2012 In Review

Whew! Well, it's over. Having lost the league championship, yet finishing 7-1 on the season, many would say that was a great year. I think, however, that this past season has been one of the most unbelievable rides I've ever been on. I want to take time out to share this with you, and maybe you can see some of my shortcomings and some things we did to take advantage of some of our situations etc. Hell, analyze my situations and see what you'd have done differently, I'm all for that. Whatever you can take from this season, I'd be glad to, and whatever you can add, please, by all means shoot me an email at footballislifeblog@yahoo.com.

Lessons Learned
The first thing I learned is that the Unbalanced Single Wing (UBSW) is a pretty cool offense.  My hat's off to Dave Cisar's system as we were able to install it from the ground up and had great success with it.  We ended up having the Power series, the Spin series and Jet series in at the start of the season and never really added anything after that.  Our Jet series really came alive in the latter part of the season once folks had film on us and knew what we were going to be doing.  The other thing is the UBSW is one of the most fun offenses I've ever coached in (yes including Flexbone).  The simplicity of it is so simple, yet because so many folks have not seen the offense in decades, it creates quite a bit of confusion for the defense.  Anyhow, it was very fun to coach in, and I got numerous questions from parents, coaches and even the officials!

I have had tragedy strike during football season, but none like this season.  I've never lost a player, and I've never had this much tragedy strike.  Losing two parents, and a player in the span of four days was the most incredibly terrible thing I've had to witness as a human being.  Then having to put it all together and put it out there on the field was pretty tough too.  I was amazed at the resiliency of the young men I coached.  I actually think THEY helped ME deal with it all.  Then in the end, we lost a player to a very serious back injury, that may have ended his football career.  Thankfully enough, the young man will walk, however football is probably out for the rest of his life.  In all this tragedy I felt like the young men were able to keep it together, keep things in perspective and lose themselves in the game, exactly like I would have them do.  I can't say enough about the quality of the young men I coached this year, as our character shined through time and time again this season.

I have to learn to enjoy the season more.  I have just went through a 7-1 season, in which we set the record for best season in school history, and I feel as though we failed.  The season ended two weeks ago, and yet I cannot come to the realization that we did good, despite not winning our league title.  I'm not sure how you ever get over what we had happen at the end of the season where we come up short on a goal we set out to accomplish, but if you have any suggestions, send them my way, as I'm still hurting.

The 46 defense is a great defense, but it does have its limitations.  I found out exactly what those were this season.  The seven technique in that defense nearly got us killed this year and I didn't have that kid to fill that position.  A year ago, we in our league we faced no 21 personnel teams whatsoever.  The breakdown was as follows:

• 5- 10 personnel teams
• 2- 20 personnel teams

So as you can see the need for a dominant seven technique was not needed.  In comes the 2012 season, and boy look at how things change:

• 3-21 personnel teams
• 1- 11 personnel team
• 3- 10 personnel teams

Much different mix than a year before.  Anyhow, the addition of the tight end to the scheme really hurt us as I just did not have that player to sacrifice at the seven technique position.  Now, normally I'm a four man front guy, but I work for somebody and he likes the odd front, so I ran the 46 with 3-3 personnel.  Well, I moved to a true 3-3 for two games to try and stunt/blitz my way into some things, and I did not care for this at all.  The kids liked it, but we were sloppy with our execution of the blitzes and when you are sloppy in the 3-3, the holes show up BIG TIME.  So then I moved back to my old staple, the 4-2-5.  I played cover 3 with it and mixed in some man to man, and things started to tighten up.  Now I have the blessings of my boss, I get to run whatever I want next season.  Looks like I'm going back to the ol' 4-2-5!

Be ready for anything.  Here I was cruising along as a coordinator, and BAM, all of a sudden I got the head coach title slapped on me.   Three weeks before the season comes up, my boss, the head coach, has a mild heart attack. Now, I'm freaking out because this is a guy who has been a mentor of mine for years and is the epitome of a class act. Now I'm sitting there in a hospital room with him telling me, "You're it, go coach em' up kid". To which I dang near soil myself! Now, I've been a head coach in career twice, and I have to say this, I didn't care for it to be honest. The politics, the whining parents, the nagging administration, it just wasn't for me. I like my job as the defensive coordinator as I'm free to do what I want, when I want, and how I want. Sure, you do have some of that freedom as the head guy, but there's just too much political BS involved for my taste.  Anyhow, things went smooth and I didn't have much in the way of headaches from the parents, but then again winning cures everything.  Just be ready for anything, you never know what you will face, or what you will come up against.  In retrospect, looking back on the past season being able to do what we did with the tragedy we had AND an interim coach, I'm really quite amazed. 

Be ready for anything grasshopper...

Don't do too much.  I really put too much on my defense at times.  Our offense and special teams won us a lot of games, which is the EXACT opposite of how my other successful teams have won (in the past I've been more like UF is now).  Anyhow, winning is winning, so I'll take it, but not playing solid defense came down to me.  I have to do better in that department and keep less on the defense and just "let them play".

Special teams are special.  Our special teams unit single handily was the most outstanding unit on the field this season, with our punt team and kickoff return team leading all groups.  We returned a school record (and league most) 8 kickoffs for touchdowns this season.  Punting-wise we averaged 43.4 yards per punt in JUNIOR HIGH (yes, my punter was a stud) and we converted EVERY fake we attempted this season (four for four).  We only had to punt a grand total of 10 times this season, which is a third less than last season (34 times).  We did give up one blocked punt this season and had one bad snap, which was our total from a year ago, so we did not get better there.  We did not allow a single kickoff return for a touchdown as we followed the "onside every time" philosophy this year (that's after giving up 4 KOR's for touchdowns the year before).  Now, we did not have a very accurate field goal kicker, so we did not even have a field goal team, but we averaged a dismal 43% on our two-point conversions this season, which must get better.  All in all, I was impressed with our special teams, and our ability to flip the field position on our opponent was second-to-none in our league.

