Balancing Offense & Defense in a Platoon System

You have to be very organized and have the whole staff bought into the mindset. Your players need to buy in too.

We didn't full two platoon but I think with the exception of C, QB, and main ball carrier you have to give priority to the defense.

It can lead to some hard staff meetings but you have to have them. You have to decide where you NEED them the most, not where you want them. 

A school in our division this season was 2 platooning almost everyone. They started off 0-3. They then started playing all of their best players on o and d and made a run to the regionals right before the state championship. Very different team after that change. Sometimes you just can't 2 platoon. We 2 platooned all but 1 to a state championship in 2013. The following year we lost in the state final and played almost all on both sides. Had to. Depends on your personnel each year in my opinion.

We usually have 1 lineman who plays full time on one side and about half the time on the other side. This year we had a combination of not being very deep on the line but having 3 very talented guys so we did it with 3 guys this year. One was a full time nose who played some OL, one was a full time DE who split time at guard, one was a full time TE who played some DE. 2 of those guys are D1, just too talented to not get on the field on both sides where we could. If we had a decent lead they didn't play much of their "secondary" position.

An additional benefit of platooning as many as you can is the reduced wear and tear on the player and the increased depth. We have never truely 2 platooned but we have been very careful about how much we pound our linemen and playing them on both sides full time was not worth the risk in our opinion (not that it is wrong in some cases).

We actually had a kid go to Ohio State to play DL (starter for 2 years) who was an all-American wrestler in HS (great work ethic and endurance) and he could only play full time defense and part time OL before his productivity dropped below his back-ups. Part of this is because the back-up's quality of play improved as the season went on but I believe that was because of the game reps he received.

BINGO!

I am not a big fan of JH teams that play 13 out of 25 kids to try to win games.  The best teams in our area are also the ones who don't win every JH game.  They do, however, get most of their kids on the field.

Platooning starts there and moves on up.  I think you may naturally lose some platooning on the way up as a few of the best players HAVE to play both ways, but teams that say they can't platoon are ones who haven't developed their players along the way.  We're a school with 12-15 kids per class and I still feel we can platoon year-in, year-out.

Now, to answer the OP, my non-negotiables are in the following order (meaning the best kids play in these positions regardless)

1. QB
2. BOW (Best Offensive Weapon regardless of position)
3. Middle of the Defense (MLB, DT)
4. Next Best Defensive Playmaker (regardless of position...varies year-to-year)

After that, Offense and Defense drafts from there...literally.  90% of our players will play both ways at some point in the season, but only a few will start both ways.  In a perfect world we would have 22 starters, but some kids are too good to keep off the field and some positions have a wide drop in talent from the #1s to #2s.  Some Varsity kids will stay on one side of the ball the entire year b/c they simply don't fit anywhere on the other side of the ball (usually QBs and some LBs).  I don't need 7 backup running backs or receivers.  If you are anything after the #4/5 RB or WR you will be solely a defensive player which means you get double practice reps on all defensive drills which will in theory make you better at your position.

Also agree with playing best kids on Special Teams.  They should be fresher and frankly our philosophy is opposite of most teams we play against who play backups and underclassmen predominantly.

Don't THINK about...or CONSIDER platooning...either decide to do it, or dump the idea.  First, get the staff onboard.

Start in the Spring by telling the players to begin to decide for themselves which side of the ball they want to play.
***of course, the coaches have the final decisions on this.

Some kids know exactly the position they want...some only know they want to play Offense or Defense...some will tell you they just want to get on the field...somewhere.  (I like those guys!)  Mention it all during Spring and Summer...keep THEM thinking about it!

Separate them into offensive teams and defensive teams and build your defense FIRST.

Meanwhile, and this is important...tell them that it is a privilege to be INVITED to try out for Special Teams...that if they're invited to play there, they are some of the most important players on the field.  Some will be your scout D and some will come from your scout O...but all of them consider themselves as starters.

IMO, if you've got the numbers its the thing to do.  Field your defense first, then your offense.  Defense gets priority.