Football's West Coast Offense

The book is loaded with 244 Xs and Os diagrams, including a mini-playbook for attacking all types of defensive coverages. Position-specific technique instruction and drills ensure perfect execution on every play for teams at all levels.

Keep possession of the ball and score big with the offense that's a proven winner.

The West Coast Offense, like any other offense, requires a certain type of athlete at certain positions. Just as the wishbone quickly degenerates without a power fullback to draw 4 - 5 defenders at the point of attack (Bear Bryant's recommendation, not mine!), the WCO requires a QB who is accurate within a given range (in the HS environment, 30 - 50 yards accurately and consistently) and mobile, receivers who have the native speed to force DBs into a 10 - 15 yard cushion and are capable of executing the occasional deep route. You run the WCO at your own risk if you lack those athletes, with predictable results.

Defensive coaches run 6 - 7 man blitzes, DBs congregate in the short zones (since they conveniently aren't forced to worry about the bomb), and unless your QB is exceptionally mobile (think young Joe Montana, Peyton Manning, etc.), you can count on him taking a pounding w/multiple interceptions, rushed throws, and sacks. Furthermore, most HS QBs lack the experience and maturity to avoid locking onto primary targets, which means that if the DBs hang in the short zones, you'll increase the opportunity for blitzing lineman/linebackers to take out the QB w/delayed throws.

Offensive lineman generally have an easier time in the WCO, since they are not forced to try to move defensive lineman/linebackers through drive blocking, but instead become amateur sumo wrestlers (another warning: Pro and College lineman routinely get away with blatant holds that will result in penalties at the HS level, so if you are counting on using WCO blocking techniques like the pros, think again).

The primary attraction of the WCO at the HS level is that many districts are composed of teams running offenses from the 1970s (the wishbone being the main example), and you may find success simply because your opponents aren't preparing to defend against a WCO every week.


Football's West Coast Offense   May 14, 2003
This book is a must read for anyone interested in learning about the West Coast offense. It goes over every essential part of this difficult-to-learn offense and gives helpful insight into the strategy. As a quarterback, it helped me a great deal in understanding the offense and my role in it. I highly recommend this book to anyone that is serious about football and learning this offense.


Good info.   April 30, 2001
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

In terms of best book, this is not. But it is a must read. The small chapter on how his protection works is different from Ron Jenkins The multiple West Coast Offense.(Which is a better book). But this book will increase your knowledge about the west coast offense, you can implement the offense with this book, so it's not a bad book.


It could've been better   May 13, 1999
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

The book concentrated alot on patterns and what the quarterback's supposed to do. It didn't cover much on the most important part of the offense, the offensive line. It didn't touch on how to be a good blocker and on the importance of the O-line. I was disappointed to see that it didn't include running plays. The most dangerous teams that use the West Coast all have an effective running game. It didn't go into much depth at anything other than on the quarterback's techniques. It's a good book for QB's and receivers. It's not bad for runningbacks that only want to play catch. But it isn't good for linemen. The book just needed more substance.


a great guide for an offensive novice   July 12, 1998
A nice overview of pro football's most popular offense. I would have liked to have seen more formation diagrams, motion charts and certainly diagrams of running plays.