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Definition of Pro Style Offense

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
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With all this talk all over the message boards about "pro style offenses", I figured this would be a good time to define that term "pro style offense". First, there is no singular pro style. Most coaches, players, and students of the game will say that there are really five "pro style offenses":
The current pro style offenses in use by all 32 NFL teams are:
  • (Generic) Pro Set - The default offense for the NFL between 1960 and even today comprised of 2 WRs, 1 TE. Most other offenses are extensions of this Pro Set.
  • Zampese-Coryell "Air Coryell" - An extension of the Pro Set used by Don Coryell from 1978 to 1986 that makes the tight end more of a receiver than a blocker, as is the case with the Pro Set. This offense is run out of the Pro Set, but differentiates itself from the base offense by using pre-snap reads after putting a receiver in motion. Receivers get open by creating seams forced by the pre-snap reads, motion, and the patterns adjusted after the read (very similar to the Spurrier Fun N' Gun). This offense is still used today by the Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts, Chicago Bears, and by other teams with elements of the Spread.
  • Erhardt-Perkins "New England Offense" - An extension of the Pro Set used by Ron Erhardt and Ray Perkins in the late 1970s. This offense focuses on time of possession with grinding running backs. As offenses evolved in the 1980s, the play-action became a popular way to set up a deep vertical game. In modern times, the New England Offense is often mixed with elements of the Spread by New England (this offense is de-evolving from pure Erhardt-Perkins over time) Kansas City (this offense is looking more Pro Set or spread, depending on the QB), and the New York Giants.
  • Bill Walsh "West Coast" - An extension of the Pro Set used by Bill Walsh that emphasizes short passes to open up the running game. Like the Air Coryell, the West Coast uses elements of the playbook to open up passing lanes that are set up by the running game, but differs through the use of short passes to the edges. San Francisco and a host of other teams still use this offense.
  • Generic smash mouth - A generic name for the Pro Set that focuses on large fullbacks as lead blockers, strong tight ends that create running lanes, and powerful running backs that grind out 3 to 4 yards at a time.
Any of these offenses are considered "pro style". Since the early part of the decade, more and more elements of the spread have been appearing throughout the NFL. In college, these five offenses are still prevalent. When most people complain about "kiddie college offenses", they are talking about pure Spread using the zone read, and spread option using the option, or any combination thereof. The Run and Shoot also faced similar criticism in the 1980s and 1990s despite its success in the NFL and in college, as well as CFL. The New York Giants actually employ some Run and Shoot elements today. The Steve Spurrier Fun N' Gun shared elements of the Run and Shoot and the Air Coryell, even beyond the cosmetic commonalities.
 

Escambia94

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Good segue. Today's New England offense is not THE New England offense. The New England Offense that Drew Bledsoe ran, and that Tom Brady inherited, is not today's New England offense because Charlie Weis' NE offense was modified by Josh McDaniel. Guess where McDaniel got those changes? The 2005 Florida Gators, under Urban Meyer. Yes, the Patriots use elements of the run-oriented Meyer Offense. Don't believe me? Watch Aaron Hernandez take an inside pitch not from Tebow, but Brady. Watch Hernandez line up first as receiver then as running back a la Percy Harvin. Is it a run and shoot? It depends. I call it the spread-option with all the running plays replaced with run and shoot concepts.

The point is that Bill Belichik molded an offense around his personnel. He was not getting production out of his running backs under the Weis NE Offense, so he added Urban Meyer's run oriented offense to his existing run oriented offense and removed the running backs.

When was the last time a coach created an offense around a college kid without the tools to run an NFL offense? 1979. Bill Walsh was going nowhere with Steve Deberg in a pro style offense. Joe Montana was too small and lacked the arm succeed in the pro style, so he created the West Coast Offense and the rest is history.

Tebow needs a coach to take a chance a create an offense around him. Look what happened when an NFL team borrowed ideas from a college team...the current NE juggernaut. The Broncos should visit Urban Meyer and figure out how to build an offense around Tebow. They need two new tight ends, two new receivers, and a receiver-running back hybrid.
 

