Two Platoon or not????

ABSOLUTELY!!!!!

NO QUESTION.

Even if you don't have the numbers, I believe programs benefit by going two platoon.
two platooning gets more kids out, you develop more players, you can make more adjustments, you can actually coach kids up on the sidelines instead of waiting for halftime....

There will be a small handful of kids that HAVE to stay on the field every year, but those are exceptions....developing talent in the halls is what coaching is all about....You'll see the difference in the 3rd Qtr.

Brophy, I hate to disagree, but I will. I have seen so many programs fail attempting to two-platoon their athletes. Quite honestly, a school only has so many quality athletes and they need to be on the field as much as possible. In addition, high school football is a 48 minute game, not a 60 minute game like the other levels. The athletes can handle it. De La Salle starts five players both ways and so does Jenks.

The advantage is reps and participation will increase.
The downfall is that there are good athletes standing on the sidelines. I don't like it at the high school level. I'm sure there will be others who will disagree.

airman we have missed you. Coach CAmpbell

While I do love the idea of platooning I also agree with the coaches who have said rotating players is key. Play as many kids as possible 1 way but at the same time there are going to be those great players that you must have on both sides of the ball. After that rambling I guess I prefer a mix of both platooning and playing your great kids both ways when needed.

my theory for platooning is very simple, working every day on one specific skill, a average player will become a better player.


I get a wr, qb and center. the rest all go to defense. I take the skinny legged rec and they work on passing the ball every day. they become better then the dbs who play based on talent or only work every other day.

like I have said, if you are going to throw the ball, rec and qb need to play catch every day. I would say this also about the option. qb needs to work on the triple option read every day.

As I am in the minority here, for the sake of discussion, I'll offer a "rebuttal", if you will.

True, in a two-platoon system, you may not play the 'best athlete' 100% of the time.
(I'm vamping here....)

No. 1 job of coaching is WIN

No. 2 job of coaching is develop players / game plan to fulfill Rule No.1

No. 3 job of coaching is mentor young adults into young men / foster postive relationships in pursuit of Rule No.1


Not playing Johnny Studball when the chips are on the line may be a real gut-wrencher for some. I understand that, we've gone through that. I also know, it's not a given that Johnny Studball cannot sprint for a full 48 minutes straight. Football is a TEAM sport. If you're relying on 4 or 5 kids to win games for you, you're not much of a coach to begin with, you're just their manager - those kids will win in spite of play calls or schemes.

If you've got a kid that at 70% is better than a kid at 100%, then by all rights, PLAY HIM. If you have over half a dozen kids that fit that bill, then you have 1) poor development of the other players, 2) not much coaching going on, and 3) poor team leadership.

I don't have a problem with two-way programs, I realize some people do some great work with that. I just happen to feel that to do that, you have to have a STRONG youth level program or a consistent supply of phenomenal athletes. Many programs do not have that, and need an equalizer or something to level the playing field.

Coaching is teaching - how well can you teach an 80% player to play at 100%? It's not easy putting your reputation on the backs of 16 -18 year old kids...but playing the best players on any given snap takes time to develop. With platooning, you can develop MORE talent, make more adjustments / game planning, get greater numbers out (to use unrealized talent), use time more efficiently, and TEACH MORE FOOTBALL.

One of the biggest frustrations coaches face is getting the talent walking the halls out for a sport. If the kid knows that he has to overcome 4+ years of 'favorites' and will never really have much of a chance to start, let alone see quality playing time, what incentive does he have to TRY? What happens to your program when Johnny Studball and Steve Allstate are injured? Now you're relying on players who got very limited reps / playing time and because of that, we're not interested in football before.

If you don't have a problem with numbers or recruitment, then platooning probably isn't the answer for you - but for us guys that live on the other side of the tracks, it is an answer to get our programs off the ground.

Platooning depends on if you have the players or not. It's not a matter of numbers but a matter of talent.

We tried platooning last year and it was a failure.

We had 1 returning starter and 18 seniors.

We finally played the best athletes all around the field and we had much more success.

Yes, you can make some kids better by platooning but that doesn't mean they will be good enough to play at the Varsity level.

quote:

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Originally posted by: reno6
Platooning depends on if you have the players or not. It's not a matter of numbers but a matter of talent.

We tried platooning last year and it was a failure.

We had 1 returning starter and 18 seniors.

We finally played the best athletes all around the field and we had much more success.

Yes, you can make some kids better by platooning but that doesn't mean they will be good enough to play at the Varsity level.

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1 year? thats all you tried, platooning takes more then a year! I would think that it would take a few years of platoon football to work. Its all about development!

I say platoon. AND play the best players. It happens all the time in big time DI and NFL - They give their best athletes one or two situational plays or schemes to best utilize their talent. This way the "stud" can concentrate on one area while helping the team. At the DIII level we do this all the time. We don't ask a stud LB to learn the entire offensive playbook, but he knows how to block the ISO on 3rd and Short (we met our goal 85% on 3rd & 2-3). Our fastest Corner has no idea what a 698 Snake is, however he runs a great goal line Fade / stop combination (he scored 4 tds). Our fullback was also our situational pass rusher in certain defenses (he had 4 sacks in 6 games).
We trade each of these kids during certain periods of practice.
We don't give them a lot of rules and techniques.
We don't ask them to do anything they have not practiced or seen.