Compelling Reasons NOT to Platoon

I'd love to help, but I've never been at a program that had a choice. In high school we had 40 kids on varsity and only probably about 15 that were quality to be starters. Where I coached the last 3 years, we have had 15 kids on the varsity roster so no option there.

We have always platooned whenever possible, but, if a kid isn't getting the job done, the best kids have to play.

Hard to win games when your best talent is sitting on the sidelines, especially in po-dunk small-school ball.

^{...all HS players should go both ways if they are the best at that position. He went on to question why a coach wouldn't put his best possible players on the field.}

Agreed.

However, IF, by projection- through reps, experience, coaching, coachability, etc. the backups would be (should be) better relatively soon (a few games) on one side- platoon.

In 5A we platooned as much as possible (still, for the most part, our backup Guard might be a starting DT).

If the backups are an entire level below the starter (Var- JV, JV- C team, etc.), like we have here now (1A)- iron man.

Also impacting the decision are such considerations like: schedule (district/conference games as openers... we've had this at times), playoff format (how badly will "adjusting time" affect or afflict you?) , realistic assessment of where the program is (rebuilding or repeating). Not saying it is right or wrong to give those things so much consideration... but I think there is impact from those factors.

so:

^{1) Does platooning somehow "hurt" a players chances of being 'discovered' by college recruiters( DI offensive guard playing DT)}

No. Half the players I coached played something different in college (usually QB become TE, LB or DB; FB become DL... linemen usually stay there).

<sup>2) The biggest excuse is obviously numbers...

If you only have a senior & junior class of 30 and 20 of them are girls, well then maybe I guess I would understand..........help me understand, folks.</sup>

We have this (actually, our senior class has 16...10 girls), therefore, we play iron man... but we will platoon as much as possible.

^{if you do nto platoon, you wait until half time to make adjustments. platoon teams make adjustments each series.}

You can make adjustments almost immediately, but it is tougher. Coaches must be very succinct (which is why I need to get my rambling out on the board here).

^{platoon teams kids have to think about one job and that is their position. non platoon kids have to think of a offensive postion and a defensive position.}

True... Because of that we have to be pretty simple.

^{platoon teams work on their skills every day, nonplatoon teams work on their skills every other day.}

Not really... if they start on O and D they are working on THEIR skills daily. granted, they are working on LESS skills, but they are still skills for their position(s).

You put the kids on the field that give your team the best chance to win. The games are short enough that a player can play both sides of the ball, take a few down to rest and still contribute, perhaps even dominating on both sides of the ball. If I have two kids that are bigger, stronger, faster than the rest, neither is coming off of the field. Same goes with ...if i have 8 kids that are better than the rest, chances are all 8 are going to play quite a bit of both sides...we get a big lead, mercy rule, run the clock and the others get to play. I see no reason to pretend that a small school is a big time college or big hs program...try to win the game, thats the reason. Players win the game.

some examples...

best rb plays free safety or often will linebacker

fullback is often a mike backer

one tight end is a de

the other de is a guard

one of the dts is a guard

one of the tackles is a nose guard

corners are one way guys


I mean, thats pretty common for us.

some schools just have a big drop off after the top 8-9 kids.


another quite obvious reason is staffing. We have a head coach and an assistant...both have to coach 2-3 positions on each side of the ball just to get by. some schools have bigger staffs and it makes sense that they can have a defensive practice and an offensive practice at the same time. Now they can have bigger playbooks too...in the end, its whatever works. Even when we have had big rosters, the talent level and experience level drops off sharply after about 8 kids.

We have about 60-70 out at Varstiy/JV. We try to platoon as much as possible. Last year we had 2 or 3 going both ways.

This year we are implementing a "Gold System". We will full platoon but have a gold offense and defense that will put the 11 best our there. We presume that it will change 3 spots on defense and 1 or two on offense.

I've used this sytem in the past. What I found was that toward the end fo the season we called for Gold, a lot less. The players that were candidates to get platooned for improve and they learn to work well as a unit.

The bottom line is there are ussually one or two kids that are going to be playing at the next level. These kids are game changers and simply put, they are higher level athletes, they win ball games. In close contests or key possession they need to be on the field.

I like to rotate my d line when I have the personnel - 4 DT's and 3 DE's. Occasionanly one of those rotating is astarting olineman or TE.

How are you supposed to "coach up" a slow 250-pound offensive lineman who can't see his toes?

The platooning argument sounds good...the problem is that almost no one does it in Illinois small-school ball. And, if the other teams are keeping their studs on the field both ways, aren't you making things tough on yourself by keeping your studs on the sideline?

Great athletes are going to win a heck of a lot more games than great coaches will. Work smarter, not harder!

Yes if I could platoon I would, but this high school and if I got a beast that can go both ways, he is going both ways.

lancaster high school in wisconsin is a small school of about 400 i beleive and that totally platoon. when they started out people thought they were crazy. I got to see them play in 2000 at the wi state championship game up close. they had 80 players on varsity(jr and sr). coach hoch talks about how platooning was the key to there success at lancaster h.s.

