Shotgun or under center? Miami quarterback Jarren Williams insists it doesn’t matter
Dan Enos was up front about his plans when he first joined the Miami Hurricanes in January. The offensive coordinator has a pro-style, I-formation upbringing, and he blended his roots more modern spread concepts for the four years he spent in the Southeastern Conference first as the Arkansas Razorbacks’ offensive coordinator and then as the quarterbacks coach for the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Enos, who is also Miami’s quarterbacks coach, asks for more out of his quarterbacks than many modern offensive coordinators, who are content to run nearly every play out of shotgun, and it presented challenges throughout the spring as Jarren Williams, N’Kosi Perry and Tate Martell — the three quarterbacks who competed for the starting job — had to relearn how to play from under center.
“It was something that I haven’t done in a while,” said Williams, who won the job and started each of the Hurricanes’ first four games. “I haven’t been under center since I was like 6, 7 years old, but getting back under there and getting comfortable with it, I like it. I like being in the gun and being versatile.”
After Miami’s disastrous offensive performance in a 17-12 win against the Central Michigan Chippewas on Sept. 21, the seams have started to show for Enos’ offense, striving to be multiple with inexperienced personnel at quarterback and all across the offensive line.
The Hurricanes (2-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) managed only 303 total yards against Central Michigan at Hard Rock Stadium and Williams was far more effective running the offense out of shotgun. The redshirt freshman went 12 of 14 with 164 yards and one touchdown out of shotgun, as opposed to 5 of 10 for 86 yards while lined up under center, according to 247Sports.com.
Williams said Wednesday it “doesn’t matter” to him which style he is running, although he also said he’s still learning how to operate an offense from under center.
“When you’re under center, you’re making that play fake and you’re turning your back to the defense, so it kind of just trains you to, once you make that play, snap your head around, find your movement guy — you know, the guy you’re supposed to be reading — and read the defense properly,” Williams said. “It was challenging. Still, it’s challenging, but it’s something that I’m still trying to get better at, just making those good ball fakes and getting my head around quick, finding the guy and getting him the ball. It’s something that I enjoy doing.”
Playing out of shotgun, in theory, could also help make up for Miami’s offensive line deficiencies. While playing under center, Williams was sacked three times. While playing out of shotgun, he was only sacked once.
In either situation, Williams said avoiding sacks is more a product of running through his reads quickly. On most plays, Williams has three reads and then a running back he can check down to, the quarterback said.
Another solution Williams said he has talked with Enos about to use his legs a bit more often. Williams said there was at least one play he watched on film where a running lane was available and he opted to force a throw instead.
“I can take off, use my legs a little bit more instead of just staying in there all the time. Sometimes you’ve got to be an athlete and be able to extend plays, so I feel like I need to start using that part of my game a little bit more,” Williams said. “I feel like it’ll put a lot more on defense. Instead of just dropping eight and just covering the pass, they’ll have to worry about me, that I can run.”
This story was originally published September 29, 2019 at 11:20 AM with the headline "Shotgun or under center? Miami quarterback Jarren Williams insists it doesn’t matter."