That Belly Play can be ran with normal Iso scheme an is way less expensive . I been running that way for 20 years an is one of my staples like Wes Elrod said base block belly is straw that stirs the drink with Hybrid Wing ....

Got the Flex schedule this morning. First game pushed back yet another week to 4/15. Whatever. Looks like they combined 2 locations, so we will be making 3 trips to a field 45 minutes away. Really confusing since one of our trips out there will be against a team from across the street. Whatever.

I missed our 1st Flex game to go turkey hunting with my dad and son.  Apparently we were down 21-0 at half, but final was 21-7, so apparently, something worked. Heard from both coaches on our staff that blocking was an issue. After talking with my brother in law, who ran the offense, the issues were at the Tackle position, which in Flex is the hardest to block. I left him a cheat sheet so he could make adjustments if their DTs are killing us, but apparently he "forgot". Serves me right for going hunting.

More concerning were some ref issues that came up. I'm still steaming about this. So here's the email that I sent to the league:

I have a couple of issues from week 1. Some minor, one major. I was not at the game, but this was relayed to me by the other coaches on our staff.

 

Minor:

1. Our opponent had the ball first, drove down the field and scored. They were given a first down each time they gained 10 yards. When we took the ball, the rule was changed to 15 yards for the first two first downs and 10 for the final. I'm told that this is because the game started with a Gridiron rep standing in for the ref who was late (more on that later). The late ref had both teams finish the game with 15 yard first downs. Nonetheless, they had one drive where the first downs were every 10. The rulebook you provided me on 3/11 states that first downs are every 10 yards.
2. We never huddle and run 100% "check with me". We call the plays after the offense is on the line of scrimmage. The opposing coach complained, and the ref told us that we are required to huddle and are not allowed to call plays after the huddle breaks. He also told my play caller that he is not allowed to change the play after a play is called. He said that a) we are taking an unfair advantage and b) we are not allowed to verbally interfere with the play. This is utterly ridiculous to me and a complete misunderstanding of the rule that a defensive coach may not try to interfere with an offense's cadence. There are exactly 3 mentions of the word "huddle" in the rules you provided me. Two of them pertain to huddling on the sideline and the third is used as an example of not flagging "every small, nuanced infraction". Nowhere does the rulebook require me to huddle or prohibit me from calling plays or audibles.
3. We were twice given incorrect turnovers on down. One after a first and 10.

If there is another situation where the ref is making an egregious procedural error, I will stop the game until I can get a Gridiron rep to intervene. This is 2 seasons in a row where the referees do not seem to know the published rules that teams practice under. Going forward, I will call out the down after every play and confirm with the ref that we are on the same page. This may get annoying, but no one wants and unfair game because refs can't keep track of downs.

 

Major:

 

We have 3 trips to Longmont for a total of 4 games. This is a 45 minute drive from our practice location. All of our Longmont games are at 5:30, requiring many parents to either take time off work or arrange a carpool. I did not complain about that, but I will complain that our official was late to the game, causing the game to start at 6:15, a full 45 minutes late. That is really unacceptable. If there is no referee present at the start of the game, we will go home and will not play any more games in Longmont. I will encourage the parents to ask for pro-rated refunds for those games. This may seem excessive, but our parents are paying customers. Our coaches are volunteers, who not only are not paid, but are $100 each out of pocket for this endeavor. Gridiron football profits from registration fees and gear sales. Refs are paid to do a job. I don't think it's too much to expect for everyone to be on time.

 

I'm happy to discuss this with you over the phone, or in person. I can be at Long Lake Friday well before our 6:30 game.

Referees.  lol

--Dave