Get everyone involved.  Another lesson I took from Dave Cisar, was to get as many players involved as you can.  Our retention rate was unreal this season.  We had 44 kids show up day one, and by the start of the first game we had all 38 uniforms filled, and did not have to have cuts (we had three kids quit, one get hurt, and two others did not have the grades).  By the end of the season we finished our final game dressing 34 players due to injuries.  NOBODY quit after the initial 38 were selected.  This is after a season in which we finished with 22 kids after starting with 28 (four quit, 1 was kicked off, and 1 was injured).  Our ability to get everyone involved both in practice and in games was essential to this retention rate.  Another thing I implemented was the "Buddy System".  Each eighth grader was responsible for a seventh grade teammate.  They exchanged phone numbers and had to answer weekly questions about their partners in front of the team.  I think the Buddy System really helped our overall team chemistry and kept us from having individual "cliques" within our group of 38. 

Tackle everyday.  The head coach and I disagreed on this originally, but since implementing this in his absence he has seen the light.  We were AWESOME tacklers this season compared to last.  Last year it took three to four guys to slow a ball carrier up, whereas this season we had several guys make solo tackles.  On film, the biggest difference is that the first guy would get the ball carrier down instead of holding on why the others got there.  We literally tackled everyday for the first month of the season.  After that we tackled on Monday and Wednesday with Monday being full bore tackling stations, and Wednesday being fit and freeze only.  The last two weeks of the season we tapered off to just fit and freeze type drills on Monday only. 

Alignment and Assignment and Fit-and-Freeze drills are essential at this age.  I have always been a big team guy.  I want to see reps and I want to see them live.  Well, in researching practice methodology over the past few years, I have found the good ones don't do this.  They do a lot of FNF and AA drills instead.  I cut our live team time on offense in half this season and we rarely went live on defense.  Offensively we did FNF on Monday, with live team on Tuesday and all plays on air on Wednesday, which included simulating game situations.  Defensively, we did FNF on Monday, Inside Drill on Tuesday and Seven-on-Seven on Wednesday.  Now if a team we were facing had very little passing threat we would do a live defensive team on Tuesday and then do Inside Drill on Wednesday.  Special teams we did at least one live per week.  Early on in preseason we did all of them live, but as the season progressed we cut that down to 2 a week, then at the end we did not do any live special teams.  FNF really improved, not only our technique, but our younger players confidence as well.  There's a lot you take for granted when it comes to coaching and one thing was my players level of development, and boy did I undershoot it.  That was clearly evident from my coaching last season.  This season was much better as we took the approach that our players knew absolutely nothing about the game and we were starting at the ground floor. 

The No-Huddle offense is the way to go.  I have dabbled with no-huddle in the past, but not like I did this season.  Now we were no Oregon, but in our live team sessions we averaged about 25 plays a session, which is better than a play a minute.  We had two speeds, regular and 9-1-1.  9-1-1 was our hurry up stuff and we really did well with that.  In three out of our eight games we scored right before halftime using our up-tempo pace and the largest amount of time we had was 1:18.  In game three we scored on a four play 61 yard drive with 55 seconds left in the half and one timeout.  In game five we scored on a five play 77 yard drive with 1:09 left and two timeouts.  In game seven we scored on a five play 48 yard drive with 1:18 left to go and one timeout remaining.  These were points we'd not have gotten last season, and in games four and seven they were the difference in the game.  If you are still huddling, you are wasting a lot of time, and I don't mean in the games.  The benefit we saw from going no-huddle is not in the games, but in practice.  We doubled our reps on practice, by far and in the games you automatically have a two-minute offense built in.  We can't go hurry up because a lot of our players play both ways, but still, we went no-huddle to improve efficiency in practice time and eliminate wasted time. 

Things to Improve On

Practice efficiency.  There was still a lot of wasted time in practice.  Now, mind you, we were practicing for easily two-and-a-half hours a year ago, and cut that down to two hours on average this season.  Still, there are areas where we need to improve and be able to get these kids home at a decent hour.  I have pushed and pushed, but the coaches I have are not really taking to the up-tempo like I am.  I don't have the luxury of firing anyone either as I was glad to have the other two helping me.  Anyhow, I will continue to work with them and push for MAXIMUM efficiency until we get it.

Relaxing.  I have a tough time turning off football, and even though this is Junior High football, I still constantly watched film, breaking things down and even took things so far as creating scouting reports (our league allows us to scout and trade film).  I also have a tough time detaching from the game, even in the off-season.  I simply cannot get my mind off the game, and I have to, or else I'm afraid burn-out is coming.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Finding a kicker.  Holy cow, thank goodness we onside every time, or else I'm not sure what we'd have done.  Also, we could have used a couple of field goals, that thankfully didn't come back to haunt us during the season.   I need to learn more about the individual technique of kicking, as to be honest I'm clueless.

Getting over the wall.  Our player development went good for the first six games.  Then we seemed to hit a wall where nobody really improved except for the younger players.  This concerns me, because it's the second year in a row I felt this way.  I even felt as though some of our players went backwards in their development, which is a really bad scenario.  Several players plateaued about that time in the season, and our toughest games were towards the end of the season.  I need to find ways to keep the young men motivated for an entire season, and keep developing their skills.  I know there comes a point in the season where getting any better is slim to none, but you CAN improve at least a little bit every day...right?

