Youth Flag Football

[tazman 0]

Well, we are now 6-0 and have 2 games to go. Kids are pretty excited and the team that was trying to mimick? us ended up trying to get to fancy with their reverses. They were trying triple and double reverses and the kids were bumping into each other and dropping the ball. Plus, the play usually took so long to develop that our rusher was all over them in the back field. They will also be the team we lore than likely will play in the playoffs. How'd your games go and why in the heck were they so spread out time wise?

Had my first run in with a mother concerned about her son not getting the ball. Fist of all its the kids first year and he is one of those that kind of runs like a duck. I explained to her that I had thrown the ball to him like 3 times and he comtinually drops the ball. So, I let him get his first td by throwing him a short slant when we were on about the 2 yd line. He was excitied and was immediately on the phone calling his dad, which I though was pretty neat but hopefully this will keep her quiet as well.

[Vegas Coach 0]

Well, we are now 6-0 and have 2 games to go. Kids are pretty excited and the team that was trying to mimick? us ended up trying to get to fancy with their reverses. They were trying triple and double reverses and the kids were bumping into each other and dropping the ball. Plus, the play usually took so long to develop that our rusher was all over them in the back field. They will also be the team we lore than likely will play in the playoffs. How'd your games go and why in the heck were they so spread out time wise?

Had my first run in with a mother concerned about her son not getting the ball. Fist of all its the kids first year and he is one of those that kind of runs like a duck. I explained to her that I had thrown the ball to him like 3 times and he comtinually drops the ball. So, I let him get his first td by throwing him a short slant when we were on about the 2 yd line. He was excitied and was immediately on the phone calling his dad, which I though was pretty neat but hopefully this will keep her quiet as well.

Congrats!! Good to hear your having such success! As for the mother who was concerned about her son not getting touches, all I can say is listen to her concerns as much as you can (sounds like you are doing so). Try not to let it bother you if it is. Their are some parents that realize their son/daughter may not be the best on the team at doing whatever it is their doing and accept that fact.... their will be other parents who view sports at this age differently and more of a fun/developemental factor or even some simply may have the blinders on and think their kids should get the ball all the time! Try and see where the concern is really coming from when a parent cmplains about ball touches. Is the child complaining to mom and thats why she's saying something, thus from moms perspective her son may not be having fun playing. Or possibly mom might be one of those parents who is drawing a conclusion from her own perspective. Most parents in the end realize their is only 1 ball and so many opportunities in a game. For the kids on my team that were less talented I tried my absolute best in finding the best place to put them to maximize their skills and for them to have fun. When it came to getting that kid a ball touch, it was hard. I tried my best to create a situation to get that kid the ball, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didnt. If I knew he couldnt catch, I tried not to throw it to him, I would set up some type of handoff or a really short dump off pass or even a toss. Reality is the better kids will get the ball in their hands more. Alot of that has to do with those kids making plays too, such as catching the ball when thrown to them. In the end your kid caught a TD which is fantastic..... that will make that kids season right there which is a great thing! Sounds like your doing the right thing though.... keep it up!

I

[Orange 26]

They play our games first thing in the morning and then later in the afternoon mainly because of limited facilities and the Y is running a basketball league and many of the kids play both.

We ran into two very easy opponents last Saturday. The first team only had 5 kids and I'm pretty sure one of them was pulled from the sideline as he was older and had a pull over, not an official team jersey. Nevertheless, we beat them handily and the ref asked me at halftime to let up on them. I kind of have mixed feelings about that, being asked to hold back. I naturally do it anyway when we began blowing someone out. I'll let my 4th or 5th or 6th string qb play and run it and only throw short passes. I'll have my defenders 5-7 yards off the los as opposed to right on the line. I refuse to say anything to the kids about letting up, I want them to play 100%, I just give the other team a little breathing room. But the kids can tell what we're doing and they don't like it and have told me as such. In the second game we played a younger team that tried to throw it a lot which was a mistake. We had no less than 3 picks for tds and my offense got 5 more. They managed one td but it was a blowout. For the second game I let my kids call all their own plays on offense and defense in the final quarter.

Fortunately the next 3 games for us are against the two other teams in our league that are pretty good. We should have some close games for a change.

