Pulaski Academy's Championship Offense - Horizontal Spread Passing Game

Kevin Kelley's Pulaski Academy offense averaged 51.5 points and 537 yards a game, and the horizontal passing game is where it starts. In this session, the first of his five-part series, Kelley teaches spacing as arithmetic: the square yards concept for spreading defenders, pre-snap reads for the quarterback and the receivers, and routes designed to isolate a short defender and turn his own momentum against him.

What you'll learn

• The overall philosophy and strategy of Pulaski's horizontal passing game
• Proper spacing of defenders through the square yards concept
• Vertical spacing of defenders inside that same framework
• Pre-snap reads by both the quarterback and the receivers
• Man concepts versus zone concepts and how the answers differ
• Crossing routes and the reads that come with them
• Isolating the short defender and using his momentum against him
• Receivers taking care of one defender while the quarterback takes care of the other
• Playing off defenders' hips and shoulders instead of relying on timing routes, and why an incompletion can actually be beneficial

Who it's for

Offensive coordinators and quarterbacks coaches at the high school and college levels who throw the ball to move it, and any staff installing a spread passing game built on spacing rather than strict timing.

About the coach

Kevin Kelley was the head coach at Pulaski Academy in Arkansas, where he won three state titles in seven years. His unconventional approach, which includes not punting, onside kicking and going for two-point conversions, was featured on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

Part one of Coach Kelley's five-part series on the Pulaski offense. Runtime: about 50 minutes.