Leakfan12

VIP Member
Well Walsh had that system when he was the OC for the Bengals. Also Orson Charles and Chris Rainey will be available for the draft in the later rounds. Maybe Michael Floyd or Kendall Wright as first rounders.
 

DRU2012

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Belichik and Co. have Brady relying on the TEs (including Henandez, not coincidentally) in the way most other teams' passing game relies on the WRs: both downfield, AND holding up and/or coming around into the flats, on outs and delayed screens--at times almost like runners themselves. Talk about adapting to and making the most of what you have: call it a "modified spread-option attack run off a pro-style set", or whatever, but at a certain point, the switch-offs, trade-outs, and adaptations make the labels and descriptions moot, at best just a convenient starting point for discussion after-the-fact.
This is but one way to mix and modify a system to achieve success; there are a near endless variety of alternatives. The Broncos, or whomever ends up going with Tebow, don't necessarily need Meyer in order to design an effective hybrid offense around him; they have only to possess a vision of such an offense, the imagination to recognize daring details that lend themselves to such an approach, and the will to implement and further modify the overall work-in-progress as it finds its rhythm, growing confidence and success.
 

Escambia94

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Moderator
I cite Urban Meyer, because he is not the originator of the spread-option, but he is the master of mixing and matching offenses to gain results. Meyer inherited Larry Fedora's offense which was 14th in passing, 58th in rushing, 19th in scoring. In the Gators' first year under Meyer (2005), the offense fell to 50th in passing and scoring, remained at 58th in rushing. With one year to improve upon his mix of spread, option, and pro style, Meyer's offense ranked 19th in passing, 30th in rushing, 23rd in scoring. By 2007, that offense was 4th in scoring, 20th in passing, 20th in rushing and was fully spread-option. The point is that Urban Meyer is successful at mixing Pro Style with the spread-option to gain such a well balanced offense that the scoring rankings can be high, even if the rushing and passing rankings are not. Where Meyer failed is with John Brantley. Meyer's offense is predicated on a mobile QB, no matter the mix of Pro Style and spread-option (yes, even Chris Leak became mobile whereas Brantley did not).

The Broncos OC, Mike McCoy, would be wise to visit Urban Meyer and learn some spread-option concepts to bring to the NFL, just as Bill Belichik and Josh McDaniels did in 2005. There are few others that can help the Broncos with these concepts. McCoy did bring in some option plays, but not enough spread-option. Once McCoy figures out the difference, Tebow and the rest of the offense will become dangerous.
 

DRU2012

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I "get" what you're proposing, E-, and don't mean to split hairs here, but, especially after his last couple of years here, I wonder if, rather than consulting Meyer, it isn't going to one or several of his then-ASSISTANT coaches, or even just closely reviewing and analyzing the film of their offenses during those few years that staff was intact and flying high here at UF, that would offer the greatest benefit of time and effort to McCoy or anyone ELSE looking to tailor a unique and dangerous "custom offense" to Tebow's skills and potential. This is NOT the same Urban Meyer that came in hungry and eager to prove he'd "arrived" and was worthy of his opportunity at this level--and, after the ensuing sequence of events and outcomes referred to above, there is, after all, some question as to how MUCH of that "adaptive innovating" was Meyer's in the first place; at this point, it seems certain it wasn't his alone.
 

Escambia94

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Moderator
Which assistants? Dan Mullen is not an innovator, he is an implementor. Steve Addazzio is a.....you know.

Who else is an innovator that Denver can consult with? Rich Rodriguez does not have a big name QB on his resume. Urban Meyer has Alex Smith, Chris Leak, and Tim Tebow.
 

DRU2012

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Which assistants? Dan Mullen is not an innovator, he is an implementor. Steve Addazzio is a.....you know.

