Next evolution of football

If it's worth doing, it's already been done. What we are seeing today is new combinations of old things.

i dont think there is anything "new" left to create. Football works in cycles. What is out will one day be back in again, and what is "in" right now will one day be gone... only to come back in another 20 years

Not only that, but such rule changes as have been adopted lately are those that tend to decrease variety and innovation in the game, channeling it into already familiar modes of play.

Creativity does not emerge from a vacuum. Usually it's the applIcation and modification of old concepts in new contexts that leads to innovation. The option, for example, began as an attempt at adapting the 2-on-1 fast break from basketball. The wing t was an attempt at fusing the single wing with the under center qb and "blind snap" of the T-formation. Now sometimes a rare innovator comes along who sees a problem and comes up with a solution no one ever knew they needed, but that is very rare and you never know when it'll happen. As old as football is, with the rules pretty much set in stone for about 90 years, almost everything allowable under those rules has already been attempted.

I have to agree with everyone else here. I think we have seen how far offenses and defenses can be pushed with relation to the rules. All we are going to see from now is the cycle all of us know.

I think one thing we will see is football will change regionally. Although there are so many resources for learning football accross the country, especially with the internet and all the DVDs it still seems like certain areas run more of different types of offenses. I think soon things will become so diverse you will see everything no matter what you are at.

For example, i talk to buddies all over the country about common offenses where they are at and they see stuff i have never seen in person, and i see stuff here they rarely have ever seen

buddy lives in Mich, he tells me he only knows of one team anywhere near him who runs any fly at all, and here in Norcal it is a pretty popular offense

I have never heard of a team here running empty as their base O, but i see it mentioned all over this site and other states

and just last week i saw the pistol for the first time in person at a 7 on 7.

For whatever reason different regions tend to run certain things but i think soon you will see every O under the sun all in the same league or general area

As cyclical as the game is, people should remember it doesn't run in perfect circles.

With the internet, it's a double edged sword for offenses and defenses. Nowadays a team can go online and find some fairly obscure idea from the annals of football's deep past and run with it, but by the same token it's hard for a team to jump out with some offense nobody's seen in years and suddenly dominate their league with it.

It might work for a few games, until an internet savvy DC goes on CoachHuey and asks "Say, this team in our league switched to the Single Wing. They aren't that talented or well coached, but nobody in our league's seen it in 40 years and everyone's just scratching their heads. How do we stop it?" He gets a dozen really good answers, the DC stops that team, and then the spell is broken because they've shown everyone else how to do it too.

What I think this is really going to lead to is a lot more blending of various offenses. You're already seeing where teams are taking ideas from the Single Wing and blending them with modern shotgun spread passing attacks or running Fly from Empty sets, etc.

Another trend I see coming is a lot more teams are going to start putting bigger, stronger FB types at QB in spread offenses and running over the smaller defenses geared up to cover those WRs who will still be on the field. These might not be guys who are natural passers, but they'll be schooled just well enough by modern QB camps and more knowledgeable coaches on how to throw decently enough to get by and give defenses nightmares.

That knowledge of the passing game is going to become more and more apparent at all levels. You already have a lot of HS now successfully running the Air Raid and airing it out 40-50 times a game. In the future, even the run heavy teams who only throw once in a blue moon, will get better and more sophisticated with their passing attacks simply because now it's easier to learn how it's done. That administrators and boosters think that pretty passing is the epitome of offense and you've got an evolutionary pressure that forces coaches to get better at airing it out.

I also see H-backs working their way into spread offenses soon, as teams look to find ways to play smashmouth football within the confines of a 3-4 WR environment. A guy who can run 4.7, turn a shallow drag into a big gain, and kick out a DE or clear out a LB will always have a place.

Jeez... I just realized I'm basically saying that Urban Meyer is on his way to becoming the most influential football coach since Bill Walsh...

In some non-Urban Meyer related developments, I think that things like the Wildcat--little mini-offenses that teams put in experiment with and open up new things personnel-wise, will grow in popularity.

I can even see major Div 1 colleges and even some teams in the NFL adapting the Double Wing as one of these "mini offenses" for goal line and short yardage sets. The first time someone in the big time runs superpower with a 3rd string QB/WR/RB/waterboy leading through the hole with a backside G, backside T, slotback, cheerleader, and hotdog vendor following him, it'll catch on. Not as an every down offense--people want passing too much for that--but definitely as a common goal line package.

Now, on the defensive side of the ball, I see 2-gapping making a comeback as a technique because of all the zone offenses out there. As teams look for more agile OL who can block on the run, that helps to give an advantage to a big DT who can stack the line and shed one reach attempt after the other at pushing them around on the IZ plays and killing the OZ cutbacks.

In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to see the 4-3 defense eventually evolve into a 2-3 defense with a pair of big two gapping DTs, a MLB, and 2 guys who can play DE or OLB while the other 6 spots are reserved for DBs. With the way many teams run their 4-3 now, we're practically there already.

When those teams put a 2 Level Defense Deep S over the top (it'll catch on) they'll be left with a ton of things they can do with 5 athletes across underneath. Of course, when the DS catches on, it'll be some coach at Florida or Notre Dame or somewhere who gets credit for "inventing" the idea

I also think that games are going to become higher scoring, and this is largely because of rules changes. Now a dominant defense is one who only gives up 14 points. In a few years, I bet it'll be one who holds a team in the high teens/low 20s.