Stretching defenses both horizontally and vertically in the passing game is an idea that dates back over a half-century to Sid Gillman, the Hall of Fame coach of the Los Angeles Rams (1955–59) and San Diego Chargers (1960–71), and father of the modern passing game. Though they might have been repackaged a bit, Gillman’s innovations can still be seen every fall Sunday.
Bill Walsh was among the first to realize you could combine Gillman’s horizontal and vertical stretches into a single pass play, commonly referred to as a triangle stretch. In the final part of our Chip Kelly passing game breakdown, we’ll be looking at how the 49ers’ new head coach implements a pair of passing concepts pioneered by a former 49ers head coach over 30 years ago.