The Best Argument I Will Ever Make To Run The Option

Below is the video of all our offensive series against Madison this past season. I have no problem posting this, as I am sure the new staff at SHS will no doubt run a crowd-pleasing shotgun offense or something similar. I'm giving nothing away by posting this.

I'm going to give you a little background before you watch. This is the first game back for our starting QB after a shoulder injury in our first game. We decided not to run much option that week to limit his chances of getting injured again. We hadn't practiced running much option the previous 3-4 weeks since our #3 QB wasn't an option guy.

SHS v. Madison '06




Link to slightly bigger video.


In the first half, we had negative yardage and our only big rushing gain had come from an outside veer. We had completed a pass or two, but were getting sacked as many or more times as we had completions. It was time to run the option.

Keep in mind our QB had only been released by his doctor that week... and he hadn't exactly been setting the world on fire with his reads prior to his injury. We had been in split backs the last time he had been under center in a game.

I've said it a hundred times - video doesn't lie. Look at our O-Line versus their D-Line. Look at the relative size and athletic ability from tackle to tackle. Now look at the running game in the first half... the Iso's and Toss-sweeps versus running Inside Veer and Cutback Trap in the second. Which half would you prefer as a coach? Which offense utilizes smaller, quicker linemen the best? I'm challenging anyone, coaches and fans alike to look at that video and answer the question. I honestly have to question either the motives or intelligence of anyone who says we had a snowballs' chance in hell of having any running game other than the option this year.

Honestly.

I just hate we didn't try the option sooner in the game. I wish we had managed to score when we got close right before the half. But I'm not going to beat myself up over it - there were more than enough people lined up this season to do that for me, lol! And while I didn't say this during the season, I also wish we could have stopped them from driving down the field during the last eight minutes in the game, leaving us with 5 minutes to go 80 yards down by six. How much nicer it would have been if the score had still been 14-all and a field goal would have taken the lead.

One thing you don't see on the video is many of the Madison D-linemen being taken out due to exhaustion with cramping and vomiting. While a lot of folks took issue with us two-platooning the Offensive and Defensive units, I have to pat Coach B on the back a little for being proven correct in the end. We were always a strong 4th quarter team and our stats this season prove it.

I hope you under stand the purpose of this video was not to show how well we ran the option in this particular game. I look at it and see a lot of missed keep reads (and one missed give read in particular), I see linemen that could have worked harder on backside scoops and getting down field to block second and thrd level... I see a lot of cutting-back by our dive back instead of getting in the veer lane... and the vision of him running backwards into the end zone on the final offensive play looking to see why he didn't get the ball is not one I will soon forget. No, I want to illustrate how rusty we were at running the option and how well it worked for us... how it gave a gutsy group of out-manned guys some plays they could use to fight and claw back from a 14-0 halftime deficit and come one handoff away from pulling the biggest upset in the state of Florida that week. I want to give credit to our QB, a kid that was coming off a serious shoulder injury... and a 160 pound fullback that always ran like he was 100 pounds bigger. I want to credit my O-Line for sucking it up and executing the option techniques and line calls as well as they did after a month of running the iso. I want to thank all of them for never giving up and never not believing that no matter how tough it was going to be, they would always be in the game in the 4th quarter.

I want to give them credit for that and more... because I doubt many others ever will.

It was a privilege and an honor to coach each and every one of you gentlemen. I will never forget it and I will never forget each and every one of you.

God bless you and watch over you.

Coach Smith

SHS J.V.

Here's some video of the JV this year. It's pretty raw. Since practice time was limited, we stuck with ISV, OSV, Trap, and some play action. It lead to a 6-2 season with one loss coming by a single point. The players were enthusiastic, coachable, and fun to work with. I think you can see that with even minimal prep and a limited number of plays, the veer was a pretty good offense.




Heres a direct link - the video is a little bigger.

Coach Smith

I'll get some of our varsity series up in the coming week.