Happy New Year everybody. Not much football talk lately and I am starting to get itchy. Thought I'd share my plans for the next 11 months or so.
Spring Football: There is a Spring tackle league that I believe is centered on the East end of the Denver Metro area (we are on the West end). I think some of their teams are up to 45 minutes to the North and 90 minutes to the South (Colorado Springs). I have also seen teams from Pueblo (2+ hours South) on their standings in the past. This is an AAU league, so it looks like they might have a few goofy rules:
1) No lining up over the C. Must be in the A gap.
2) Maximum of 6 players on the LOS and all must be in a 3 or 4 point stance. Anyone in a 2 point must be 2 yards off the LOS.
Not terrible, I suppose.
I'll be joining forces with our Fall scrimmage partner and worthy opponent. He wants to run the Defense and wants me to run the Offense. Our Fall league pres told us that neither of us (HCs in the Fall) can be HCs in the Spring. Mahonz says this is BS, but I'd just as soon let someone else be the HC in title only. The other Fall HC and I get along very well and agree on almost everything. We'll have final say on team related decisions.
In the Fall, he allowed an inexperienced guy to run his offense. It was a bit of a crap show. His o-line is well coached and his backs block well. Most of his play design is sound, but according to HC, he made lots of unnecessary changes throughout the season and tried to add too many "special" plays that were far off their base offense. I also had a conversation or two with the guy about eligible vs ineligible receivers. ("But he's a TE . . . etc.). I recommended to the HC that he take over the offense and run Wing-T next season. He then can train the OC to take over. So to help them out, I will be running a combination of Power T and Wing T for him this Spring and introduce his OC to series-based football and how to coach fast to maximize reps in practice. Clark's DC Wing T will be my blueprint, along with a handful of Power T presentations that I found on Youtube.
For the Fall, I was planning on turning the defense over to my DC, but at the banquet, he said he'd like for us to work together on it. I'm leaning on going back to Murphy's Swarm 44. We got away from it so that we could get an athletic patch player on defense. Since the patch rules go away next Fall, we can play him at LB. I question whether he has the discipline for it, but we'll see. Since the 44 doesn't require tremendous athletes on the D-line, it opens some intriguing possibilities with playing athletic bigs playing LB.
Offensively, we will go with the 3 headed monster approach:
1) DW/Beast. I'm banning direct snaps, so we will go Beast from under center and maybe toss from it. DW will be heavily influenced by Jack/JJ and what Kent and I ran which is what I learned about 15 years ago (has it been that long?). Tight splits, pulling guards (and sometimes tackles), TKO with X-man blocking. We'll run Toss, Monster sweep, XX counter (inside handoff), XX reverse (outside handoff), FB Counter, Wedge, Trap, Part, Flood Pass and Toss Pass. All the usual formation tags along with keep and boot calls for the QB. We'll also run a "fridge" package. I have 3 very athletic, very fast big guys. We'll run Toss/Part with those guys in the Maryland I. We'll work hard on being extremely vertical and violent with these bigs so to tenderize and demoralize the defense.
2) I-wing. From this formation, we run Iso, FB dive, QB boot, waggle and double option. We screwed around with this last season and it ended up being one heck of a series with minimum install. Keep/pitch option took some time, but we started the season planning on running Flexbone, so we worked on option early, ditched it, then came back to it from the I. One of our 2 QBs ran it exceptionally well. The other one probably won't be back next season and even if he does come back, he'll have trouble competing for the job with the other 2 QBs.
3) Empty. This time from under Center. We'll have our usual sweeps/reverses plus our passing game.
We'll go with our usual special teams approach, but will clean up our PAT. Scrimmage partner HC have me some tips on fixing our PAT. Also, we will be installing Punt Block. We didn't work very hard on punt return in the past. We simply trained the D-line to get off the center and gave our fast, athletic safety permission to return the ball if he could field it cleanly. Everyone else was taught the rules on live ball/poison. This year, we will try to block every punt and work hard on it. Watched a few HS clinic videos on blocking punts and I like what I saw. We also have a handful of stunts that will work very well against most teams in our league. Troy knows exactly what I'm talking about.
I created a play book that is my first crack at running DW with the Mahonz terminology.
