Why We Built Our Entire Pass Game Around One Concept

An inside look at how we use Choice to simplify the pass game and get the ball to our best players.

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know how much I believe in Wide Zone.
It’s the foundation of everything we do in the run game, because:

• It gives us answers against any look

• let’s us rep one thing to perfection

• and turns simplicity into an advantage.

After we locked into Wide Zone, we didn’t just get more consistent… we started setting school rushing records.

We’ve found the passing game version of that same philosophy, a concept we can use to run from any formation, against any coverage, and tag onto anything we do. 

One concept, repped to mastery, that lets our best players win.

It’s called Choice.

And in just our second year building around it, we set the school record for:

• passing yards

• receiving yards

• receiving touchdowns

Combined with Wide Zone we had both a 2,000-yard rusher and a 2,000-yard passer in the same season.

This post previews what Choice is, how it fits into our system, and why it’s done for our air game what Wide Zone did for our ground game.

What Is Choice?

At its core, Choice is a vertical option route tagged to a single receiver.

The idea is simple: give your best guy the freedom to win.

We tag the route to one receiver, and his job is to “get open” within a defined structure.

The route might look like a free-for-all, but the stem and how we teach the receiver to read leverage are precise.

We’ll break down the details of how we teach the route, how we tag it in different formations, and how we tie it to the QB’s footwork in upcoming posts.

Choice is how we simplify the pass game without watering it down.
It gives us answers against man, zone, and pressure, and when we pair it with motion, formation variation, and the run game, it becomes almost impossible to get a beat on.

Why We Built Around Choice

Because when you’ve got a receiver who can win one-on-one, Choice gets him the ball.

For the quarterback, it’s clean.
We train him to read leverage pre- and post-snap. As we practice this more, they start to understand how it will play out, and their drop is just confirming.

Formationally, it’s flexible.
We’ve tagged Choice from 2x2, 3x1, compressed sets, and even motioned into it late.

There’s nowhere we can’t run it. We can call it on the boundary, in the slot, or motion our guy across to get him clean access.

Every week, we build formation and motion wrinkles around Choice to give our best receiver the grass and leverage we want.

It’s repeatable.
Just like Wide Zone in the run game, the more you rep it, the better it gets. The receiver gets more decisive, the QB gets more confident, and the ball comes out faster. There’s no need to install 20 pass concepts when you have one that keeps creating explosives.

The Hidden Discipline Behind “Get Open”

At first glance, Choice looks like backyard football. Just tell your best guy to get open and let it rip.

We also present it to our players in this way. We want this to give our guys freedom to create.

But there has to be some constraints.

There’s a discipline to how we teach it, and it’s what makes the concept effective.

He pushes vertically to 10 yards, then breaks based on the leverage of the nearest defender:

• If the DB is over the top? Snap it off into a curl.

• If the DB is close and inside? Bend it outside on a fade.

• If the DB is close and outside? Break it inside on a skinny post.

We don’t just teach receivers how to get open, we teach them when and where to get open. And we train our quarterbacks to see it all unfold in real time.

Over the next few posts, I’ll walk you through how we teach it step-by-step:

• The stem and decision rules for the receiver

• The quarterback’s reads and footwork

• How we dress it up with motion, formations, and tags

Conclusion: One Concept, Endless Possibilities

Choice has become the Wide Zone of our passing game, a concept we can run from anywhere, tag on anything, and trust in the biggest moments.

But as simple as it looks, it takes real detail to teach it the right way. That’s what I’ll be diving into over the next few posts, breaking down exactly how we install it, how we coach the route, and how we tie it into everything we do offensively.

If you’re not already a subscriber, now’s the time.
This series is going to walk you through the complete build, from the route rules to the quarterback’s read, to all the ways we dress it up with motion and formation.

No fluff. Just real, on-field coaching you can apply this season.

Click below to become a free subscriber so you don’t miss what’s next.