The multiple offensive is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

offensive scheme used by several teams in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

and

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

. It is a hybrid offense consisting of formations and plays from various other schemes including the

pro-style offense A pro-style offense in American football is any offensive scheme that resembles those predominantly used at the professional level of play in the National Football League (NFL), in contrast to those typically used at the collegiate or high scho ...

spread offense :''"Spread offense" may also refer to the four corners offense in basketball.'' The spread offense is an offensive scheme in gridiron football that typically places the quarterback in the shotgun formation, and "spreads" the defense horizontall ...

, and

pistol offense The pistol offense is an American football formation and strategy developed by coaches Michael Taylor of Mill Valley, California and popularized by Chris Ault when he was head coach at the University of Nevada, Reno. It is a hybrid of the traditi ...

, and possibly more. The multiple offense allows for a wide variety of play calls and formations, from spreading the field with 4 or 5 wide receivers to utilizing

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

s and

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

s to establish a power running game. As such, it can be adjusted to fit the skills of available offensive personnel and can be difficult for an opposing defense to scout and prepare for. On the other hand, it can result in an offense which is "mediocre at everything", especially in college football, where practice time is limited.

References

American football strategy {{Collegefootball-stub