Who else is an innovator that Denver can consult with? Rich Rodriguez does not have a big name QB on his resume. Urban Meyer has Alex Smith, Chris Leak, and Tim Tebow.
Strange, isn't it? Like an elusive "magic spell", the source of "collective creativity" that produced a "unique result" has seemed to have evaporated into thin air, returned to the "ether" the Greeks once believed produced "the muse", their idea of the source of all instances of creativity and imagination.
How else to explain Meyer's sudden loss of same when these "implementors" all left him--or the desperate and mis-aimed choices made in the aftermath, like his sudden reliance on the overmatched Nameless One itself?
It's not so much that I give no credit to Urban Meyer THEN (though I think we can all agree now that he was part of something larger, a "chemistry" that emerged out of a meeting-of-minds that amounted to "more than the sum of its parts"), only that once the fire and magic of that strange synergy of hunger, ambition, vision and insight had burned through, it was suddenly over, its components of flesh and blood taking their "winnings" and cashing out, if you will. However you look at it, it was most definitely gone. Its tremendous inertia carried our program through another season (that strangely frustrating '09 season, with all the hugely talented parts still in place, experienced and healthy and led by the indefatigable #15 himself, somehow undefeated until finally being inevitably "unmasked" in the SEC Championship against the inheritor-to-our-crown, Alabama), but even before then most of us had sensed something was now missing.
Of course we want it back--a standard has been set, but if it is to happen, it will have to be in a new and completely different context, in a unique way with a new and completely different set of individuals and circumstances.
The strategic and tactical underpinnings, the technical details of football that can be taken from "Meyer's Spread-Option Attack", adapted and applied to varying degrees, can be studied and absorbed in any number of ways, and the underlying philosophy that supposedly is its true key you can either read about in his book or, if well-connected, you might even get him to come in and talk to you and your coaches about--and so what? Even Meyer couldn't hold that "lightning in a bottle" for long...what makes you think you can mix up the same ingredients somehow and bottle-it-up on-demand?
Let's see what happens with Meyer himself now. If he thinks HE can do it he AND tOSU are in for a bumpy and disappointing ride, I assure you. His best move, at this point, will be to act the part of the respected "Dean of Coaches", there to oversee their return to calm respectability, gather around himself the best young coaching talent he can find, help them recruit top talent, and let THEM find a certain level of innovative excitement that produces some big wins--if not have "lightning strike again", then at LEAST preside over an acceptable level-of-annual success.
As for what anyone else can take from what-was, I suppose this can apply both to the Broncos and their use-or-abuse of Tebow, and to US:
Don't get hung up on ANY one "system": each team is its own unique situation, an opportunity for a creative and imaginative "mix and match" of styles, talents, and innovations--and on offense, the quarterback is the focus of your attack. Every play begins with the ball in his hands, so whatever qualities he has, you had best use them to your advantage--minimize his weaknesses and exploit his skills, and go out and get the guys who'll help themselves and HIM execute the "hybrid offense" you envision...and remember, it isn't just about technical "skill"; these guys have to TRUST each other. If they do, with the parts in place and functioning together, they will accomplish things that aren't there "on paper", that you can't put in "the gameplan".
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
Rich Rodriguez, Mike Leach, Dana Holgorsen, Urban Meyer, and Chris Petersen are all considered the premier offensive masterminds of today's college football. None of them will succeed without the right assistant coaches and the right players. Only Meyer got into a position where he could bring good assistants and good players together for not one, but two national championships. Only Urban Meyer can take credit for two QBs (Alex Smith and Tim Tebow) that made it into the playoffs that "had no business being there". Only Urban Meyer can take credit for changing how NFL teams use the tight end (Aaron Hernandez) and receiver/H-back (Percy Harvin). None of the other masterminds come close. Yes, Urban needed Dan Mullen and Steve Addazzio to implement, but those two were not the architects. All Meyer needs at tOSU are some assistants to learn, and not leave before he brings up another assistant. Chris Petersen brought up both Brent Pease and Bryan Harsin. Harsin struggled in his first year due to lack of chemistry and the fact that those players were recruited by someone else for a different offense. Pease will probably undergo the same problem in 2012.

