All Good Things Must Come To An End

APRIL FOOLS!!!!!!! 

Well, I knew this day would come.

Since starting Veersite back in 2004, I’ve watched the site change slowly from an introductory option site of sorts into something more wide-ranging and (slightly) more sophisticated.  What started as a means for me to learn as much as possible about the split back veer option eventually became a hub to share option information with many coaches across the U.S. and in some instances, around the globe.

Football itself is changing, too.  Once a “three yards and a cloud of dust” game, it is now an exciting and ever-evolving means to score points.  And as I’ve evolved from a 2 back set option coach to a 1 back set coach, the time has come for me to make another leap into the next level of option football.

It is with a heavy heart I must announce that as of Tuesday of this week, www.veersite.com will no longer exist.  It’s been a good run, and I’ve made a lot of friends along the way.  But the days where a coach could get by simply running the ball are fast coming to an end, and I don’t want to be the “last dinosaur standing.”

So while, Veersite and the simple triple option may begin to lapse into the pages of football history, I want to introduce you to the next phase of football…

 

The No-Back Shotgun Option Site!!!

 

Beginning Tuesday, I will post info on this new and exciting step in the evolution of the option.  I don’t want to go too far into it, but I will give you advance few a peek or two of what you can expect to see in the coming weeks.

The Zero Technique Option --  Yes, your QB can learn the option in a single practice session!

How to read the noseguard for a foolproof Shotgun option TD every time!

For a small investment of several installments of $350, you as a coach can invest in your career’s future with my set of DVD’s and computer installation program.  Spring Ball has never been so fun… or EASY!!!

Turn the old West Coast Offense into your new Gulf Coast Offense as you seamlessly combine the Mesh, Y Choice, Y Stick, Y Cross, Sail, Flood, Dig, and Tomahawk Cruise Missle passing routes with Speed Option, Lead Option, Triple Option, Counter Option, Freeze Option, Boiled Option, Gumbo Option, Breaded Option…  all from the shotgun in only minutes a day!  Your practices will be so short your wife will think you’ve lost your mind!

Breaking down film will become a thing of the past.  Our system is so flexible and adaptable that you wont even need to practice against an actual defense – all adjustments are included on our handy gameday playsheet. 

 

Okay, I’ve done it – I’ve given away too much!  But as you will soon see, scoop blocks, the QB-Center exchange, and double digit scoreboards are about to become a thing of the past!  It’s time to get in the Gun and air-it-out…  and have an unstoppable running game to boot (we’ve gotta give those Boosters something to bitch about, lol!)

 

Veersite is dead…  but

The Multi-Gun Opton Air Raid Offense

is about to arrive!

 

 APRIL FOOLS!!!!!!! 

Coach Smith

Georgia Tech visit included such notables as Mike Sewak, Rick Darlington, and... Ron Jeremy???

 

Notables I saw during my trip to Atlanta and Georgia Tech's football practice included Mike Sewak, Rick Darlington,  and... 

Ron Jeremy?!?

Uh, yeah. 

 

 

And then things got a little surreal...

 

 

More to come...

Gilligan's Lunch Break or The Three Hour Tour!!

Smokey and the G.T. Tour Buses!

When NOT to go into a seedy juke-joint in a strange city!

Misdirection for the Flexbone Team

Back in the Split back veer days, misdirection was pretty easy.  You had your Cutback Dive (I like mine trapped, btw…) and the old “Crazy Option” (or Spin Option.)

Now that I’ve forsaken  such plays for the allure of open sets, Rocket Toss, a true balanced set, and the ability to check-with-me on the LOS and truly be able to run Veer to either side equally well, I find myself a little conflicted on my choices for misdirection.

There’s the Counter Option.  It’s devastating when you get to the corner with it.  But I’ve also heard it referred to as “a train wreck waiting to happen.”  A little slower that cutback dive, it does take advantage of fast-flow LBs and tend to slow ‘em down if ran repeatedly.  Get to the pitch and your WB “just – might – go – all – the – way.”