I've never had a parent say something to me about their kids getting or not getting the ball. It might be because we've been together as a team for 3 seasons now. Also, I know all the parents socially, some for a long time. Plus I spread the ball around as much as possible. Some games are easier of course because we faced some real weak competition. Other times I'm getting the kids the ball less often. My latest problem is my 11 man rotation. This past weekend was the first time I had all 11 there. Previously it was only 10 or 9 and then I would use my old 1/2 plays offense, 1/2 plays defense. With 11, that doesn't work so I broke up the squad into 3 groups of 4,4,3. I sub in the 5th player from the other groups such that each kid subs once in another group. I tried to switch groups every 4-6 plays so that in theory everyone plays the same number of plays. But some of the kids don't get it because sometimes they don't go in for two series in a row. A few of them began complaining and I think I'm going to email the parents and let them know what's going on to cut off any possible derision.

[tazman 0]

Congrats!! Good to hear your having such success! As for the mother who was concerned about her son not getting touches, all I can say is listen to her concerns as much as you can (sounds like you are doing so). Try not to let it bother you if it is. Their are some parents that realize their son/daughter may not be the best on the team at doing whatever it is their doing and accept that fact.... their will be other parents who view sports at this age differently and more of a fun/developemental factor or even some simply may have the blinders on and think their kids should get the ball all the time! Try and see where the concern is really coming from when a parent cmplains about ball touches. Is the child complaining to mom and thats why she's saying something, thus from moms perspective her son may not be having fun playing. Or possibly mom might be one of those parents who is drawing a conclusion from her own perspective. Most parents in the end realize their is only 1 ball and so many opportunities in a game. For the kids on my team that were less talented I tried my absolute best in finding the best place to put them to maximize their skills and for them to have fun. When it came to getting that kid a ball touch, it was hard. I tried my best to create a situation to get that kid the ball, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didnt. If I knew he couldnt catch, I tried not to throw it to him, I would set up some type of handoff or a really short dump off pass or even a toss. Reality is the better kids will get the ball in their hands more. Alot of that has to do with those kids making plays too, such as catching the ball when thrown to them. In the end your kid caught a TD which is fantastic..... that will make that kids season right there which is a great thing! Sounds like your doing the right thing though.... keep it up!

Yes, if I remember it correctly she said that her son had said something to her about the getting touches and she did acknowledge that he wasnt the best player on the team and understood that. I am tryign to make sure that each kid has at least 1 touchdown before seasons end and still have 2 games and 2 more kids to go. I listened to what she said and didnt really let it bother me, especially since it was right in the middle of the game. If it would have bothered me, I would have then asked her to discuss it with me at the end of the game. I know npw that he is going to be asking me all the time about getting the ball because he use to do it on the huddle. I thought I had nipped that in the butt earlier in the season cause I took Oranges approach right from the start telling them if they kept asking they were going to have to sit out a couple of plays and it worked fine at first but looks to be creeping back again.. I just have to let it be known again I guess. I appreciate the words though.

[Coach Rob 26]

I've never had a parent say something to me about their kids getting or not getting the ball. It might be because we've been together as a team for 3 seasons now. Also, I know all the parents socially, some for a long time. Plus I spread the ball around as much as possible. Some games are easier of course because we faced some real weak competition. Other times I'm getting the kids the ball less often. My latest problem is my 11 man rotation. This past weekend was the first time I had all 11 there. Previously it was only 10 or 9 and then I would use my old 1/2 plays offense, 1/2 plays defense. With 11, that doesn't work so I broke up the squad into 3 groups of 4,4,3. I sub in the 5th player from the other groups such that each kid subs once in another group. I tried to switch groups every 4-6 plays so that in theory everyone plays the same number of plays. But some of the kids don't get it because sometimes they don't go in for two series in a row. A few of them began complaining and I think I'm going to email the parents and let them know what's going on to cut off any possible derision.

Boy, that brings back memories. Had the 11 man rotation in my previous season of b-ball and ran into a few kids not understanding, it was a pain. This season I limited our team to 10 players and things run much more smoothly. We're looking at I-9 flag again for our next season of sports, I will limit that team to 10 or under. Football is definitely a different animal than soccer or basketball, not as dynamic and the "ball touches" can become an issue. I'm sure I'll be PMing some of you guys for some ideas again.

CRob

[Orange 26]

We had the most awesome game last Saturday. We played a team that had a lot of older/bigger kids who were also undefeated. They could throw and catch very well too which is less common in our league. The game began with and easy TD for us. They fought back and kept it close as we traded a few more scores. In the final quarter we threw a ridiculous interception (our first one of the year) and they scored to tie. With only a few minutes left we drove the ball the length of the field and with time expiring we threw an incomplete pass into the endzone. I was thinking, OK good game, a tie when I saw a flag on the sideline. One of their defenders was holding our receiver. So now we had one more play from the 5 yard line. My magical play from that distance is the fake end around/ center drag and of course it did not let me down. TD and win for us!

