Ways to go on 2

decide before practice what snap counts you can use that day. tell the qb's they are only allowed to use those that day. example: we can go on 2 or second sound (whatever you cadence options are). mix those up each day. when doing drills that require a snap count, remember, you are only allowed to use those 2 options that day. try to mix in a "long" and a "short" each day.

We only go one cadence - "set go." However, we run a no play time to time. QB says "set go." No body moves. This allows us to get them to jump if they are timing our cadence & see what their intentions are (steming,blitzes,coverages) if they don't jump. If they are timing your plays real well run a play that takes advantage of this - trap or screen.

When were in the wing t, each play had a set cadence tied to the motion. No motion the play was on "set", quick or jet motion the play was on "set go", long motion across the formation the play was on "set go go."

^{Finally we had a "double freeze" call where there was no real play called.}
We had something like that (called it differently)... one year our JV- trailing 46-42 called that play late in the game on 4th and 4... the C snapped it, QB dropped back, scrambled around and ran 50 yds. for a score... we won 48-46 (of course... missed PAT).

We go on multiple counts, and the things we do to help are as follows (we generally jump offsides 1 x per season avg.):
1. We do all of our conditioning (spring, summer, in-season) on the count (or on the ball if D day). If we jump, the sprint does not count.
2. We assign certain counts to certain motions. For ex- if we motion a back or wing from the across the formation, we go on 3. Always. I can not remember jumping off in the last 3 years.
3. We have line calls at the los... count reminders are part of the calls. January, February, March... for example would be (Jan.) on 1, Feb. (on 2) Mar, on 3. We say this in addition to: Defensive techniques of DL and line call.
4. During the first two weeks of practice we can not go on "one"
5. In some years (before we did a lot of motion) any QB (1 back )play was on 1, FB (2 back on 2), etc. Teams who watch you live may pick up on this... so we did not use this long.

Having said all of this... we had a season (1997) where we ended up with a good team, but we could only go on 1 of first sound or we would jump. We worked the same on the count... but before we turned in to a farce by jumping offsides 6 times per game, we eliminated multiple counts. Some players really have a tough time with that. It was my first year at that school... so that may of had something to do with it.

If you read Tim Gay's book on football physics, he makes an excellent point about the snap count. It is one of the true advantages that they offense has - particulary when linemen are firing straight ahead.

He estimates that there is at least two-tenths of a second advantage for the offense. This is comprised of the reaction time of the defense - seeing the ball snapped and starting their movement. When you look at what the .2 seconds means . . .

- Without the in-depth analysis (starting from a 5 second 40 yard dash time), we can assume that a lineman can accelerate off the line at about 16 ft/s2 (squared).
- After .2 seconds, the offensive lineman's speed would be about 3.2 ft/s (.2s x 16 ft/s2).
- If the defender does not move, the collission will occur in about .61 seconds - assuming he is at a distance of 1 yard.
- If the defender moves in .2 seconds reaction time, the collision will actually occur in .51 seconds.
- When the collision occurs, the offensive player will have a speed of 8.3 ft/s, while the offensive player will have a speed of 5.1 ft/s.

Why does this matter? Because Momentum is the greatest factor in determining who wins collisions. Momentum is defined as mass times velocity. A players' mass is very difficult to change, but velocity is very changeable. In a collision of two player with equal mass, the player with the greater velocity wins!

There are other factors in winning collision (torque, center of mass, angle of attack, etc.), but if we break this down to the root, the reaction time is hugely important. But if you watch, most teams give up this advantage. They snap the ball on predictable counts. The defensive gets used to the rythmic cadence and gets off the ball in time with the offense.

So, how can you take advantage? Changing the snap count regularly so the defense has to react to the movement is the best way. Claim that .2 second advanatage. My suggestion is to do away with historical cadences all together. Down, set, hut, hut . . . why keep it? What lineman can reliably get off on the third hut? Instead, use numbers. Down, Set, One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six. What defense is going to hold their water until Seven? You eliminate offensive confusion and enable long snap counts. How about going for it 4th and 1 on Eight? You ensure the momentum advantage - and I would like your chances.

If anyone uses this, I'd love to hear how it worked for you. I tried to talk to our HC about this, but he asked why and as soon as I mentioned momentum and velocity, his eyes glazed over and he gave me the 'definite maybe'. He is an ex-OL, so . . . he is more of a smashmouth guy.

Like bluto and huey - we drill cadence (and automatic system) all summer during conditioning workouts so they are used to it by start of practice; and during two-a-days we will have one or two "Nothing on One days" - QBs must use other starting counts all day.

Our lineman have developed their own little ways to remind each other what the snap signal is, too. We tell them to remind themselves of assignment and snap count on way to LOS and as they are getting into stance.

We do TTO Drill once a week to emphasize starts on different sounds.

Going on two with a first down in or near the Red Zone is as good or better than waiting until 3rd or 4th and less than five.
I have a lot of plays to call on 1st and 5!

Put this into wind sprints. Mix it up, first sound, on three, whatever you want, if one person jumps that sprint doesn't count and you move them back five yards. Then the kids will learn how to count, or be really well conditioned...

Have the QB's work on cadences FOR EVERYTHING!!!!

Agilities = I have my QB's give a cadence every day in agilities. Gets people used to his cadence, as well as practice at "holding their water".

During practice = All drills where the QB takes a snap (7-on-7, inside run, outside run, team), we empasize going on 2, or 3 with the QB's, so that the offense gets used to it.

Conditioning = We have the groups of lineman go last. Coaches will give a cadence, and if ANY group jumps offsides, then the whole team goes back 5 yards and has to re-do that rep...amazing how fast they don't jump offsides, when their teammates end up running 14 100's instead of 10...it kind of takes care of itself

We did that when I played in college.

Monday = 1
Tuesday = 2
Thursday = 3

I coached youth football and we left it up to our QB. We made sure he got into the habbit of mixing up the snap count during practice from DAY ONE. He got so good at that we allowed him to decide the snap count during the game. Because we started it from day one the entire offense was used to the varied snap counts and we didn't have a single false start all year.

After many years with the same issues everyone's already mentioned, we came up with a very simple way to eliminate false starts and still vary the count. We just make the default count on 2. From spring through preseason, use only 2 for all drills, sprints, etc. Then slowly start changing it up to 1 or 1st sound. Then the worst you'll get is a player not getting off the ball quickly, instead of a penalty. We went with this philosophy a couple of years back, and only have had about 1-2 false starts per year. Very simple but works great. The idea is to only change the count to a shorter cadence -- never a longer one.

Important note: To use this method you must really watch the line and backs during practice to be sure they're getting off on time. A graet way to test who's getting off quickly/on time, is to secretly tell the Center, once or twice a day during scrimmage time, to NOT hike the ball. You'll quickly see who's coming off hard on the cadence and who's waiting for movement. The whole offense owes extra sprints for not coming off on time when this happens.