The jump shift or Heisman shift, was an

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

shift maneuver utilized by

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 ...

. In this system, only the center was on the

line of scrimmage In gridiron football, a line of scrimmage is an invisible transverse line (across the width of the field) beyond which a team cannot cross until the next play has begun. Its location is based on the spot where the ball is placed after the end ...

, and the

backfield The offensive backfield is the area of an American football field behind the line of scrimmage, and players positioned there on offense who begin plays behind the line, typically including the quarterback and running backs ( halfbacks and full ...

would be in a line, as one would in an I-formation with an extra halfback at the hind end, or a giant T. The players could shift into various formations. In one version, the line shifted so that the center was between guard and tackle, and the three backs nearest the line of scrimmage would shift all to one side. A split second elapsed, then the ball was snapped and the wall of three blockers charged on. If needed, the center could also snap it to one of the other backs. The phalanx of blockers resembled the yet-to-be developed single wing. The Heisman shift was considered more complicated than its predecessors (say the Minnesota shift).

References

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