[tazman 0]

Sounds like a pretty exciting game. We lost our first game this past weekend in sudden death overtime. Score was 19-13. We just played a bad game. Too many missed flags, dropped passes and bad coaching. In regulation we were marching down the field with less than a mintue to go with the score tied. We got to about what would be the ten yd line and I called a pass play. I was having success with passing to the spot where there rusher came from to the center and told him to run to the goal line and turn around. Pass was right on the target and he dropped the ball which caused us to go into overtime. Then in overtime we just got stopped and was getting the denfense on the field and the coach took 3 of our worst players and I should have called a timeout and didnt and sure enough 2 of the kids missed flags and off they went for the winning td. Guess this will be a lesson learned.

[Orange 26]

We play the same team this Saturday. The only catch is that two of my best players are going to miss it. It will be very challenging for us.

[Orange 26]

This team we played last Saturday and play again this Saturday ran man-to-man against us. They were fast and covered well. All my plays had been adapted to zone so I had to sort of adjust on the fly. This time I have time to prepare so here's one thing I've come up with. I call it a jailbreak, my assistant kept calling it a rub or wash. And I'm not claiming it's original, just that I haven't seen it run at this young level. Also, there are several versions so here's just one. Qb is under center and 3 receivers are stacked on the right. At the snap the 3 receivers all take off right towards the middle at a hard angle. The center delays for a second and then cuts underneath them. The idea is that the defender over the center gets confused or rubbed off his coverage and the center comes wide open on the right. Because I like to make the pass and catch simple I also run the QB down the line of scrimmage to the right and he simply flips a short pass or lateral to the center who now should be in a foot race to the goal.

Anyone try this? We did it several times in practice and even when my team knew it was coming they had trouble defending it.

[Vegas Coach 0]

This team we played last Saturday and play again this Saturday ran man-to-man against us. They were fast and covered well. All my plays had been adapted to zone so I had to sort of adjust on the fly. This time I have time to prepare so here's one thing I've come up with. I call it a jailbreak, my assistant kept calling it a rub or wash. And I'm not claiming it's original, just that I haven't seen it run at this young level. Also, there are several versions so here's just one. Qb is under center and 3 receivers are stacked on the right. At the snap the 3 receivers all take off right towards the middle at a hard angle. The center delays for a second and then cuts underneath them. The idea is that the defender over the center gets confused or rubbed off his coverage and the center comes wide open on the right. Because I like to make the pass and catch simple I also run the QB down the line of scrimmage to the right and he simply flips a short pass or lateral to the center who now should be in a foot race to the goal.

Anyone try this? We did it several times in practice and even when my team knew it was coming they had trouble defending it.

That sounds like a great play and it'll work! We ran a very similar play the second half of the season last fall. I would line my QB up under center with 3 WRs lined up to the right, however they were all pretty close to the center instead of being way outside. My inside WR lined up about 2 yards to the right of the center while my other 2 WRs lined up right next to him. At the snap my WRs would essentially run 5 yard button hooks or curls if you call it, the main point they would turn for the pass at about the 5 yard mark. My center would delay a couple seconds then run a 4 yard drag to the right. My 3 WRs formed a bit of a wall and my center was running his route and cutting right underneath them. Like you, if need be my QB would drag with the center for an easy toss/pass. Just about every team ran zone and this play worked even against zone because the kids were slow to react and in a way my WRs blocked paths of the defenders. This play worked very well for short yardage and goalines......

[tazman 0]

This team we played last Saturday and play again this Saturday ran man-to-man against us. They were fast and covered well. All my plays had been adapted to zone so I had to sort of adjust on the fly. This time I have time to prepare so here's one thing I've come up with. I call it a jailbreak, my assistant kept calling it a rub or wash. And I'm not claiming it's original, just that I haven't seen it run at this young level. Also, there are several versions so here's just one. Qb is under center and 3 receivers are stacked on the right. At the snap the 3 receivers all take off right towards the middle at a hard angle. The center delays for a second and then cuts underneath them. The idea is that the defender over the center gets confused or rubbed off his coverage and the center comes wide open on the right. Because I like to make the pass and catch simple I also run the QB down the line of scrimmage to the right and he simply flips a short pass or lateral to the center who now should be in a foot race to the goal.

