Chris Ault and the pistol offense
S.F. Chronicle / 1-31-13
New Orleans — Colin Kaepernick doesn’t like when people call his college offense – the pistol – that the 49ers now use at times “gimmicky.”
Well, back when former Nevada head coach Chris Ault was conceiving it in 2005, he was afraid people were going to call it “crazy.” Which is why he didn’t tell people what he was doing until he was done.
Ault wanted to combine the spread passing game that you get from the shotgun with the power running game. The running back lines up behind the quarterback, so he is moving toward the line of scrimmage, and the quarterback is only 4 yards behind the center as opposed to 6.
Voila, a pistol. “And the quarterback is the bullet,” Ault said.
MORE: http://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2013/01/31/chris-ault-and-the-pistol-offense/
Kaepernick calls it 11-on-11 football. Ordinarily it's 10 offensive players on 11 defensive players since the QB is focused on throwing the ball downfield. The pistol formation "blocks" one defender by reading him.