Handling a loss.  My favorite quote is one I live by..."I hate to lose even more than I love to win".  This is me in a nutshell.  A win to me is a win, nothing big about it, you did your job, you won.  A loss is failure though, and unacceptable.  I have a hard time coming to grips with losing, and when you lose the league championship on the last game of the season when you've gone 7-0, it really becomes are a hard pill to swallow. 

Dealing with officials.  I guess I'm getting a bit crotchety in my old age, as I had a few of those yeller' hankies thrown on me this season.  However, I must say, our referees made the NFL replacement refs look like officiating scholars.  Anyhow, this does not bode well when teaching young men about dealing with adversity.  I'm sure that official did not need me to bite his head off, I should merely "explain" my point of view, rather than trying to stuff it down his throat.  Point taken!

Do you kiss your mom with that mouth?

Well, that's my 2012 in review.  I feel with what my little guys went through this season, and where they came from, it has been a success story.  I'd love to have a trophy to put in the case (believe me, we need one, that damn thing is bare), but the memories of this season will go down as a special one in my book.  I have to say, watching young men conquer adversity like this bunch did, was quite a site to see.  I only hope next year we can do the same...

Duece

P.S.- For those headed to the playoffs, now's not the time to let up, keep on keepin' on!!!  Good luck!

I'll Be Back...

Well, it's been a crazy ride this season, and with only two games left, things will be over soon and I can get back to posting.  Do I ever have some stuff for you guys!  I'm working on the following:

1. Key mistakes to avoid as a defensive coordinator
1. Believe me folks, if anybody has screwed up and NOT followed this protocol this season, it's me.  I'm going to share some of those events and how we got the ship righted to finish strong.
2. The 8-2-1 kickoff return scheme.
3. Using nickel personnel to effectively defend the two back running game.
4. Tackling drills.
5. The unbalanced single wing and how this offense impacted myself, our coaches, and the players.

These are just a few of the things I've got in store, so don't forget about me.  In the meantime you can always check out my other blog, The Twelfth Man, where I get away from X's and O's and go a little more "opinionated".  Here are some other things you should be looking at as well.

Brophy has been back and has some great pieces, on Saban, Tony Franklin and La. Tech.  As always Brophy writes with a witty purpose, and does a great job explaining things.

Smart Football has been putting up some good stuff on the West Coast offense and how it helped Drew Brees attain his record.  Also some great articles on Geno Smith, Dana Holgorsen and some breakdown on the zone blitz coverage.  As always, Chris is a very talented writer and has links to several great video clips over on his site. 

Well, if you season is ending and you are not looking to the playoffs, once it's over, take a week or two and rest up as the whirlwind we know as the off-season will begin!  If your headed to the playoffs, congratulations, now keep your eyes on the prize!!!

Duece

Using the Punt as a Weapon

Many coaches look at punting as the raising of the white flag when on offense.  Some coaches even look at punting as what you do when you've failed to move the ball.  I look at punting as an opportunity to stress my opponent even further.  For years I was like the others and simply aligned in a standard tight punt formation, punted the ball, hoped like hell my guys covered well and got the defense on the field.  Well, not anymore!  I'm going to take you through some of the evolution of my punt teams to where we are today and show you how you should relish the chance to punt the football instead of looking at fourth down as a failure!

Loco Punt
A few years back in American Football Monthly magazine, there was an article on the Loco Punt.  I can't remember the specifics, but I remember the scheme being very simple, fake friendly and utilized directional punting.  What I really liked about the Loco Punt was not only the directional punting, but the fact you punted towards a split receiver, who could release and get down field quickly.  I also liked all the fake potential the Loco Punt had as well.  Here is the base formation:

The punter started by initiating a "shift" call which took the WB and moved him on the LOS and dropped the RE off.  Once set, the RE would then go in motion and align as a wing to the left side of the formation as shown below.

The motion would really get the defense to working now, as they had to honor the change of strength, which is something not many defenses deal with well, when facing a punt team.  The more and more we ran this, the more punt safe defenses we saw.  The final formation is shown below.

From here, if the defense did not adjust we could either punt the football or run a sweep fake to the side the defense did not adjust to .  If the defense over adjusted, then we could run a sweep fake to the side they left open.  There was also a pass fake to go along with it as well.  All of these fakes, coupled with the shift and motion, made life miserable on the return team.  This was my goal all along. 

The punt protection and coverage schemes were also very simple, so much so we really only repped them once a week.  The fakes made us known around our league as a team that fourth down didn't always mean we were going to punt.  The last season I was in charge of the punt team we had a punt fake success rate of over 75 percent with 7 or less yards to gain (it helped our punter was also an option QB)!!!  Needless to say I was sold on the idea that punting was "giving up".

The Wildcat Punt
Well, enter my new job, where last year I really only dealt with defense, and now this season due to our head coach being sick, I'm now in charge of just about EVERYTHING!  So, I got a chance to go back to the punt team.  Well, we have chosen to run Dave Cisar's Unbalanced Single Wing Offense and one formation in his playbook is very similar to the good ol' Wildcat.  I looked at that formation some time before deciding to go with some things, but here's what I came up with and so far we've been DEADLY with our punt team.

All of the above is our normal alignment for our Wildcat package with the exception of the depth of the punter.  I have chosen to shift into this look from our base look so our Punter aligns at three-and-a-half yards back, and then shifts back to his normal ten yard depth (this is junior high football, if it were high school I'd be back at 12-13 yards).  From the get-go you can see the defense is forced to honor the three receivers by covering them man-to-man, or else risk the quick throw for the first down.  Being unbalanced we have our BB look for any overloads by the defense before signaling all clear and ready to punt.  Ideally, we are going to punt the ball if we get four defenders strong and three defenders weak (as shown above).  When we punt, the blocking is simple, as we have adopted Cisar's GOD (Inside Gap, On, Down) blocking scheme for our punts as well.  So all the players on the LOS block using this GOD rule, and they do so for a two count.  The BB releases outside and walls off any defenders coming outside the PT.  So the blocking for the above front would be as follows:

Now I know what you are thinking, wait, the DE on the punt team's left side has a free run to the punter.  Well, we rugby punt, so on the snap we are putting distance between the DE and the punter immediately.  The other little addition we had to add was that the LOS players treat the LB's as though they were in their inside gap (since most of Cisar's stuff does not involve OL blocking LB's, we had to improvise a bit).  The blocking back simply takes the outside rusher wherever he wants to go and the punter either goes around the block and punts, or steps up inside and punts.  Either way the edge rusher cannot be right.