At tOSU, Meyer has Mensa member Tom Herman and an old Gator running backs coach Stan Drayton. Herman changes teams a lot, but could be convinced to stay with Meyer as his protege. Herman is young, and very smart. Drayton is from Ohio any way, and was with Meyer before. The offensive line coach worked with Meyer at Notre Dame and will likely only succeed under Meyer (he has sucked under other coaches).
 

DRU2012

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So you think Meyer really IS "the best of the bunch", truly superior and "a cut above" these others, even today, and that a particular time, combination of personalities among coaches and the players available to them, and a unique blend of all of these, plus circumstance, was NOT the key to that "run", but rather the power of Meyer's particular and innate dominant personality, AND football acumen, that made that all happen--and that, therefore, he can and will reproduce that kind of success again now. Is THAT what you're saying?
...And by extension, of course, his last few years with us are explained by, what--he lost "interest and focus", but has them back now? And do these particular Assistant Coaches guarantee that simultaneous program- and career-resurrection? It seems you're investing Urban Meyer with the kind of over-arching talent, skill and intellect that the most desperately rabid OSU fans (and Colin Cowherd) have done, E-, and I just want to make sure that is your intent and true POV.
If so, maybe you're right...I don't believe it, but then again, I neither expect nor require that kind of superior-to-all infallibility in ANY man, least of all a FOOTBALL COACH. Give me a fiery guy with experience and a vision of his own, who gathers other talented and hungry football minds around him and builds a team with "his kind of guys", gets them believing in themselves like HE believes in them, and, if they can all just hang together and see it through, he will bring you a WINNER.
Meyer had that at one time, brought it with him to Florida where it all came together--and, once here, was able to hold onto it for about 3 years...then it was gone, and the most we can say now, in MY view, is that he's back at Square 1--only he now has the rep, with the money and power behind it, to go out and get "the best", at least theoretically, if he can identify it...but even if he can--and that is STILL a big "IF"--does he have the rest, anymore? The hunger, the drive--and a new vision of what it will take, on-the-field? I'm not so sure; I think it will depend almost entirely on who he brings in--and then its not really Meyer's anymore, is it?
At this point, I'll take OUR guy, the Coach we've got now. I don't KNOW if he'll pull it off: unlike Meyer, who essentially brought what he "found and built" IN with him, Will Muschamp is trying to do that "building" right here in place. I THINK he's on the right track, that he has the vision, skill, hunger and drive to do so, and the personality to get the right men AND let them do what they do best--but we won't know for sure for another year or two. The signs SHOULD begin to show come this next season, though. It will be interesting, watching OUR program, and (whether we admit it or not) seeing how things develop for our former coach, "up there".
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
Urban Meyer is an architect, not an implementor. Yes, he is one of the brightest architects today. ESPN and I agree on that one. No other coach today can give advice to John Fox and Mike Mccoy on how to build an offense around Tebow. Nobody. I understand that there are doubts, because of Meyer's last year at Florida, but remember what I posted earlier. Addazzio and Loeffler were not as capable as Mullen at running the Meyer offense without Meyer. Mullen is not duplicating Meyer's success at Mississippi State, and Addazzio is not running a pure Meyer offense at Temple. Meyer will update his Utah-Florida offense and tear up the B1G. NFL coaches will woo him for advice. John Fox should be one of those guys.
 

Escambia94

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Moderator
I hesitated to answer the question about Meyer and his motivation level, but I think the answer goes back to him being am architect, not an implementor. Mullen was that guy, and he left. Meyer could have survived the departure of Tebow, but not with Brantley as his QB and no Mullen to back him up. Also, I have been saying all year that Ohio is home for Meyer. I did not think he would be back in Ohio in 2012, but I knew he would go back. Meyer probably realized that this would be his best shot to coach back home, and avoid the Bull Gator mentality that probably forced the Brantley issue. Sure, there are rich Bucknuts up there, but those people will be pushing running backs and linebackers, not quarterbacks. Meyer can live with rich Bucknuts forcing any player but the QB. It also helps that the current tOSU offensive staff is already familiar with the spread offense, and that the QB fits the Meyer offense already. Meyer will be happy in Ohio longer than he would have been happy in Florida. Muschamp is no threat to leave, because he is home. Muschamp is no defensive architect--he is a defense implementor. Time will tell if he learned head coaching well enough from Mack Brown to last a long time at Florida.
 

