Packers Reportedly Made Offer to Hire Chris Ault as Consultant

In what can read as a sign the Packers are concerned about defending the read-option, they reportedly offered to hire the former Nevada coach as a consultant.

This offseason I asked Packers head coach Mike McCarthy at the NFL Combine point blank if he regretted not preparing more for the read-option last season even when practicing for an opponent that hadn't previously shown to use it.

Predictably, McCarthy wasn't about admit to such a claim in front of an audience that included the national football media.

“I don’t regret anything about the last season,” said McCarthy back in February. “That’s really what this time of year is for. Regret is something I think is an excuse. I don’t really live in that mindset.”

But if actions speak louder than words, the Packers clearly are concerned about the read-option and reportedly made an offer to hire former Nevada football coach Chris Ault as a consultant, according to Dan Hinxman of the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Ault is widely regarded as the inventor of the pistol offense, and while the pistol formation and the read-option are not necessarily one and the same, they are closely linked.

In the pistol formation, the quarterback typically takes a shorter shotgun snap from the center than usual with a running back lined up directly behind him.

Ault coached Colin Kaepernick in college at Nevada, the same quarterback that set an NFL record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a single game with 181 against the Packers in the division round of the playoffs last season. His 49ers accumulated 579 yards of total offense the same game.

Hinxman reported earlier in the day that the Kansas City Chiefs had hired Chris Ault, the team now ran by Packers executive John Dorsey as general manager and former Packers assistant Andy Reid as head coach.

It could safely be assumed that Ault's responsibilities will include more than just sharing his knowledge of the pistol formation and read-option offense.

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Comments (23)

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Nerd's picture

May 13, 2013 at 05:46 pm

Excited for Chiefs fans. They have something to look forward to, for the forseeable future.

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Bogfan's picture

May 13, 2013 at 09:07 pm

Calling Andy Reid " former Packer Assistant" cracks me up. Yeah, cuz that's what he's best known for, ha ha

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dawg's picture

May 13, 2013 at 10:02 pm

John Dorsey could be a thorn in our as.
Love to hear TT response. etc.

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lebowski's picture

May 13, 2013 at 10:13 pm

John Schneider already is...

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cow42's picture

May 14, 2013 at 05:20 am

damn - they really have no idea how to defend that offense, do they?

games 1 and 2 could get real ugly real fast.

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xuyee's picture

May 14, 2013 at 09:32 am

The thing is, Kaep also converted 3rd and longs just scrambling up the middle on aborted pass plays. There's no magic to this, we just need assignment-sure linebackers. It's not like Kaep ran through the Rams and Ravens like butter.

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Stroh's picture

May 14, 2013 at 11:39 am

Pretty sure the Majority of Kaeps yards came when the coverage was good and he took off running. He didn't get most of his yards on the read option runs.

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cow42's picture

May 14, 2013 at 12:35 pm

they still don't have anyone who can catch that guy.
he's changing the game.

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Stroh's picture

May 14, 2013 at 02:52 pm

Unbelievable. You really believe Kaep is revulsionizing the NFL?! Just ridiculous.

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cow42's picture

May 14, 2013 at 06:22 pm

yes - i really do.
he has no flaw.

elusive.
quick.
fast.
athletic.
strong.
smart.
cannon arm.

what can't he do?

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Fish . Crane's picture

May 14, 2013 at 08:49 pm

and damn accurate. i agree w/ c42 these super athletes at the quarter are going to pressure D's- and when you can't hit the quarter after he hands off on an option..those protections designed to save less athletic qb's are going to lead to the demise of the less athletic qb.

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Stroh's picture

May 14, 2013 at 10:52 pm

When Kaep starts getting hit by a LB every time he does the read option, they'll put an end to it quickly. Especially if he gets a big contract. Simple fact is teams aren't paying QB's to put themselves in harms way. Look what happened to RG3. Teams simply do NOT want the Franchise QB's getting hit that often. The D will be advised that if he carries out a fake they have free reign to hit the QB. And in the read option, there is a free defender that is on the QB.

Kaep is a good athlete a good QB, but take away his running and he simply isn't anywhere near the Rodgers, Mannings and Brady's!

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cow42's picture

May 15, 2013 at 09:09 am

"When Kaep starts getting hit by a LB every time...."

you mean as opposed to sitting in the pocket and getting drilled more than 50 times (not including times running past the line of scrimmage)?

this "too many hits on the qb" thing is a load.
it's not like these running qb's are gonna carry the ball 25 times/game...

kprnk is huge and elusive - he's not gonna take a bunch of vicious hits... you can't hit what you can't catch.

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PackerAaron's picture

May 15, 2013 at 09:22 am

While I agree overall, cow, the Ravens hit the shit out of him in the Super Bowl. Go back and watch, nearly every time he handed the ball to Gore, it was because a LB or DE was crashing down. Whether he had the ball or not, they hit the hell out of him. After a while, the Niners went away from the read-option. Not a coincidence.

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thedon's picture

May 15, 2013 at 10:30 am

Cow, there is a big difference between hitting a QB and hitting a QB playing the read-option or running. Rodgers is a protected player in the pocket, Kaepernick is not protected while he's doing a read-option play or on the run.

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cow42's picture

May 15, 2013 at 10:43 am

"While I agree overall, cow, the Ravens hit the shit out of him in the Super Bowl. Go back and watch..."

1 - i only watch SB's that the Packers play in. made that vow after watching the loss to the Broncos

2 - dude ended up with 364 total yards a passing td and a running td... seems like he did just fine.

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PackerAaron's picture

May 15, 2013 at 11:29 am

Yes, he did "just fine" but that wasn't the topic of conversation. It was how to negate the read option.

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cow42's picture

May 15, 2013 at 10:44 am

"Cow, there is a big difference between hitting a QB and hitting a QB playing the read-option or running. "

i would argue that more qb's get injured sitting in the pocket than out in the open field.

you're more vulnerable standing tall, looking downfield.

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thedon's picture

May 15, 2013 at 11:30 am

You can't hit a QB once the ball is gone, you can hit a QB playing the read option even if he doesn't have the ball, so I'd say the pocket passer is less vulnerable.

Also, open field hits where a QB can get taken out at the knees are much worse than in the pocket sacks.

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Trevor's picture

May 14, 2013 at 11:49 am

Hey Stroh...is this where you are hanging out these days? I think you are right on Kaep and his yards. We left huge gaps in our containment and he exploited it. They may have been designed but it wasn't really the pistol formation that completely got us. That said, this guy could probably still help us prep for that kind of offense...

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Stroh's picture

May 14, 2013 at 06:58 pm

Here I am. And Jersey Als... Dont tell Wiedhead he'll just start more arguments!

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Ken's picture

May 14, 2013 at 01:52 pm

they should hire former Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Greg McMackin as a consultant to defend the read option and pistol. He defended Kapaernick for 3 years while was at Hawaii as head coach and did a good job. Certainly better than what the Packers did.

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PackerAaron's picture

May 15, 2013 at 11:41 am

It's interesting that the Pack made an offer to Chris Ault. You have to think they were looking on intel more than anything, so perhaps they're looking at this sort of thing...

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