And then he put his "West Coast" name on it.

[Sidecar Falcon]

Yall do know where Bill Walsh got this system from, right? And then he put his "West Coast" name on it.

Actually he didn't put his name on it. The term was derived from Bill Parcells.

[Sidecar Falcon]

I don't either.

Elaborate on what exactly don't you like about the philosophy.

[Macintez]

I personally don't like the west coast philosophy

I never liked the offense either... But if we want Ryan to perform at his peak and take that next step. It will be in this offense, if he can master it.

[Flying Falcon]

Elaborate on what exactly don't you like about the philosophy.

It's a pass happy type of offense. I like the basic pro style running based offenses. The two back offenses.