DRU2012

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And as I said, it will NOT be so easy to consciously and rationally create the "magic" again on-demand--all with new people, in a new place, starting from scratch--and a changed person, to boot. Meyer's a bright guy, but that kind of synergistic "greatness-of-the-group"-energy is bigger than one man, and while that man can be at the center of it, may even be the catalyst when it DID happen, he didn't do it by snapping his fingers, and he won't just automatically pull it all together once again just because he WANTS to and he's experienced it before. Mark my words: It just doesn't work that way at ALL.
 

DRU2012

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PS--Oh, and as for Coach Boom, you may or may not be right about his potential as an "implementor" rather than an "architect"--it is too early to tell for sure: everyone gets there a different way...but I'll take his youth, drive and fiery energy at this point in his career, along with his KNOWN strength and skills PLUS a growing sense that he is able and willing to adapt and change as necessary, as a man who MAY be able to create something special around him in the years directly ahead, over someone who has already "been there, done that".
 

Escambia94

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Moderator
Urban Meyer did say that he was going to run more of a pro style offense. What I *think* that means is "pro style with a mobile QB using elements of the spread". I say that, because he figured out that going wholesale spread or spread-option gives NFL scouts a reason to knock his future NFL talent. Just a small twist in the wording, and he has an NFL-compatible offense...a pro-style with elements of the spread. The good news is that Brent Pease will PROBABLY bring parts of the Boise offense with him, and that offense was essentially a pro-style with elements of the spread (depending on who you talk to). Again, it will come down to chemistry for both Urban Meyer and Will Muschamp. Meyer has an entirely new team and staff. Muschamp has a new OC, and gets to say goodbye to most of the players that only fit the old Urban offense.

As for Coach Boom, we already know he is not an architect. He did not write a book that others follow. If anyone wants to learn his 3-4/4-3 defense, they don't go to him and his book. They go to someone else's book. There is nothing wrong with that.
 

DRU2012

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Urban Meyer did say that he was going to run more of a pro style offense. What I *think* that means is "pro style with a mobile QB using elements of the spread". I say that, because he figured out that going wholesale spread or spread-option gives NFL scouts a reason to knock his future NFL talent. Just a small twist in the wording, and he has an NFL-compatible offense...a pro-style with elements of the spread. The good news is that Brent Pease will PROBABLY bring parts of the Boise offense with him, and that offense was essentially a pro-style with elements of the spread (depending on who you talk to). Again, it will come down to chemistry for both Urban Meyer and Will Muschamp. Meyer has an entirely new team and staff. Muschamp has a new OC, and gets to say goodbye to most of the players that only fit the old Urban offense.

