Our JV played our 4th game of the season, after having our game last week cancelled due to a tornado that never arrived. We were 3-0 coming into tonight, winning 14-0, 41-19, and 26-14. Our opponent was 0-3, having lost 7-0, 42-0 and 15-12. Our scouting report didn't show anything for us to be concerned about until we showed up. Their Varsity doesn't play this week, and we noticed during warmups there were more Varsity helmets on their team than we were expecting. We needn't have worried. For the third game this year, we scored on the first play from scrimmage, running about 65 yards on Inside Trap. We lead 41-0 at the half and put them on a running clock. They shortened the game by using 10-minute quarters (instead of 12), so they must have known what was about to happen. We emptied the bench in the 2nd Half (although that's not hard with only 28 players), scoring two more touchdowns. The final was 54-0. That puts us at 4-0 on the season with 3 games remaining. So we're averaging 33.7 per game, giving up 8.2. Our starting RB got his 8th and 9th TDs of the season.
--Dave
"The Greater the Teacher, the More Powerful the Player."
The Mission Statement: "I want to show any young man that he is far tougher than he thinks, that he can accomplish more than what he dreamed and that his work ethic will take him wherever he wants to go."
#BattleReady newhope
we scored on the first play from scrimmage, running about 65 yards on Inside Trap.
Gotta love that Trap. Keep matriculating the ball down the field, boys.
I like to trap early, ear hole that big DL who thinks he's about to make a big play because he got in the backfield so fast... slows him down after that, putting his head on swivel, saps his confidence. Schematically the trap is a great play, psychologically it can be devastating to the bad guys.
Umm.... why does that 6 ft tall 9 yr old have a goatee...?
Years ago, we actually had a play that I called, “65 Toss Power Trap.” Just because. Ran it for a touchdown, too.?
—Dave
"The Greater the Teacher, the More Powerful the Player."
The Mission Statement: "I want to show any young man that he is far tougher than he thinks, that he can accomplish more than what he dreamed and that his work ethic will take him wherever he wants to go."
#BattleReady newhope
I like to trap early, ear hole that big DL who thinks he's about to make a big play because he got in the backfield so fast... slows him down after that, putting his head on swivel, saps his confidence. Schematically the trap is a great play, psychologically it can be devastating to the bad guys.
I haven't focused this much on the offensive line since I was a Double Wing header. Of course, I hate our splits, the backpedaling, the vertical set, the two-handed punch, etc. But I can still practice them using a lot of our Double Wing approach; primarily the footwork, leverage, low base and overall mean & nasty play. I'm at a crossroads where I wonder if I should embrace the change and keep trying to find ways for us to get better in this scheme, or cash in my chips and look elsewhere. Still, the JV is 4-0 while the Varsity is 3-1, so that makes things more tolerable, especially when I see how much more we have run the ball this year, than last.
--Dave
"The Greater the Teacher, the More Powerful the Player."
The Mission Statement: "I want to show any young man that he is far tougher than he thinks, that he can accomplish more than what he dreamed and that his work ethic will take him wherever he wants to go."
#BattleReady newhope
I haven't focused this much on the offensive line since I was a Double Wing header. Of course, I hate our splits, the backpedaling, the vertical set, the two-handed punch, etc. But I can still practice them using a lot of our Double Wing approach; primarily the footwork, leverage, low base and overall mean & nasty play. I'm at a crossroads where I wonder if I should embrace the change and keep trying to find ways for us to get better in this scheme, or cash in my chips and look elsewhere. Still, the JV is 4-0 while the Varsity is 3-1, so that makes things more tolerable, especially when I see how much more we have run the ball this year, than last.
--Dave
You know that I cut my coaching teeth on the DW. You and I have had conversations about coaches who would seemingly rather to "lose pretty" than "win ugly". Your JV team has scored on the first play from scrimmage in 75% of their games on a trap play using wide splits and a hands fit. Yet you hate those aspects of the line play?