Anyone try this? We did it several times in practice and even when my team knew it was coming they had trouble defending it.

Seems like it should work prett good, we tried it in practice last night and the guy closest to the center definately causes the guy rushing to alter his course even bumping into him on times. Its almost like one of the plays you had were you lined them up that same way but did a drag with the center to the left. Well, tomorrow is the last of the regular season games before the playoff. We are going to have a bye the first week and I was thinking I should have practice the following Sat. just like a game was being played instead of waiting until the Thursday before the weekend to play. Kinda to keep the guys in a rythmn so to speak. I guess I'll just have to speak with the parents and see what their take is on the situation but I feel it is the necessary thing to do.

[Coach Rob 26]

This team we played last Saturday and play again this Saturday ran man-to-man against us. They were fast and covered well. All my plays had been adapted to zone so I had to sort of adjust on the fly. This time I have time to prepare so here's one thing I've come up with. I call it a jailbreak, my assistant kept calling it a rub or wash. And I'm not claiming it's original, just that I haven't seen it run at this young level. Also, there are several versions so here's just one. Qb is under center and 3 receivers are stacked on the right. At the snap the 3 receivers all take off right towards the middle at a hard angle. The center delays for a second and then cuts underneath them. The idea is that the defender over the center gets confused or rubbed off his coverage and the center comes wide open on the right. Because I like to make the pass and catch simple I also run the QB down the line of scrimmage to the right and he simply flips a short pass or lateral to the center who now should be in a foot race to the goal.

Anyone try this? We did it several times in practice and even when my team knew it was coming they had trouble defending it.

Sounds like a great play, especially if you have a rush. Agree with taz, if one of those 3 run across the path of the rusher that would add to an already great play. Not sure how it would work against a zone.

[Orange 26]

So we ended the season with a loss. We played a team that we had beaten pretty badly early in the season but they were much improved. Yesterday I was reflecting on the game and beginning to feel out-coached when I saw a man I know (he's the grandfather of one of my players and watches all the games. He's an old football player from way back). He said, great job coach and I respect what you did out there. He said, you know you could have beaten them. I was like, well we tried. He said no, you played everyone equally and the other team was only playing their best players against you. I said, yea, that's what we always do. Personally I don't know if it's true or not but it was nice to hear.

Overall it was a good season but I grew fed up with the YMCA's rules. Specifically, they did not allow a rusher and the qb had as much time as he wanted to pass. They used a 4 minute possession clock to supposedly regulate how long an offense would have the ball. If you called plays in a decent amount of time and moved the ball 4 minutes was not a factor. I suppose if your qb took 30 seconds to throw each play then 4 minutes would potentially end your possession. Plus, the YMCA had a mini field. It was probably 75% as wide and long as the I-9 field. We practice where I-9 plays so I could really see the difference. Against the lesser teams we'd pretty much do what we always do, run and pass short. But against the better teams we (and they) ended up only able to move the ball by throwing long. It became comical as the qb would set up and wait, and wait and wait. 5, 10, 15, 20 seconds the kids would run around trying to get open. Eventually someone would and then the qb would throw. It's very hard to maintain pass coverage for that long with no pressure on the qb.

Next year it will definitely be I-9 for us, they seem like the better choice although not perfect. My main concern is that they only have one ref for the 10 & under games which is where we'll be playing next year. I've watched some of their games and I have no idea how a ref can watch the field all by himself.

[Vegas Coach 0]

Sounds like you had a great season overall there Orange, congrats! I could understand why you were irritated with the rules, especially with no rusher coming in. Our league we not only have a rusher we can send 7 yards from LOS, but the QB must get rid of the ball in 7 seconds too! Not familiar with your I9 league and I am sure its run good... but heres a link to the website for NFL Flag which sponsers our league (maybe you saw this already). If you wanted, you may possibly be able to get your YMCA league to register with them, although I am unfamiliar with exactly what it takes to start a league. There is plenty of info on starting and registering a league in the website. This league is real cool, all the jerseys are pro teams and obviously you would have to adopt there rule book. Overall the rules are good. Just a thought though, so I threw it out there for you.....

http://flag.nflyouthfootball.com/Home_232.htm

[Orange 26]