Coverage is also very easy, and since most teams can ill afford to give up six players to double team the three gunners you have presented them, you now have easy free releases down field for the RE, LE and the WB.  The coverage for the Wildcat punt is shown below:

The RE will release outside and works to the outside hip of the returner.  The WB has a 2 way go, but must end up in the middle of the returner (he does not pick a side).  The QB will work to the inside hip of the returner, and must get an inside release (we've had him fake outside then come underneath vs. press looks).  The BB will secure his block and then will work to the punt-side hash mark and is a 1/2 field safety.  The punter punts the ball, and will signal if it's a bad punt and then will drift back to the opposite hash mark and play the 1/2 field safety away from where the ball was punted.  All other players, after securing their blocking assignment, will take a natural pursuit path to the football.  Having the three gunners has allowed us to remove some of the traditional "lanes" many of us were schooled on (and some of struggled at teaching) because we are essentially having the hounds flush the prey to the hunters.  Lanes don't really matter all that much, although we do work them, however the idea here is get your block, then fly down field to the ball. 

The fakes are the key essentials to the Wildcat punt as well.  If we want our punter to read the punt return team's reaction to our scheme, we give him a "green" call, which stands for green light if the punt return team bails out in coverage.  The punter will see this and simply tuck the ball and run for the first down.

We will also look for overloads by the defense and call our fakes accordingly.  We have three of these, two runs and one pass.  The first fake is simply our sweep to the right, shown below.

The OL simply blocks the GOD rule (inside gap, on, down) with the right guard pulling and wrapping while the BB leads.  This call has been made because the defense decided to give us four players to our two-man surface.  Depending on who you have at punter either the punter can call this fake or the coach, but either way you have caught the defense guessing, and now are making them pay for it.

If the defense chooses to overload the strong side of the formation, we simply check to the sweep to the weak side.  Since we rugby punt, many teams will try to do this overload, but it leaves them extremely weak to the short side of the formation.

The BB will shift over to the weak side and we will snap the ball once he is set.  Again the right guard pulls and the BB leads the play. 

If the distance to go is greater than you want to run for it, or the defense has remained balance, yet you still need the fake, the pass fake is a good way of moving the ball down field.  The RE will clear the zone by releasing outside as if covering and running a "go" route.  The WB, will also take his normal release, but will run an out route instead of covering (this route is usually wide open because the safety has been trying to block the WB all night long covering punts, he does not expect an out route here).  The QB, will drag across the formation looking to come out on the strong side about two yards deep giving the punter an outlet receiver if he gets in trouble.  The line blocks with hinge protection and the BB slides out and blocks the first threat outside the PT.  The punter gets the snap looks to punt for two steps then rolls out looking to hit the WB at the first down marker. 

So far teams have quit trying to line up and get a return on us and are staying back and playing defense.  This gives our punt team a huge advantage because the rush is slowed, and there is nobody to worry about returning the football.  So far we are averaging a little over 35 yards a punt and have given up zero punt return yards!

Duece

Why or Why Not? Choosing the Right Offense

Been a while since my last post and for great reason.  I've been doing some research on various offenses and the nuances surrounding each of these offenses.  As you can imagine, this research can by no means cover EVERY offense out there, so what I did was to group many of these offenses into categories and go from there.  What I asked coaches to share with me was why should I run the offense you run and then why shouldn't I.  What I got was a deep look in many offensive coordinator's (OC's) heads as to what they felt made their offenses tick.  So, let's take a look at the research and dig into the whys and why nots!

Pro I
The pro I has been around for many years, and is a very simple offense to run and install.  Finding I formation coaches to talk about this offense didn't take too long, here's what the consensus was on the Pro I offense.

Why
Why the I formation?  Well, the I can be many things to many people.  There are I formation teams that zone block and others that man block, or even use a version of Wing-T blocking in their I formations.  The I formation is a great way to feature a stud running back (RB) at the tailback (TB) position.  Playaction is a great tool the I offense utilizes to keep the pressure off this stud RB.  The I offense can also add the option game very easily to its repoitre.  Although the I formation has fallen somewhat by the wayside with the spread offense gaining so much popularity here lately, you can still see even spread teams using the I formation when they need the tough yards, or in goal line situations.

Why Not
Unanimously agreed upon was lack of a real threat at TB.  The offense just doesn't do much, unless you run option, without a first rate TB.  A good tight end (TE) is a must as well.  The TE, and the playaction passing game are a major way many I formation teams take pressure off the RB position.  Also, having a good lead blocking fullback (FB) was considered by many coaches as a must.  Most I formation coaches interviewed didn't really ask the FB to be much of a runner, but he had to be willing to lead block.  Also, an offensive line (OL) who can really move people is a must, because the I formation is not the greatest at deception, and if you don't run the option out of it then all players must be accounted for in the blocking scheme. 

Helps to have guys like this at tailback!

In summary, a lot of I formation teams have moved on to the spread, for various reasons, and haven't forgotten their roots.  There are still some teams that have kept the I as their base, and without a doubt, the I is a very simple offense to install, that has limitless possibilities.

