Why Dave Aranda is betting big on the wide zone offense

Jordan Burgess/Baylor Athletics

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WACO -- At a program used to scoring at the highest level, Baylor’s 2020 season was a nightmare offensively. 

The Bears ranked bottom-two in the Big 12 in virtually every offensive metric, in the neighborhood of only Kansas. Specifically, the Bears dropped from 6.2 to 4.4 yards per play to rank ahead of only the lowly Jayhawks among Power Five teams. 

Rather than chalk it up to being a weird pandemic year, Baylor coach Dave Aranda cleared the deck. He cut offensive coordinator Larry Fedora, passing game coordinator Jorge Munoz and offensive line coach Joe Wickline. Quarterback Charlie Brewer transferred to Utah. Running back John Lovett went to Penn State. Aranda sat down and rethought his entire philosophy. 

“I think two of the hardest things to do in college football right now is to run inside zone and dropback pass,” Baylor coach Dave Aranda told Texas Football. “We did a lot of those two things last year, which I take responsibility for.” 

To be fair, it makes sense why he tried that out. Aranda won a national championship in 2019 behind Joe Burrow’s dropback passing at LSU. But by Aranda’s estimation, the Big 12 is different. Baylor is different. And so rather than run back a failing strategy, Aranda looked to the market for something new. 

In wide zone aficionado Jeff Grimes, he believes he has found it. 

Picking a direction

When you ask Baylor offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes what characterizes his offenses, he has a simple answer. 

“We’re an attacking, multiple formation offense that runs a few plays a lot of ways with as much misdirection as anyone in the country,” Grimes told Texas Football. “I can write that down for you. All our offensive players know that and they can recite it.” 

What Grimes’ statement means in practice is that Baylor doesn’t have many plays. Virtually every single blocking scheme will be built out of a wide zone look. But Baylor can line up with different numbers of receivers, tight ends, running backs, put them in different alignments – and still run wide zone.

Last season, the lack of identity played a significant role in Baylor’s offensive woes. Brewer was asked to step up in a drop back passing game, but the running game and blocking schemes didn’t always line up philosophically. Separating pass game and run game responsibilities between Munoz and Fedora – an attempt to replicate the LSU model of Joe Brady and Steve Ensminger – simply did not work at Baylor. 

With Grimes leading the way, the offense will have nothing if not a central identity. 

(Rod Aydelotte)

The wide zone approach is built around horizontal motion by linemen. It allows them to stretch the field in a given direction and create multiple opportunities for gaps. Adding more tight ends can create even more such chances for running backs to read the field and find a crease. 

Think back to the San Francisco 49ers team that ran its way to the Super Bowl behind Kyle Shanahan’s run-first offense, even as the passing game struggled. When executed perfectly, that’s similar to the run game Baylor hopes to install, and with a number of passing concepts attached. 

“Appearing complex in your presentation – shifts and motions and multiple motions – presents different pictures to the defense,” Grimes said. “But we’re still running wide zone...The idea is that we do few enough things that we can hopefully execute at a higher level than our opponents can, but still give them a whole lot to work on.”

To the defense, almost every play will look the same. What changes is where Baylor goes with the ball, whether it’s play action, whether it’s a run-pass option or anything else. The Bears can line up with no tight ends or with several, can motion running backs into the slot – versatility is key. 

BYU’s offense ranked No. 1 nationally at 7.84 yards per play running Grimes’ system last season. The Cougars ranked top-15 nationally in yards per carry. 

“I really believe in balance,” Grimes said. “That doesn’t mean 50/50, but it means that the defense on the other side believes that you might run or throw the football in any situation, whether it’s 1st-and-10 or 4th-and-1 anywhere on the field.” 

Why wide zone fits the Big 12

Aranda coached in the Big Ten and SEC before arriving at Baylor, and found that each conference has its own personality. The Big Ten was filled with bulky developmental gap-fillers. The SEC was built around plug-and-play defensive linemen who needed the game simplified to play as freshmen. 

In the Big 12, on the other hand, players tend to sacrifice developmental bulk in exchange for quickness. Defensive linemen play more in the 270-pound range than past 300, which creates opportunities for stunts and twists to create havoc against inside zone and man blocking schemes. 

Aranda also defines the Big 12 by its safety play. For a number of reasons, the league often features safeties and nickels getting involved in the box, sometimes at the expense of deep coverage. 

“When [the safety] deeper, he can get to a certain part of the field based on a five-step drop and have angles to help,” Aranda said. “In our league, everyone’s safeties are even and will go quarters and both come down, or go into Cover 3. They never really get to the depth.” 

Without question, the box-attacking safeties are a response to the quick passing air raid offenses that defined the Big 12 for decades. Teams like Mike Leach’s Texas Tech ran four- or five-wide receiver looks and created a mesh in the middle of the field to attack. To take away the quick pass and limit explosive plays, Big 12 defenses had safeties step up. 

(Rod Aydelotte)

But to Aranda, that creates an opportunity. Running a wide zone allows Baylor’s offensive line to use the momentum of lateral-moving defensive linemen against them. Even more importantly, making the running game horizontal forces safeties and cornerbacks to get involved in the run game – which he believes will open up the passing game dramatically. 

“We’re not working downhill as much as we’re running sideways, collecting whatever is coming,” Aranda said. “It’s more of a wave crashing downshore...we can add tight ends and create more gaps, get corners out to tackle and make the run and pass look the same. Then we can take advantage of those middle field openings and of those single receiver matchups.” 

Making the run and pass game look similar means that every single play, every defensive back on the field will have to lean forward and decide whether to engage in the run game or not. If they bite, the receivers can run free. If not, the running backs will have even more space in the second level. 

All it takes is one player out of 11 taking a bad angle, and the offense can take advantage. For an offense that has leaned towards plodding and inside zone, the hope is that this system can finally get playmakers in space and lead to big offense. It’s a system that has found supporters across football – but Aranda believes it is perfect for the Big 12. 

How quickly can it happen? 

Baylor ranks among the national leaders in returning production, but finding personnel to run Grimes’ new system will take some time. 

At the quarterback position, it’s an open four-man competition between players who have yet to play significant snaps at the collegiate level. It will be critical to the new system that the quarterback be able to throw the deep ball. 

Ideally, the ability to move will help make the offense more horizontal and force defenders to defend the whole field. That is a factor that could give mobile junior Gerry Bohanon a leg up in the battle if he adjusts quickly to the offense, though Jacob Zeno and Blake Shapen will have something to say about it. 

The Bears also don’t have much consistency at the running back position. Baylor astonishingly didn’t have a single player go over 200 yards rushing while fielding one of the five worst rush offenses in America. However, keep an eye on Abram Smith, who went from running back to linebacker and back to running back. He fits the role perfectly. 

“You need a one-cut runner who can be aggressive and when the cut calls for it, can turn his shoulders north-south and run through arm tackles...more than anything, I’m looking for a violent runner that will impose his will,” Grimes said. 

(Baylor Athletics)

Linemen aren’t selected based on body type, but instead on movement and athleticism. The wide zone system forces players to block side to side and even get to the second level, and then to line up again and run those sprints again. 

Longtime left tackle Connor Galvin has adjusted exceptionally well to the system. The Bears also added Buffalo’s Jacob Gall, who was rated the top left guard in America by Pro Football Focus while running wide zone under Lance Leipold. Underclassman Micah Mazzccua is finding his legs. There’s a path for Baylor’s line to take a big step forward if they can execute better. 

If the rest of the pieces can come together, the receiver corps at Baylor is still awesome. R.J. Sneed and Tyquan Thornton will be the primary recipients of a new quarterbacks’ passes. Jaylen Ellis is an underclassman waiting in the wings. Gavin Holmes has fought back to become a factor in the rotation. If Baylor can protect, this unit can thrive. 

Last season, Aranda hoped that he could create a strong offense by pulling pieces and welding them together. Rather than double down, he is picking a direction and betting big on it. 

“At the end of the day, what matters for Baylor is that we win,” Grimes said. “Whether you win in a high-scoring game or a low-scoring affair, both of those count as wins.”

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