Tag Archives: offensive formations

Football’s not about the Jimmy’s and Joe’s, It’s about the X’s and O’s.

Guest Football Coaching Blog Post This is a guest blog post on the X’s and O’s of football by Coach Kurt Earl, offensive coordinator at Lincoln Christian School and publisher of Compete4Christ, a football blog. You can follow him on his Twitter Handle, KurtEarl14. If you’re interested in guest posting for Strong Football, email CoachCP at editor[at]strongfootballcoach.com.

Yeah, I know I got the old saying backwards, but in my first few years in coaching, as I began attending clinics, I noticed something. Many of the coaches sitting in the audience with me said the old saying the way it has always been said: It’s…

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Disguising the I Formation Iso Play: Fullback Swipe

It’s important, that we as coaches, recognize ways to earn little victories in order to help our players be successful by aiding them in their opportunity to win match-ups. It’s a myth that the fullback in the I formation must be a bruiser (along with the idea that the tight end must be a man among boys). With small enhancements to the I formation, an undersized/under powered fullback can still be effective. The Swipe action on the the I formation iso play helps put the fullback in a position to be successful.

So what is the I formation Iso Swipe concept? I call it the “swipe” because…

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Load Option versus Defensive Ends that Spill

How the Load Option Can Defeat Defensive Ends that Spill

I hate defensive ends that spill. They irritate I formation offensive coordinators. The defensive end spills power or some other off-tackle play and the linebacker or safety replaces him. It’s a good theory for defenses that want to use their speed and the sideline to give I formation teams fits.

What is Load Option Option

Depending on your terminology, Load Option is the ability to block someone who is responsible for one aspect of the option on defense. For teams that spill, I like to use what I call load option on the defensive end. If a team follows block down…

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Loosening Up the Box

This post was written by a great friend and even better coach, Joby Turner. Joby was my roommate in college and we also coached together at Crawfordsville High School. Joby has a unique ability to connect with every athlete on the field, regardless of position. You can contact Joby at jobyturner[at]gmail.com.

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Any heavy run team knows that after you have had a couple of good gainers or big plays, the defense starts adding defenders into the box and deep coverage players get closer and closer to the line of scrimmage. This can make it quite difficult to block everyone and create a running lane for the running back. The…

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Designing your offensive terminology

I’ve encountered four different offenses during my playing and coaching days. I played in the Wing-T, I coached a youth double wing team, I’ve coached a traditional Pro I formation offense at the non-varsity high school levels, and I’ve called a off-set I/singleback offense as a JV Head Coach and helped run it as a varsity assistant.

While this really is not that much experience, I feel it is a lot for someone who is as young a coach as I am. From this limited experience, I can tell you there are definitely organizational practices you can use to BEST teach and design your offense to your athletes. Now…

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