Bizarre "Play"

st. louis rams used to do the same thing sort of.

qb kurt warner would start walking to the sideline like he is going to call a time out. the defense is wondering what is going on as the head coach is trying to yell some things out. the ball is direct snapped to the rb and they run the zone play.

another one I have seen done is warner would go in motion to a wr spot. if the defense did not adjust a defender out of the box for th emotion they would throw the ball to uncovered wr curt warner. if the defense did adjust they would snap the ball and run the zone to play. also they got better the back would throw a screen pass to a wr.

Coaches,
goes to show you that you had better coach your defense to BE READY FOR ANYTHING. IN ORDER NOT TO GET CAUGHT WITH OUR PANTS DOWN, I HAVE ALWAYS TOLD MY GUYS TO REACT TO ANYTHING THAT LOOKS ODD BY NOT LOSING SIGHT OF THE BALL AND DO NOT GIVE ANYONE A CLEAR LANE TO ADVANCE IT ON US, YELLING ALL THE TIME WORDS THAT WILL INDICATE SOMETHING IS UP TO YOUR TEAM MATES!
The best one I ever heard of took place in a High School game in OT. One team lined up and put a man in motion by having him turn backflips all the way across the field from right to left. Everyone was just awe-struck and the offensive team really sold it by just turning and watching him do his thing. When everyone was totally involved by looking at the "back flip man" they just snapped the ball to the Qb who had backed up a few feet, took the snap and scooted into the end zone on the right side for the winning touchdown!

Coach Easton

We had started practicing a similar play once our playoffs started this season. It was a fake field goal. Keep 10 guys on the field. My QB was the holder. Once everyone was set he screamed to the sidelines that they didn't have the tee. We ran a WR onto the field to bring the tee out. He then jogs to the sidelines. Once the ball is snapped I give him a signal to turn and run a fade. We ran it in the state championship game. The kid was wide open, but my TB didn't come off the field right away which resulted in the play taking longer and we receive a delay of game. One more second and we would have scored and put the dagger in the heart of our opponents.

tcamp,

Very insightful post! I couldn't agree more that youth need to be taught FUNDAMENTALS, not involved offenses or defenses until they reach the 13-15 year old bracket. Don't waste time on gadget plays, take advantage of what limited time you have to teach the BASICS OF THE GAME.

Coach Easton

Great discussion going on here...

Especially at the youth level its important to concentrate on fundamentals. Heck, when you look at most successful NFL teams those that have the most success usually spend the majority of their time on fundamentals. It is an important lesson for younger plays to learn the value of good fundamentals for the game, and the need to keep working on them always.

However, I don't see anything wrong with using say a 'trick of the week' at that level (or above). It could have several purposes; to generate excitement. the feeling of something 'special'. It also has that element of 'playground/sandlot' football. The more fun kids have playing the game, at any level, generally the more successful they'll be and the longer they stay in the game. I think you can get that excitement from a trick play (used properly - not to embarass an opponent).

Coming at this from a different viewpoint... In Canada we have had a tremendous debate for a while now about how hockey is packaged to younger kids. Essentially, if you want to play the game, you join a younth league - and develop that way. Strangely almost all the 'great' players always played 'free' on ice rinks, just developing skills with friends in an unstructured situation. While the competition, organization and coaching from youth leagues is excellent (and needed), proper fundamentals, in any sport, are useless unless your kids enjoy the game. In fact, there was a large study done recently and the #1 reason kids quit a sport had nothing to do with 'playing time' - rather it dealt with the 'fun' in the sport.

Use De LaSalle HS as an example, I did a good bit of reading on them this fall... at one point they were running 1 trick play a game... and you'd be hard pressed to find a team that concentrated more on the fundamentals.

But of course HOW and WHEN you use that play makes a difference too.

I have to agree with everyone else here, being a youth coach, the fundamentals are blocking, tackling, and running/catching the ball (per Saint Vince) and that will never change. Even though we were winless this year (due to lack of numbers and talent) our kids played a very sound fundamental game of football. They knew their assignments, thier buddy's assignments, and what we were trying to accomplish on every play. That is more important to the HS coaches than being 6-0 and not knowing what you are doing on the field.

I think that what that coach did is pretty despicable. Trickery has its' place in football, but not in a Junior Tackle game.

We run into the same thing where I live. The nearby towns have a 6-team Junior tackle leage (6,7,8 grades). There is a rule that kids weighing more than 140 lbs. can't carry the football. I think that it is a horrible rule, but, hey, it's the rule!

Anyway, our Junior Tackle coach is a good guy who follows the rules. Last year, he had an 8th grader that was such a stud that he would have been a two-way starter on my Frosh-Soph team (probably RB and OLB). Well, he weighed 146 lbs, so he had to play OG. So, a kid who was probably the best running back in this Junior tackle league had to play OG. Again, not a problem. That's the rules.

Unfortunately, some of the other coaches in the league had no use for the 140 lb. rule. They routinely put their biggest kids in the backfield even though they were well overweight. Predictably, those teams won.

Most Junior Tackle coaches are great guys who want to impart good, solid fundamental knowledge to their kids while teaching them the value of sportsmanship. However, a few are real "weekend warriors" who should not be allowed to influence young men (although you could probably say this about coaches on every level).

Didn't mean to get off on a rant! It's just kind of a sore spot for me.