gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

, a shift refers to the movement of an

offensive Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

player prior to the

snap Snap or SNAP may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Snap'', the original release title for the 2013 film ''Enter the Dangerous Mind'' *''Snap'' (TV series), a CITV programme * ''The Stanly News and Press'', a newspaper in Albemarle, North Carol ...

Motion and shift

There is a distinction drawn between a ''shift'' and ''motion'' in football.

Motion In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and mea ...

occurs when a player is moving ''at the time of the snap''. A shift occurs when one or more players changes their position on the offensive side of the ball ''before the snap'', causing a change in formation. For example, players may line up initially in an

I-formation The I formation is one of the most common offensive formations in American football. The I formation draws its name from the vertical (as viewed from the opposing endzone) alignment of quarterback, fullback, and running back, particularly when ...

and then shift the two running backs into wide receiver positions to put the offense in a

spread formation Spread may refer to: Places * Spread, West Virginia Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Spread'' (film), a 2009 film. * ''$pread'', a quarterly magazine by and for sex workers * "Spread", a song by OutKast from their 2003 album ''Speakerboxxx/T ...

. A team may shift any number of players into new positions, so long as they all come to a complete stop for a full second before the ball is snapped to start the play. The National Football League defines all motion and shift penalties as "illegal motion", while both the NCAA and NFHSAA make a distinction between an "illegal shift" and "illegal motion"; an illegal shift refers to players shifting and not coming to a complete stop before the snap, while illegal motion refers to a player who is in motion towards the line of scrimmage, or a player who is not a "back" in motion. In both leagues, however, the penalty for illegal motion/illegal shift is five yards from the previous spot and replay the down. Additionally, the offensive team may be charged with the penalty of a "false start" if a player on the offense jumps or moves abruptly, simulating the start of the play. This movement is not normally considered a subset of the "motion" or "shift" rules, as the player is not judged to be moving into a new pre-snap position; they are merely starting the play too soon. This is also a five yard penalty.

History

Both motions and shift were introduced by

Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfie ...

. The history of

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 ...

involves three notable, distinct shifts: *The

Minnesota shift The Minnesota shift is an American football offensive maneuver that was a forerunner of other shifts and pre-snap formation changes in the game. It consists of a sudden switch into a new offensive formation immediately before the ball is snapped w ...

, used by the likes of

Henry L. Williams Henry Lane Williams (July 26, 1869 – June 14, 1931) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the United States Military Academy in 1891 and the University of Minnesota from 1900 to 1921, compiling a care ...

. *The

Jump shift The jump shift or Heisman shift, was an American football shift maneuver utilized by John Heisman. In this system, only the center was on the line of scrimmage, and the backfield would be in a line, as one would in an I-formation with an extra ...

or Heisman shift, used by the likes of

John Heisman John William Heisman (October 23, 1869 – October 3, 1936) was a player and coach of American football, baseball, and basketball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College, Buchtel College ...

. *The

Notre Dame Box The Notre Dame Box is a variation of the single-wing formation used in American football, with great success by Notre Dame in college football and the Green Bay Packers of the 1920s and 1930s in the NFL. Green Bay's coach, Curly Lambeau, learne ...

, used by the likes of

Knute Rockne Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...

References

{{Gridiron football maneuvers American football terminology