Run & Shoot The run and shoot offense is an offensive system for American football which emphasizes receiver motion and on - the - fly adjustments of receivers ' routes in response to different defenses . It was conceived by former Middletown , Ohio , High School football coach Glenn " Tiger " Ellison and refined and popularized by former Portland State Offensive Coordinator Darell " Mouse " Davis . The Run & Shoot system uses a formation consisting of one running back and between two and four wide receiver s . This system makes extensive use of receiver motion ( having a receiver suddenly change position by running left or right , parallel to the line of scrimmage , just before the ball is snapped ) , both to create advantageous mismatches with the opposing defensive players and to help reveal what coverage the defense is using . The basic idea behind the Run & Shoot is a flexible offense that adjusts " on the fly , " as the receivers are free to adjust their routes as they are running them in response to the defensive coverage employed . The quarterback , as a result , also has to read and react to the defense ' s coverages in a more improvised manner than with other offensive systems . In the purest form of the offense , the proper complement would consist of two wide receivers lined up on the outside edges of the formation and two " slotback s " ( running backs who are capable of catching the ball as well as running with it , e . g . Ricky Sanders and Richard Johnson of the USFL ' s Houston Gamblers ) lined up just outside and behind the two offensive tackles . Many of the National Football League teams that used the Run & Shoot in the early 1990s used true wide receivers in all four receiving positions . The types of running backs used varied from smaller backs who could catch passes to big , bruising running backs who could run with power . The frequent passing plays run out of this formation tend to spread out the defense ' s players . If repeated pass plays work , the defense is not as prepared for running plays ; running the ball between the offensive tackles , or just off - tackle , is now possible and more likely to succeed . At the Collegiate level , the 1989 Houston Cougars football team demonstrated the scoring potential of the run and shoot offense as quarterback Andre Ware set 26 NCAA records and won the Heisman Trophy while the # 14 ranked Cougars finished the season 9 - 2 . The Cougars were disallowed from having its football games televised or playing in a Bowl Game that season due to NCAA sanctions imposed some years earlier . The following two seasons Houston quarterback David Klingler continued the success of the run and shoot throwing for 9 , 430 yards and 91 touchdowns , including 716 yards and 11 touchdown passes in a single game which were all records . Quarterbacks Ware and Klingler were both drafted in the NFL first round . The success of Houston ' s run and shoot offense and the inability of its record setting quarterbacks to translate their success into the NFL lead to the label of being a " system quarterback " . Formation History . The original inventor of the Run & Shoot , Tiger Ellison , first started out with a formation that overloaded the left side of the offensive line for his scrambling quarterback . He called it " The Lonesome Polecat . " A year later , he came back with a more balanced formation that is similar to the diagram below . The formation bears a strong resemblance to the Flexbone offense . Other variations of the above formation are similar to the way spread offense s like to set up their systems . Originally , the run and shoot was set up so that the quarterback would be positioned behind the center in a single back position , with the single running back lined up a few yards back . Later , during his tenure with the University of Hawaii , June Jones used quarterback Colt Brennan out of the shotgun . In this case the running back is offset to the right of the quarterback ( as in the formation below ) . Another formation that can often be seen with the run and shoot is the " trips " formation , where three wide receivers are situated to the right or left side of the line of scrimmage . Most of the time , this formation will be created out of motion when the W or Y receiver moves to the opposite side of the formation . Running the Run & Shoot . Player and motion names . Every team has its own specific naming conventions , but they all have the same basic principles . To make diagramming plays easier , the receivers used in the Run & Shoot are often given standardized names depending on their position . One way to do this is to label the receivers , from left to right , X , W ( for " Wing " ) , Y , and Z , with the running back being called an S - Back ( for Singleback or Superback ) . The initial movements of the receivers can also be labelled by using code names for " left " and " right " such as " Lil and Rob , " " Liz and Rip , " or " Lion and Ram . " As an example , a quarterback may call an " X Liz , W Liz , Y Go , Z Rip , SB flat " , which tells the X and W receivers to run to their left , the Y receiver to run a go ( or fly ) route , the Z receiver to run to his right , and the S - Back to run to the flat ( close to the line of scrimmage and toward the sideline ) . Route concepts . There are several kinds of routes a receiver can run , depending on the specific type of run and shoot offense that is being used : Another important concept to the run and shoot is the ability to improvise depending on defensive coverage . One aspect is generally what is called MOFO or MOFC . Those two acronyms stand for : Middle of Field Open or Middle of Field Closed . This relies on the play of the free safety and where he is lined up in the defense and often is mentioned in relation to the W or Y receiver . One example is to have the W receiver be told : If it ' s MOFO , run an inside post route . Upon lining up at the line of scrimmage , the QB can see that the FS is moved to the left to help double - team the X receiver . As a result , the W receiver will have a MOFO situation . Upon the snap , the W receiver would then run an inside post route to where the open area is , that was normally covered by the FS . A second example is to have the Y receiver be told : If it ' s MOFC , run a hook route . So the QB sees that the FS is in his general spot and the middle of the field will be " closed " ( or covered by the FS ) . Upon the snap , the Y receiver will run up and then hook or curl back towards the QB in the open area beneath the FS . The Y receiver may also curl to the left or right opposite of the FS depending on how his DB is playing him as well . Key concepts . The following concepts are key to understanding the Run & Shoot : < br > Disadvantages of the Run & Shoot . There are several potential disadvantages to using a Run & Shoot offense :