When Bucs Used Pre-Snap Motion
July 14th, 2026
Possiblities.
There is a basketball analogy to this potential 2026 Bucs offense.
Joe’s old man played college basketball for three years. Gave it up his senior year to focus on a second undergrad degree.
He wasn’t on a basketball scholarship, and way back then Joe isn’t sure how many private schools awarded free rides for basketball.
But Joe’s old man once taught that the more you move on offense, the more opportunities you’ll have to score. The offense knows where it’s going with the ball, Joe’s old man said; the defense doesn’t.
The more the ball is moved, the better the odds the defense makes a mistake and breaks down and you get an easy shot.
Joe’s old man despised Bobby Knight (unlike Joe) and would have punched him if he ever crossed paths with “The General.” But Joe’s old man loved Knight’s motion offense because the ball and the players always moved. Joe can still hear the constant grumbling how Lou Henson’s offensive players at Illinois would “stand around.”
Joe brings this up because one area the Bucs’ offense did better with last year was with pre-snap motion.
You know, that’s what knothead Byron Leftwich used to mock as “fantasy football.” Former playcaller Liam Coen was a huge believer in pre-snap motion and the Bucs offense under him was excellent. His Bucs successor, Josh Grizzard? Not so much.
Per Warren Sharp in his “Warren Sharp 2026 Football Preview,” when Grizzard did run pre-snap motion, the success rate of the Bucs offense was much better.
Obviously, this begs the question as to why Grizzard didn’t run more pre-snap motion? The man who could answer that (Grizzard) is now working in Philadelphia.
Interestingly, the Dixie Chicks used pre-snap motion the second-most of any team in the league last year. Who ran that offense? The same guy who will call plays for the Bucs this fall, Zac Robinson.
July 14th, 2026 at 10:28 am
Agreed. I’m a big believer in motion and misdirection. If I recall, Brady wanted to add motion to Arians/Leftwich offense and when they did midway thru the season, the offense got much better. Someone with better recollection please confirm or correct.
July 14th, 2026 at 10:32 am
A bunch of us screamed it all last season… And, no one bothered to listen. Same with Otton in the run game, tipping their hand. NO TEMPO. NO RHYTHM. Horrible. Run the play clock all the way down on EVERY fricking PLAY. No URGENCY. You can go on. TIMING. Baker would just hold onto THE BALL. Just Awful. VERY hard to watch.
July 14th, 2026 at 10:34 am
You are right and Brady proved it on the field with a Super Bowl season win.
July 14th, 2026 at 10:53 am
LOL Joe Love the Bobby knight story sir.
My dad made me sit down and watch Knigh’ts Hoosiers play. Particularly come tournament time. He loved Knight and told me to pay attention to the fundamentals his guys always played with. I did and I learned a little bit about the game. Alas I never was any good at it. Tall yeah coordinated …No. BTW. I got more injuries in three years of basketball than 6 plus years of football. Don’t let anyone tell you it is a non contact sport.
Go Bucs!
July 14th, 2026 at 10:55 am
How often did Baker snap the ball late and an OL moved before the snap?
Result = flag.
July 14th, 2026 at 11:01 am
It’s truly baffling how few of Coen’s successful concepts Grizz incorporated into his scheme.
Equally baffling is how our seasoned HC sat idly by and did nothing g to correct it.
July 14th, 2026 at 11:41 am
Bobby Knight game faces is the best.
July 14th, 2026 at 11:41 am
Yea, we struggled with Coen too.
Sometimes the design makes a difference, but if the play within a design doesn’t make a difference the design means nothing.
Also, there’s that one time from last season the Falcons under Robinson used motion and it worked against them as it tipped the play off to at least 1 player which got a 4th & 1 play sniffed out and shut down.
So sure, more motion, but not the same sh** you’ve been running the last 2-3 years.
July 14th, 2026 at 12:25 pm
I’ll give him five games. That’s a good sample size.
Especially with three straight home games in that sequence.
Will the defense still be the main issue? History says yes.
Scoring 30 points a game goes a long way to winning the division.
Otherwise we might be in for more of the same results we’re getting accustomed to.