Sounds like you had a great season overall there Orange, congrats! I could understand why you were irritated with the rules, especially with no rusher coming in. Our league we not only have a rusher we can send 7 yards from LOS, but the QB must get rid of the ball in 7 seconds too! Not familiar with your I9 league and I am sure its run good... but heres a link to the website for NFL Flag which sponsers our league (maybe you saw this already). If you wanted, you may possibly be able to get your YMCA league to register with them, although I am unfamiliar with exactly what it takes to start a league. There is plenty of info on starting and registering a league in the website. This league is real cool, all the jerseys are pro teams and obviously you would have to adopt there rule book. Overall the rules are good. Just a thought though, so I threw it out there for you.....

http://flag.nflyouthfootball.com/Home_232.htm

Our local I-9 league allows a rusher from 7 yards back and only 7 seconds to get the ball off. I've found that to be the standard that pretty much everyone plays with around the country. Our Y is an exception. The main problem I've had with the Y over the years is that they have a total lack of consistency with their format and they have strange rules like the no rusher/ possession clock thing. The rules we played with this year were heavily modified from last year which was very different from two years back.

Here's another wacky rule they had in the fall (thank goodness they changed it for the winter when we played). Each kid had to wear a colored wristband and only cover the other player with the same color. Plus they were playing 4 on 4. The wrist band thing is OK for basketball at a younger age but silly for football, especially at our age group. It was only through my persistence that they changed that rule for the winter (although I could not convince them to change the rest).

The only other unusual ruleset that I've found is some leagues play 10 on 10 or 11 on 11 with blocking and such. That brings another set of issues. The local private elementary schools play like that and I guess it makes sense for them since they only have one team per school and it allows more kids to play.

We have a local NFL flag football league but from what I've seen it is not as high quality as the I-9. I-9 seems to set the standard in our area and that's where we'll be playing next fall.

[Coach Rob 26]

Our team will be playing in the spring I-9 league. Looking for anyone that might've used any of mine or Orange's plays and modified them. Or any original plays that worked best for your team. The league we play in is 5 v 5 with a rusher allowed from 7 yds out.

Appreciate any input.

CRob

[Orange 26]

Our team will be playing in the spring I-9 league. Looking for anyone that might've used any of mine or Orange's plays and modified them. Or any original plays that worked best for your team. The league we play in is 5 v 5 with a rusher allowed from 7 yds out.

Appreciate any input.

CRob

Coach Rob,

Like me you know what to do, you just need a refresher. I began the season unsure and then when I read through this thread again I felt comfortable. Here are a few plays that worked for us in I-9 (with rusher) and from what I've seen (I've been visiting the I-9 games, they play close to my house). It really depends on how the defense is playing against you.

With a defense that plays zone back 5-7 yards off the los, I like a quick pass to the wr on the outside, let him try to break free. After doing that a few times I like trying a double pass.

My center drags are money in the bank with rusher or no rusher for 5 yards. Close to a first down or end zone it's all I call.

One play I saw work in I-9 (and I tried it last week with success) was to hand off on an end around and then have the runner pull up and pass. The defenders will come up to stop the run and you get somebody open deep. The key is to run it a few times to set it up and do the handoff a little deeper in the backfield.

I tried some shotgun plays where a qb and rb would stand shoulder to shoulder. A few times I'd handoff to the rb who would run. Sometimes I'd drift the rb to the side for a dumpoff. Other times I'd handoff and drift the qb to the side for a dumpoff. Lot's of possibilities to explore.

If you have a good qb you can run quick slants with success. It's hard to defend unless they get up in your receivers face. I've never been a fan of flinging it around like that but the more I watch other teams do it, it makes sense to incorporate it more.

We began running a statue of liberty play to our slot receiver. It's a quick run up the middle and can gash the defense if they are not ready. Seems like a gimmick but it's actually a reliable run.

I haven't seen this in I-9 but a wash or rub play was a good one for us (should work with rusher). Have all the receivers come across the middle and clear out the defenders. One receiver delays for a second and then comes underneath all the action going the other way. He usually comes clear for an easy pass and catch. You can run it out of any formation really but I like to do it bunched to one side or the other.

[tazman 0]

Our team will be playing in the spring I-9 league. Looking for anyone that might've used any of mine or Orange's plays and modified them. Or any original plays that worked best for your team. The league we play in is 5 v 5 with a rusher allowed from 7 yds out.

Appreciate any input.