That's it so far. Interested in hearing your plans for the Spring (if you're doing Spring ball) and Fall.
When in doot . . . glass and oot.
1) No lining up over the C. Must be in the A gap.
--Run Wedge.
2) Maximum of 6 players on the LOS and all must be in a 3 or 4 point stance. Anyone in a 2 point must be 2 yards off the LOS.
In the Fall, he allowed an inexperienced guy to run his offense.
--Why? Is there anyone out there who can explain the why/how this happens? Would you allow your preteen to borrow your car? On what planet does this ever sound like a good idea? On what planet does this ever even work? You go through all the loops and hurdles of becoming a header only to give away the responsibility of running and teaching a scheme?
It was a bit of a crap show.
--Ya think?
His o-line is well coached and his backs block well. Most of his play design is sound, but according to HC, he made lots of unnecessary changes throughout the season and tried to add too many "special" plays that were far off their base offense. I also had a conversation or two with the guy about eligible vs ineligible receivers. ("But he's a TE . . . etc.).
--So he doesn't even know basic football rules...
That's it so far. Interested in hearing your plans for the Spring (if you're doing Spring ball) and Fall.
--Having a meeting Wednesday night with Coach W and another local, successful, respected header. I've been asked to join a youth org for the fall and want to see if the other two are interested, as well.
--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
--Why? Is there anyone out there who can explain the why/how this happens? Would you allow your preteen to borrow your car? On what planet does this ever sound like a good idea? On what planet does this ever even work? You go through all the loops and hurdles of becoming a header only to give away the responsibility of running and teaching a scheme?
Why? - I can speak from experience. Sometimes, one makes decisions where one thinks the potential benefits outweigh the potential risks. When that ends up not being the case, one does a face palm and fixes it. Then, if you have half a brain, you realize that you based your decision hope, thus relinquishing control of the situation. To be fair, this HC had a pre-season meeting with the OC and the guy seemed 100% onboard and may have mis-represented the extent of his experience running an offense. Why didn't he take control when he saw the problems? IMHO, the problems were subtle and gradual enough that they weren't noticed. Why didn't he take control when it became obvious and the problems were no longer subtle? Not sure. This HC knows what he's doing and to me doesn't seem like a "people pleaser" type. 2 most cringe-worth moments: a) HC had to attend a wedding out of state and left his ACs in charge for a winnable game. When the cat's away, the mice will run all the stuff the cat won't let us run. Lost 40-26. b) Going into their first round, upper division playoff game vs a very good team, OC shows me his "emergency playbook" vs this tough opponent. It featured 3 formations/actions that were brand new to the team. Lost 27-6.
--So he doesn't even know basic football rules...
Wait, there's more. They go on a different cadence every snap: silent, first sound, 1, 2 or 3. He taught his center to automatically snap the ball if a defensive player jumps offside, regardless of the called snap. I pointed out to him that under HS rules, any neutral zone infraction is a dead ball penalty. Deer in the headlights look.I pointed it out to the HC who just said, "I know". My concern is that if I tried something like that, I KNOW we'd fumble a snap at some point. To the OC's credit, they never had that happen that I know of, but dang, what a waste of practice time.
--Having a meeting Wednesday night with Coach W and another local, successful, respected header. I've been asked to join a youth org for the fall and want to see if the other two are interested, as well.
Best of luck with that. I have a hard time getting it through my head that you'd every be an AC or be a HC following someone else's plan. You belong up front.
When in doot . . . glass and oot.
Why? - I can speak from experience. Sometimes, one makes decisions where one thinks the potential benefits outweigh the potential risks.
--What would the potential benefits include?
When that ends up not being the case, one does a face palm and fixes it. Then, if you have half a brain, you realize that you based your decision hope, thus relinquishing control of the situation.
--How do you not realize that you've relinquished control of the situation when you've relinquished control of the situation?
To be fair, this HC had a pre-season meeting with the OC and the guy seemed 100% onboard and may have mis-represented the extent of his experience running an offense.
--You can't "misrepresent" when you interview. You can claim you've worked for Saban, Belichick, and General Neyland and then so what? I don't care. Explain to me how you'll run the scheme and then teach me the scheme and drills as if I'm a 7/8/9/10 year-old kid. THAT will tell me if you know what you're doing.
