*These are several posts from suave_andrew that I combined together.

Probably no other aspect of Brian Kelly’s offense will receive more attention than how the run game performs. This is due mainly for two reasons: 1) Charlie Weis’s inability to establish the run at Notre Dame played a large role in his downfall and 2) Brian Kelly had a similar run-pass play calling ratio at Cincinnati and he too favors the pass.

However, the run-pass ratio is for the most part the only real similarity. Watching the video of Kelly’s teams, you will notice that his offensive lines are much quicker than what Notre Dame fielded under Weis. They don’t hold up on the inside well on obvious running downs, but they get up field and block at the next level on quite a few plays. You’ll also notice a good dose of the read-option. Kelly’s offense, in my opinion, functions best when he has a QB who can run and I think that a healthy Dayne Crist will flourish in this offense. Last, you’ll notice that Cincinnati was able to do something that we rarely saw from Weis’s running game: big plays.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URVhiO0h7Nc]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFRUx-ch2fs]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvAFdZW-2bQ]

One thing that we can expect from Brian Kelly is an extensive use of the tight end. Their running plays almost always seem to go toward the tight end-side of the formation which often forces the defense to make a hard decision on whether to overplay the pass on the other side of the formation or leave their defense in single man-coverage to defend the run. It’s easy to dismiss this as a finesse style of offense, but unlike the running plays that Weis called (often simply draw plays), Cincinnati will overload a side of a formation and power through that side of the defense.

Despite a pass-centric play calling tendency similar to Weis, Kelly’s offensive lines and tight ends have been able to create large holes when called upon and his running backs were all noticeably more decisive hitting the holes than Notre Dame backs have been under Weis. Kelly’s offense actually seems to function best with a running QB and he will run a lot of spread-option if he has the personnel.

Cincinnati’s base formation: Shotgun; 3WR; 1 TE; 1RB

They’ll often bring the TE in motion and/or switch the side the running back is aligned on depending on the way the defense is setup:

It is also fairly common for the TE and/or RB to flex out and line up as a receiver. Often what looks like a 5WR look is actually 3WRs and the TE and RB lined up as receivers:

Cincinnati’s ‘power look’ when they need to run the ball generally comes from a two tight end formation and doesn’t tip which side of the ball the offense will run to – this formation is especially dangerous with a running QB on choice-option plays.

They almost always run the ball towards the Tight End side of the formation, so the defense often has to choose whether they want to play the run and leave one-on-one coverage on the other side of the formation, or gamble on the pass and hope their defenders can beat the blocks of the tight ends.

It’s also not uncommon for the QB to snap directly from under center on this play; more often than not it’s a running play such as a quick toss to one side, helping to keep the defense from overplaying one side of the formation.

Cincinnati often lined up with 2 TEs and no back. This was an especially lethal formation with a running QB because it could easily provide a balanced power running formation against a spread-out defense or catch the defense in single coverage if they overplayed the run.

Kelly’s offense features the tight end in both the running and passing game. He would sometimes bring in linebackers to serve as fullbacks or a 3rd tight end in his offense in power situations, so if he has the personnel, it’s not unlikely that Kelly will use a fullback or 3 TEs in his offense and power the ball if he has to.

I should expect that Rudolph will be able to put up large numbers in this offense if healthy.