Split Back Veer
The Split Back Veer (SBV) is an offense that has been around since the Houston Veer days and has really been kept alive by the success of Carson Newman University.  However, you still don't see many SBV teams (In the past six years I've faced one, one time in the playoffs).  I must admit, when run well, the SBV offense is a beautiful thing to watch.

Why
Reading people and not blocking them is always easier!  Most option coaches agreed to this statement wholeheartedly.  Being able to run a large variety of options such as midline, inside veer (ISV) and outside veer (OSV) are also big reasons to run the SBV.  The added fact that installing a pro style of run game with isolation, power and trap at your disposable adds to the destructive power of the SBV offense. 

Why Not
Option quarterbacks (QB's) do not always grow on trees, and when running an option oriented offense the QB is the focal point whether you like it or not.  Most SBV coaches agreed that in years where they were grooming young QB's or QB's who struggled to make their reads, records suffered.  Turnovers can also be a major limiting factor to why somebody would want to run the SBV.  Most option offenses do have a tendency to have higher turnover ratios that more traditional offenses do.  The versatility of the RB's was another issue many SBV coaches talked about.  Both halfbacks (HB's) have to be able to run inside the tackles, lead block, and run outside in order to fully open up the offense's potential.  Lacking one of these traits can severely limit the SBV offense. 

In summary the SBV offense is not for everybody. I takes a ton of discipline to run this offense, as does any option oriented offense. The major benefit of SBV over other option offenses is the ability to leave the option for a more pro or traditional style run game whenever needed.

Wing-T
The Wing-T has many versions, but for the purpose of this post, I've lumped them all into one category here.  I'm sure that will tick off many a Hybrid Wing-T coach, and my apologies to all the Wes Elrods out there!

Why
The number one reason for the coaches choosing the Wing-T was deception.  The offense keeps defenses off balance by the use of deception with backfields that criss-cross and traps and counters galore.  The lack of the need for a great feature back was also a big plus for all Wing-T coaches interviewed.  Also, the lack of a dominant OL was considered by many a huge factor when choosing the Wing-T as a base offense.  With the advent of the Shotgun Wing-T, now the offense has been opened up even more than its predecessors.  Another good reason for selecting the Wing-T is that your QB does not have to all-world or even have a great arm for that matter.

Why Not
If you don't have a couple of guards that can run and block in space, you need to look elsewhere.  Most Wing-T coaches agreed, the guards make that offense go, and without a couple of guys that can pull and block in space, the offense becomes bogged down with little options to go to in order to help alleviate the problem.  A lot of Wing-T coaches also agreed that a good TE was needed to really stress defenses.  The TE side of the offense gets a lot of the run game, so the need for a blocking TE is a necessity.  The TE can also hurt defenses in the playaction passing game as well, so the need for a versatile TE was very popular amongst Wing-T coaches interviewed.

In summary, the Wing-T is as old as the hills and is very popular in high school football (some in college if you look at what Gus Malzahn does).  You need some pulling guards and a decent TE to really be able to do damage with this offense, but the lack of specialization has many coaches going to this format of offense.

Double Wing
The dreaded Double Wing (DW) offense has been at the heart of many turnaround stories, yet is still not all that popular of an offense.  Most coaches look down their noses at an offense that doesn't spread the field anymore than the DW does, however, those that run this offense swear by it, and here's why.

Why
No need for a dominating OL.  With foot-to-foot splits and a large portion of the blocking scheme being angle blocks and double teams, the OL does not have to be this massive road grader that each player can move defenders at will.  Most DW OL are not very big, but they do get the job done.  You also don't need Peyton Manning to QB the DW offense either.  Since this is a run oriented offense, the QB is merely your manager of the game, which is also a quite appealing factor to the DW offense. 

Why Not
You won't go far without a fairly dominating FB, or wingbacks (WB's) that can block.  The FB gets a large bulk of the carries in the offense and is asked to do some blocking, so this player needs to be pretty good in order to help make the offense be as potent as intended.  WB's that will not block can hurt any offense, but the DW having two of these guys that won't block, or struggle blocking is a no-no.  Also, a lot of DW coaches, or coaches who had run the DW offense, said having a QB willing to do more than just hand off was a must.  Many coaches rely on the Super Power Sweep and other run plays that involve using the QB as a lead blocker.  If you have a pre-Madonna QB, this might not be the offense for him, or your team for that matter.  Lastly, the lack of the down field passing game has scared away more than one coach on occasion.  Most DW coaches would argue, you don't need the vertical passing game because playaction is usually so open, and I would tend to agree.

Without a doubt many folks claim the DW to be contrarian, however there are enough successful programs running it for me to disagree.  The need for a solid FB a tough QB and some good blocking WB's is not enough deterrence, in my mind, to outweigh the advantages of running the DW offense.

Flexbone
We all know I like the Flexbone, but the "original spread offense" does have some drawbacks.  Still, there's nothing better than kicking back on the couch on a Saturday afternoon and watching Navy and Georgia Tech. giving people fits running the vaunted Flexbone Triple Option Attack.

Why
As with any option offense when you can read them and not block them you are opening up a whole load of positives.  The lack of a need for a dominant OL is another reason, since there are double and triple teams designed at the point of attack (POA) on most option plays.  Not needing a true "feature back" as some offenses do is also a plus in many coaches minds.  With the potential of four guys getting the ball on any one play, it becomes very difficult for defenses to just "tee-off" on Flexbone teams.  Having an option offense centered around a vertical based passing formation is also a plus.  Sure, very few Flexbone teams are known as great passing teams, however you have to honor any offenses ability to throw the ball when they line up in the Run-N-Shoot base formation! 

