Spread offense for youth (11-12)

Thank you. Thats an outstanding playbook. Have you had success with it?

I have issued animated playbooks for the last 2 season. This had really increased our efforts in teaching the concepts.

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Coach,

These are outstanding! Ive watched your videos and I am quite impressed with your teams use of the spread! I would appreciate any info that you can provide me on how to produce the animated playbook. It sounds like it can help

Thanks!

Tony

Coach Doug said it correctly. Focus on fundamentals and practice methodology My first year using the spread was not memorable to say the least. We were all over the place. I had a QB with a cannon of an arm who started varsity as a freshman this past season in HS. My TB started jv his freahman year at Oaks Christian and soph year as cb on varsityt. Several other players on that team are starting JV or varsity. Nevertheless, our team finished 2 and 6. We score a woping total of 8 touch downs for the whole year. Our problem was we didnt know if we wanted to be Missouri or WVU. In youth football practice time is very limited..Last year my team wasnt as talented. I went to a series based format. It made my play calling easier . Our bread and butter plays were QB sweep and Jailbreak screen. We also bubbled and faked the bubble with the x or z running a go. We surpassed our scoring from the previous year by the 3rd game.The O line had 1 pass pro slide left or right . Also your whole coaching staff needs to be on same page.

DP,

No Ayinde, had UNREAL talent, and some good coaching years under his belt.

I have to disagree here based on the motor skills that age. While you may have some players who can throw and catch at a competent, or even mastery level, in general your players will be able to what Dave asks his to do better than what a spread passing team would ask his players to do. As far as the "spread option" choice, that requires at least moderate level of proficiency in being able to throw uncovered to work against quality teams.

Not saying it can't be done (as that is obviously not correct), BUT I do not believe it is accurate to say it isn't any more difficult than an offensive system that relies on less tracking and pass related motor skills.

As I said, it isn't that you can't do it, but I disagree with saying it can be done as easily as Dave's system, ESPECIALLY in a non-select situation where you can't hand pick the club. I believe this due to the items MSynder mentions combined with the motor skill issue.

Spread at the youth level???

You can do that, bring those receivers in tight and run the single wing!

Looking back at my first year my kids were talented. I as a head coach made my first rookie mistake when choosing my staff. I was the only one familiar with the spread. The offensive line coach wasn’t as familiar with the scheme as he claimed and failed at his attempt to teach inside zone and outside zone. Our kids were a bit overwhelmed. Also we had bigger slower kids at this position. We couldn’t block the fast WR types that play DE in our league. Furthermore, I didn’t realize that as head coach my duties entailed being a part time therapist and divorce counselor for parents (but that’s a whole different subject). Needless to say, many times I was distracted as vital practice time slipped away. In the beggining of my second season I consulted wit coach Jhanawa and we converted to a veer scheme instead of zone. This was a suttle but big turning point .I took over coaching the O line and used taller leaner athletic kids to play O line. Our centers used the dead snap technique. It was easier for my QB to catch and throw in our quick game. Instead of a staff of 8 their was only myself and one dad. He didnt know much about football so he didnt question my every step. I had 2 very talented kids who never played. The rest of my team were young and enjoyed playing their roll. This 2009 season I added 8 new players to my our team and 3 coaches who new the spread.The result was 41 points a game.
2007 season



2008 season

"Can your o-line pass block?"


Sure, teach 'em to hold like heck like they do in HS!

From what I can tell Spread coaches teach OL to "Get run over slowly" which kids take to mean "Grab and hold on for dear life!"

I have to agree with jhanawa here - teaching those things is no more difficult than teaching a trap scheme, or the QB footwork & ball handling in DW, or timing up a Jet/Fly sweep scheme, or the spinner series in SW, etc, etc - IF the coaches know what they're doing (just like anything else).

One side note about pass blocking - at the youth level, breakdowns in pass protection are rarely the O-line's fault. Usually it's either the RB's fault (not picking up blitzing LBs or DEs) or the QB's fault (not getting the ball off on time). It's relatively rare for an O-lineman to just get beat by a D-lineman (remember, most teams put their weaker players at D-line). I'm not saying it doesn't happen (it probably is the line's fault about 20% of the time), but it's frustrating to hear coaches screaming at the O-line after the QB hesitates and then gets creamed by a LB that the RB missed.

