Pistol Formation
Pistol shortens the shotgun depth and puts the back directly behind the QB. The hybrid that keeps run game downhill.
Pistol puts the quarterback four yards behind center with the running back directly behind the QB. It's a hybrid between shotgun and under-center: deep enough to see the field, shallow enough to keep the run game downhill instead of east-west.
Nevada's Chris Ault built pistol in the mid-2000s to give Colin Kaepernick the read-option footwork of shotgun without losing the downhill mesh of under-center I-back runs. It worked because the back's tracks are identical to a traditional I-form back — the defense doesn't get a directional tip from the back's alignment.
Where pistol still lives: programs that lean on inside zone, power-read, and counter, but want the QB to keep RPO eyes on the apex. NFL teams use it situationally — heavy run downs, short-yardage with a mobile QB, goal-line counter. The handoff is cleaner than shotgun and the play action sells better because the back's tracks look like a normal run.