Why Not
In Federation governed states, the inability to cut block on the perimeter of the offense is much akin to giving an alcoholic Odoul's.  Why it tastes like and smells like beer, it ain't the real thing!  Watch Navy or Georgia Tech. and you will see perimeter defenders fighting to stay on their feet on every play.  Losing this aspect has really hurt the transition of this offense from college to high school.  The QB and FB are two major components that if lacking in any one of them can severely strain the offenses ability to attack all areas of the defense.  Having a QB that struggles making the reads, and making them coolly can effect the offense drastically.  Slots that will not block or are not good blockers on the perimeter can limit the offense as well.  When these players can cut, the lesser athlete has the upper hand, however with an inability to cut in most states, these slot backs have to be decent blockers in the open field, or the offense simply will not function properly.

I am biased here as I think the Flexbone is the ultimate option offense, however without the a good threat at QB and FB, you really can see the offense fall off.  Also, the inability to cut down field has greatly reduced the Flexbone's presence at the high school level.

Spread
Wow, what do we mean by spread?  Yes, I know there are a myriad of offenses called the "Spread", however I'm talking about any offense that is 1 back, or empty and comes in two distinct varieties.  You have the spread to run, and spread to throw offenses.  I know, there's Air Raid, Tony Franklin, Gus Malahn and Dan Mullen spread offenses out there, but they all do have some things in common, so hear me out.

Why
Puts athletes in space, and makes the defense defend the entire field.  How many times have we heard that?  However, when interviewed, most spread coaches made this statement and it is so very true.  Unlike the DW or Wing-T offenses where a defense can gang up and but eight, nine or even ten defenders in the box, the spread does not allow for this.  The defense must move defenders out to cover the split receivers or risk being outflanked.  How many defenders is also always a question.  Do you go for a full three on two, or four on three advantage, and reduce numbers in the box, or do you keep box players closer to their assignments?  These questions are asked by defensive coordinators (DC's) daily.  Not having to have a feature back was another positive for most spread OC's.  Sure, having a RB that can stress the defense is a must, but not a necessity.  The added danger of being able to run simple option plays such as zone read, dart, midline and ISV have made the spread even more dangerous in recent years.

Why Not
Gotta have a QB.  If you are going to parade around in a passing formation, you eventually are going to have to show you can throw the ball. Even if it's just screens or three step passes, you need to keep the defense honest by being able to throw the football.  If you have a QB that can't do that, or doesn't do it well, then the defense can simply go back to loading the box and stuffing your run game.  Also, if you are a spread option team, look under the Flexbone section, the rules also apply for spread option QB's as well.  These guys must be able to make these decisions in a split second and be correct at least 70 percent of the time, or else the offense will be hampered.  The need for an offensive line that is versatile is a must as well.  Spread OL's, whether they be spread to run, or spread to pass, must be very versatile.  Wing-T, DW and Flexbone OL don't have to be great pass protectors due to playaction being a large part of their passing game.  Many spread teams don't base off the playaciton pass like other offenses do, so having an OL that can protect the QB, but also open up holes in the run game is a must.  Another huge component, often overlooked by coaches making the switch to the spread is the need for athletes on the perimeter of the offense.  Many coaches feel that they can hide a weak OL by being spread and using a lot of screens to get the ball out of the QB's hands quickly.  This works if two things are present.  First the receivers in your offense must be good at blocking, because there's nothing worse than running a screen for a two yard loss.  Second, the athletes you are throwing the ball to, need to be able to do something with it once the ball is caught.  If your best receiver runs a 4.9 forty time, in a league of 4.5's at DB, you might want to reconsider your choice of offense.  For those spread teams than use 11, and 12 personnel, the TE is a critical position to find.  Having a TE in the spread can really create match up issues for the defense, however, not having a threat at TE can be just as dangerous.  Also having a TE that can run and pass block was many coaches key factor to determining what their base personnel would be that year.  One coach I talked to made the comment that in years they had TE's they did more 11 and 12 personnel stuff and when they didn't have these players they went to more 10 and empty personnel formations.  Lastly, having a center who can consistently make a shotgun snap is a must for those spread teams that choose to base out of shotgun formations.

Basically put, the spread ain't for everybody.  You need a decent gunslinger at QB and an OL that is pretty versatile.  Many teams are going the way of the spread, but probably too many are finding out it's not their cup of tea.  If you have the components though, this offense is the hottest ticket in all of football.

Single Wing
The Single Wing (SW) whether balanced or unbalanced is an offense that many coaches claimed died 30 plus years ago.  However, there are many coaches, who would argue that the offense didn't die, it simply went underground to get some major improvements.

Why
The number one reason SW coaches said they ran this offense was the lack of a need for a true QB.  Since any one of the RB's in the SW offense can throw the football, the need for one pure passer becomes obsolete.  Several coaches FOUND the SW offense by not having a QB and switching to the offense to give their kids a chance to compete.  Running a close second behind the first reason to run the SW was the lack of a need for a dominating OL.  Similar to the DW in these regards, the SW uses a lot of double teaming and down blocks which don't take are great amount of skill or strength to execute.  Deception is another major reason to select the SW offense as your vehicle of choice for attacking your opponents.  There is no single more deceptive series in all of football than the spin series in the SW offense.  One coach even remarked that the SW offense was the most deceptive offense in all of football.  Lastly, simplicity of the offense and ease of install was listed by many coaches I talked to.  The offense is not flashy, and even so, it can be deadly when run properly.

Why Not
The reason here is similar to the Wing-T in that you need at least two players who can move and block in space.  The pulling guard, or power guard as some call him and the blocking back (BB) are two players that are at the heart and soul of most SW offenses.  For those that ran the unbalanced version of the SW offense, the need for a dominant blocker at the outside tackle was sometimes mentioned also.  The need for a good center who can make all the snaps needed in the SW offense was also a concern amongst most SW coaches interviewed.  The center need not be a great or dominant blocker, yet he does have to make a wide variety of shotgun type snaps in the SW offense.