Why didn't he take control when he saw the problems? IMHO, the problems were subtle and gradual enough that they weren't noticed. Why didn't he take control when it became obvious and the problems were no longer subtle? Not sure.
--Which comes to my point....Not only did he not "take control of the situation" when the issues were "subtle and gradual," he didn't take control of the situation when it was OBVIOUS.
This HC knows what he's doing and to me doesn't seem like a "people pleaser" type. 2 most cringe-worth moments: a) HC had to attend a wedding out of state and left his ACs in charge for a winnable game. When the cat's away, the mice will run all the stuff the cat won't let us run. Lost 40-26.
--lol
b) Going into their first round, upper division playoff game vs a very good team, OC shows me his "emergency playbook" vs this tough opponent. It featured 3 formations/actions that were brand new to the team. Lost 27-6.
--Emergency playbook....LOL. Stop it, Lar that's just too funny. I've never even heard of such a thing: "In case of emergency, break glass and then use these plays."
Wait, there's more. They go on a different cadence every snap: silent, first sound, 1, 2 or 3. He taught his center to automatically snap the ball if a defensive player jumps offside, regardless of the called snap. I pointed out to him that under HS rules, any neutral zone infraction is a dead ball penalty.
--This guy was THAT OBVIOUS OF AN IDIOT and the header thought he'd vetted him?
Best of luck with that. I have a hard time getting it through my head that you'd every be an AC or be a HC following someone else's plan. You belong up front.
--Well, we'll see how it goes. There are some challenges at the youth level that I'd still like to take on.
--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
--What would the potential benefits include?
I love these exercises with you. It really makes me think about all of my "why's". Here goes: Some of us (myself and the HC we're talking about) consider our AC's enjoyability factor when making certain decisions (who is coaching what, for example). I rationalize that as long as it doesn't have a negative effect on the team, then "why not?". Then, when it negatively affects the team, it seems easier to address the symptom rather than the cause. Addressing the symptom: "I'll talk to the AC and get him back on track". Addressing the cause: "I no longer care about the AC's 'enjoyability' factor." I was guilty of that last season. For the first time in a long time, our players out-performed the coaching staff. We held them back. I won't let that happen again.
--How do you not realize that you've relinquished control of the situation when you've relinquished control of the situation?
No, you understand that you relinquished control of the situation at the decision point, but you hope that it goes your way on its own. It's essentially gambling.
--You can't "misrepresent" when you interview. You can claim you've worked for Saban, Belichick, and General Neyland and then so what? I don't care. Explain to me how you'll run the scheme and then teach me the scheme and drills as if I'm a 7/8/9/10 year-old kid. THAT will tell me if you know what you're doing.
Actually, I've been in many pre-season meetings where everyone is nods and smiles. Sometimes guys change once the kids hit the grass.
--Which comes to my point....Not only did he not "take control of the situation" when the issues were "subtle and gradual," he didn't take control of the situation when it was OBVIOUS.
Yeah. For sure. He and I had a lot of conversations over the season and served as each other's sounding board/therapist.
--Emergency playbook....LOL. Stop it, Lar that's just too funny. I've never even heard of such a thing: "In case of emergency, break glass and then use these plays."
When he showed it to me, it was written out on a spiral notebook. I couldn't help but think of "The Waterboy" and Henry Winkler's magical playbook that made the difference between an 0-10 team and one that won the national championship. Specifically, he wanted my opinion on a super-unbalanced formation with 5 linemen left of the ball and 1 to the right. I told him that I'd run beast that way in the past and even went 6 to one side and nobody on the short side, but that you really had to build your way up to it. He was going under center and would have his QB open to the POC and toss the ball. I suggested doing away with the QB and direct snapping (they were much better at that than we were). He said, "Nah, we can't do that." So I suggested having the QB reverse pivot so he could block. "Nah we can't do that." I didn't press the issue.
--This guy was THAT OBVIOUS OF AN IDIOT and the header thought he'd vetted him?