I played HS ball in the early 70’s. Back then the schools could declare what division they would play in but had to play in the same division for all sports. We were a private school and a BB powerhouse so we played in the highest division in order to recruit the blue chippers.

This did nothing for football. Our varsity squad had 30 players and some of our opponents had dual jersey numbers on their sideline. We ran the Tiger Ellison offense and did very well. We couldn’t play defense at all but would score 40 per game. I played H back before the H back position was really invented…or at least given a name.

The idea of playing football in space always stuck with me so when given the opportunity with a youth team I went all in. Took me about 3 seasons to figure it out since the internet was not yet invented ( or affordable) and the spread was not yet the offense of choice on the clinic circuits. So info was pretty non-existent except what I learned in HS.

The first thing I learned was that youth defenses cant play good coverage’s because they are geared for and practice to stop the run. I could run the same pass plays 3 or 4 times in a row with success…just like a running play.

Then I discovered that kids cant read defenses so I would call the primary from the sidelines and gave the QB 3 seconds to release the football period. I created a mental clock in his head and told him which receiver to throw to. No progressions…just throw.

It became apparent…after getting a few QB’s killed… that I need a couple athletes on the line and that the DE’s and the MLB were the three most destructive positions. So I widened the splits to push the DE’s away and have both G’s pinch into the C as they hinge protect. This closed off the A gaps for the middle blitz. At this level twists are nearly non-existent so the linemen can learn to track their man without confusion.

So the most athletic linemen are the tackles, least the guards and the center is one mean cuss because the defense will attempt to abuse him.

I teach the tightest inside slot to be the hot route for any overload. I go over all of the scenarios that would tag him hot and practice the heck out of them. When a youth DC sees a 5 wide empty the knee jerk reaction is to jailbreak the QB. If you can make them pay for that just once…its stops….because they usually leave the tight slot uncovered.

For my system I teach the QB to bail after 3 seconds but never outside. He always takes a B gap path because its open 9 out of 10 times. I also like to keep things balanced…3x2, 2x2, 2x1…rather than going to the heavy overloads. This allows for better combo route design which I prefer. I also avoid hitches or curls that require the receiver to stop. Teach the QB to anticipate his target without focusing in on timing and you get better results with the little guys. Stress yards after the catch and teach the QB to stand tall and deliver…trust the men around him and anticipate….and by all means get used to and wear rib pads.

Move the chains. Too many coaches get greedy and end up going 3 and out. If you can complete 4 and 5 yard plays the defense will do one of two things…play soft or start blitzing. You don’t have run go routes all the time.

This is the most important aspect of a pass heavy team as the coach. Stay with it. Game one a kid may drop 5 passes because its scary for him. By game 3 he will be catching everything. Any good youth passing team will train up 2 receivers and use the others as minimum players to get the primaries open. BUT…you will soon realize that after many weeks of practice…those minimums can run good routes and catch footballs too. Don’t forget to design you monuments per your age group. An 11 year old QB cannot complete a 15 yard bench route unless he is some kinda phenom.

So the formula is…lesser linemen at G…every pass is gone in 3 seconds…no rolling out…avoid stop routes but still move the chains….a few minimum players can play one receiver spot and one mean kid at C. Notice how the QB is not factored in….because that position is relatively easy to fill. You just have to pick the right one…the one with ice water running through his veins. Doesn’t have to be fast nor does he have to have a cannon for an arm. Accurate and cool.

The younger they are the more you run…the older they get to more you can pass….but still spread out the defense by formation. Eventually you will force your opponent to pull a stud DT so they can play and extra backer or pull a starting backer that is a tackling machine but cant cover a house for a backup CB that hasn’t been tasked to cover anyone all season.

Think about this…a MLB against a power running team has to defend about 15 square yards of turf…against a team that is running spread formations that area just about triples. Also think about how much you are making the defense run…from the NG to the FS…are they used to playing grass basketball? If you go all in as a spread team consider the tempo because you are at an advantage here.

Finally, completing a pass is no different that running the football…still have to execute all facets to gain yards. I find running the football a bit easier out of a spread formation…but that may be because Im not smart enough to teach a DW blocking scheme really well.

My 2 cents....

Coach Mike