Here's a good Article About The Coryell O.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_42_223/ai_56951772
And their skills have been enhanced by these basic principles of the Coryell offense:
1. Stretch the field. The concept is to soften up defenses by going long, then running the ball. The Redskins have been the best, as 19 percent of Johnson's passes have resulted in gains of 25 yards or more, and Davis has dealt with fewer defenders in the box. Zampese says he has made an effort to go deep more this season as well to take advantage of his fast receivers and strong-armed Drew Bledsoe. The Rams had six passing plays of more than 20 yards last Sunday alone.
2. Protect the passer. "There's a premium on keeping the quarterback healthy," Zampese says. "It's the most important thing you can do."
Both the Redskins, with three new offensive line starters, and the Rams, with three new line starters and a fourth in a different position, have allowed six sacks. The blockers have been helped by the scheme. Seven-man protections also have allowed deep drops and deep passes for all three teams. The Redskins and Patriots are using a lot of play-action, which slows down the pass rush.
All three teams-especially the Rams-use a lot of rhythm passes, which also prevent sacks and quarterback hits. "The system gets the ball out of there fast," Martz says. "It's a timing-oriented passing game."
3. Confuse the defense. Through multiple formations, mind-boggling motions and shifts, and misdirection running plays, this offense takes advantage of mental lapses. Giants defensive coordinator John Fox says he had to prepare his team for more than 30 formations for the Redskins. Anything goes with these offenses. The Rams, for instance, have put Bruce in the backfield and used four receivers on first down with regularity.
From a Different Article.
The Air Coryell Offense has four basic principles. Stretch the field, protect the passer, confuse the defense, and run it down their throats. The offensive line is composed of the biggest, meanest group of guys you can find as to employ the power running game needed to pound away at defenses. The line generally blocks in a zone scheme, meaning they block and hit anyone that comes into a given player’s zone. The offense is a passing offense though, and the wide receivers run intermediate to long-range routes. In order to give these routes time to develop, quarterback protection it at a premium.
Three wide-receiver sets are also a staple of this scheme. In fact, the three wide receiver set was a Coryell staple. Joe Gibbs, another Coryell coach, developed the bunch formation and the three tight-end set.
Motion and shifting is used to confuse the defense. No team best embodies this than the 1999 Rams. “The Greatest Show on Turf” was also a derivative of the Air Coryell offense. While with the Redskins, Turner had at least 40 distinct motion combinations. He used players like Larry Centers, Mike Sellars, Brian Mitchell and Stephen Alexander in various utility roles. On a per game basis, teams had to prepare for about 30 different formations when facing Turner’s Redskins. Turner even went so far as to devote a 10-minute meeting before every practice to go over all the motions and shifts for a given week.
From Coryell Himself.
"You cover the whole field, and you try to attack the whole field," Coryell says. "And you have to stretch it deep — you have to be able to throw it deep. That doesn’t mean you do it all the time. But you have somebody deep that you can get to on just about any play.
"Then you have to stretch the field in width, too, [so] people have to go from sideline to sideline. Our theory was to give them so many problems in pass defense that it kind of opened up the run."
Three-, four-, even five-receiver sets are routine. It’s part of a shell game designed to outmaneuver the defense in the precious few seconds before the play begins.