Counter Option.

Then there’s Inside Veer ran with Twirl motion.  I’m even wondering how it might look with a Carson-Newman “C” tag – which tells the backs… or back in our case, to flash pads opposite before hitting the dive…  the QB reverses out then runs his point mesh (I’m thinking just having him do the flash-pads head-fake instead of a complete pirouette, tho.)

ISV with Twirl motion.

Watch the near “Drop DE” in this 3-3 Stack defense.  Who sez the veer doesn’t have misdirection?!

 

I’ll have more on this post later in the week.  Just wanted to get it rolling tonight.  TIme for bed.

 

Coach Smith

SPLIT BACK VEER ASSOCIATION CLINIC APRIL 25TH 2009

SPLIT BACK VEER ASSOCIATION CLINIC APRIL 25TH 2009

FEATURING:
Bruce Bendix, Greg Williams, Steve Smith, John Sterner

Hosted at:
South Lyon High School
1000 N. Lafayette
South Lyon, Michigan 48178

Saturday - Check-in 7:00 am-7:45

John Nicholson, Oak Hill High School (OH)
Welcome and Introduction 7:50-8:00

Bruce Bendix, Heritage High School (MI)
QB drills and "Why the Veer Offense" 8:00-9:00
Drop Back Passing in the Veer Offense 9:00-10:00

Steve Smith, Campbell County High School (TN)
Using formations and motion to your advantage in the splitback and flexbone formations 10:00-11:00
Interior and Perimeter blocking versus 3-5, 3-4, 4-3, and 4-4 fronts (blocking tags, selecting the pitch read, nullifying stunts and secondary coverages designed to stop the option) 11:00-12:00

Lunch 12:00-1:00

Greg Williams, Juan Diego Catholic High School (UT)
Breaking up the 8 man fronts 1:00-2:00
Our experience with No-Huddle & No Mesh 2:00-3:00

John Sterner, Former Head Coach Muskego High School (WI)
The Football Coaches' Guide to Clock Management 3:00-4:00
Wedge blocking in the T-Veer Offense 4:00-5:00

Veer and Midline Install Clinic Notes

Tim Stowers - GSU - Installing the ISV

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Manuals football

Midline Presentation

Publish at Scribd or explore others: marketing business

I have no idea where this material originated. If you are the author and have a problemo with it being posted here, contact me, coach.steve.smith@gmail.com , and I'll remove it. Nuff said.

Point Mesh From the Flex

Several of you guys wanted to see the point mesh from the Flex…  and I’ve finally got a semi-efficient method to get game clips up again.

These haven’t been selected for any reason other than I was able to get them up the quickest.  It should however, give you an idea of how we looked during an average play from scrimmage this season.

 

Clip One:  ISV from Game 7

Trips Left ISV Weak vs. 43. w/SS alley(3 Clips)

Play One:  We’re cracking the psOLB and using the CB for the pitch read.  Not a bad job by the psSE on the crack, either.  The QB is flat (would prefer him to be up into the LOS a little more) but he makes a good descision on the Dive.

The QB is a Senior and this is his first year running the option as the bread and butter play.  Since I was broke by the end of summer and too proud to ask for help with gas money(long story), I didn’t begin coaching him until after school had started.  My thoughts were to rep the poop out of the point mesh, but not get too “bent” when he would inevitably swing the ball back or not get up in the LOS enough to suite me.  Like Jules Winfield in Pulp Fiction, I feel it is better to be a “little Fonzie” and stay cool and matter of fact – not screaming, ranting, and turning my play-caller into a hysterical basket-case.

Play Two: Trips Right, ISV Left. vs. 43 w/SS alley

Same blocking scheme as Play One, only we end up pitching off the Dive Read…  which is bad.  On a positive note, when you get speed in space, good things happen…  and we still get a decent gain on the play.  One of the risks of moving the Pitch Read farther out on the perimeter is that sometimes you just don’t make it there.  You might also note how the QB swings the ball back on this particular play…  and how he and the FB end up “fighting” for it.  This is precisely the thing the point mesh is designed to eliminate.

