Funny Stuff...

This has absolutely nothing to to with football. However, most football coaches love a joke (intentional or not) more than that average Joe walkin' around out there. I found this little gem particularly funny.


Here's the set-up...

A cab driver walks into a TV station in England to apply for a job... then the unexpected happens.

"A cab driver walks into BBC headquarters to interview for a low-level job. They mistake him for an IT expert who is scheduled to come speak on the air about copyright issues...

...they make him up, mic him and the guy just goes along with the whole thing. The look on his face when the interviewer introduces him is priceless. Then he makes up a lot of sh*t to respond to her questions.... even the interviewer's kind of laughing by the end.

- Apparently the man in the vid wasn't Guy Kewney, it was a man called Guy Goma who they accidently mistook for Kewney. The humourous thing was that this man who had no idea what was going on was actually able to answer the questions she was asking."

Roll Video!





You gotta admire the guy for not missing a beat and being a cool customer through the whole thing... he actually looks to be having a great time by the end of the interview!

I hope he got the job.

Coach Smith

GT - UGA Highlight Video

In case you missed this...


GT - UGA Highlight Video

Awesome Quote

I ran across this at Coach Hugh Wyatt's Double wing site: www.coachwyatt.com


There once was a coach (whose name escapes my memory) who was asked why the only linemen he recruited were defensive linemen. He answered, "If they don't work out, you can switch 'em to offense. But if you recruit offensive linemen and they don't work out, all you got are fat managers."

Nice.

Have a good Wednesday,

Coach Smith

Future Article

After my first year coaching the option from the flexbone, I've gotten a pretty good idea what to concentrate on in the upcoming season as far as formations to initially put in, runs, passes, etc.



**Formations:

Flex, Unbalanced Flex, Double Nasty Slot, Tripps.




**Plays:

1. ISV vs shaded 4 front and 2 odd fronts (52 and 33 stack)
i) teach and tag the following perimeter blocking schemes:
Base, X, Seal, Crack.
ii) teach and tag the following interior blocking schemes:
Veer, Loop, Load (double option-pitch phase only)

2. Counter Option where psT goes to psLB and pulling G Logs the DT (odd front) or Wraps to LB (even front) We will pitch on EMLOS or duck up if pulling G has to trap the DT (odd front) instead of log

3. Rocket Toss

4. Play Action Pass from all formations - even tagged single or two man routes from unbalanced sets and Trips... boot from rocket as well.




**Supplemental Plays as time and personnel allow:

Midline double and triple options (either this or Trap/Freeze Option must be added by mid season.)

Belly + Belly (double) Option

Trap + Freeze (double) Option

3 step game with boot

Sprint out with max protection (QB keep replaces third read in progression.)

Lastly, if possible (big if) running ISV, trap, and zone option from Gun IF a team shows a significant weakness against it. Again... a big if.

I honestly feel that we could have beat 50% of our opponents this year with only ISV, Counter Opt, and PAP. Period. I think we quite possibly have won 50% of the games we lost if we had been better at 1) audibling into our out of one of those three plays, 2) being a little more solid in handling on-the-fly blocking changes on ISV.


Look for this in the upcoming weeks here and at the Flexbone association.


Coach

Happy Thanksgiving

Take some time today to reflect on who and what is truly important to you.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Steve

28-6 and We're In the Playoffs

After 2 consecutive losses filled with turnovers (10 in 2 games) and penalties, we got back some of our Mojo with a 28-6 win against Region rival Karns. The win gives us traveler status in the playoffs. I don't know for sure but this may be the first time in school history where the football team has made it to post-season play in back-to-back years.

But on to the specifics... or at least as many as I care to share while we are alive in the playoffs. I doubt any of our opponents know about veersite, but you never know. I recall George C. Scott in "Patton" saying, "Rommel, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!"

We saw a 5-2 cov 4 with rolling safties but decided it would be best to "formation" them out of it for much of the night. They seemed very intent on tackling our fullback every play (11 carries for 79 yards). However, the QB managed the keep and, more importantly last night, the pitch to the tune of 386 rushing yards. One wing had 189 yard on 8 (!) carries on ISV pitch or Rocket Toss and the other around 80. I still am not happy with our inability to master the play action phase of the attack, but we work on it hard daily and have shown much improvement on the practice field. I hope when the time comes it will prove to be effective... providing the final piece of the puzzle.

The defense has also improved to the point that our opponent, while having larger athletes, had difficulty executing their shotgun option offense. While they completed some long passes with some very nicely thrown balls and superb catches, they found little yardage that they failed to earn the hard way.

I don't know what the future holds for our undersized team, but it I think as long as we execute and don't make a ton of mistakes, we're going to make it interesting for anyone we face.

Coach Smith

We Came Up Short : 14- 21

Whew. Ever feel like a vein was going to pop out of your forehead? I had that feeling a lot Friday night.

Turnovers, a hot, humid evening, failure to score in the Red Zone, and a very athletic and well-coached defense combined to help defeat us Friday to the tune of 14 to 21. A 4-4 cover 3 and sometimes a 4-3 man cover 0 was the defense de jour Friday. It was obvious from the first series that they were determined NOT to let our fullback have another 198 yard night (he finished with just over 100.) Our QB picked up the slack with a 100 yard rushing night himself and also threw for just over 100. In fact we rushed for over 260 yards and our total was around 370. But we didn't look as sharp as the week before... either on the line or at the skill position. Having a few skill guys sit out most of the week due to injuries didn't help. Our play-action passing didn't look "ready for prime-time." Our halftime adjustment to running Belly Dive lead to 38 yards on two carries... but we fumbled the drive away and there it was. We had 5 fumbles and lost 2 - but all served to either stop or complicate drives. I will say that one happened on a slant where 3 DB's held up our split end for almost four seconds (yes, I timed it on film.) The ball came out at four. I guess forward progress wasn't a priority Friday. Oh, well...

One thing is for sure, we might not know how to handle a big win, but we have shown in the past that we do know how to get ready after a close, disappointing loss.

Coach Smith

Week 7 (Or Week 6 if you start with week 0... I'm very confused!))

Well, we managed to do it right Friday night to the tune of 48-28 versus Sevier County. Our fullback was a marked man and still racked up 198 yards. All our running backs had a great night with our rushing offense coming in at around 430 yards. We threw twice for 16 yards. Each week we have installed a new component of the offense and continued to fine-tune what already is installed. Self-scouting is a continuing process and it's nice to find what should be an advantage for the defense and instead turn it into a liability.

I'm purposely being a little vague as all the teams in our remaining schedule are quality opponents... and it's amazing just how much a Google search can turn up! I'll get into X's and O's once the season is over.

I hope that is a long time coming! :-)

Coach Smith

Week 6 : 47-18 Win and We're Now 3-2

Well, we had a pretty good outing. After 2 weeks to stew over a 3 point loss, we started out a little rusty but came alive after our opponent's first drive. We went 80 yards for a score on our first play on offense (off of ISV - pitch) and never really looked back after halftime. Our FB had 184 yards Friday night and one of our Wings had just over 100. The QB and other WB combined for over 100 and we were 2 of 2 passing for 11 yards (in all fairness, they counted a big gain on a swing pass as a lateral, so go figure.) I think we totaled just over 400 yards of offense and held them to 12 points until putting the little guys in. The mercy rule was in effect before the 3rd quarter was finished or our stats would be undoubtedly higher. The HC said today that we are averaging over 380 yards of offense to date... and our 2 losses were by a total of 5 points.

I think we are ready to head into Region play this week. We face a good opponent, but the HC said that he's noticed something offensively. He feels that we've stopped having to come up with things in order to move the ball and the burden has shifted to defenses to have to come up with ways to stop us.

I think he's right.

Coach Smith

I Find This Amusing

Well, here is a headline (and a PDF) from an article earlier this year wondering if Paul Johnson and the Option were going to be a good fit at Georgia Tech.

Is the Option A Real Option In Contemporary College Football?

1--Is the Option a Real Option - Upload a Document to Scribd

Story Link


Now that we're into week 4 of the college season, here is another headline I saw today concerning Georgia Tech.

This Option Thing Just Might Work Out After All

2--Option Just Might Work - Upload a Document to Scribd

Story Link


Do Ya Think??








Coach Smith

Back Again

After 2 months broke as a joke and without reliable Internet, it's nice to be back online. And although many things seemed to get in the way (including myself), I'm coaching again on a great staff for a team of great, hard working kids. We are 2-0... (32-6 week one... I think... I'm getting old! ...and our FB had 145 yards rushing) ...we won this Friday 41-22 with around 300 yards rushing and had a starting drive of 19 plays (8+ minutes in length) covering 80- some yards resulting in 7 points.

Now that's how you rest your defense and keep an all-state passing QB off the field.


Flexbone Option, Belly, and some spread gun passing are getting it done in Tennessee so far this season, so wish us luck! The scary part is that we don't have all our base running game in as of yet...

More to come soon...


Coach Smith

Life Lessons

As a coach, finding that "button" that motivates your team can be tough. You must constantly be on the lookout for complacency among players on a successful team or apathy among those on one that is struggling. It's usually not easy and there is always that one kid where nothing seems to work.

Like I said, finding the "button" can be tough - if not outright impossible.

Other times, it can be staring you right in the face.

Meet Lt. Colonel Greg Gadson and see how he inspired the N.Y. Giants football team.
"When the Giants were scheduled to play the Redskins in Washington three months later, Sullivan sent his friend tickets-along with a request: Would Gadson speak to the team before they took the field? Having lost the first two games of the season, the Giants had already given up 80 points and, worse, seemed to be playing with no heart."

Read the story here at Reader's Digest


Coach Smith

The Mythical 4 Verticals

If you're an option coach sitting through yet another clinic lecture by some flexbone coach, you are likely to hear the following exchange:

Attendee:  "Coach, why the flexbone?  Why not split backs or the 'I'??"

Clinic Dude:  "Why...  so I can spread the defense and make them defend four verticals, of course."

Attendee:  "Uh, Coach...  how many times have you successfully ran four verticals?"

Clinic Dude:  "Anyone have any more questions out there??"

 

Well, I finally found a clip of a good flexbone team running 4 verts(from GSU's first Natl. Championship game, no less)... a quarter roll left while looking off the Safety then hitting the right wing...  Nice.

Wow.

There are times when I like to just sit back and be nothing more than a fan of the game.

This is Adrian Peterson's 57-yard run against Youngstown State in the 1999 Division I-AA Championship. (Inside Trap Left... Sweet!)

Below is a little more Peterson. The last 50 feet he crosses at the very end is the most important... be sure you don't miss it.

Test of the Scribd Service

Gentlemen, sharing PDF documents and playbooks on the net just got a whole lot more interesting.

I present you with SCRIBD.  A basic account is free, and you can see what it can do below.

Enjoy...  but watch posting stuff that's copyrighted ...  they do take things down from time to time.

A link to the full-size document is HERE.  You can zoom in, scroll, and also get to the online document using the controls on the the viewer below, too.

Read this doc on Scribd: veerperimeter

Read this doc on Scribd: Flexbone11Mar07

Have fun.

Coach Smith

Why You Will Never See Me Trying to Establish the Run from the ShotGun

 

Check out this video.  I guess you really do need a Tim Teebow to make that sh*t work...

Gee, that Midline is slooooooooowwwww....

Check out the stances of the linemen...  of the "Dive Back..."   they're all standing up, for Pete's sake!!!  No wonder I thought the slo-mo was first, lol!

Below is what Midline is supposed to look like...

Below are some cuts from when I was at MHS.  There are four freshmen on the OLine...  and you'll notice they don't stand up and play titties like the shotgun linemen do.  I guess that's why we had so much down-field blocking...  Of course, we're running ISV instead of Midline, but you get the point.  You don't have to have everyone block-back if you can hit it quick. 

Props to Coach Adams and Coach Crawford who were doing the line at the time.

 

One more thing to think about...  if your backfield ain't the fastest in the conference, do you want to run a slow-developing offense that hits East/West... or do you want to attack that defense North & South?

You make the call.

Hunter Adams

Hunter Adams began his varsity football career at Middlesboro High School playing wide receiver his Freshman year. While you tend to grit your teeth and hold your nose when you start a freshman, this was not the case with Hunter. He was the exception. He was making circus catches from game one and wasn't afraid to run routes across the middle - and got the concussion to prove it. By his Sophomore year he was giving defensive coordinators fits as MHS's legitimate deep threat to defend -- along with the shotgun option. This past year, Hunter was switched to QB to give the running game a needed boost as Coach Roark decided to get out of the shotgun and spend more time back under center. The highlight video below is Hunter as a Junior...and is his first year as an option quarterback. I remain in contact with Coach Roark and wish him and the coaching staff all the best. I certainly know I'll miss seeing Hunter for his Senior season. I was very excited when his father, Vic, sent me the link for this video and am very proud to post it here on Veersite.

Coach Smith

MHS (yellow and black) Hunter Adams #7 (QB and rush DE or dropped in coverage)

Football Coaches Reference Site

Be sure to check out Jeff Teed's Football awesome Coaches Reference Site, www.coachteed.com.

I have also added a link to it on the sidebar. Good stuff.

Coach Smith

Starburst KO Return Video Updated

I re-upped the video of the Starburst (or 3-Way) KO return and fixed the link in the original article. The PDF of the Starburst article has been fixed as well.

The link to the original page is below.

http://veersite.blogspot.com/2006/02/starburst-3-way-kickoff-return.html

McCain 08

While I try not to espouse my political views on a football website, I'm making the exception today.  While I find it hard not to root for fellow Tennessean Fred Thompson, I have come to realize that John McCain has the qualities we need at this point in time in our Commander in Chief.  I hope his win in New Hampshire leads to more success in the future.

 

 

Senator John McCain: http://www.johnmccain.com

 

McCain has been-there, done-that, and bought the tee shirt.  He's flown missions in Vietnam, was eventually shot down, spent 5 years as a POW...  the man is tough, the man is a winner,and the word "Quit" isn't in his vocabulary.  He is a conservative but is realistic with his views.  McCain isn't perfect, but I honestly think he is the best choice, that he is a good man, and that he will do more to unify the country than any other candidate from either party.

 

You can find out more about him here as well.

Alright...  I'm off my soapbox.  It's safe to come out from hiding.  I promise more football is on the way.

Oh, And One More Thing...

I'm looking for a program needing a motivated HC or OC. And while I think winning games is a great way to keep yourself from living under a highway overpass, I honestly think that how well we help the boys who enter our programs grow into young men is the ultimate litmus for any coach.

If you know of a program that is interested in making both goals happen, please drop me a line at

coach.steve.smith@gmail.com

- Coach S

My Resume (Unzip then open with Adobe Reader or Foxit PDF reader)

ps. I decided not to re-post the "will coach for food" pic. I think it scares people.

I'm More Convinced Than Ever...

...that the formation isn't the important thing.  It's the Option philosophy itself that makes all the difference.

I finally got to watch some of the Bowl games after being on the road all last week.  While Navy and it's flavor of flexbone option has been the main team I've studied this season, it was nice to watch the Air Force Academy run it's new multiple-set option attack.  While they are getting in the gun and running a lot of zone-option, I have to admit that when they run the old Colorado "I-Bone" I get a little misty-eyed, lol!

Wofford Spring Clinic

Thanks to Coach Vince Fields for passing this info along...  be sure to mark March 13-15 on your calendars!

- Coach Smith

 

Link to Clinic Pamphlet