Coach ,

The season is rolling on and to keep your offense, defense, and special teams performing, or to get any of those units on track, making adjustments. 

Offense

#1) Use Unusual Formations

Formations that cause issues for alignment of the front or numbers in the secondary can provide an advantage. Coach Mike Volarich utilizes this strategy, but he likes to keep his play menu limited to the things they already do, and he doesn’t feel the need to do a lot from his unique formations. He illustrates how one of his unique formations works against the defense in this video. (click on image for video):

#2) Expand and contract

The objective of any offensive coach is to put his best players in positions and match-ups that allow them to make things happen. The goal is to get your best players with the ball in space.  

Certainly, there are many ways to accomplish this, but one method that has stood the test of time is to condense formations so that athletes can use both traffic and field space created to get open in the passing game and allow for extra gaps and angles inside as well as the ability to threaten the perimeter faster.

5x state champion offensive coordinator Jason McManus explains a simple quick game concept which he likes from a 2x2 compressed set. (click on image for video):

Larry Laird, Head Coach at Medina HS (ranked #3 in Ohio) operates from primarily empty sets. He explains what he likes about empty to get QB Run game followed by some QB run game video. (click on image for video):

The way to make defenders uneasy is to constantly be putting them in different positions of leverage where they cannot settle in. The “expand and contract philosophy” of formations accomplishes that.

#3) Misdirection

The wing-t criss-cross is one of the most difficult plays to defend. With multiple players handling the ball and the play hitting inside quickly, a defense can be caught off guard and out of place to handle the counter.

For a long time this has been a play that you only would see in the wing-t playbook, but it’s found its way into the FBS and even the NFL.  

Keeping in line with modern adaptations of older plays, Adam Mathieson, head coach of Mountain View HS (WA) share his pre snap read for bubble to give the criss-cross play a favorable box. (click on image for video):

Defense

#4) Bring it from where they don’t expect

With the nub tight end formation trending as a way to attack the odd front, bringing a corner from that edge is a great way to take the numbers advantge back, and bring someone not accounted for in the blocking scheme.

Chris Wolfe, head coach at the #1 ranked high school in Kentucky, Male HS, shares his “cowboy” blitz against the nub tight end here (click on image for video):

Safety doesn’t get accounted for in the box count either, and finding ways to bring him into the run fit and pass rush creates advantages for the defense.  

Army linebackers coach John Loose explains a safety blitz scheme here (click on image for video):

#5) Stem your front

One of our adjustments recommended earlier this season was to find simple movements and effective techniques to wreak havoc on blocking schemes. Defensive coordinator of the defending Oklahoma state champions, Jenk HS, Adam Gaylor loves to stem the front against flexbone teams.  

He knows that having multiple ways to do it, and accounting for the teams checking the play after a move allows him to stay one step ahead.  This strategy is great against any offense trying to read your front and then adjust a play, or against offensive lines who are heavy on their line calls at the line of scrimmage. Here is his double stem which he calls “Doom” (click on image for video):

Special Teams

#6) Fake Punt

On special teams, the fake punt doesn’t appear as regularly as it used to. The popularity of the shield punt which often uses lineman as the up-backs in the shield most likely discourages that as coaches not wanting the big guys handling the ball.  

Finding a way to surprise the opponent with a fake can certainly come in handy as your get into games with playoff and championship implications. Here is Brandon Bailey, head coach at Richland HS (PA), explaining one of his favorite fake punts. In this example he does it on his own 5-yard line (click on image for video):

Good luck in your preparation this week. Remember the best adjustments are ones that are simple for you and do not eat up much practice time but will be difficult for your opponent and make future opponents spend extra time to prepare and practice for it.

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowski