Questions about the term "BELLY"

The INSIDE BELLY was the fake of the FB off the ON-G's butt (like the first option or FB Dive in the conventional Wishbone "triple"), & handing to the second back thru off tackle (TE blocked down & ON HB kicked out EMLOS).

The OUTSIDE Belly is essentially the same ball handling as the INSIDE ZONE - RB "Bellied" (BANANA CURVE) to butt of ON T - TE blocked down & ON HB kicked out EMLOS. They ran an Outside Belly Option off it. Woody Hayes popularized it - it was called "26 POWER" at Ohio St. Woody's book ("HOTLINE TO VICTORY") are bringing $500-$600 on used book sites! SOME people refer to the Inside Zone as the "BELLY"!

I ran both Belly series in the 1960's!. There was a good book on the BELLY SERIES by Jordan Olivar (HFC at Yale in those days). The series was very popular. Try to get it thru an interbriary loan! Great detail.

Ultimate Offensive Playbook uses the term belly to denote a reverse pivot by the QB before handing to the FB crashing the playside B gap. A compliment to that there is the belly fake with an option-type pitch headed the other way. You've probably seen somebody in the NFL or college run that play, it can be very effective if the BS contain isn't staying at home.

Here is my "2 cents" worth on this topic: I run what I call "Belly Series" which involves plays where the QB fakes to one back and hands off to another. We do not reverse out on this series. If you talk to a wing-t coach he will tell you it is a weakside series featuring the FB, a counter play to the HB, and option/keeper by the QB. I think Nebraska used to also run a Belly Option pulling the PSG and loading the EMOL. So I think the term "Belly" is one of those terms that is not universal.

To me, the inside Belly has always been open pivot, fake FB dive, give to RB next hole over! That has long been the basic philosophy of the belly: send one back through a hole, the ball through another, as I have always understood it. I was fortunate to be part of a staff that enjoyed phenominal success running the bone, and 26 POWER was an integral part of that offense. I still run it today.
The belly becomes a game winning play when you have been running lead dives all night, then fake the FB and give to RB in next hole over when you really need a game breaker.

Coach Easton

Hey Bill,

I think everyone appreciated your historical accounting of the series, I know I did. Having played HS football in late 50's when belly was just getting started, we ran it exactly as Coach Hayes dictated it to be run.

Coach Easton

Tiger One,

Where did you get information on Coach Hayes' version of the Belly Series? Oneback mentioned some books that were written by these coaches that would give great insight into the history and evolution of these plays. Do you (or anyone else on the board) know where a copy of these books could be purchased?

Sounds like you guys have some great knowledge of this series! That's awesome!

Lochness - I also played in this offense in the 1950's & coached it in the 1960's - before going strictly "pro-style" in 1968.

The Inside Belly Series was:

1. FB DIVE (straight line) over outside leg of on G (like the FLEXBONE) with 1 on 1 blocking. QB opened back at 4 o'clock & rode the FB. Then faked to OFF HB coming around to off tackle hole to the same side.

2. Second Man Thru - fake FB DIVE as above & hand to OFF HB coming around off tackle (TE down blocked
& ON HB kicked out EMLOS). These two plays are STILL in the Flexbone offense!

The Outside Belly Series was:

1. FB OFF TACKLE (over butt of ON T). QB reverse pivot to 4 o'clock & ride FB off tackle - then fake Outside Belly Option to trailing OFF HB. FB ran a "banana curve" to butt of ON T (it was referred to the "rollback path"). Blocking SAME as "Second Man Thru" (Inside Belly Series above) - TE block down & ON HB kick out EMLOS.

2. OUTSIDE BELLY OPTION - same as FB OFF TACKLE except QB optioned EMLOS & ON HB arc blocked #4 (S/S).

These 4 plays were the BASIS of the whole offense. There were counters (which varied from coach to coach), play action passes, etc.

If you wish to discuss this series, call me at 804-740-4479 EDT.

PS: Get the book "OFFENSIVE FOOTBALL: THE BELLY SERIES" by JORDAN OLIVAR - published by the Ronald Press 1958 (best detail on the subject). It is OP but you CAN find it thru an INTERLIBRARY LOAN! I get antique OP books that way weekly!

Lochness - just found some Jordan Olivar BELLY stuff online - will forward the articl;e but diagrams won't come thru - so you will have to pull up the article: Look under "DECOO JORDAN OLIVAR BELLY SERIES"

December 27- "Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the mastery of fear." Mark Twain


*********** What a great Christmas surprise! A couple of days before Christmas, I opened a large envelope from a college classmate and teammate named Harry Olivar. He's an attorney in Los Angeles, and his dad was Jordan Olivar, our head coach at Yale. Coach Olivar (his friends called him "Ollie" but I never had that privilege) died in 1991. He was a wonderful man and a heckuva football coach, and I asked Harry when I saw him at a team reunion back in October if he'd be good enough to furnish me with some biographical info about his dad. He agreed, but he's a busy man and couldn't commit to a deadline, so when I started to open his envelope, I didn't know what to expect. Once I saw what Harry had sent, though, it was obvious that I was on to something. It was a treasury of information, including some rather humorous stories involving a man I'd only known as rather olympian, very composed and professional in everything he said and did. Soon enough, thanks to the generosity of a son whose love for his dad is obvious, I hope to share with you a side of a remarkable man that I'd never seen.