Yes I would. IN fact we do platoon most of our players, especially the linemen. We are a 4A school and I would estimate we start 18 different kids for 22 positions. Then those other two-way guys get spotted rests throughout the game.

^{i can see your point however it is much eaiser to have 11 looking at your dc while the offense is on the field and vice versa.}

No doubt. Really... at the HS level, you almost have to platoon somewhere. If you platoon O/D, you can have starters on special teams. If not, specials are where you get kids rest. That REALLY impacts special teams philosophies (squib KO, quick kicks rather than punts, etc.).

I would love to do it... but I am not confident that this past year's junior high offense would finish in the top 3 in the state offensively next year... and unless we play iron man, that is the best I can get on to the field.

Again, if the back-ups for varsity kids are legitimate varsity kids, then yes- Platoon. If your back-ups are really just JV kids, then like Wildcat says:
<sup>Platoon if you can but, if you have a kid sitting on the sideline who is clearly better than the kid out on the field, I really think you are doing yourself and your program a disservice

for the sake of discussion, I am pretty much saying,
IF YOU COULD PLATOON, WOULD YOU?</sup>
NFL- yes
AFL/NIFL -can't... not legal
NCAA/NAIA- yes
top 3/4 5A, top 2/3 4A. top 1/2 3A, top 1/4 2A - yes
bottom 1/4 5A, etc...no (by top and bottom I do not mean potential of athletes, program, record, etc.... basically schools commitment to football: number of coaches, number of players out/eligible, etc.)
1A- be happy if you can put a full unit on without having to "hide" too many.

I would agree with Brophy's basic premise that a team that platoons with good, solid high school football players has a huge advantage over a similarly-sized team that does not platoon. In a situation like that, it is basically 2 teams (1 offensive team and 1 defensive team) playing against 1 team (11 kids going both ways). Doesn't matter how conditioned those 11 kids will be...fatigue is going to be an issue.

But the main point of what I just posted is that the 22 guys who are platooned are all good, solid high school football players who are going to be productive. When you get to the point that platooning means that a strong, productive kid is sitting on the sideline and a weak, unproductive kid is playing, you are going to have problems. Like I said...hard to win when you keep the ponies in the stable!

And that's the way it works here, at least in po-dunk Illinois small-school ball. Generally speaking, you don't see much platooning in 1A & 2A ball...the best athletes are on the field. In fact, I would go as far to say that in small school ball in Illinois, you are at a distinct disadvantage if you platoon because of the mismatch in talent that will result.

There is a small school here in southwest Ohio that platoon all the way. School has about 5-600 with around 80-100 guys on the team. The coach was told the same thing as the coach of lancaster when he brought in this two platoon system. Well 3 state championships later and a year in and year out playoff threat people have stopped their doubts.

While I was in school there we had guys who could barely run when they came in as freshman. But with the amount of reps and individual attention you recieve due to the two platoon system these guys were able to be "coached up" into some real ball players. Unless you have ever got the opportunity to be involved with a two platoon system you can not really understand the benefits it brings. Besides the obvious of more reps and coaching time at each position, the two platoon brings alot more confidence to players. Instead of working for 11 starting positions the kids are working for 22 positions. The guy that may have never been able to show his game through middle school now has every opportunity to take one of the 22 positions on the field. We had so many guys on the team because there were so many positions up for grabs (you also had the guys who just wanted to be out there). We never had super athletes. We only had 5 or 6 guys the whole time I was in school go anywhere to play ball after school. I can remember multiple games when the other team had multiple "studs", and come the end of the game their were beat down. He might get his yards, or make some tackles for loss, in the first half. But as the second half wore getting hit every single play began to take its toll. We won many games in the second half just due to having fresh legs. I do not care how much conditioning you do but when going against a guy who only has taken half the snaps, and half the beating, is nearly impossible. What you lack in total talent can be made up in having fresher legs come the 4th quarter

I agree that the benefits of platooning are undervalued and if you have ample talent you should try to platoon.

A couple thoughts:

- As a line coach I usually need my whole group during our first few series to find out what's happening and make adjustments if necessary. If your adjusting your blocking schemes it's always good to discuss that with your backs.

- I think it takes a deep commitment on the part of the coaching staff to platoon. We tend to over rely on the physical assets of our kids. A commitment to platooning requires a stronger dedication to physically developing all kids, emphasis on technique, and making sure everyone is rock solid in their knowledge or assignment.

- When you platoon you decrease the impacts of a key injury and in fact you drastically decrease the opportunity for a key asset to be injured by lowering their exposure.

- To me there is a benefit to getting more kids on the field. When you have 60-75 kids out it's a shame to see 15 or 16 getting 95% of the snaps.


Observation:

Last year I attended an incredible playoff games - 9OT's. Thats correct nine. Pasco vs. Bothell. It was like a heavyweight boxing match. After about third OT I saw Pasco looking slower and tired. The had 4 kids going both ways. Bothell had none. Bothell rotated a couple guys on both sides but no one dedicated. Bothell's final drive was three power runs between the tackles - they wore Pasco down.

I'm convinced platooning was a factor in determining who went to the state championship. Pasco coaches might argue that they would have never made it that far without those kids on the field. Great debate.