Bama's Pistol Formation

Prepare yourselves.




"Unlike the shotgun, which places the quarterback six to seven yards behind the line of scrimmage, the pistol requires a shorter snap with the quarterback four or five yards behind the center, and a running back about two yards behind the quarterback.

Coaches across the board say the pistol provides some of the passing advantages of the shotgun without sacrificing the balance of a rushing attack that the shotgun often doesn’t provide.

“It’s kind of a combination of some things that are very old,” said former Alabama offensive coordinator Homer Smith. “It can freeze the defense in place, and give a guy a head start in a race to the outside. It’s a pretty ingenious thing, you can run a superb fake with it, and it does get people outside of the defense.”

Klenakis first began coaching with Ault at Nevada in 1990, left for Southern Miss when Ault retired, and returned in 2004 when Ault came out of retirement. Nevada is among the nation’s annual leaders in total offense, ranking fifth in 2008 at 508 yards per game.

“The depth that the running back gets the ball at is a helpful,” Klenakis said. “He can set up blocks better, and he’s harder to find for the defense. ... It slows down the keys for the linebackers, and there are great advantages for play-action for the same reasons because it can look like run or pass.”