JLEW1818
2/13/2009, 01:24 PM
There has been a ton of buzz about a free-wheeling high school offense coming out of California called the A-11. It's been detailed in newspapers all over the country. One of the first publications to discuss this scheme in any detail was American Football Monthly.
Shortly after the American Football Coaches Association convention in Tennessee, I spoke to the author of an extensive story about the A-11, Mike Kuchar -- who is a senior writer with AFM, an ESPN The Magazine contributor and himself a high school coach in New Jersey -- about this system:
Q: What is so special about the A-11 offense?
Kuchar: As in any other successful offensive scheme, the thing that drives the A-11 is deception. It places a tremendous amount of stress on the defense because up to eight offensive players can be eligible to go out for a pass at any given time. They can only release five into routes, but that can change on any given play. Couple that with the structure of the offense, which places a horizontal stretch to the defense by spreading the whole field, and you got a major issue to deal with. You put your two best athletes 7 yards behind the center, and you have a dual run-pass threat on every snap of the ball, as opposed to some other offensive schemes, where it's easy to see who is the run threat and who is the pass threat at QB based on who checks into the game. You can't personnel the A-11.
Q: How did you first hear about it?
Kuchar: Travis Davis, the publisher here at AFM, let me know about it during the AFCA convention last year in Anaheim [Calif.]. I thought it was a gimmick at first, but once I started to do the research on this thing, I knew that both Steve Humphries and Kurt Bryan did their homework at Piedmont. They really found a way to package this scheme and make it marketable so that any coach could install at least some components of it into their offense.
Q: From a rules standpoint, can it work in college football, and if not, what would need to change?
Kuchar: The A-11 offensive structure is based on what is known as a scrimmage kick formation (SKF), which means that there are two upbacks behind the center at 7 yards from the line of scrimmage on every down. To my knowledge, this SKF formation can only be used on fourth downs at the collegiate level. In high school, this can be used on any down. In fact, I've seen a few teams like Georgia, Texas Tech and West Virginia do something very similar on fourth downs the last couple of years. Having said that, I think that it may be only a matter of time until rules get adapted to allow for this type of offensive structure to come into the collegiate landscape. Everybody (including the fans) loves innovation, and if Humphries and Bryan get the right backing from the right people in the college game, we could see this thing happen. Coaches are always looking for advantages, and with the spread being what it is today, this just might be the next progression.
Q: If you knew a high school team you were going to face used it, what might you try to do to prepare for it?
Kuchar: Hopefully I won't see it any time soon. You only have six days to prepare for it. But, as a defensive coordinator at the high school level, I would first make sure that my players knew who was eligible on every snap. This could be done by attentiveness and by seeing who lines up on the line of scrimmage and who doesn't. If someone is covered up by another player, the covered-up players are ineligible and cannot go out for a pass. I know in California (where the A-11 began) the rules are different when it comes to eligible jersey numbers, but here (in New Jersey) you can't go out for a pass if your number is between 50-79, so that would help. Secondly, I would just try to match their numbers in the run box or out in the flanks. Like any other spread scheme, the A-11 by formation will try to decipher where your deficiencies are when it comes to numbers. If they see a numerical advantage where they have more guys than you, they will take advantage. Without getting into too much detail, it's important that like any other dynamic offense like the spread or veer option, you have to be aggressive. You can't sit back and let them dictate where they want the ball to go. Understand what the offense is trying to do, put your personnel in the best position to make plays and let them go do it.
In Friday's blog, I'll have a few takes on the A-11 from some college coaches.
http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3900057&name=feldman_bruce&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fesp n%2fblog%2findex%3fentryID%3d3900057%26name%3dfeld man_bruce
Shortly after the American Football Coaches Association convention in Tennessee, I spoke to the author of an extensive story about the A-11, Mike Kuchar -- who is a senior writer with AFM, an ESPN The Magazine contributor and himself a high school coach in New Jersey -- about this system:
Q: What is so special about the A-11 offense?
Kuchar: As in any other successful offensive scheme, the thing that drives the A-11 is deception. It places a tremendous amount of stress on the defense because up to eight offensive players can be eligible to go out for a pass at any given time. They can only release five into routes, but that can change on any given play. Couple that with the structure of the offense, which places a horizontal stretch to the defense by spreading the whole field, and you got a major issue to deal with. You put your two best athletes 7 yards behind the center, and you have a dual run-pass threat on every snap of the ball, as opposed to some other offensive schemes, where it's easy to see who is the run threat and who is the pass threat at QB based on who checks into the game. You can't personnel the A-11.
Q: How did you first hear about it?
Kuchar: Travis Davis, the publisher here at AFM, let me know about it during the AFCA convention last year in Anaheim [Calif.]. I thought it was a gimmick at first, but once I started to do the research on this thing, I knew that both Steve Humphries and Kurt Bryan did their homework at Piedmont. They really found a way to package this scheme and make it marketable so that any coach could install at least some components of it into their offense.
Q: From a rules standpoint, can it work in college football, and if not, what would need to change?
Kuchar: The A-11 offensive structure is based on what is known as a scrimmage kick formation (SKF), which means that there are two upbacks behind the center at 7 yards from the line of scrimmage on every down. To my knowledge, this SKF formation can only be used on fourth downs at the collegiate level. In high school, this can be used on any down. In fact, I've seen a few teams like Georgia, Texas Tech and West Virginia do something very similar on fourth downs the last couple of years. Having said that, I think that it may be only a matter of time until rules get adapted to allow for this type of offensive structure to come into the collegiate landscape. Everybody (including the fans) loves innovation, and if Humphries and Bryan get the right backing from the right people in the college game, we could see this thing happen. Coaches are always looking for advantages, and with the spread being what it is today, this just might be the next progression.
Q: If you knew a high school team you were going to face used it, what might you try to do to prepare for it?
Kuchar: Hopefully I won't see it any time soon. You only have six days to prepare for it. But, as a defensive coordinator at the high school level, I would first make sure that my players knew who was eligible on every snap. This could be done by attentiveness and by seeing who lines up on the line of scrimmage and who doesn't. If someone is covered up by another player, the covered-up players are ineligible and cannot go out for a pass. I know in California (where the A-11 began) the rules are different when it comes to eligible jersey numbers, but here (in New Jersey) you can't go out for a pass if your number is between 50-79, so that would help. Secondly, I would just try to match their numbers in the run box or out in the flanks. Like any other spread scheme, the A-11 by formation will try to decipher where your deficiencies are when it comes to numbers. If they see a numerical advantage where they have more guys than you, they will take advantage. Without getting into too much detail, it's important that like any other dynamic offense like the spread or veer option, you have to be aggressive. You can't sit back and let them dictate where they want the ball to go. Understand what the offense is trying to do, put your personnel in the best position to make plays and let them go do it.
In Friday's blog, I'll have a few takes on the A-11 from some college coaches.
http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3900057&name=feldman_bruce&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fesp n%2fblog%2findex%3fentryID%3d3900057%26name%3dfeld man_bruce