Given a confluence of things about the Baylor game (our offense became a dumpster fire after Sam got injured; Machinator had a solid post highlighting some of our nice B.J. Foster-centric blitz schemes, and I was out of town all last week for work), I didn’t end up posting anything last week. In the last Xs & Os thread I posted, the posts turned to a really nice discussion of the mesh concept, the different ways its implemented, and how Urban Meyer/Herman have developed that concept separately from the air raid folks. With that discussion, I thought it might make sense to use this bye week to highlight another passing concept (and some of its variations) that I’m a big fan of: Mills.
What the Fuck is “Mills”?
Some of you are asking this exact question. “Mills” is a pass concept originally developed as part of the West Coast Offense scheme (originally called Fox 2 X/Y Hook), a play action pass designed to find an open tight end over the middle for a medium-sized (10-12 yard) gain. Here’s the play:
The progression for the play is designed to hit the TE on a 10-12 yard hook route, filling in the space between the Mike and Sam (who must honor the run threat on play action) and the strong safety, who has to stay deep to honor the threat of the post.
So why is it now called Mills? Because Steve Spurrier took this play and shot it up with crack. Instead of focusing on an intermediate route to a tight end, he fixated on the post. And the player who gained notoriety for streaking downfield and catching bombs on the play? Ernie Mills.
How Does Mills Work?
The question Spurrier had to answer was: How do you get the post open? How do you convince a safety with deep coverage responsibility to take an intermediate route, letting the post route fly past him?
Spurrier’s answer: Find the person responsible for deep coverage, and run someone right at ‘em. Then, have that person break (either on an in-route or a hook) right in front of the defender, pulling them up in defense and letting the post sneak behind. Here’s what it looked like:
The Evolution of Mills
Some of you are watching that video and noting that those plays are run out of 21 personnel—a tight end, running back, and fullback—and only two wide receivers. You might be thinking to yourself: Why the fuck am I still reading this? There’s no way this concept still works.
Except it does.
It is true that defenses have been cognizant enough of this concept that it’s not generally workable as the only route concept being run on a given play. And linebackers are much more athletic than they were 20 years ago, so they’re able to get drops that disrupt the deep in. But coaches have found ways to mix Mills with the quick passing game, to attack every level of the defense at once. Here are some examples:
First, over the last thirty years, Mills (and a similar play called “DDP” (Dig, Drive, Post)) became so prevalent in college football that pro teams using the concepts lumped them together in a concept called “NCAA”—named that because “everyone in the NCAA runs it.” Here’s what Mills/NCAA looks like, with a drive route and hitch on the backside:
Oklahoma State
Remember all those times the past few years Oklahoma State would fake inside zone with Justice Hill, then Mason Rudolph would step back, coolly wait a few seconds, and then throw a bomb to James Washington, streaking wide open down the middle of the field? You guessed it: Mills.
Here’s oSu running Mills against OU:
OU presents a pretty clear Cover 2/Cover 4 look. oSu runs one slot on a dig route (this is the Mills/NCAA concept I mention above). Their other slot runs the deep hook, right at the deep safety. Washington runs the deep post and by the time the ball gets to him, he’s three yards in front of the defender.
Here’s another example against Tulsa:
Now the outside receiver to the boundary runs the shallow cross (completing the Mills/NCAA route combo). The boundary slot receiver runs what appears to be a corner route, although it’s not very easy to be 100% sure, with the camera angle we get here. To the field side, the slot receiver runs the deep in (right to the sticks, giving the safety even more pressure to come up in support), and Rudolph puts the ball right in Washington’s breadbasket.
This shit is almost not fair.
West Virginia
So Oklahoma State has continued to use Mills to great effect. It makes sense that WVU has, too, right? Here’s their look:
It’s impossible to tell what the boundary receiver does on this play, other than to know that he doesn’t run an in-breaking route. That means WVU is not running Mills here with the NCAA (dig route) variation. Instead, they rely on their bubble screen look to freeze the defense. The strong safety actually WAY overplays the bubble screen, meaning he’s not even getting caught up in defending the deep in (although that’s the only route he can get back to cover). By the time Sills makes his break, he’s four yards in front of the defender and Grier has put the ball right on his hands.
Would Mills Work at Texas?
So now you’re saying: Great. Here’s a bunch of air raid teams running Mills. How the fuck is that useful to me, a Texas fan?
Well, it’s useful to you because the one time I’ve seen Texas run Mills this year, it should have been a touchdown. What play, you’re wondering?
I bet you remember it after I show you:
That’s right. Sam’s overthrow on the first drive against KSU was running Mills. Here’s how we ran it:
And here’s a better shot of the routes as they were run on the play:
If Sam doesn’t miss on that ball, it’s a 55 yard walk-in TD by Duvernay, perfectly utilizing his skillset.
Lethalize Mills
So the shit I wrote above is basically the post. But I’d be remiss if I posted this without touching on one more concept that’s near and dear to my heart: Fully weaponizing Mills to its most lethal potential.
Ignoring the fact that he’s one of the great chodes in the coaching industry, Bobby Petrino’s version of Mills is the best, most “weaponized” version I’ve seen. And it perfectly fits the personnel we have (big wide receivers and speedy, pass-catching running backs).
Ostensibly, Petrino’s version is actually his preferred method of running the shallow cross. But Petrino bolts the shallow cross onto Mills with a Wheel. It’s totally fucking captivating. Check it out:
The reads on this play are relatively simple: Is Post covered by the safety? If yes, is the Wheel covered? If yes, look shallow cross then to the deep in.
Another variation that I’d love to see us run is a trips receiver set running Mills with a wheel route underneath. Something like this:
Put Duvernay at X for this play, LJH at A, and Collin Johnson at Z, and you’ve got fireworks. Or flip those—put CJ at X and Duvernay at Z, and now Sam has a throw down the sideline to Duvernay that he’s much more comfortable with.
Let’s hope we see some fireworks this weekend.