"V-I-C-T-O-R-Y" The Safest Play in Football

Coach and Athletic Director, Dec, 2000 by Tim Taylor

Insure against turn-overs, milk the clock, and win the game

AS A LINE COACH, I USED to tell my linemen that my favorite play was the trap. No longer, however. My new favorite play is the "V-I-C-T-O-R-Y." What makes it so great is that it means a celebration is just moments away.

We used to wrestle with the problem of how to protect a lead late in the game -- making first downs and burning the clock. If we could maintain possession long enough, we could go into a Victory play at some point. But we didn't want to start too early and force ourselves into an unnecessary punting situation.

David Morris, one of our assistant coaches, took the matter into his own hands. He developed a Victory Time Chart to determine exactly when to take a knee.

He used the most conservative estimate of the time it took the official to blow the whistle, spot the ball, and begin the 25-second count -- using a worst-case scenario to make certain of not going into our play too early.

Whenever we have a slim lead and the clock is winding down, we don't want to risk a turnover by continuing to run our regular offense or having a ball-carrier run out of bounds and stop the clock.

Any time we have a comfortable lead, we want to prevent the possibility of a late touchdown while avoiding the appearance of running up the score.

In our Victory formation, we align in a balanced double tight end formation with about six-inch splits between linemen.

The two halfbacks line up just behind the guards, cocked in at 45-degree angles. The quarterback sets up directly behind the center between the halfbacks, while the tailback sets 12 to 15 yards off the ball directly behind the quarterback.

On the snap, the linemen take an inside step to a point behind the outside foot of the man on their inside (as in extra-point protection). Their job is to prevent an inside rush by the defense.

The halfbacks' job is to watch the ball exchange and make sure the quarterback secures the ball. If the snap is fumbled, they must recover it. Once the ball is secured, they protect the quarterback from any rusher.

The tailback must be ready to tackle whenever the unthinkable (fumble) occurs.

The quarterback must take the snap, back up a step, and take a knee until the whistle blows. He must then rise, back-pedal out of harm's way, and return the ball to the nearest official.

Coaching Points

We use a stopwatch between plays to make sure we are milking the clock for every possible second. The watch is set to count down from 25 seconds. As the referee starts the 25-second period, our offense breaks the huddle and lines up.

A coach begins the countdown once we set up on the line. He counts loud enough for the officials to hear him. We want them to realize that we are keeping up with the time to avoid any delay-of-game penalty.

A signal is then sent to the quarterback to get under the center at around 20 seconds. He then begins the snap count. We spend enough practice time on this to ensure the snap at the 24-second point.

As a line coach, I love a well executed trap, but I'll take the Victory play any Friday night it's available!