As for Coach Boom, we already know he is not an architect. He did not write a book that others follow. If anyone wants to learn his 3-4/4-3 defense, they don't go to him and his book. They go to someone else's book. There is nothing wrong with that.
OK--I get what you're saying now regarding the distinction--though I must say that, in retrospect, it seems that "creating" what was AT-THE-TIME a unique and innovative blend of quick-fast playmakers behind likewise relatively small-but-fast linemen was something done out of expediency, given the players he had access to out there in the "college football hinterlands"--a nonetheless brilliant adaptation to circumstances that succeeded mightily, and which he brought with him to Florida, where he was able to further adapt and apply this template to athletes of the highest caliber, from a pool of the finest players in the country. In wading through his book, once you separate out the emotion-based "life-lesson"-material discussing things like "honor", "respect", "loyalty", and "self-discipline", and their place in building a man and a team (all subjects that have come to ring somewhat hollow with Meyer, all the more so in the last 2 or 3 years), we are left with the picture of a "synthesizer", in practical terms, more than anything else. That makes him no less an "architect" of a fresh approach, a leader who, in bringing together certain elements in a way no one had before, broke new ground that has influenced all of college football (and yes, even the Pro-game, though they don't like to give any ground on this subject--or even talk about it), and continues to do so. I'm done splitting hairs with you on this, E-: point to you, well made.
However: "Time waits for no man"--and in big-time college football, it's "What have you done for me lately?"...I could go on spouting cliches here, but you already know what I'm saying: Urban Meyer has a job to do, and in order to do it to the satisfaction of his new "home and family", he'll either have to somehow reduce their expectations going in (which are currently sky-high), and/or now further adapt, innovate, and modify his own once-original-and-unique "system"--that is, change and build on it like anyone else.
Think about what's ahead for him: all of the above, PLUS hiring a staff that can work closely together, PLUS pulling every roster and recruiting trick he's ever done, learned or heard of, bringing in new players for whatever he has in mind, PLUS installing that system "on the fly" while everything else is still in flux--Oh, and by-the-way, what about the consequences of the kind of "Just go after the 4- and 5-Star kids--I'll meet their parent(s) and close the deal--it'll all be fine"-approach to recruiting he has come to rely on, and in all likelihood will have to follow here? I present for your consideration the Gators' (ie. Meyer & Co.'s) '09 "Top Recruiting Class In the Nation": 8 or 9 have transferred out, most never reaching the field even in "garbage time", so many were their "hidden" flaws and limitations--mostly in areas like motivation, self-discipline, attitude, and "personal problems". In general, NOT talent, per se, but CHARACTER turned out to be the deciding factor (kind of ironic, considering Meyer's stressing these themes, in his book and in his public utterances on the subject). We're only NOW finally beginning to recover from that "toweringly talented"-class.
Granted, they do have some talent at tOSU as he arrives--and Meyer has shown he can win with another guy's guys. He'll get a "pass" this first season if he just improves on '11, brings in, say, an 8-and-5 winning record...but the more he goes after "getting-by now", the less he gets to begin changing-over and implementing whatever he has in mind for the future. As I noted in an earlier post, while it won't be a major concern , or even something I'll follow or give more than intermittent attention to, I admit it will be interesting to see how things go for him there.
 

Escambia94

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Urban Meyer has one job to do: get the Suckeyes back on top of the B1G so the SEC can get back to crushing them in meaningful bowl games. Can't wait to see UM as Gator Bait!
 

Escambia94

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A good friend of mine graduated from USCw. We had a good conversation a couple years ago about NCAA sanctions and regaining former glory. That discussion should help us understand tOSU for the next few years.

Recall: Lame Kitten hailed from USCw and was once an assistant there. He was brought to Tennessee to jumpstart the program, but a famed coach from his beloved school left under less than honorable conditions and left him with NCAA sanctions that in short dropped his number of scholarships to 80, then 75, now 70. In just a couple years, USC is poised to be the best in conference despite the short roster. USCw will likely play in the Pac12 championship the first year the bowl ban is lifted.

Urban Meyer. Replace everything I just said about USCw with tOSU, Pac12 with B1G, and Lame Kitten with Urban Meyer, but with fewer scholarships lost. Meyer is better than Kitten. USCw has shown few effects of the sanctions other than losing some rivalry games that really did not hurt their recruiting.

Will Muschamp. Similar situation but without NCAA sanctions in terms of number of scholarships.

These are three of the most storied college football programs in the nation. They have the resources to get to the top after being kicked down.
 

DRU2012

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Actually DRU, it's 8 and 4 because the suckeyes can't play in the bowl game nor the Big Ten title game.
Good point; they won't likely make their Conference Championship, either...and he COULD go just 7-5, next year--but 8-4 is probably the "not hopeless/gets-a-pass" line for Urban next season, and if he makes it a priority, as I said, they'll probably hit THAT.
 

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