CRob

Coach Rob,

Like me you know what to do, you just need a refresher. I began the season unsure and then when I read through this thread again I felt comfortable. Here are a few plays that worked for us in I-9 (with rusher) and from what I've seen (I've been visiting the I-9 games, they play close to my house). It really depends on how the defense is playing against you.

With a defense that plays zone back 5-7 yards off the los, I like a quick pass to the wr on the outside, let him try to break free. After doing that a few times I like trying a double pass.

My center drags are money in the bank with rusher or no rusher for 5 yards. Close to a first down or end zone it's all I call.

One play I saw work in I-9 (and I tried it last week with success) was to hand off on an end around and then have the runner pull up and pass. The defenders will come up to stop the run and you get somebody open deep. The key is to run it a few times to set it up and do the handoff a little deeper in the backfield.

I tried some shotgun plays where a qb and rb would stand shoulder to shoulder. A few times I'd handoff to the rb who would run. Sometimes I'd drift the rb to the side for a dumpoff. Other times I'd handoff and drift the qb to the side for a dumpoff. Lot's of possibilities to explore.

If you have a good qb you can run quick slants with success. It's hard to defend unless they get up in your receivers face. I've never been a fan of flinging it around like that but the more I watch other teams do it, it makes sense to incorporate it more.

We began running a statue of liberty play to our slot receiver. It's a quick run up the middle and can gash the defense if they are not ready. Seems like a gimmick but it's actually a reliable run.

I haven't seen this in I-9 but a wash or rub play was a good one for us (should work with rusher). Have all the receivers come across the middle and clear out the defenders. One receiver delays for a second and then comes underneath all the action going the other way. He usually comes clear for an easy pass and catch. You can run it out of any formation really but I like to do it bunched to one side or the other.

[tazman 0]

Well, we did it. We won our division game 27-0. The kids played their best game of the year and here I was worried about them having the 10 days off between games. We now play this weekend in a tournament against the other division champs in our age group for the winner takes all. There's 4 teams and its a win your in, lose you go home sorta tourny. Should be pretty exciting, I know I am since this is a first for me. I really appreciate all the information people have posted on here, it sure has helped out immensely.

Orange is right on the money with the center drag, its money in the bank for picking up short yardage. I actually use it as one of my first plays of the game to see what type of defense they are running and go from there. Another play I used quite frequently was running my senter to the spot where the rusher came from and throw a pass to him there, usually always wide open. Another that worked well was the fake of the end around, after you ran it a few times to get them biting, and then hitting the wide out all by himself going down the sideline.

[Coach Rob 26]

Well, we did it. We won our division game 27-0. The kids played their best game of the year and here I was worried about them having the 10 days off between games. We now play this weekend in a tournament against the other division champs in our age group for the winner takes all. There's 4 teams and its a win your in, lose you go home sorta tourny. Should be pretty exciting, I know I am since this is a first for me. I really appreciate all the information people have posted on here, it sure has helped out immensely.

Taz - Congrats! Sounds like you've done a good job with coaching this year. Your defense must be tough, 27-0 is quite a feat in a playoff game.

Orange is right on the money with the center drag, its money in the bank for picking up short yardage. I actually use it as one of my first plays of the game to see what type of defense they are running and go from there. Another play I used quite frequently was running my senter to the spot where the rusher came from and throw a pass to him there, usually always wide open. Another that worked well was the fake of the end around, after you ran it a few times to get them biting, and then hitting the wide out all by himself going down the sideline.

Curious how you defend against another team throwing to their center who runs to the spot where your rusher was? Also wondering what type of defense has worked best for you, are you playing a zone or man to man?

Again, congrats on a great season!

CRob

[Orange 26]

Curious how you defend against another team throwing to their center who runs to the spot where your rusher was? Also wondering what type of defense has worked best for you, are you playing a zone or man to man?

Again, congrats on a great season!

CRob

I'm thinking back to our tournament games...

The center can pose a problem however I have a couple of solutions. One is to have your rusher play heads up watching for it. Another is that our rusher is so fast in there that there is little time to pause and make that throw. Also, we shade the corners towards the middle anyway so they can help out over the middle. In my experience it wasn't a tremendously successful play against us. I'm not saying it can't work but with our defense I would challenge them to make that throw as it is not as simple as it seems and one we can pick off.