All I'm suggesting is that there are may tools available to us coaches. It seems to make sense to keep the ones that work and ditch the ones that don't. That way, if you ever find yourself in a situation where foot to foot x-man blocking isn't working, you have something else that is proven to work.
Game plan? I got your game plan. We gonna run the bawl some. We gonna throw the bawl some. We gonna play some defense. We gonna run some special teams, but we better not run kick return but one time and we sure as heck better not punt.
All I'm suggesting is that there are may tools available to us coaches. It seems to make sense to keep the ones that work and ditch the ones that don't. That way, if you ever find yourself in a situation where foot to foot x-man blocking isn't working, you have something else that is proven to work.
You are 100% correct, Lar. Perfectly valid points, one and all. My complaints stem from our being successful using a butterknife to flip on a light switch when my preference is to just use your index finger. I absolutely cannot complain about the results we have gotten. At JV, we really don't throw the ball any more than a Double Wing team with a very good passing game. We certainly don't throw the deep ball; everything is screens and slants, very high percentage. But defenses seem completely confounded as to how to defend an Air Raid offense, but that's due to the fact that we rarely face anyone that's unconventional on defense. Our Game 3 opponent blitzed early and often and stunted regularly. It took us 2 1/2 quarters to figure it out, but once we did they ceased to be a problem and we cruised. (Blitzing us would not have been a problem in the Double Wing because we're foot-to-foot.) But if a defensive scheme is vanilla, the Air Raid can absolutely rip it apart. And I'm glad that we manage to play a physical brand in the Spread. I don't know how many bad guys we put out of the game last night, but our opponent was hurting and their parents weren't happy with us (as we heard when we were leaving the field). I think we're nasty enough up front, especially our freshman Right Tackle. He's as salty an o-lineman as I've ever coached with an attitude of a Linebacker. He's my only blank canvas. The others have experience. Our 6/5 o-line seems to work well, too. (6 players for 5 spots.) In the 3 games where we've scored on our first play, the backup Center has been in there, and I leave it to him when and where he goes in next. He makes that call and he never comes out of the game, offensively. It's interesting to see the 6 of them make that work, when they're all competing for playing time. As I've long said, if you want in, get in.
--Dave
"The Greater the Teacher, the More Powerful the Player."
The Mission Statement: "I want to show any young man that he is far tougher than he thinks, that he can accomplish more than what he dreamed and that his work ethic will take him wherever he wants to go."
#BattleReady newhope
'm at a crossroads where I wonder if I should embrace the change and keep trying to find ways for us to get better in this scheme, or cash in my chips and look elsewhere.
Hi Dave,
I was one of the hold-overs when we got a new coach (my 5th yr in coaching football), he became my mentor in football. We were coming from a grab-bag offense with dozens of plays to a system offense (Slot-I) that on paper just didn't seem to have much to it. I just didn't see enough offense in it. Our new HC emphasized that before we sought to tinker with it, we needed to master it. That once we mastered the Offense we'd find that nearly anything we liked / could imagine would fit in it. But we needed to master the Base offense first. By mid-season HC had identified our talent's strengths and weaknesses and suddenly all kinds of stuff we didn't see in the play book was being run, yet fit within his scheme. By the 2nd season, we were making suggestions as to how this or that would take advantage of this kid's or that kid's natural talent, and it all seemed to fit seamlessly within the scheme. But we needed to master the base offense before we'd see the possiblities.
When he came in, our new HC also emphasized loyalty. He said it was a two-way street, he give us the loyalty he expected from us. And he did, even though it cost him a couple times.
Later when I went to another school to coach, in the interview, I told the (Also new) HC that I'd be the first to master his offense, that I'd swallow his playbook whole. And I did. As much as I enjoyed the Slot I, I became a full convert to the wing T. But, I have adapted a couple of my favorite plays from the Slot I, w/in our Wing T framework.
I don't know if the versatility is there, or if the HC is as flexible as my mentor, but I'd master the new offense, then seek to tweek it to fit the talent. Who knows how you'll feel about it down the road.
Perhaps you'll become a HC again and find some things you;ll bring with you from the air raid when you go back to the DW???
