From the Sidelines
This Week: Window Dressing with Motions, Trades & Shifts
Over the past two weeks, we’ve established a foundation: personnel defines who you are, formations determine where they line up, and play selection decides what you’re leaning on when the game is on the line.
This week, we take the next step in building a complete offensive system—how to make your base offense harder to diagnose without making it harder to execute.
Identify your base offensive objectives:
We can assume to be effective on offense, we need some combination of the following:
- Create numbers
- Create numbers
- Create space
Window Dressing helps us achieve these.
Top systems will then start their offensive build in sets of three:
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Three base “hang-your-hat-on” runs
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Three complementary play actions or movement passes
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Three shots tied directly to your run mechanics
The beauty in this structure is simplicity. You aren’t trying to be everything. You’re trying to be elite at the few things you choose to hang your hat on regardless of front, movement, or pressure.
The real coaching happens not only in the play call but in the teaching:
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What can your players execute repeatedly with great fundamentals?
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What travels with you from Week 1 to Week 10+?
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What stands up against every defensive look you’ll face?
Once that core is established, then you earn the right to get creative. The key is creating a construct that allows you to run the same core play, as many times as possible, with different looks.
Window Dressing, make the simple appear complex:
Defensive staffs are too good, too prepared, and too resourced to let you line up the same way and run the same concept repeatedly. Today’s analytics, scouting systems, and film breakdowns allow defenses to identify run and pass indicators with precision.
Your job is to disrupt what they think they know without changing what your players must execute. This is where Window Dressings come in - we discuss 4 core tools:
1. Motions:
Motions, movement after the offense is set, create:
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Look changes for defenders
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Coverage indicators for your quarterback
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Angles and space advantages for your skill players
Regardless of motion type you can vary:
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Entry point (tight or wide)
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Depth
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Return motions
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Timing (fast, slow, orbit, reload)
Jet and fly motion systems remain some of the best ways to distort edge defenders and force secondary rotation.
But underneath all of it, you're still getting to your desired formation to run your same core play.
2. Trades:
A trade, a one-man movement before the offense is set, is commonly the Y in the Limestone Formation System. It is used to achieve:
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A way to manipulate run-fit responsibilities
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A method to force defenders to reset strength
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A subtle trigger to disrupt defensive keys
Simple wrinkles like a hop, showing the trade but returning the Y to his original spot, can create just enough hesitation for a defense to miss a fit or misalign.
3. Shifts
A shift moves more than one player (often the Y and F in the Limestone Formation System).
This escalates the defensive communication burden and can:
Just as important: the play call itself does not change for your offensive line or your primary skill players.
The value is clarity for your team and clutter for the defense.
4. T-Alignments & Backfield Movement
Backfield adjustments such as T4, T5, T8, T9 allow you to:
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Create empty looks from 20 or 21 personnel
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Get your best RB into quick-game or bubble opportunities
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Change the presentation of the same run concept
And for teams with a dynamic tailback, it’s an easy way to dictate matchups and spacing without introducing new plays.
Why this matters late in the season:
When you reach Week 9 and enter the tournament, defenses must now prepare for:
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Your core formations
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Your unbalanced packages
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Your shifts, trades, and motions
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Your system layers (e.g. RPO)
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Your perimeter variations
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Every weekly wrinkle you’ve shown along the way
And yet your team is still leveraging the same three core runs, three core play actions, and three core shots.
This is how simple offenses become difficult to defend. That’s how great offenses stay great late in the season.
Share your Thoughts: We welcome insights from coaches at all levels - your perspective shapes our content. Email us any feedback, what works for you, or disagreements at football@coachtree.us.
- Team CoachTree
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