Inside Penn State’s Playbook: Diamond Formation

An Alignment That Put The ‘Smashmouth’ In Mike Yurcich’s Smashmouth Spread At Oklahoma State, The Diamond Formation Has Been Re-Imagined In Happy Valley Thanks To A Collection Of Tight Ends That Can Do More Than Just Wreck Stuff. 

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As a fanboy of studying offensive football, I’m a sucker for some good wrinkles.

Not the wrinkles that suddenly appear the millisecond you blow out the candles on your 40^th birthday cake, nor the wrinkles you lazily try to smooth out of an unironed shirt on a rushed workday morning with sprinkles of tap water and a 5-minute tumble in the dryer (always does the trick). No, I’m talking about play-calling wrinkles – those delightful miniscule scheme adjustments that coordinators make as a season goes on.

In Week 8 vs. Ohio State, Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich finally flashed a formational wrinkle — a blast from the past dating back to his Okie State days – that had previously been oddly absent throughout his tenure in Happy Valley. It’s called the Diamond Formation.

OG FTB readers might remember us referencing the Diamond Formation in our August 2021 Opus on Mike Yurcich’s offensive philosophy. For the TL;DR crowd, here’s what you missed:

Inarguably, the most aesthetically interesting formation Yurcich showcased at Oklahoma State was actually a holdover package created by balding visor enthusiast Dana Holgorsen when he was OC in Stillwater: The Diamond Formation.

The 30 personnel formation (3 RBs, 0 TEs) crowds a traditional Pistol look with two sidecar fullbacks/Cowboy Backs sandwiching the quarterback. From there, the tailback or fullbacks often shift (tailback offset, fullbacks stacked) moments before the snap to create confusion for the defense on where the offense plans to attack the line of scrimmage. Furthermore, assuming defenses load the box, Diamond opens up 1-on-1 opportunities on the outside for game-changing receivers like Justin Blackmon – Holgorsen’s top weapon when the Diamond was formed back in 2010.

For the visual learners, here’s what Diamond looked like at Oklahoma State:

And here’s what it looks like at Penn State:

Originally, Holgorsen conceptualized Diamond as the solution to a deficiency that usually plagues spread and air raid teams – namely, their tight ends (if they even have any on the roster) stink. Conversely, Holgorsen’s pass-happy clubs at Oklahoma State did roster a bunch of one-dimensional, stone-handed, breathing battering rams – politely dubbed “Cowboy Backs.” So Holgorsen made lemonade out of these neck roll-wearing lemons.

Instead of placing these positional misfits on the line of scrimmage, Holgorsen stuck them in the backfield as a smashmouth alternative for short-yardage and goal-to-go situations – scenarios in which his explosive 4-WR and 5-WR sets would be compromised by the shrunken field. When Yurcich filled Holgorsen’s OC vacancy in 2013, Diamond remained a popular play call at Oklahoma State largely because the Cowboys still couldn’t recruit any decent tight ends over the next 5 years.

Shifting from one extreme to another, Yurcich inherited one of the deepest and most-talented TE rooms in the country upon being named the OC at Penn State in 2021. Perhaps that’s why it took Yurcich a season-and-a-half to finally debut Diamond in Happy Valley…because he was of the mindset that that particular formation was only good for fixing a problem he no longer had.

As it turns out, having a pocket full of “Aces” offered Yurcich play-calling options out of Diamond that were simply off the table at Oklahoma State. Within a limited 6-game trial run, it feels as if Yurcich only scratched the surface of what Diamond can do to opposing defenses when your entire Diamond backfield is filled with versatile athletes.

Do not be surprised if the Diamond Formation’s 2022 to 2023 evolution/expansion mirrors Yurcich’s evolution/expansion of the T Formation from 2021 to 2022.

Strategy/Philosophy

Similar to another formation we’ve studied on FTB (cough, cough T Formation), the Diamond is completely symmetrical and balanced in its base form, thus creating possible numbers/leverage advantages at the point of attack depending on the defensive alignment. Diamond was yet another way for Yurcich to get his uber-talented tight ends or “Aces” on the field in an unorthodox alignment that presents infinite possibilities from a play-calling standpoint.

OK, maybe “infinite” is a tad hyperbolic…but it’s a lot.

Beyond that, however, the Diamond and the T couldn’t be more different, even though both formations look tough and manly and feature crowded, beefy backfields.

At its core, the brilliance of Diamond lies in its run-blocking versatility…an attribute severely lacking from the ‘Blast’-heavy and QB sneak-heavy play-calling tally seen thus far in the T.

In Diamond, the alignment of the tight ends in the backfield creates ideal angles to perform split or kick-out blocks, while also presenting the threat of wrapping on counter plays, or inserting to lead block on any kind of zone run. Unlike a traditional formation in which the tight ends are inline (bookending either or both offensive tackle(s) on the line of scrimmage), Diamond disguises what gaps the tight ends might attack…which in turn clouds the pre-snap picture for defensive coordinators on where to position extra run-fitters.

In this sampling of plays out of Diamond, specifically watch Clifford’s “sidecar” backs – pairings of either 86-Brenton Strange, 84-Theo Johnson, or 44-Tyler Warren – and all the different blocks they’re asked to perform at a multitude of attack points.

Astute viewers probably noticed that we didn’t include a single play where both sidecars run through the A or B gaps at the same time. Well, there’s a reason. They weren’t very good at it.