Umm.... why does that 6 ft tall 9 yr old have a goatee...?
who would seemingly rather to "lose pretty" than "win ugly".
I recall reading Woody Hayes was once way behind in a game, came out in the 2nd half passing and nearly pulled off the win. After the game his AD applauded his teams effort, his ingenuity, and said he's sure made the game exciting. Woody said, "To %$&! with exciting. I'd rather be drab as %$#@! and win."
I've heard more than one coach in clinics say their fans would rather lose 60 - 52 than win 10 - 8.
Umm.... why does that 6 ft tall 9 yr old have a goatee...?
I've heard more than one coach in clinics say their fans would rather lose 60 - 52 than win 10 - 8.
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm all about the "main thing" on the field. And the "main thing" is the win. There are no moral victories or quality losses. If I scored 52 points in a game and lost by 8, I would be livid.
--Dave
"The Greater the Teacher, the More Powerful the Player."
The Mission Statement: "I want to show any young man that he is far tougher than he thinks, that he can accomplish more than what he dreamed and that his work ethic will take him wherever he wants to go."
#BattleReady newhope
Our new HC emphasized that before we sought to tinker with it, we needed to master it. That once we mastered the Offense we'd find that nearly anything we liked / could imagine would fit in it. But we needed to master the Base offense first.
--I agree with this, wholeheartedly. Especially as a DWer who knows that "Power" isn't as simple as most may think, and that there's a lot more to Wedge than meets the eye. It isn't just a Power or a Wedge. I'll also be the first to admit that I, in no way, know the Spread. Air Raid, or otherwise. I have no idea what the most important play is in the playbook or what the teaching progression should be. It just looks like a mishmash of plays. But that's simply because I don't understand it, I'm sure. That being said, I do see how the routes put defenders in conflict. I do see that "whatever the defense does is wrong." However, your QB and receivers need to develop a great deal of understanding with each other, especially when the receiver has his choice of routes. But this offense also depends more of the skillset of QBs and receivers than does the DW. And that's one of the great attractions of the DW to me; I can be consistent year-in and year-out with the DW because it's not dependent on individuals; it's dependent on team. The Spread puts all 11 of its players on an island and in that regard, their athleticism is exposed (to their betterment or detriment). The Spread (at least how it's coached here) relies more on exposing defenses though the scouting and preparation for an opponent, whereas in the DW, I only had to see an opponent's front and perimeter triangle to know what to call. I certainly didn't have to watch their film and worry about match-ups.
I don't know if the versatility is there, or if the HC is as flexible as my mentor, but I'd master the new offense, then seek to tweek it to fit the talent. Who knows how you'll feel about it down the road.
--I ran the Spread as a header in 2016 at GHHS. It wasn't the Tony Franklin Air Raid but it seemed to have similar principals. We went 8-1 and averaged 31 ppg. Our only loss was to the school that I'm at now; we lost to them 34-28, on a 2nd Half punt that was returned for a touchdown. I enjoyed my year there and our ability to score very quickly, as that was the season we trailed in 7 of the 9 games we played, yet won 8 of 9. But what I enjoyed the most about it was being the header and being able to coach an entire team, instead of several players.
Perhaps you'll become a HC again and find some things you;ll bring with you from the air raid when you go back to the DW???
--Perhaps. I look across the field at the team we beat last night 54-0, and I'm enraged that they hired someone to put on that brand of football. They actually hired someone to coach a team that poorly. They obviously accept that level of performance and then reward that header by letting him keep a job. Amazing, really. We have 28 players. We have one 2-way player, so we have 21 starters and practically no depth. We are a 4A school with 2,000 students. Our opponent had almost twice the number of players, yet never even got into our Red Zone. And yet, their header has a job...
--Dave
"The Greater the Teacher, the More Powerful the Player."
The Mission Statement: "I want to show any young man that he is far tougher than he thinks, that he can accomplish more than what he dreamed and that his work ethic will take him wherever he wants to go."
#BattleReady newhope
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