Shotgun Formation

The formation was named by the man who actually devised the formation, San Francisco 49ers coach Red Hickey , in 1960 . Combining elements of the short Punt and spread formations ("spread" in that it had receivers spread widely instead of close to or behind the interior line players), it was said to be like a "shotgun" in spraying receivers around the field like a scatter-shot gun. Formations similar or identical to the shotgun used decades previously would be called names such as "spread double wing". Short punt formations (so called because the distance between the snapper and the ostensible punter is shorter than in long punt formation) don't usually have as much emphasis on wide receivers. The shotgun became well known after the New York Jets employed the formation during much of the Joe Namath era, to give the bad-kneed, and often immobile quarterback more time to set up plays by placing him deeper in the backfield.

At times the formation has been more common in Canadian Football , which allows only three downs to move ten yards downfield instead of the American game's four. Canadian teams are therefore more likely to find themselves with long yardage to make on the penultimate down, and therefore more likely to line up in the shotgun to increase their opportunities for a large gain. Teams such as the Saskatchewan Roughriders utilize the shotgun for a vast majority of their plays.

The Nevada Wolf Pack currently employ a formation called a "pistol", which is a tailback behind the quarterback in a shotgun style set, instead of side by side.

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Football Strategy

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Shotgun Formation