The lack of a vertical passing game and the need for two mobile blockers are not enough deterrence to the "lifers" when it comes to the SW.  SW and Flexbone both are almost "cult-ish" when it comes to their offensive style.


Obviously not all offenses fit into the neat little boxes I've put them in.  This is just a somewhat comprehensive list of some popular offenses that I sought out coaches to talk to.  Obviously there are many, many offenses I did not list.  I looked for the most popular ones, and talked to those coaches as I didn't really want to deal with anything "contrarian".  Anyhow, just some side research I was doing over the past few months, thought I'd share.  Season is upon us, no time like now right?!

Duece

"The Most Hated Man in West Texas"...and other news...

Best headline I ever saw!  Craig James is running for U.S. Senate, and it looks like Horatio Sands would have a better chance of winning a marathon than James winning a seat in Congress.  I find this a fitting scenario given James track record with legendary Air Raid coach Mike Leach.  I will not go into Leach's book, or the scandal, as most know what this is all about.  Obviously, Leach has moved on and is surely going to do well at Washington State.  The future of Craig James looks bleak though, and I can't say I didn't smile a bit when I read this headline.




Living the good life...

 We've all had those dad's that just think their son is the greatest thing since the invention of the DVR.  James is no different, yet he's worse in many ways, because of the grand scale on which James portrayed this annoying habit.  "Helicopter dads" are awful, but when they are someone the scale that James is, I'm sure it can be quite disturbing.  Although I don't necessarily condone Leach for what he did, I do like the fact he stuck to his guns, and now he can look both Craig James and the trustees at Texas Tech. University in the eye and say "I told you so!".  That's a very fitting end to this saga in my humble opinion!

Well, in other news those that are wondering about the progress with the book, all the chapters are written!  I still have some illustrations and editing to do, but things are moving along nicely.  I will keep you updated as things progress, so keep those fingers crossed.

I'm sure Kyle Williams doesn't open his mail very much these days, but this was a very heartwarming story about the letter one young man decided to write the belittled football player.  Sure wish more people thought this way...death threats...really?

Speaking of the 49'ers could coach Jim Harbaugh get any hotter right now?  I'm very impressed with what he's done, and I think the Bay Area should be ready for some familiar "January football" once again.  Here's an article by Brophy that shows Harbaugh doing what he does best...coach the quarterbacks.




These days could be closer than you think!


Coach Hoover continues his dissection of the Fire Zone blitzes here.  Good article buddy, keep em' coming!

Here's a good post by Student of the Game, piggybacking an earlier post I had on Coach Paul Johnson's "If/Then" methodology of calling plays in the Flexbone offense. 

I just got my first "moderator" gig over at the Single Wing Forum.  This is a great forum, well thought out, clean and easy to use.  For you "single wingers" come on over and check this place out.  I think you'll like the format, and hey, I'm one cool ass moderator! 

Well, I've joined up with Full Throttle Football and you can read some of my articles over there if you'd like to.  Full Throttle is a very neat site with excellent articles, video and instruction.  You can spend hours on that one site alone, so check it out!

Direct Snap Football has a nice little piece on a shotgun running game some of you "spread" guys might be into.  This is a good site for anything direct snap and single wing.  Check out Direct Snap Football for more information on the spread and single wing offenses.

I found this site while perusing the Huey board the other day.  A very well thought out site with good illustrations and video on the Flexbone offense. 

Anyhow, I will continue with more 46 Nickel stuff here in the near future, so be patient with me!!!!

Duece

Suggestions?

I was thinking, with the New Year ringing in, what suggestions would you have for the site?  I'm always interested in taking my audiences' temperature, so send me an email at footballislifeblog@yahoo.com and let me know what suggestions you have.  Currently I'm still working on the 3-4 defense and the single wing offense.  If you have any information you'd like to pass along, drop me an email.  Anyhow, here's some links to keep you going until my next post.

Here's a good post on the adaptation of the flexbone offense.  I think we are really seeing this offense coming into it's own, and there is no doubt the triple option has made its way back into the limelight of college football.  As always good link from Smart Football to Grantland.

Compete in all Things has a good post on the 3-4 defensive line.  If you're like me and trying to learn more about this defense, then you will want to read this post.  Also if you are like me, finding information on the 3-4 is like finding the Holy Grail!  Good post Mariner!

Coach Hoover really hits home with his latest piece on Tim Tebow.  I don't get all the haters our there, but to be honest, ol' Hoover goes into depth on what he believes is happening to the Denver Tebows...er...Broncos.  I think he's dead on with his opinion here, and I feel the EXACT same way.  Maybe I'm a little cynical, but I do believe in the power of belief, and I do believe that one person can make a difference.  Such is the way with the Broncos.  You cannot deny that the Broncos are not a changed football team.  What makes this even better, is how traditional NFL analysts cannot stand how he's able to be successful.  I also think there needs to be some kudos to head coach John Fox.  He at least had the wherewithal to start Tebow and give him a chance despite all the detractors.  Hey, desperate men sometimes do desperate things.  I hope the ride doesn't end with a few wins either, I'd like to see the Tebows playoff bound!!!  That would be a VERY nice Christmas gift for me.

For those that don't go to Gridnotes to find out your latest update on all your favorite football blogs...GET YOUR FRIGGIN' HEAD CHECKED!!!!!  What a great setup over there.  You can find whatever you need, whenever you want it, and the site is cleanly done, hats off bro, I'll drink a Sam Adams for ya!  Great site, please check it out for all your information needs.  There's great links to articles I frequently check out.  No more searching through this blog or that, all blog posts are referenced and easy to find, again...hats off!

