If an opposing team can study previous games and determine what you are likely to run in certain situations, they can be better prepared to stop you. "If you are making random choices, it's harder to respond," Ayres explains. "A-11 offers a kind of controlled randomness."

The closer a team gets to total randomness, says Ayres, the harder they are to beat. "Any coach would be much better off using a cheap [Microsoft] Excel random number generator to make their decisions."

View Slide Show of the plays.

10 Comments

1. 1. JustinDoDrop 09:40 PM 9/2/08

   LOL< Football totally ROCKS. I love it.
   
   JT
   http://www.privacy.cz.tc

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2. 2. strunkl 11:44 PM 9/2/08

   "Any coach would be much better off using a cheap [Microsoft] Excel random number generator to make their decisions"
   
   That's simply not true. Some plays are so poor for a given situation that they may be easily ruled out without sacrificing the prospect of genuine confusion by the opposition. For example, it's legal to try a field goal from your own 20 yard line when it's 1st and 10. An Excel-generated play might select just that. But any coach would skip that play as nonviable.
   
   It seems to me that a-11 ADDS options, it doesn't simply randomize the existing scheme. Its not that the team is pulling pages out of the playbook at random, its that they have a totally different, much thicker playbook from which to carefully (not randomly) select plays.

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3. 3. inboulder 03:25 AM 9/3/08

   99% of football comes down to execution, it doesn't matter how confusing a play is to the defense if the QB can't complete the pass. I have a feeling 'A-11' only works with talented pitch and catchers, this may favor a smaller team, but not an unskilled one.

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4. 4. huskerdrew 10:09 AM 9/3/08

   I think maybe Aryes hasn't seen enough "good" football. For one thing, he is making an assumption that all players are of equal ability and are essentially pawns in his game theory model. Real life says you take advantage of your mismatches and play to your strengths. You need to be unpredictable but not random. Maybe, just maybe, you could make that random number statement if you include a caveat about the probable yards function for each play. Or in football words, halfback dive on 4th and 17 would have a small probability of gaining the necessary yards and should have a small fraction multiplier to that random play selector.

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5. 5. tplambeck 10:38 PM 9/4/08

   Football rules usually require 7 players on the line of scrimmage with only the end two players on the line eligible as receivers. That means you've got 2 potential pass receivers on the line, and amongst the other 4 players (7+4=11), one is the quarterback, so that's 3 more receivers, for a maximum of 5 possible receivers on a passing play (unless you do something tricky like pass the ball back to the QB. So if these plays are legal they are playing some game that's not quite football I think, it's more like ultimate frisbee, hardly a macho game

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6. 6. Xebak in reply to tplambeck 04:15 PM 9/6/08

   TPLAMBECK wrote " So if these plays are legal they are playing some game that's not quite football I think, it's more like ultimate frisbee, hardly a macho game"
   
   This is real, legal football. In high school, you can line up in a scrimmage kick formation on any down, and they coaches have realized that by doing so, you can legally have all the receivers potentially eligible If you have more questions, just check out their website at www.a11offense.com. This is potentially a real game-changer just like the forward pass, the shotgun, etc.
   
   

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7. 7. tplambeck in reply to Xebak 01:06 AM 9/8/08

   Hmmm, the A11 site seems to admit that these plays are not yet legal in 10 states. I guess it's catching on though. Anything that reduces injuries is good (if that's really true, as is claimed on the A11 site).

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8. 8. roc 02:17 PM 9/10/08

   i thain a 1000 percent

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9. 9. 007 in reply to Xebak 12:36 AM 9/15/08

   Look closely. The A-11 still follows the rules of 7 players on the line with only the two end players as eligible receivers. The "split tackles" are used as blockers on all pass plays.
   
   I think this is awesome!

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10. 10. in_awe 08:13 PM 9/26/08

    As the Piedmont coach said, their student body lacks typical lineman physiques, but they are blessed with a large number of "skills" type players. So rather than pitting undersized linemen against beefier opponents, the coach went to maximizing his team's strengths. Reminds me of Mohammed Ali in the early 1960's when he introduced the "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" alternative to two heavyweight boxers standing toe to toe and pummeling each other. It seems to have worked out pretty well for him and quite a string of other fighters since then.
    
    It is sad that some state associations have banned it despite it being legal under the current rules because in the minds of some it just isn't "fair" and isn't "what football is supposed to be like". Sheesh, grow a pair and figure a defense that matches up!

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