Option

[Orange 26]

Orange...Awesome

That sounds great...We can pitch it but not past the LOS so that wont work for me but I have an Idea to get mine to work

Honestly we almost always pitch the ball behind the los, especially in our shotgun option. Typically a defender will penetrate quickly and force the pitch. So I'm thinking you could probably run the option out of the shotgun, just as long as the QB knows to pitch behind the los or tuck and run.

Our QB's cant run either lol

Neither can ours but here's what we do. QB and HB stand shoulder to shoulder in shotgun. On the snap there is an immediate handoff. Now he's eligible to run. The terms are sometimes confusing because of who is handing to who but for clarification I'll say that the HB receives the snap and hands to the QB who is now run eligible (because technically the person receiving the snap is the QB). Still with me? OK, they have to execute this very quickly because an alert defender will be in quicker than get all. The HB (the one who received the snap and handed off to the QB) sprints out towards his side getting proper spacing. It won't matter as much to you that he gets behind also since you cannot pitch past the los (Ie, a forward pass is allowed behind the los), but he needs at least 5-7 yards of separation. The QB also immediately sprints towards the side of the HB towards the sideline and forward (like a curved line). I'm trying to teach my QBs to read the defenders reaction and make a choice. If the rusher or defender on the los comes in immediately after the QB he needs to make the pitch. If the defenders are slow getting there or cover the HB then the QB heads up the lane. Ideally you want the QB to beat the middle defenders and force the corner to come in after him at which point he pitches to the HB who runs up the sideline.

There are several challenges. The HBs need proper spacing. For the most they've gotten this with practice. The QBs need to look at the defense and make the read. This was harder for some than others. Some wanted to eye the HB the whole time. I think I broke them of that habit. And finally the QBs were making no-look pitches. I'm teaching them they have to look at the HB at the last second and make a nice solid pitch at their chest. Also, I cannot stress how important it is for the QB and HB to get trucking towards the sidelines. If they fumble around with the ball or are slow getting going, it's an easy play to shut down in the backfield.

[rushbuster70 16]

I'm going to have to read that a few times to get it lol...I'll post back when I get it...The part I'm most confused is the snap.I understand what you mean but I cant really picture it...Is the Center Hiking it to the side to RB or hiking it direct to the QB who hands off to the RB then the RB turns into the QB and QB turns into RB ? lol

[Orange 26]

I know. I have it straight in my head but I can understand where it is confusing. OK, I'll explain it without using the terms QB and HB. Shotgun formation, 2 wideouts. Two players in the backfield shoulder to shoulder. One is directly behind the center and that's the one that gets the snap. The other in the backfield is standing to his left (could be either but for this example we'll use left). When the player behind the center receives the shotgun snap he hands the ball to the player on his left. Since that kid just received a handoff he is now run eligible. The player who originally received the snap and just handed off sprints towards the right sideline. The player who got the handoff also sprints right.

Make sense? I'm totally redoing my playbook but I can email that play to you if you want.

[rushbuster70 16]

gotcha now...

yea can you email it to me also...if you have any good stuff send it also...if you need any new plays i'm going to take time sunday to do my playbook hopefully

[Orange 26]

gotcha now...

yea can you email it to me also...if you have any good stuff send it also...if you need any new plays i'm going to take time sunday to do my playbook hopefully

I uploaded my work in progress playbook to the playbook section of the forum. The shotgun option is on page 4.

[rushbuster70 16]

i took a look at them...i've done quite a few of those plays before lol

man how do i make pdf's by the way?

[Johnp2 21]

You typically need Adobe Acrobat. However, you can download freeware that will allow you to write a lot of file types to .pdf. IM me if you need any assistance.

With that said, I have an application is designed specifically for creating football plays, again--IM me if you would like me to send it to you. Thanks

[Johnp2 21]

I looked at some of the play books out there, do have a question. I know some (a lot) of your leagues do not allow blocking.

My question is: what do the other players do on running plays? It seems from the playbooks they run passing routes (which is obviously better than just standing there), but I am curious as to what happens when the defense sees it is a running play. Are your offensive players even allowed to "get in the way", or do they need to stand there and the ball-carrier fends for himself?

I've only coached one season of flag football (and only played tackle growing up) so am not sure if it is protocol to disallow blocking or not. Our league does allow it--and seems we must be an exception---and of course every team takes advantage of it. It must be clean block though (i.e. not chop blocks, arms cannot extend, etc.). It's more just getting up in the defender's grill and driving him away from the play (if you can).

Thanks!

[rushbuster70 16]

Pretty much any 5 on 5 league you see will not let you block.You were correct the WR usually run routes to try and get the other defenders to pay attention to them.The other people who don't have the ball pretty much have to stop or just stay out of the way.They can't block or shadow or anything of that sort.

[Johnp2 21]

Thanks for the response. I can see how in a 5 on 5 league makes sense, as there is much more "open space". We play 8 on 8, so running the ball without the offense blocking, leaving 8 defenders to attack would pretty much negate the running game altogether. I put a lot of emphasis with our blocking schemes---a lot of influence blocking (which really works well at this age level)--quite a few pull and traps, and of course my team's mantra, which is second-level blocking. The kids really seem to enjoy blocking (especially when I make a big deal out of it)--and it is probably 1/2 of what I coach with respect to offensive plays.

Attached is one of my favorite photos from last season. You can see my team (in white) out there just looking to knock someone on their rear (the ball carrier is #20, my RB who was the most dominate athlete in the league last season). You can see one of my Kindergarteners in the picture (who was a FEARLESS blocker) about to man up with a guy almost 1/4 his size. I don't remember the specific play, but have no doubt he laid a lick on #9 and took him out of the play. Ha!

[rushbuster70 16]

So...

We had our coaches meeting and got our rosters and all..

Basically I'm not going to be able to run the option with the QB.But i'm going to run the WR Option.I'm definitely excited to get it going.

Right now I have 6 Plays but I'm going to try and get 8 plays total...

[Orange 26]

So...

We had our coaches meeting and got our rosters and all..

Basically I'm not going to be able to run the option with the QB.But i'm going to run the WR Option.I'm definitely excited to get it going.

Right now I have 6 Plays but I'm going to try and get 8 plays total...

Let me know how that WR option works for you and I'll do the same. We're going to scrimmage it tomorrow.

[Orange 26]

OK, ran the wr option with limited success yesterday. 1 play looked like a sure td but the wr couldn't find the trailing hb before his flag was pulled. But the hb had nothing but green in front of him as the rusher and corner converged on the wr who held on to the ball a little too long.

Another time we busted it for about 10 yards, looked a lot better. My only first year kid who was playing hb made a nice run then decided to pitch it himself (forward). I told him good time to learn that mistake but the basic play looked good.

[rushbuster70 16]

I'm looking foward to putting this in on Saturday...

So I decided to coach 2 football teams...Man its going to be tough but it will be awesome

We had our 1st practice with my i9 Team Last Night...We are definitely going to have a solid team.I'm excited.I have 6 kids and 5 of them have awesome football skills.I gave all the kids play cards and the QB will have a wrist band.Were going to have a total of about 8 Plays but I have 4 Goal Line/Short Yardage Plays.We will have our 2nd practice on Saturday morning.This team probably has the most potential out of any other team I've ever had.

My 2nd team has 11 kids total.Its for a local city league.NFL Flag Rules.We start practice thursday.This league is usually full of beginners who have never played.Typically you get 1-2 kids.I have 1 kid on this team for my 3rd time so we plan to maximize his athletism.I'm exicted for the teams overall potential.Most of the kids have played by what the parents say so we will see what happens.We are having a 2nd practice on Saturday also after my first team's practice.

I'm more excited this season than I have ever been before...

My 3rd team finishes up here in 2 weeks.That team I dont have practice with.we are 6-0 and the kids are 9-11 years old so we are fine with out it.We do about 6 plays and they work wonderful.I plan to incorporate what we do in the other leagues also.

[Johnp2 21]

So I decided to coach 2 football teams...Man its going to be tough but it will be awesome

Man, I don't see how you do it. I'm sure you are like me (and most everyone on here), as my "volunteer" work is all over the board (kids school, community, sports, etc.) and I know I am literally drained at the end of each sports season. Take all of that with an 8 year old boy and 6 year old girl, and a little something known as my job and sometimes I am unsure what day it is. I guess what I am saying is way to go here! I'm confident the kids you coach and their parents duly appreciate your tenacity here!

[rushbuster70 16]

I put this in today...Kids did great with it...I cant wait to see it saturday

[Orange 26]

I put this in today...Kids did great with it...I cant wait to see it saturday

They did fairly well with it in today's practice (end around option). My shotgun option seems to get shut down a lot since my defense always reads it, still I'll try it in a game (this Sunday).

[rushbuster70 16]

I'm doing the end around option.I cant run the shotgun option.my qb can never run no matter what