Another head scratcher. His DC wasn't a ton better. I was running Beast against his regular defense one day and installed Part. It was devastating. The DC started to adjust and I looked up and saw a guy over my long guard and the next guy on the long side was outside my TE. Our QB started the cadence and I stopped the play. I said to the DC, "COACH! YOU'RE GIVING US A 5 ON 1 ADVANTAGE AT THE POC!" He was fine with that, so I turned to the HC and asked, "Is this what you want?". Then he took control and adjusted to a more sound front. One day, his came up with a weird shift where his LBs would replace his DL and vice-versa. Mahonz called it an "all out Stem". HC asked me to try and snap the ball while they were moving to prove that it was stupid. Didn't have to. It was stupid. Asked the HC what the benefit was and he had no idea. DC said it would confuse the o-line. It did not. I need to point out that this team blocks and tackles very well, which goes to show how little scheme matters compared to the fundamentals.
When in doot . . . glass and oot.
LOL. Stop it, Lar! You're killing me. ?
--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
My favorite time of year!
This is my first off season at this new school. At my last school we wouldn't even be talking about football this time of year. That's just one of many differences between a school that has made the state tournament once in 15 years and this place where we have only missed the tournament once in 15 years.
On Monday we started our off season program for all our guys that aren't playing a winter sport. Yesterday we had our first OL coaches meeting. We have 6 OL coaches on our staff, 2 at each level (Fr, JV and V) but we are all on the same page and there are no egos in the room. Our meetings are super productive and enjoyable.
The OL room is responsible for everything in the run game throughout the whole year. This time of year it is our job to come up with the schemes for the upcoming season and then we have to "pitch" our plan to the OC who has the final say. We have 2 things that we do in the run game that are staples and might never never change. We run IZ/OZ and we are very good at both. However, it turns out that the other 2 run schemes we typically carry are year to year and sometimes we only add 1 new scheme. These guys are very thoughtful about our personnel and they do a great job of identifying the things we are likely to be good at.
Yesterday's meeting was about the possible schemes we will add and what we might delete. It was a great exercise to be a part of. Next week we will talk about any and all technique changes that we might make. I am super impressed by the fact that they have been able to maintain the level of success they've had but they never get stuck doing stuff just because it worked once before...very impressive to me.
It's looking like we will be replacing Duo with Wham. We might be eliminating our G-series which is 3-4 different variations of Power. It's looking like we will only carry 3 run schemes into the season. I look forward to everyday that I get to be around this staff. I ALWAYS learn something!
I love these exercises with you. It really makes me think about all of my "why's". Here goes: Some of us (myself and the HC we're talking about) consider our AC's enjoyability factor when making certain decisions (who is coaching what, for example). I rationalize that as long as it doesn't have a negative effect on the team, then "why not?". Then, when it negatively affects the team, it seems easier to address the symptom rather than the cause. Addressing the symptom: "I'll talk to the AC and get him back on track". Addressing the cause: "I no longer care about the AC's 'enjoyability' factor." I was guilty of that last season. For the first time in a long time, our players out-performed the coaching staff. We held them back. I won't let that happen again.
You have to appreciate the situation you were in last Fall. Mike has decades of experience being the Header. You were inundated with all the other crap Headers have to do in August for the first time. Next year will be different.
Lets review:
As soon as you mentioned Flexbone you lost Lonnie for the season....meaning when you decided Flexbone would no longer be the focus he bucked that idea for the next 11 games and worked on it every chance he got....which was a lot because you were kind enough to delegate. He took advantage of you. That surprised me. I love the guy for his attention to detail. All season he was somewhere else mentally and on a mission to run what he liked...not what you wanted.
Hesse was afraid to make a mistake because he does not understand the youth game....yet. He will and will fast become someone you can lean on. Tag him the DC and throw him into the deep end. Saying he wants it to be a co-op deal is copping out. If he loves ( trusts ) his odd fronts....let him/ Step aside....give him ownership...see what happens while you help troubleshoot. I did the same thing to you years ago...Keenan many years before that. You both learned to to swim with sharks and became fucking great coach because of it. My mentor did the same thing to me decades ago. Pride in ownership is a real thing. Never turn you back on that. Sink or swim.
