Increased possessions?

Football, in my opinion, is an outcome-based game. Nobody cares how the points get put on the board--as long as they get there. If your team is successful running the ball, don't try and get fancy just because it seems everyone else is fancy. If you are struggling with your system, then changes are warrented. That being said, don't get stagnant either. Little wrinkles are always a good thing so that you can take advantage of the athletes and matchups you have on the field from season to season. If you have a QB who can wing the ball around, then use him (assuming you also have someone who can catch it). If you have a great offensive line that can dominate--jam the ball down the other team's throats! Just don't change for the sake of changing--I've seen teams do that, and it rarely goes well.

Thanks for your imput, and I totally agree. I just wonder sometimes because everyone seems to be going to the spread. At the 5 state championship games this year in Indiana, 7 teams ran 4 or 5 wide the entire game. I felt like i was watching basketball half the time. I keep on hearing that the spread offense is the equalizer for size and speed. So I just wonder what it's all about really. I know defensively I enjoy playing spread teams because we get to blitze, use multiple coverages and just release the hounds basically. Especially when we can just man up in the secondary and send 5 or 6 every time. Offensively we will go spread to run, which does not always work so we don't even try to hang our hat on it.

HEY JR,

CAN'T AGREE WITH YOU THIS MORNING. Spread fotball has revolutionized the game and offers MANY advantages over any offense going. What other offense allows you to stretch the D both horizontally, as well as, vertically in the PSL? What other offense offers you the ability to give your play makers a real head start by putting them in space to start with, not having to fight through the heart of a defense to get them open? I agree a lot of things that you encounter will prove to be a fad only, but the spread concept and formations are not one of them. Just my opinion as always.

CoachEaston-TIGER ONE

Coach Easton,

Don't get me wrong, I think the variations of the Spread are great offenses. My point was that offenses are offenses, and a "new" system will not cure everything. If your players don't/can't make plays, your system does not matter--they will not be able to be successful. On the other hand, if your players can and do make plays, they will be successful, no matter your system. I firmly believe that a successful team can be successful in nearly any offensive system if they are coached correctly, and the coaching staff is able to put their players in positions to make plays. I have probably used that word "fad" in the past with the spread...I don't mean it as a passing fad, but more as a popular shift that is being seen across nearly all levels of the game.

FGS, JR,

Appreciate your input as always.

FGS,

Any coach who thinks that spread football is a lazy man's game, don't know ANYTHING about the concepts of the offfense!!! In my 3 x 2 we work twice as hard as we ever did when I ran the bone for years!!! The untold number of man hours required to have a REALLY SUCCESSFUL SPREAD PASSING ATTACK is unreal. To have 10 receivers learn a passing tree of 12-13 routes from all 5 different spots in the PSL, and to have the QB on the same page with the patterns those routes form, knowing where his receivers are at all times, etc. is enough work for 5 football teams! If a coach is looking to "coast", see how quick he gives up on the spread concept! Just my opinion as always.

Coach Easton-TIGER ONE

JR,

Don't misunderstand me now, we have a very powerful, crunching RUNNING game that we pretty much utilize for short yardage and goal line situations. These guys are called our "Power Team" and is made up of the toughest, best blockers we have on the team. We treat them like a 6th special teams unit. But, for the vast majority of the game, we are going to be doing our best to run them crazy with 5 receivers in every pattern.

Coach Easton-TIGER ONE

I fully agree with you, Coach Easton. I think they would be an idiot to think that way. However, there are those out there who go with that line of thinking. They have a lot of excellent athletes and are looking for ways to get them the ball, so they say, we'll go to the spread and give them space. That is the idea the spread is based on, but you still need players to lift and participate in other offseason workouts. Like you said, it's a ton of work to do it right. I guess if you're going to do anything right, you have to put the time and work in and so do the kids.

ETHAN,

Meyer's offense is a hybrid sure enough! He has developed it at his various stops along the way and now has the services of a kid in Tebow who is made to order for it. I, personally, having coached QB's all my coaching career of 42 years, hate to see him run so much. These DC's are laying awake nights trying to figure out how to stop him and sooner or later are going to hit upon the idea that he has to be "TAKEN OUT" and he is going to be hurt. He got beat up pretty bad last year, and it will only get worse this season. He is a big, strong, tough kid but the human body can only take so much. I once heard HOWIE LONG say: These running QB's don't bother us much UNTIL THEY MAKE US LOOK BAD AND THEN THEY ARE GOING TO PAY THE PRICE! Having spent most of my career in Florida, and being very familiar with the UF program for years, he will always have a great supporting cast around him as they ALWAYS recruit well. I just hope they let him throw it more this year than count on his running ability. Now, he is not a
WUSS, but common sense should tell the coaches that it is just a matter of time before he really gets nailed. Just my opinion as always.