Spread football is at it again with some very useful Air Raid powerpoints.  I'm learning this Air Raid stuff daily, and have "overnight" become a Mike Leach fan (who'd have figured right?).  Take a look at these powerpoints, good stuff and well worth the read!

Well, this is probably the last post before the big day, so to all Happy Holidays, and have a very Happy New Year!!!!




Don't forget the Juice!


P.S. don't forget to follow me on Twitter @theduece02. 

Duece

Single Wing Forum and New Links

Just wanted to let everyone know there is a new Single Wing Forum that has opened up here recently, by Coach Tut.  It's Pro Board based so it seems much friendlier than some of the other forums out there.  Go to the site, check it out and start sharing some of you Single Wing knowledge (I need it!). 

In other news and links:

Coach Hoover's site has got some great running back drills.  This link takes you to them all.  If you are a running back's coach, I highly recommend checking out Coach Hoover's site and utilizing the drills he has out there.  Good stuff coach!

Compete in all things has two really good posts on the 3-4 defense.  The first one is one on a very good safety blitz from the 3-4 called Sabre.  This blitz can be run from anywhere on the field, and really puts the offense in a bind.  Secondly, the post of defensive line play in the 3-4 is brief, but descriptive.  It's hard enough to find information on the 3-4, and even harder yet to find information on defensive line play in that defense.  Take a look at Coach Mariner's site, it's loaded with information!

Brophy is at it again with gun running.  His posts on the subject have been very informative for those that are shotgun guys and looking to improve their run game.  As usual Brophy follows up his postings with some of the best video on any football blog I've seen. 

Coach Ianucci has got some very informative posts on the Rocket play from the flexbone.  The three back blog talks about how coach set up his blocking scheme for Rocket  and how it differs from what we see every Saturday from Navy and Georgia Tech.  If you are a flexbone guy, this site is a must add to your favorites!

Well, that's what I've been reading, hit me up in the comments section and share any other football blogs you read.  Those of you in the playoffs, congratulations, now's the time to make it count.  Don't waste a minute of it, and enjoy it while you're there!

Duece

Withdrawls!!!!!

Now that the Huey site is down, I'm having withdrawals!  It's amazing how much I check that board, but then again, it's amazing how much I love to talk football.  It's amazing how much sites like that have changed football is just the last five years.  Where would we be without those sites?  Kinda hard to imagine isn't it?

So, enough with my little rant, been doing some research here recently and came across some good sites, thought I'd share them with you guys.  The first is Runcodhit football.  This site is not new, and is one I've mentioned on here numerous times.  However, he's back up and running and has a great post on defending trips formations while disguising your coverage.

Gridnotes is a site I check often, and to be honest it's how I found a lot of the blogs and sites I share on here.  This is a listing of all new blog posts, and they do a very good job of it.  Check them out, as they've been up and running here for several months and they are just splitting at the seams with a wealth of football information.

Since starting to coach youth football again, I've leaned towards those sites, and one I've found to be very handy is Dumcoach.  Doesn't sound like much of a name, but it's a very good site, similar to the Huey site.  If you are a youth coach, tired of rubbing elbows with high school and college or semi-pro coaches, then go to Dumcoach, you won't be disappointed.

Footballcoach360 is a site I got from Gridnotes, and is a very interesting site.  What I really like is the amount of video on this site, as I am very much a visual learner.  This site has excellent drills broken down by position to aid you in finding drills to help train your players.  Check them out, and thanks to Gridnotes for posting.

Another good site, also provided to me by Gridnotes, is Full Throttle Coaching Solutions.  This site is very similar to Footballcoach360 and has tons of instructional video to go along with some very good "how" and "why" posts on scheme and philosophy. 

In my single wing research I have come across some good sites as well.  The first is Direct Snap Football.  This all informative blog on the "oldie but goodie" single wing and direct snap offenses has been very informative.  The other one, is a site similar to the Huey board and that is the Delphi Single Wing Forum.  For those of you who do not know much about the offense and would like to know more, these two sites are great places to start.  I will say, I don't care for the Delphi site's setup as it does not appear user friendly and has a page full of ads, but the advice and coaching knowledge on the single wing and direct snap offenses presented there is second to none.

Hopefully the Huey site will be up and running soon, I'm really beginning to go out of my mind not being able to check in there!  Good luck, we have two more games, and it's the off-season for me!!!!

Duece

Single Wingin'

Always looking for info. on new stuff.  One thing I've never been around much is single wing football.  As a matter of fact, I've never defended a single wing offense!  I've seen some film on it, but not much.  So I've been digging around trying to find information on the offense, and I tell you, it's like some kind of cult or something.  I guess I don't have the secret decoder ring you're supposed to have to be able to get information on this offense.  So as usual, I'll try begging.  If anyone out there has some single wing information they'd like to share, then hit me up, maybe we can trade or something.  When it comes to offenses I like rare and different, so I really like the single wing!

I've been watching some Apopka, FL film, and they are flat amazing.  I've also been watching some youth films on the offense, and it really intrigues me.  This seems like it would be a tough offense to stop, and yet very few people utilize it.  I know the Urban Meyer's and the Gus Malzahn's of the world have worked single wing stuff into the modern spread offense (good luck finding anything on that), however you rarely see the old formations such as the A formation, short punt, the Notre Dame Box, or the Beast formation.  Like I said, I've got stuff to trade if you're interested, but I'd really like to join this "cult" and would like to know how to get my secret decoder ring!

Season is almost wrapping up, how's everyone's been going?  We had a rocky start but are getting much better week after week.  Hang in there, and for those working the grind toward that district championship, keep up the hard work!

Duece