Seems the only reason Marcos stayed involved was to make sure Dre played QB.
You never cared for TJ so that went south in a hurry.
Mark is family and simply cannot appreciate hierarchy when it comes to you. He needs to fix that. Watching you two from the peanut gallery was embarrassing at times. He is a complete dumba$$ for putting you in those situations.
Mario never got the attention he needed from you because you were busy with the rest of your Staff. Since he has two kids on the team that are not superstars and he knows this....you know you can rely on him. Maybe time to amp things up for him.
Hire Jason to run your Offense so that you can float and do all the things you needed to do on game day you didn't do that pissed you off. He will do a fantastic job for you. Better than you expect. I found a L Coaches shirt unopened so you dont even need to spend money on him.
Finally. Im the only one that reads your game day breakdowns and scouting reports. Im the only one that watches film at your level. I know Jason will... but the rest of the gang? Doubtful. So maybe its time for more meeting time even if its Zoom style for starters. I was never a meet in season guy all that much because me and Keenan ran the show so it didn't matter. We learned to coach coaches on the fly. Then Me and you ran the show so it didnt matter as we coached coaches on the fly. You need your alternate ego to run the show with you. Im thinking that will fast become Jason and not Andy. As a PI he has more free time to rabble dabble than you do. Andy has to keep Dina busy.
You saying the kids outperformed the Staff is nutty. I filmed that Championship game for you so watched the performance with a clear mind. Those kids oozed Coach Gumby so dont be selling yourself short my friend. Im thinking you have way too much time on your hands right now....time to hit the slopes ?
PS...There is no Rule anywhere that says you cannot be the Header for a Spring Team. None. Me personally teaming up with Mike...I would insist on being the Header so you can fully control the insubordinates. Gary wont even know you are fielding a team. If you need me to hook you up at Arvada West HS for practice....let me know. $16 per hour. They upgraded all outdoor facilities since we last used their space.
Im out for Spring. Headed to Baraboo to take in the Baseball / Softball experience. Sagie will be a pitcher at a D1 College before we know it. She is a phenom so I need my fix.
She is already getting letters from places like ASU... as a Sophomore.
Just some things to chew on. ?
What is beautiful, lives forever.
@mahonz You hit the nail on the head.
With Lonnie, I treated him as a co-head coach. That was my mistake. Flexbone was his idea. I should have realized this wasn't going to work in May when I was spending 10 hours on research to every one of his.
Jason is out for Spring, but I'll teach him the offense . . . then give him the offense. I know he's got DW experience and I've seen him in action on both sides of the ball and as a HC.
Andrew goes into the deep water on defense. The biggest issue with him is that left to his own designs, he will let a kid ride the bench all game because he "can't tackle". So he'll be upset when I insist that Zicki, Purcella and a few others get regular reps on defense. Yes, I still have my little lost puppies, but I am pretty damn hard on those puppies.
Mark will get there. He made some huge strides this year. I gave him a longer leash than he was ready for. He took ownership of the bigs on the offensive side and looked at them as his. I liked that. The problem is that he took ownership of the bigs on defense, but did not take ownership of the d-line, if that makes sense. That, I did not like. I'd rather have someone that I need to reel in than someone I need to push. You know how he feels about kickers, so him telling Big B to kick the opposite way is understandable. Not acceptable, but understandable. My problem is that I need to treat him the same way that I treat the other coaches.
Marcos could only make 1 practice per week because of the rookie team. I was the one pushing for Dre at QB. If you were there, you'd have seen why. He outshined Mihai in every department except arm strength and accuracy, but Mihai only had a slight advantage in that department. Dre was loved by his teammates. Mihai . . . not so much. The only problem I had with Marcos was a handful of times that I thought Dre was hurt, but Marcos insisted he wasn't.
Mario will be the Spring HC. Already talked it over with Currier. That will set him up nicely for Fall.