Coach Esaton-TIGER ONE

JR,

MY PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY WITH THE 3 X 2 IS ALL ABOUT THROWING THE BALL AND VERY LITTLE ON RUNNING IT.

"BALANCE, TO ME, IS NOT TRYING TO MATCH EVEN NUMBERS TO BOTH THE RUNNING AND PASSING GAME, BUT IS ABOUT DOING WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WHEN YOU WANT TO DO IT. WHEN WE ARE ROLLING, I FEEL AS THOUGH WE ARE IN "BALANCE" WHEN THROWING 10 TIMES IN A ROW!

OUR RUNNING GAME CONSISTS OF A CRUNCHING POWER GAME FOR SHORT YARDAGE AND GOAL LINE FROM CONVENTIONAL POWER FORMATIONS, (STACK "I", POWER "I", FULL HOUSE WITH DBLE TITES, ETC.) BUT WHEN WE ARE IN OPEN FIELD IN THE 3 X 2 WE HAVE 2 DESIGNED QB KEEPERS, A WR REVERSE AND SCREEN. OTHER THAN THOSE FEW, WE RELY ON THE QB TO DO 90% OF THE RUNNING SPONTANEOUSLY WHEN THE PRO BREAKS DOWN OR HE CAN'T GET THE RECEIVERS LIKE HE WANTS THEM.

Coach Easton-TIGER ONE

Yea Tebow definately took some punishment, probably too much. I'm wondering if teams will go away from the shotgun spread option because of the risk of losing your quarterback and pulling a Dennis Dixon. Oregon went right down the tubes.

Coach Easton-

Do you mean like a more durable quarterback? I sometimes worry about betting all my money on an option quarterback if i am worried he can't take a beating because no matter what with our quarterback carrying the ball 10-15 times a game he is going to get popped and popped good. I personally always coach my best halfback to quarterback to some extent, and then my first back up halfback is usually what would be considered our #2 or #3 Quarterback. Is durability more important than speed? That white at West Virginia was another example of a small fast quarterback with wheels but was not durable enough to handle the beating.

ETHAN,

FGS JUST LAID OUT A CRITERIA FOR AN OPTION QB VERY WELL. I ONCE, WHEN RUNNING THE OPTION,
WAS AT A PRACTICE OF A LEADING 1-AA PROGRAM IN KENTUCKY. THE QB COACH TOLD ME THAT AN OPTION QB DIDN'T HAVE TO BE FAST, JUST QUICK. I WAS QUICK TO DIFFER WITH HIM BECAUSE ALTHOUGH QUICKNESS IS WHAT GETS HIM TO THE HOLE, HE HAD BETTER HAVE SOME GOOD SPEED TO GET THROUGH THE HOLE AND BEYOND. BUT, ALTHOUGH THE ABILITY TO READ IT CORRECTLY IS THE PRIME REQUISITE FOR AN OPTION QB, IN MY OPINION, THE ABILITY TO TAKE A HIT RANKS RIGHT UP THERE WITH IT.

What I meant by the statement "they will recruit a different type QB" is as you say, a more physical type
but one who can run away from the punishment the vast majority of the time. Just my opinion as always.

Coach Easton-TIGER ONE

RE: INCREASED "TIME OF PSSESSION":


Misconception:

by Homer Smith April 8, 2002

Time of possession is a factor.

How can it be? The clock stops when a pass falls incomplete. It keeps moving when a run is stopped for no gain. Both results are zero yardage, yet, the pass kept the ball for five seconds while the run kept it for 40.

If a team that passed only but never completed a pass played a team that ran only but never made a firstdown, the result would be a tie and both defenses would have been on the field for the same number of real minutes. Yet, if both teams ran the same number of plays, one would have a possession time of eight times that of the other.

Time of possession is meaningless. It has nothing to do with keeping your defense or their offense off the field. It has nothing to do with anything meaningful. It is for writers and readers who feel precise when a 36:07 is compared to a 23:53.

I agree completely, so lets say a team goes from being an I-Flanker team to a spread team and passes the ball left and right. Then at the end of the season they scored twice as many points as they did the year befor but increased the number of possessions greatly. Just looking at scoring it would look like they were a more productive offense but in reality it may or may not have become less efficient.