The only formation I can remember seeing had wingback deep and wingback shallow on the same side, and I think the reason for that was just that they had no ideas (1930s) and could think of doing nothing but copying American formations, and since some had the wingback deep and others the wingback shallow, having both accounted for 12 players.  Since it was a still photo, I've no idea how they motioned.

I'd think one of the most consequential differences would be the yard off the ball the defense lines up, plus IIRC the illegality of the wedge, in that players aren't allowed to contact teammates in such a way as to add force to blocking.  That gives you 2 encouragements right there to increase your splits over what either Dave Cisar or DumCoach would have.

The only formation I can remember seeing had wingback deep and wingback shallow on the same side, and I think the reason for that was just that they had no ideas (1930s) and could think of doing nothing but copying American formations, and since some had the wingback deep and others the wingback shallow, having both accounted for 12 players.  Since it was a still photo, I've no idea how they motioned.

I'd think one of the most consequential differences would be the yard off the ball the defense lines up, plus IIRC the illegality of the wedge, in that players aren't allowed to contact teammates in such a way as to add force to blocking.  That gives you 2 encouragements right there to increase your splits over what either Dave Cisar or DumCoach would have.

I will have to check into the rules regarding the wedge, I have never heard different rules for it between US and CAN game. That would be devastating if not legal, ESPECIALLY with the 1 yard off the ball. The team I coached with a couple years ago is governed under the same rule book and we ran a wedge play without issue.

First of all... I'm back!

Been too long. I haven't fully coached since 2013, and it feels good to have that pre-season anxiety again. I was the HC of a small org. back in my home town before I decided to move for work opportunities. Didn't coach in 2014, but helped out with the old org. whenever I was back in town as my brother was still coaching with them. In 2015 I decided to get back at it, joined a big organization in a smaller role, and things didn't work out so well. Just didn't see eye to eye on many philosophical things which made things difficult, eventually leading to messy but mutual ending. Didn't coach again in 2016 as I was going to be in the middle of house hunting and then moving again, and had a couple trips planned (Vacation in August/September??? Whoda thought). Decided again to put myself out there in my new town, had our first practice Tuesday night, and they asked me to head up their Peewee squad, ages 10-11. I cautiously accepted, it has been 4 years since I actually ran a team. But excited as all hell to get back at it!

Now the other exciting this is, I get to try to adapt Dave's wonderful UBSW to Canadian Rules (previous league I coached in played American rules). I know to many of you the Canadian game is foreign, but the fundamentals are the same, still gotta block and tackle well. But things like multiple men in motion TOWARDS the LOS, 12 men on the field, WIDER and LONGER field, and some others make for a lot of opportunities to try things, and new things for the UBSW.

Since I have no idea what kind of group I am walking into, I am not going to stray too far from the familiar to start. The first question is what to do with the extra man. Double Wings? Split Strong side? Split Weak side? An extra back????

This is what I am thinking to start. Add the extra player on the weak-side WR spot. And have the WB come in motion. This will allow us to spread the defence out a little more, and allow the WB to get a head start on the DE and LB on his blocking plays.

Anyone have any experience with the SW in the Canadian game? Or any thoughts on what I've got here feel free to share.

Done 5 Canadian clinics
And played 2 teams from Canada
If you are in Bc look up Laurie Smith in cilliwack - went from youth to high School ball- EXTREMELY successful
He has been to Nebraska and played us
The usual alignment is moving extra player to wideout weak
Spinner is a killer with 2 guys in motion

I will have to check into the rules regarding the wedge, I have never heard different rules for it between US and CAN game. That would be devastating if not legal, ESPECIALLY with the 1 yard off the ball. The team I coached with a couple years ago is governed under the same rule book and we ran a wedge play without issue.

You're right, it's only the professional rules that outlaw wedge blocking.  Same with American pro rules, but said not to be enforced.

First of all... I'm back!

Been too long.

Welcome back.

I coached some AFL ( indoor arena ) and they had the two men in motion towards the LOS Rule.

Honestly that was a ton of fun for the OC and hell on the DC. So not to sidetrack but I am curious how you all defend that on a regular basis?

Thanks and good luck.

Done 5 Canadian clinics
And played 2 teams from Canada
If you are in Bc look up Laurie Smith in cilliwack - went from youth to high School ball- EXTREMELY successful
He has been to Nebraska and played us
The usual alignment is moving extra player to wideout weak
Spinner is a killer with 2 guys in motion

Thanks Dave.

If he is from G.W. Graham in Chilliwack, then I have talked to him before. Great guy, was very helpful.

Yep that is him
Great guy- last time up there- brought the whole family- vacationed with them etc

Spinner is a killer with 2 guys in motion

Just gave me a wild idea... spinner out of the Jet formation with both wings in motion towards the QB. On the snap, QB 1/2 turns and fakes to 2 back going to the right, finishes the turn to fake to the 4 back going to the left, then runs 16 Power. Could run either jet sweep off of it, and would be crazy to have all that motion in the backfield and run wedge underneath it all!

So based on early registration numbers, we may be playing 9-man football at this level anyways. Something I am very familiar with. Kinda disappointing I might not get to truly unleash Dave's SW on the Canadian rules, wide field and 12-men, but It may work in our favour since the last 2 years I ran this was under 9-man conditions.

Have to see how the summer progresses I guess.