TJ: True that I did not like him. Never did. However, YOU are the only person who knew that. I never gave him a reason to think I didn't like him. We had our first problem in week 2. He wanted special teams, so I gave them to him. Then, he missed the 2 practices where we installed specials. This was on the 6 week plan. When he came back to practice, we opened with KO and I had written down the personnel from install. He was mad that he didn't have any input on who plays where. Then, he was mad that his son wasn't the kicker. Then, he was mad that his son wasn't a captain. Then he ghosted me for a week and the next time I saw him was on the sideline of the Spartans game where he told me he quit. It's kind of funny. I'm a very poor judge of potential hires at work. I'm kind of known for it. When it comes to football, my instincts are pretty dead on.
Film study and scouting? No one spends as much time in that as I do. Bar none. Why should it be any different now that I'm in charge? Zoom meetings aren't a bad idea. Go over the scout and plan of the week. Let everyone know what's bugging me before starting the week of practice.
I still say the kids out performed the staff. It was easy to see, especially in the first 3/4 of the season. When the adults can't field 11 players on offense game after game . . . we sucked. By the time playoffs rolled around, we no longer sucked. We were okay. We were able to beat 2 of our 3 playoff opponents on Mojo alone. Yeah, I'll take credit for getting the Mojo back, but there are 7 teams in our division that we can't beat on Mojo alone. We coaches did have our crap together for playoff rd 2 against Aragon so it only took us a Jamboree, 10 scrimmages and 9 games to "not suck". We were fine in the championship, but honestly, we just stayed out of the players' way. Going into that game, ACs asked me what the game plan was. I answered, "Beat the dog sh*t out of them until they quit". Not exactly Vince Lombardi material there.
When in doot . . . glass and oot.
I've been watching a lot of Wing-T stuff lately. I stumbled on something called "Belly Zoom" that you can see here:
Click or tap to follow the link." href="https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FQrqyY8WWJ-g%3Ft%3D185&data=04%7C01%7C%7C38a5e7626f8e4f76f9aa08d9d2047f52%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637771739020110115%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=iaJ6VSbzJKdKBdrYoeZOdXMPlB232lA1tE3vHWpbvRA%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-auth="Verified" data-linkindex="0">
What really intrigues me is the pin/pull or cross blocking used. Back in 2016 or so, when I first started coaching with Mahonz, we tried a pin/pull system, but couldn't quite get it to work due to all the "what if's" and just a general inability to cover all the possible defensive alignments.
I came back to it a few years later, but just installed it as a line call. If one guy was covered and had a buddy who wasn't, they could agree to cross block. I left it up to them and I can't recall them ever actually using it.
After watching that Belly Zoom series above, I think it will be an integral part of our ISO series. I started drawing it out against every front imaginable. There are certain looks that it probably won't work on and I'll have to chart those so I don't run it in a losing situation. I also need to think about walk up blitzers and be ready to adjust before the ball is snapped. The key will be communication between play side linemen involved and the backs.
Overall, I think it will has tremendous potential. Here's what it would look like against a typical 303 with a 6 tech with us running ISO to the offensive right. We see a lot of this look. In this case, RT is covered while RG is not.
6 3 0 3 6
T G C G T E
RT points to 3 tech, looks at RG and says "Twizzler". RG confirms. RG looks at FB/TB and says "Twizzler". Backs confirm. All other linemen block Inside Gap, Man On, LB. This means RE takes an inside release on the 6 to get a LB. 6 is pretty much out of the play. If he makes a tackle on an ISO or even gets close, he is dead meat on a WB sweep.
RG pulls around the RT and climbs to the next level. All will be taught to take advantage of leverage, so he will be looking outside in.
FB leads, looking inside out and takes a LB. He has to be aware that he is running between RG and RT.
TB follows, looking for butts at the 2nd level. If he gets tackled by the safety, it's a 4-5 yard gain. If he doesn't, it's a long gain.
The teach will be very easy. We already block GOB on ISO. The only thing new will be the "Twizzler" call that tells the "pull" man to go around rather than straight to the 2nd level. Then, I have to figure out a way to communicate when both RG and RT are covered, but we can still cross block. One would have to tell the other to "block my man" rather than climb to the 2nd level. Something like this vs a typical 60 front.
6 4 2 2 4 6
T G C G T E
Haven't settled on the language, but essentially, RT looks at RG, pointing at the 2 tech and says "Twizzler". RG confirms, but RT points at 4 and says "Bandit". RG confirms.