At Oklahoma State, Yurcich loved inserting his stiff, no-neck, human wrecking balls (a.k.a. “Cowboy backs”) on inside or wide zone run plays and instructing them to blowup flat-footed linebackers.

Try as they might, Penn State’s tight ends didn’t find much success on the lone play they were asked to plow ahead full-speed between the tackles.

The unintended but pleasant consequence of Diamond is that the formation creates advantageous 1-on-1 opportunities on the perimeter when defenses stack the box with 8 run-fitters to account for the 7 offensive blockers (5 OL, 2 Cowboy Backs/TEs). At Oklahoma State, Yurcich loved to pass out of Diamond in the Red Zone by throwing up a bunch of fades and back-shoulder balls, trusting that his WR was a better athlete than the dude covering him on an island. Thus far, we haven’t seen this attempted at Penn State.

The 7-man or 8-man pass protection Diamond offers also afforded Yurcich’s Oklahoma State QBs and WRs enough time to push routes vertically with a high degree of success. Nothing fancy. One-on-one. I like my guy more than your guy. Simple.

As you know, for all the strides Penn State made offensively last season, the vertical passing game left much to be desired. And, as you already guessed, vertical concepts run out of Diamond were no exception.

Yeah.

With Dante Cephas’ proven ability to create separation at the line of scrimmage and downfield, and Drew Allar’s proven ability to “throw a football over them mountains,” expect this aspect of Diamond to sparkle much more this season for Penn State.

Base Plays

According to our charting, Penn State ran 37 snaps out of Diamond in 2022. Nearly 50% of all reps run out of Diamond were one of two plays – a Glance/Flat RPO or a Zone Read with two ‘Arc’ or ‘Lead’ blockers.

Run primarily against single-high coverage when defenses rolled the strong safety into the box for additional run support, this RPO concept has Penn State QB Sean Clifford reading the extra box defender – the “conflict” defender. If the defender cheats up post-snap to help stop the run – like Rutgers safety 2-Avery Young does here — Clifford pulls the ball and throws the open glance.

If the conflict defender stands his ground, or even bails deeper into the glance passing window – like Utah safety 8-Cole Bishop does here – Clifford hands the ball off. According to our grading, Clifford did not make a wrong read the dozen or so times Penn State ran this RPO out of Diamond.

However, Clifford was rather inconsistent reading the other bread-and-butter play out of Diamond…this zone read with the sidecar TEs lead blocking if/when the QB pulls and keeps it. Clifford is reading the unblocked defensive end. If he crashes and commits to the RB, Clifford pulls and scoots backside. If the DE stays put or feathers, Clifford gives to the back.

These are all proper reads by Clifford.

For a QB who throughout his four years as a college starter displayed that he’s not averse to using his legs, that he’s got a little Vanilla Vick in him, Clifford NEVER once pulled the ball and ran out of this zone read…even though we charted three instances where he clearly should have, the most appalling being this masterpiece, all-on-his-own first down run by 13-Kaytron Allen.

What’s funny is that when Yurcich ran this zone read play out of Diamond at Oklahoma State, former cement-footed Cowboys QB Mason Rudolph looooved pulling the ball and keeping even when it was the wrong decision. Heck, even 240-pound Penn State true freshman 15-Drew Allar wasn’t afraid to pull and chug upfield when it was the right read (clip below). So, no clue what Clifford’s deal was with this play.

Shifts/Realignment

A month after Yurcich resurrected Diamond from its long 20-game slumber and put a handful of plays on film against Ohio State, Indiana, Maryland, and Rutgers, the second-year Penn State OC quit playing Nintendo 10-Yard Fight and started playing PS5 Madden 23 when it comes to Diamond. In other words, he quit playing checkers and started playing chess.

First alteration: rearranging the deck chairs in the backfield.

On 4 of the 8 Diamond plays PSU ran vs. Michigan State, either 10-Nick Singleton or 13-Kaytron Allen switched out of their typical Pistol spot – 2.5 yards behind the QB – and instead occupied one of the sidecar TE roles, thus threatening horizontal movement in the run game. Jumbling the backfield alignment allowed Yurcich to run this power read/inverted veer where the backside guard pulls and follows behind the two lead blockers out of the backfield. Clifford’s read key is the unblocked defensive end – if he widens, Clifford keeps; if he pinches inside, Clifford gives.

Once Michigan State digested this wrinkle, Yurcich altered the script and ran a 5-route play-action pass out of this rearranged Diamond. Notice in the clip below how hard all 3 Michigan State linebackers bite on the run fake, giving Clifford his choice of wide-open TEs to throw to downfield. Yurcich could not have run this play at Oklahoma State. He simply didn’t have the personnel for it.

Finally, considering Utah had roughly a month to gameplan prior to the Rose Bowl, the Utes probably felt prepared for everything the Nittany Lions could/would do out of Diamond. Then, Yurcich pulled all this multi-phased pre-snap movement out of his hat, forcing the Utah defense to suddenly adjust and rapidly communicate amongst themselves on the fly.

*Watch this clip twice. On your second viewing, focus solely on the Utah defenders. Notice all the talking and hand-gesturing as Penn State continues to shift.

I feel bad for what Yurcich did to Utah’s D here. All of these moving parts completely eliminate Utah’s ability to play full speed and confidently at the snap of the ball. This screen was one missed 77-Sal Wormley block from going for 20-30 yards. Even with less than perfect execution, it still went for 8 yards setting up a makeable 3rd down.