So based on early registration numbers, we may be playing 9-man football at this level anyways. Something I am very familiar with. Kinda disappointing I might not get to truly unleash Dave's SW on the Canadian rules, wide field and 12-men, but It may work in our favour since the last 2 years I ran this was under 9-man conditions.

Have to see how the summer progresses I guess.

We played 9 man in full contact flag for several years

-----e---g----c---g----e
------------------3---------4
-------------1--2

Or

e----g---c----g---t----e
--------------3-------------4
----------1

We played 9 man in full contact flag for several years

-----e---g----c---g----e
------------------3---------4
-------------1--2

That's what we did the first year, it worked well, but the 3's kick-out was really tough and couldn't really take advantage of the unbalanced formation. The second year we went with:

LG..C..RG..RT..TE
.............3............4
.....1..2

And won the league championship. Really shortens the weak side, but enough chaser drills and No Play calls and it is manageable. That is what I plan on doing again.

I can have the WB in motion towards the line too which is nice, and can have both guys in motion in the Jet series:

..................LG..C..RG..RT..........................................TE
.............................3
.......2...............1....................4

Just an update on my... situation.

We are playing 9-man football. I have had 9 players at a single practice ONCE so far. Officially have 12 on the roster after a new player showed up last night. And 12 is the minimum we need to play a game, so that's an important benchmark. Not to mention, week 1 is Sept 3rd!!  ???

It's going to be a tough week going into game 1. Aware of 1 player that is away, and will have 2 players who are not yet ready for full contact. One will have half a practice under his belt, the other will have zero. Going to be tricky to get them up to speed while also playing catch up on offence and defence since we are way behind, as I have had to teach everything at least twice. Some players don't know a single player other than 16 Power and No Play.

The sad thing that will likely save us from complete disaster is that our week 1 opponent is likely in as bad or worse situation. Might be best for both teams if we play a controlled scrimmage instead, but we'll see if either team can show up with 12 first.

Oh well. All I can do is my best coaching up the players that show up and hope it all works out!

Well....

Game number 1 is this Sunday. Officially have 9 healthy players who will be in town and will have more than one practice under their belts. We have one more practice tomorrow, and it will be the first practice of the season for 2 new players. 13 total registered, one out of town for the long weekend and the other with a fractured wrist from July that it seems forever to get the damn cast off.

So it's going into the books as a "forfeit" regardless, league says you need a minimum of 12 on the roster to play a game at 9-man. 9 certainly won't cut it, even the two newbies dressed but not seeing the field won't do it for us.

In case I hasn't mentioned before, first year with this Org, and this team I took over has not won a game in 2 years, and only scored 1 TD all last season. I can see why they have struggled to retain more than 5 players from last season.

Oh well. We will show up on Sunday and play whatever form of a football game with my 9 guys for as long as we feel it is safe to do so. Hopefully at very least some good experience going full speed against some different bodies for once, and have some fun of course.

To Update how my season went, it ended yesterday. We finished 2-8. And by just about all measures, that was a successful season.

The background on this team is they have not been competitive for a while. This team last year not only did not win a game, they didn't score a TD until their final game of the year. In fact within our entire organization from Atom (8/9) to Bantam (14/15), we were the only team to have more than one win in the season. And every one of those teams other than Atom had numbers issues and all had to play 9-man football. Luckily the Atom team had an influx this year, with 26 players, and a good number of them moving up to Peewee next year. I would be retaining half of my 18 players, so my biggest goal this year was to retain as many kids as possible.

Our numbers were a huge issue all the way through the summer. It wasn't until the first week of September that we went from 12/13 on the roster to 18 a week later. Many of the late-joining players turned out to be very good players for us, so it could have been a different story results-wise had I been able to get them up to speed throughout the summer, not in weeks 1-4. This is my number one thing for next year, start the recruiting process EARLY. Get commitments from the kids as early as possible.

We had some ups and downs. I had 2 solid runners that rotating at QB. Solid, but not spectacular. I had a big strong aggressive runner who was my FB all year, he played some QB as well. I had one other kid with good speed who had some success at WB, who rotated with my other QB there. Did not have a ton of size and natural blockers up front, but I feel like I did an OK job getting something out of that group, but it was not our biggest strength.

X's and O's time:

With only 9-man, as I had found in the past, it is tough to get a really good kick-out block by the BB on the end on Power. He is lined up between the RG and RT, so he only has a player and a half before the end of the line. That is not a lot of time for the End to get upfield enough for the BB to get his head on the correct side and kick him out towards the sidelines/backfield. And whether by design or not, not every team had an aggressive End who would come upfield. I did like the ability to have the WB in motion towards the line on every play. It helped him to get his momentum going towards the defence, especially on 18 Sweep to get a good seal on the End. Also allowed him to be further back from the line on 43 Reverse so as to be at a better angle towards the LOS when he gets the ball. Out of Jet, I was able to have both wings in motion. Both the player getting the sweep and the player coming down on to seal the End. It allowed both players to  start wide, and not give away which direction we were going.

I had a great time coaching these kids this year, and am looking forward to join the board and give my ideas and experiences to help this organization grow. By the sounds of it, it has been the same stale board badly in need of fresh ideas and new perspective. Already looking forward to next season!

Finally, thanks again to DumCoach and the helpful resources I find here regularly.