2 platoon draft

Thanks... That's not a bad way of doing it. Did you ever have a situation where you had A LOT of 2 way players then?

I know there are 2 sides to look at this. 1... you develop more players with 2 platoon and you have more investment by the entire team; And 2, there will be a game though that your 1's may not be able to help you win because the other team has better Jimmy & Joes. And therefore, you need to play more 2 way players.

My goal is to reduce as many 2 way players as possible... we are UP tempo offense and have found even our best OL and skill players can't handle playing both ways. So, we're amping up our off-season conditioning.

I read somewhere a while ago that Katy Tigers (TX) that they put their best athlete and put him on offense, defense gets the next best 11.

I don't think there can be a set method that will work all the time. Obviously if you have a QB dependent system, then he is either the first pick or exempt.

- Is this a one time deal, and you'll be moving back to iron man football after this crop leaves?
- Will this be a systematic approach?

If this is just one time thing, find a way that maximizes each side of the ball. One side might have more of the skill pliers, the other more size.

If this is a systematic approach, you need to find a way that allows lower level kids to develop on both sides of the ball and then they will gradually move to where they are most productive/needed.

As a defensive minded coach, I will say that there are certain kids that while they are athletic, just don't belong on the defensive side of the ball. Not to go off into that rabbit hole, but it is something to think about at least in terms of intangibles.

I was once a JVHC at a small school. We mostly played the best we had, with about half the guys being 2 way players. As the season was coming up, I looked at the roster and I had about 36 kids, with realistically about 20 that would be real contributors if they worked and developed. And they would also do the same as they got up to varsity. Yeah, I still had the 5-6 that was just flat out better than all the others by a good bit, but I wanted to try and keep them all vested in the program and find which pups would really bite and which might end up being all bark.

I took the team and divided them in half and had a blue team and a gold team. One side had the better linemen and some solid skill players, the other had all the best skill players and some serviceable linemen. They both learned our stuff and split practice time right down the middle learning both the base offense and defense. When the season rolled around, we alternated by quarters which side of the ball each group would start. First game the blue team started on offense, and the gold was defense. Next game it was switched. BUT, when we got into the season and our toughest rival came along, I put the best out there.

I know that it isn't what you are thinking about for your varsity, but the point was we made a choice based on what was best for the program, team, players; in that order. Did we have somebody out there that was maybe a little sketchy, yes, but at least he had a chance to prove us or himself wrong.

Thanks guys...

It is my goal to make this systematic with our program. Our Freshmen are separate from the JV/V. The JV/V practice together. The goal is to have JV be 1/2 and 1/2 in terms of 2way players. Varsity is going to be one platoon. I believe there are 2 kids that are being bounced around as potential starters on both sides.