Post by Coach Campbell on Nov 4, 2013 9:23:16 GMT
What Is the Best Offense & Defense to Run in High School Football?
By William Machin
A high school football coach can instruct his players to run sprints and hit hard in drills because high school kids are enthusiastic about playing for their school. But few coaches are blessed with a full lineup of athletes who have the speed and size to run any offense or defense in the book. Most have a handful of talented athletes and it's the coach's responsibility to install these players in the right way. Gaining the respect of your players is the first step toward achieving your goal of a winning season. Demanding that your players run a certain offense or defense when they don't have the collective ability to make either one successful is a recipe for failure. You might have heard a football player make the comment that he played hard for his coach. This is indicative of a coach who set his team up for success by implementing an offense and defense that suited the talents and skills of his players.
Evaluating Your Players
Preseason practice gives high school coaches an opportunity to discover which players have speed, strength or both. Blocking and tackling drills reveal players who possess football desire and enthusiasm. Along the way, the offensive coach conducts ball handling and passing drills and teaches offensive linemen how to work as a unit. The defensive coach conducts one-on-one drills that teach open-field tackling and techniques for covering pass receivers. Typically, it takes two weeks of daily practices for you and your coaching staff to evaluate the talent and skill of your players. It's at this point that you design an offense and defense that your players can carry out effectively.
Installing the Offense
The best high school offense has two formations: a running formation and a passing formation. In each formation, you should align your players in a way that creates a balance of strength and speed, instead of being a predictable one-sided offense. In the running formation, have two or three plays that can be called to the right and left, such as a sweep, off-tackle run and a quick-hitter to either side of the center. Include a simple reverse to catch a defense off guard. Your passing formation could be a basic T-formation with two running backs or the shotgun with a slot receiver.
Use the time leading up to the season opener to develop the quarterback/receiver timing when running basic short, intermediate and long pass patterns. Limit the patterns to one each that targets a receiver on either side of the formation. Teach the offense that quarterback/receiver timing is predicated on the offensive linemen holding pass-protection blocks for at least three seconds. As the season progresses, you can implement man-in-motion, shifting the backs before the snap and other pass patterns. But at the beginning, keep it simple and allow the offense to develop timing and gain experience selecting the particular defenders they must block on each play in either formation.
Base Defense
Watch a college or professional game and it might appear that the defense lines up in a variety of formations. But a closer look shows that most of these are a variation of a base run or pass defense, such as a 5-3 with a single deep safety or a 4-3 with two safeties. With any high school defense, it's important to assign two of your fastest tacklers to play the defensive end or outside linebacker positions. Once the opposition realizes they can't run outside, they have no choice but to run inside and face more tacklers. Put your most tenacious tackler at middle linebacker and your smartest defensive player at free safety. As for the opposition, most high school offenses have one or two players who must be accounted for on every play. Scout the upcoming opponent and if necessary, assign particular defenders to track each of these players on every offensive play.
Above all, your defense should attack, not wait. Taking chances and being unpredictable are the keys to an effective defense. Teach your defensive players to gang-tackle ball carriers, receivers and quarterbacks at every opportunity.
By William Machin
A high school football coach can instruct his players to run sprints and hit hard in drills because high school kids are enthusiastic about playing for their school. But few coaches are blessed with a full lineup of athletes who have the speed and size to run any offense or defense in the book. Most have a handful of talented athletes and it's the coach's responsibility to install these players in the right way. Gaining the respect of your players is the first step toward achieving your goal of a winning season. Demanding that your players run a certain offense or defense when they don't have the collective ability to make either one successful is a recipe for failure. You might have heard a football player make the comment that he played hard for his coach. This is indicative of a coach who set his team up for success by implementing an offense and defense that suited the talents and skills of his players.
Evaluating Your Players
Preseason practice gives high school coaches an opportunity to discover which players have speed, strength or both. Blocking and tackling drills reveal players who possess football desire and enthusiasm. Along the way, the offensive coach conducts ball handling and passing drills and teaches offensive linemen how to work as a unit. The defensive coach conducts one-on-one drills that teach open-field tackling and techniques for covering pass receivers. Typically, it takes two weeks of daily practices for you and your coaching staff to evaluate the talent and skill of your players. It's at this point that you design an offense and defense that your players can carry out effectively.
Installing the Offense
The best high school offense has two formations: a running formation and a passing formation. In each formation, you should align your players in a way that creates a balance of strength and speed, instead of being a predictable one-sided offense. In the running formation, have two or three plays that can be called to the right and left, such as a sweep, off-tackle run and a quick-hitter to either side of the center. Include a simple reverse to catch a defense off guard. Your passing formation could be a basic T-formation with two running backs or the shotgun with a slot receiver.
Use the time leading up to the season opener to develop the quarterback/receiver timing when running basic short, intermediate and long pass patterns. Limit the patterns to one each that targets a receiver on either side of the formation. Teach the offense that quarterback/receiver timing is predicated on the offensive linemen holding pass-protection blocks for at least three seconds. As the season progresses, you can implement man-in-motion, shifting the backs before the snap and other pass patterns. But at the beginning, keep it simple and allow the offense to develop timing and gain experience selecting the particular defenders they must block on each play in either formation.
Base Defense
Watch a college or professional game and it might appear that the defense lines up in a variety of formations. But a closer look shows that most of these are a variation of a base run or pass defense, such as a 5-3 with a single deep safety or a 4-3 with two safeties. With any high school defense, it's important to assign two of your fastest tacklers to play the defensive end or outside linebacker positions. Once the opposition realizes they can't run outside, they have no choice but to run inside and face more tacklers. Put your most tenacious tackler at middle linebacker and your smartest defensive player at free safety. As for the opposition, most high school offenses have one or two players who must be accounted for on every play. Scout the upcoming opponent and if necessary, assign particular defenders to track each of these players on every offensive play.
Above all, your defense should attack, not wait. Taking chances and being unpredictable are the keys to an effective defense. Teach your defensive players to gang-tackle ball carriers, receivers and quarterbacks at every opportunity.