Now, just to let you know a little something about Jordan Olivar and his brand of football, here is a sampling of his Belly Series...



A young coach who'd been hearing the term "belly" used and didn't know what it referred to, had the guts to ask me recently what it meant. (I guess it takes a certain amount of guts, because it's amazing how many guys won't ask these questions because they're afraid they'll look stupid.) This was an easy one for me, because this is what we ran in college. I wish I'd paid better attention back then, but I did save a lot of my game plans, and I do have the book my coach published.

The word "Belly Series" or "Belly-T" or "Belly Option" came about during the 1950's, when people began running an offense in which the QB would place the ball in the fullback's belly but hang onto it while the fullback cradled it for a few steps; then, he would either give it to the fullback - and then either fake to the opposite halfback off tackle or, occasionally, an fake an option - or pull it out of the fullback's gut and hand it to the opposite halfback (or run an option, or play-action pass, or counter) while the defense ganged up on the fullback, who no longer had the ball.

In the sense that the Belly was series football, with one play setting up another, it was not unlike what we do. A simple illustration of this series concept is shown above against a 50 defense, popular even then.

Shown on the LEFT is the basic Inside Fullback Belly play, whose purpose was to make the inside linebackers and playside tackle so fullback-conscious that they would begin to tackle him even when he didn't have the ball.

There were several ways of blocking the basic fullback belly, and it was the responsibility of the offensive tackles to recognize the defenses and call the most effective blocking against it. (The backside tackle made a "dummy" call to keep defenses guessing.)

Once the threat of the fullback was established, a great complement to it was the halfback off-tackle (RIGHT). Notice how this took advantage of a "50" defense whose inside LBer and playside tackle had begun to overplay the fullback.

The Belly Series was a very deceptive offensive innovation and in its early stages, until officials became accustomed to seeing it, there were a lot of touchdowns called back because officials blew the whistle thinking that they'd seen the man with the ball being tackled, while the real ball carrier was way upfield.

Coaches Bobby Dodd at Georgia Tech and Jordan Olivar at Yale were considered among the leading proponents of the Belly-T. Both wrote books that would be very helpful to anyone interested in learning more about the offense.

The Belly Series is by no means dead; the inside and outside Belly are key components in the Delaware Wing-T, and around the country you can still find people who drive opponents nuts with it. I have a book of AFCA clinic notes from 1975 which contains an article by Coach Vince O'Connor of St. Francis Prep in Brooklyn, New York. It was entitled, "Twenty Years With the Belly Offense." I read an article in USA Today this past fall about Coach O'Connor, who is still coaching, still at St. Francis Prep, and still running the Belly. The winningest active coach in the state of Oregon is Dewey Sullivan, of Dayton. He is still going strong and still running the Belly-T. I played him a couple of times several years ago, and I can tell you that his teams were very hard to defend against. He bought a copy of my tape a few years back and paid me one of the highest compliments I've ever received: he told me that if he didn't run the offense he was running, he would run mine.

ALSO TRY TO GET:

Football at Ohio State by Woody Hayes (1957), & Hot Line to Victory by Woody Hayes (1969?)

Lochness & Tiger1 - go on Google Search & pull up a great article called "STEP BACK - CATCH UP - BACK TO BASICS" by Jerry Hanlon. Discsses Woody Hayes' "26 & 27 POWER" - which WAS the OUTSIDE BELLY!!!!!!! Woody beat Iowa 55-0 once running that play OVER 30 times!

Hey Oneback:
Noticed your phone area code. Where are you located? I am in Powhatan. Are you still coaching?
Grace Alone,
Greg Bailey

Beetle: I am in Richmond. Coach Woodson (Powhatan) is a close friend, & won the 2003 State Championship using the same offense I ran before retirement!

Oneback,

You made my day with this stuff! I am really looking forward to learnig some historical information on the early days of this scheme. I'm going to hit "Google Search" right now and see what kind of stuff I can turn up!

Thanks again! Great find!

Call at 740-4479.

Are you coaching?

Introduce yourself to Coach Woodson - you might want to get associated with his program in some way (two State Championships in te last 7 years!)

Lochness - the BEST Belly QB I ever saw (a real MAGICIAN with the rides & fakes) was Frank Broyles at Georgia Tech. He went on to be the best coach in U of Arkansas' history, and may still be AD there. Contact Frank at Arkansas about Belly material. He used to go all around the country lecturing on the "BELLY"!