I stuck with a zone. We ran the 2 1 2 and it was pretty good (with the 1 being the rusher). The other zone some of the better teams ran was more of a 1 4. One defender would line up over the center and cover the middle short for runs. One would rush from the middle 7 yard mark. The remaining 3 would play 3 across zone at the 7 yard line. I think that was a good defense. You'd think you could gash them all day with the short stuff but they closed fast. In the end I found them vulnerable to fakes just like any other defense when I could get them to freeze or come up. Also a very quick pass to a wideout seemed to work.

The best team we played simply played man. In the tournament through 5 games I think they yielded something crazy like 3 tds total (we got one on them). They had one rusher who would sometimes drop into zone and not rush but their kids were all great athletes. I think if you have 5 kids on the field who can plain run and cover man is the way to go but many of us can't field 5 like that.

Defense is where I really love coaching but conditions have placed me where I've been coaching offense and yielded the d to an assistant. If I were coaching the d I'd tend to mix things up a lot more. Especially as these kids get older I'd move from one defense to another to confuse the other team. I'd switch to man every once in a while and then drop 3 deep although I'd go with a base 2 1 2.

[tazman 0]

Well, we did it. We won our division game 27-0. The kids played their best game of the year and here I was worried about them having the 10 days off between games. We now play this weekend in a tournament against the other division champs in our age group for the winner takes all. There's 4 teams and its a win your in, lose you go home sorta tourny. Should be pretty exciting, I know I am since this is a first for me. I really appreciate all the information people have posted on here, it sure has helped out immensely.

Taz - Congrats! Sounds like you've done a good job with coaching this year. Your defense must be tough, 27-0 is quite a feat in a playoff game.

Orange is right on the money with the center drag, its money in the bank for picking up short yardage. I actually use it as one of my first plays of the game to see what type of defense they are running and go from there. Another play I used quite frequently was running my senter to the spot where the rusher came from and throw a pass to him there, usually always wide open. Another that worked well was the fake of the end around, after you ran it a few times to get them biting, and then hitting the wide out all by himself going down the sideline.

Curious how you defend against another team throwing to their center who runs to the spot where your rusher was? Also wondering what type of defense has worked best for you, are you playing a zone or man to man?

Again, congrats on a great season!

CRob

I appreciate the kind words. Luckily the team we played all they did was run the ball, I think they may have tried twice to throw it. We play a zone defense, the 2-1-2. After awhile we would pinch in the 2 front corners having them step up into the running lane because they ran end arounds and it seemed to work pretty well. We would also rush the center guy from 7 yds out.

[tazman 0]

Well, we lost 18-0 to a team we should have beaten. We are pretty much a pass oriented team and the day of the game we had 25 mph winds and it really through us off of our game. The basically had 1 good kid that beat us by himself. He was like a gazelle, we'd have him contained and then all of a sudden he'd change direction and go the other way and out run our whole team. Oh well, it was a great learning experience for me. It was pretty neat seeing some of these kids progress from week to week. Unfortunately my son moves up to the next league and most of the kids on our team will stay in the 7-8 age group. Bummer, I would have liked to keep the team together and see what happens again. Like I stated before, I really apppreciate all the great advice that was presented here.

[Orange 26]

Well, we lost 18-0 to a team we should have beaten. We are pretty much a pass oriented team and the day of the game we had 25 mph winds and it really through us off of our game. The basically had 1 good kid that beat us by himself. He was like a gazelle, we'd have him contained and then all of a sudden he'd change direction and go the other way and out run our whole team. Oh well, it was a great learning experience for me. It was pretty neat seeing some of these kids progress from week to week. Unfortunately my son moves up to the next league and most of the kids on our team will stay in the 7-8 age group. Bummer, I would have liked to keep the team together and see what happens again. Like I stated before, I really apppreciate all the great advice that was presented here.

There is always a better team out there. Good season though and I'm glad I could help.

I'm faced with a similar situation next year where a majority of my kids are going to be moving up to the 9-10 division. We'll have 3 that are still 8 and probably should stay back but I'm going to feel compelled to bring them up. Actually, I'm wondering if and when I'll be coaching football as my son is now very interested in lacrosse. Plus he said he wants to play soccer again in the fall. With baseball in the spring, I'm not sure where football will fit in, maybe winter again. Plus I've been tossing around the idea of restarting the team with some of the old and some new kids. I felt like the team was getting stale at the end having been together for 3 seasons now.

[Coach Rob 26]

Well, we lost 18-0 to a team we should have beaten.

Tough one Taz, but it sounds like you had a great season overall. Thanks for your input and keeping us up to date.