So now, RT crosses RG's face and blocks the 2. RG pulls behind RT and blocks the 4. With any luck, 4 tech gets a step or two of penetration and gets trapped, leaving a very nice seam for the backs.
Anyone else play around with something like this?
When in doot . . . glass and oot.
What really intrigues me is the pin/pull or cross blocking used. Back in 2016 or so, when I first started coaching with Mahonz, we tried a pin/pull system, but couldn't quite get it to work due to all the "what if's" and just a general inability to cover all the possible defensive alignments.
It just so happens that I have video of those coaching sessions. Here are the kids reactions to those sessions.
What is beautiful, lives forever.
I LOVE Pin n pull but it can be really expensive to install. Our varsity ran it a couple years ago. I opted not to install it with the freshman. Kid's can struggle with the rules when the front changes.
couldn't quite get it to work due to all the "what if's" and just a general inability to cover all the possible defensive alignments.
I try not to let those bother me mentally. I've got to remember that after setting up just a few and working out how the rules go against them, the other possible defensive alignments (and assignments) are mostly going to be unsound. Could there be some that look weird but are sound and blow up the play? Sure! But are kids likely to be coached in them? Nah. So what if the blockers are confused? The confused blockers will be at least made up for by the tacklers wasted by being where (possibly by mistake) they are and having the assignments they're given.
The other thing to remember is, don't try to make every play work against every defense. That's why you don't tell the other team your play. Will they get lucky sometimes and you smack into a stone wall? Sure. I like our chances when they're doing that. And I probably will have some "naked" plays that won't work at all unless the defense deliberately gives them to me because they're concerned about something else.
@bob-goodman We're on the same page. If I can't cover 90% of the bases with a few simple rules, I don't use it. When Mahonz tried to install it, he didn't have any help. OC really wasn't that interested in O-line. O-line coach didn't put in any work outside of practice. I was the "passing game coordinator". At that time, I couldn't see the value of pin/pull. If I had, I would have fought for it and went home and figured it out.
I do things probably differently than most. Instead of designing a play to run to a specific spot, I design it to run to a general area (inside, edge, outside). Then, I give the blockers tools to take advantage of natural bubbles. Then, I train the backs to understand where those bubbles are likely to appear. Going forward, I am going to take the extra step of teaching the entire offense to communicate about what they are seeing and where the bubbles will likely appear.
When in doot . . . glass and oot.
@bob-goodman We're on the same page. If I can't cover 90% of the bases with a few simple rules, I don't use it. When Mahonz tried to install it, he didn't have any help. OC really wasn't that interested in O-line. O-line coach didn't put in any work outside of practice. I was the "passing game coordinator". At that time, I couldn't see the value of pin/pull. If I had, I would have fought for it and went home and figured it out.
I do things probably differently than most. Instead of designing a play to run to a specific spot, I design it to run to a general area (inside, edge, outside). Then, I give the blockers tools to take advantage of natural bubbles. Then, I train the backs to understand where those bubbles are likely to appear. Going forward, I am going to take the extra step of teaching the entire offense to communicate about what they are seeing and where the bubbles will likely appear.
When I coached HS ball in Phoenix we ran the Wing T and used the ME YOU ROCK system. A few years later Coach Ahren mentioned this system in his 2000 SW Conclave presentation. He ran the SW at some HS in Michigan. So a few years later running the SW at MT I used it and it worked great.
Then I delved into ZONE and stopped pulling. That season you speak of I was introducing the ME YOU ROCK system which is nearly identical to your Twizzler but it was more of a Piggy Back Pin and Pull Zone type thing that me and Michael were experimenting with. I think the problem was I had forgotten how to teach the communications required so it went off to the shredder fairly quick after I nuked the kids brains.
Then I went full blown down the Block Somebody Mega Splits path that NEVER even G blocked. Then you showed up and perfected the system making it your own. Im still not sure why you are going back to a VERY VERY VERY expensive teach. But Im rooting for you because its a solid scheme and you bore as easily as I do. ?
Remember...every single blessed time we both thought....oh....this will be easy....its not. Like...way not. I think this idea will start an electrical fire in Dunn's helmet. ? So play him on Defense.
What is beautiful, lives forever.
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