Running up score ? Is it wrong?

I'm not throwing the ball once the game is decided. I want to get everybody in the game and get out of there. I've been on the flip side and it's one thing for a team to score on us running IZ because we just can't stop it, it's another thing for them to run 4 Verts when they could knee it out.

For head coaches with the "we don't stop ever philosophy" regardless of the score:


... what goes around comes around!!

Third game at my first head coaching job we played a team that was one of the league's "powers."

Year before they had beaten a team 75-10 (back when scoring 75 points was about a month's worth).

They beat us 44-8 and didn't sub, were still throwing late.

Two years later we beat them 54-6. Last TD was scored by our 2nd-string RB on 80-yard run up the middle (Counter Dive).

I called three passes. One incompletion, one sack, one negated by a penalty.

In my much younger days I was watching a JV game, waiting for a Varsity game to start afterwards.
Late in the 4th quarter, after going up by 48, the JV coach, who had a reputation for being a p***k,  ran an onside kick, recovered the ball, and with under 2 minutes left started throwing bombs into the end zone.

The losing coach refused to have his kids shake hands after the game (according to him, to prevent a fight) and he was the one who got written up for displaying poor sportsmanship by the School System.

Go figure......

If you are a back-up player (2nd string or lower) and you know you're not going to get to play because your HC is not going to substitute regardless of score - how hard you going to practice?

Or when you're team is getting blown out, coach won't put you in as if he's afraid you could still lose the game?

If you're an underclassman who goes through all the Off-Season, Pre-Season stuff just to sit the bench all season, are you even going to play next year?

From a coaching perspective do you want kids the next year with little to no Varsity playing experience because you were trying to build up your stats?

A senior QB who has never thrown a pass in a Varsity game?

That's what I meant by "Sometimes HS football coaches are their own worst enemies."

It's wrong... I have been on both ends... I was young once and beat a team 70 to 0 ... it was 50 to 0 at half... I had said I am gonna play my guys till the half regardless... (I WAS WRONG!)... I had a freshman that scored 3 times in the 2nd half that I didn't really know was that good (ended up being a 2 time Mr. football winner. But I should have called it off sooner.

I agree sub and let those subs play until it gets real bad .. then just milk clock run ball and get out without being hurt... no one benefits from running it up

I always felt everything was fair game until the clock started running. Once we got the clock running, all starters were out and JV finished the game.

I always hated the strokes who felt the need to onside against our JV when we'd been sitting the varsity for the entire 3rd and 4th quarters. Douche bags.

When I've been on the wrong side of a blowout I've never cared about what the other team does. Had a team that was a "rival" run a trick play on us one time when we were down by 30+ in the fourth. I was already as dejected and embarrassed by our performance as I could be, one more trick play wasn't going to make me feel worse than I already did haha.

When we're up we try to get every kid into the game for at least a few plays and just call our base stuff.

I'm not the playcaller but our guy will run a lot of WR screens and Jet Sweeps to try to get backup WRs some touches. Occasionally we get somebody yelling about how we shouldn't be passing in those situations but it's pretty rare.

In general though I don't really care too much about what the other coaches do.

I understand that POV and not saying it's wrong.

Problem is if you play azzholes like that your backups may never get PT.

I only had one instance I was pissed off about taking a beating. At my last stop as a HC where I took over a team that my super told me if I won a game with, he'd immediately move to get me in the HOF.

Anyway, we're playing a local Catholic team with a HOF coach who would go on to win a state championship with this squad. We go down big and they get the clock running in the 3rd. We kept our starters in, because for that game we were starting 7 fr/sophs. We score on a kick return or something stupid on their backups and the Sr who scored it barked a little because the kid was a fatherless douche who I pulled aside and talked to about having class.

HOFer puts his starters back in (most notably their RB who got a scholarship to Kansas State) and puts 70 on us.

I thought that was bush league BS and was none too happy about that.

That said, my motto was "Take your beating like a man". Be it you taking or giving the beating.

Sometimes, the score just runs itself up. Had a game a few years back, we were up 45-0 near the end of the 2nd qtr- get a running clock.
They come out and throw a pick 6, go into half up 59-0. Come out and we house the opening KO, they throw another pick 6, then our JV QB hits an out route that turns into a TD. Its 80-0 just by chance.

What do you do, tell a frosh DB not to take his one chance to score a varsity TD? Not saying you run double reverse, or you keep your starers in too long (though they earned the right to play some). But sometimes teams are just better, and its not really fair to just have your backups go in to take a knee.

Were all(for the most part) coaching kids, it's bush league imo.

I never stop running our stuff but once the game has been decided I sub liberally in the backfield on Offense and keep the runs between the tackles as much as possible, become pretty predictable, and all passes short to intermediate.
Now I did have a season where we were incrediblylow on numbers and our kickoff game was all variations of onside kicks, we didnt kick deep because half of the kids out there couldnt cover, we never stopped onside kicking regardless of the score.



Our kids need reps, so do theirs(against more equitable competition). So from a learning football perspective blowing them away doesn't make sense. This all has to be about more than just a game too, there's lessons to be learned, and if it's not more than just a game then it's not worth the time or effort imo.

It is free game until half time or until the clock starts running. I think you owe it to your kids who come practice every day but do not start or get to play to get them in the game at that point.

I think there are a couple things to keep in mind. I agree running it up means you're an a-hole, but it also means you're an idiot. Football is a physical game and god only made so many big humans. It's all fun and games until you're up 3 scores and someone important twists their ankle.

I also think it's important to let the young guys get game reps, it's so different from practice.

3rd, I will run the clock out when the game is decided, but if you play man and put too many for us to block in the box, I'm throwing it, period. I'm not running my backup RB into your unblocked starting FS. Play normal defense, I'll run it. But if we're in 11 personnel, and you go cov 0 8 man box when that's not a part of who you are on defense, my twos are throwing it. We'll go three and out on rub slants and deep shots. I've lived by this and been called an AHole, but I don't think I'm the AHole there. I'm not letting you blast my RB unblocked through the bgap so you can feel better about the rushing yards on the stat sheet.