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With an undermanned squad, Piedmont High School's coaches got creative to beat bigger rivals
September 2, 2008 | 10
In the A-11 offense, teams can use a single formation with two quarterbacks side by side and employ motion to attack different areas of the field. In this photo the player wearing number 11 is headed toward the line of scrimmage to block....[More]
Here, players R and E are ineligible. Piedmont splits them off from the line to, as offensive coordinator Steve Humphries says, "create additional safe zones on the field for the quarterback." The team then uses motion to the right to get a man advantage on the right side of the field....[More]
In this play, Piedmont staggers the quarterbacks and snaps the ball to the quarterback on the right. Player B comes over to block along the left side of the line. ...[More]
Once again Piedmont uses motion to the right, creating a void in the middle of the field where A can run deep for, as Humphries calls it, "a home run passing play." If A is covered, the passer can hit the next man crossing into the void A creates--also in the middle of the field, but shorter....[More]
Another strength of the A-11 is the ability to use multiple formations to run the same plays--such as the option, in which the quarterback can pitch the ball or tuck it and run....[More]
This play is "utter mayhem," as Humphries describes it. This is a fly option where the player marked X "flies" back behind the quarterback (1). The quarterback can hand off to the other quarterback (marked 2) or keep it and run right or--a third option--pitch it to X....[More]
This is now a "speed option," says Humphries--a quick-hitting play. The offense does a short snap and the two quarterbacks run at the triangle marked with the E, where the defensive player has to make a decision which one to try to tackle....[More]
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10 Comments
Add CommentLOL< Football totally ROCKS. I love it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJT
http://www.privacy.cz.tc
"Any coach would be much better off using a cheap [Microsoft] Excel random number generator to make their decisions"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThat'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.
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.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI 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.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFootball 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
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTPLAMBECK 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"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis 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.
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).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi thain a 1000 percent
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLook 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.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think this is awesome!
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.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt 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!