How can Matt Canada help the Steelers’ offense?
First of all, it is not easy to simply find piles of the Steelers’ all-22 game film laying around, so I had to dig quite a bit to find numerous examples of the pre-snap routine in Fichtner’s offense. After working at it, I was able to cobble together enough examples to say with confidence that with or without Roethlisberger, there is not a tremendous amount of pre-snap activity that would give a QB or offensive coordinator quick intel as to what the defense is doing.
Enter Canada. I mean Matt Canada, not the country. I can see no good reason to enter the country. But I’m getting off track. There is all-22 video available for teams that Canada led in college as an offensive coordinator and I looked at a lot of it. Here’s a breakdown of what I found.
Pre-snap motion in Canada’s offenses served multiple purposes.
- Often, Canada would start a game, a half, or an offensive series with multiple shifts from one set, both with wide receivers and backs, as well as tight ends. Everyone moved, and often, multiple times.
- The shifts revealed multiple defensive tendencies that allowed offensive coaches to understand how different looks could influence play outcomes as the game wore on.
- Tight ends and fullbacks or h-backs often shifted into unbalanced looks, only to shift back to balanced looks before the snap.
- Wide receivers shifted enough to indicate man or zone coverage pre-snap, not to mention the safeties’ intent.
- Canada’s offense, with one play, could show how the defense would be vulnerable both to run and pass plays.