Play Three:  Trips Left ISV Right vs. 53 (?)

Well, they jumped into an Odd front, so the Crack call has to go…  (it didn’t.)  and versus a balanced defense, the first rule of thumb is to run strong  (we didn’t.)  Again, the nice thing about the Option is that ol’ speed in space thing…  and the fact that it can be pretty damned hard to find the football.  I honestly can’t recall if we had expected this team to get in an odd front (probably not.)  So remember, if you’re going to run the Option, there’s no free lunch.  You have to be able to check at the line to different blocking schemes as well as checking the play to the other side.

At least it helps if you can.

 

Game 7:  Midline

We use the Point method on Midline, too.  It’s quick.

Game 6 Midline

They didn’t have any film of us running Midline…  and I don’t think their 3 techs were ready for it.  I think it was just different enough to allow us some success in that first drive and get the momentum going.

 

Game 10:  ISV clips vs 52 with Safety alley

We wanted to get the ball more on the perimeter since teams were going nuts late in the season playing our FB.  This week we worked during our Indy periods on attacking the Pitch Read’s (gasp!) outside shoulder.  Just something George DeLeone used in his Syracuse Freeze Option to get the ball on the edge when facing feather DE’s, etc.

Game 10; ISV Clip 1

Over Left ISV Right

No complaints on this one.  Not up into the LOS enough for me, but I can live with what we’re doing.

Game 10; ISV Clip 2

Flex I Left, ISV Left

No complaints, but I think the QB could make the DE “sell-out” a little more before the pitch.  Then again, I’m not the one going to get cut in half by that Huge-mungus DE, either!

Game 10; ISV Clip 3

Nasty, ISV Right

The good, the bad, and the ugly.  I have no idea why the SE is chasing the Pitch read.  Or why our psT doesn’t block a soul.  Well, you’re seeing us warts and all on this clip.  Thank Goodness for “speed in space!”  The right WB (QB’s twin brother, BTW) does a good job on the “switch” call for the perimeter blocking…  I think we were setting up the Wheel Route for later out of Nasty Slot.  Like Coach Roark says, “you’ve got to love a system where you don’t block a soul and still make big plays!”

Game 10; ISV Clip 4

Nasty, ISV Left

At first, I got annoyed at how far back the QB bows it after keeping on the Dive.  On closer inspection, I can see why he did it…  the DT/FB collision is a little messy.  What looks like a little “blip” from the pressbox looks a whole lot different from the playing field.  It’s easy to forget how things look at game speed after all these years.

Game 10; ISV Clip 5

Nasty, ISV Right

(keybuster. Hey, we can run to the boundary.)

I have no complaints on this one concerning the QB.  We’re working the outside shoulder to force the DE to give us the pitch (which was successful)…  unless he feathers to a ridiculous degree and the QB can glide right on by.

 

Game Two ISV Clips.

I wanted to give you a comparison from earlier in the season.  You will notice that the new veer QB is more apt to give the Dive than not…  probably a good thing.  You will also note the tendency to reach the ball back – a hold over from the previous season’s ride-and-decide method.  Once that habit is learned, its hard to break it.  Our Soph QB started with point mesh and is quite happy to just point the ball while he reads the dive key.

 

Well, there it is…  point mesh out of the Flex.  Do I have clips where he’s doing it better?  Yeah…  but this is how it looked for us as a team selling-out to the option for the first time. 

I’ve never mentioned it, but our QB  only a year before was starting on the other side of the ball… worrying more about coverage calls and Blood stunts.  Personally, I think he did a hell of a job.  If he had been running option three years prior…  well, it’s scary to think about. 

 

Coach Smith

 

ps.  Here’s a clip of Counter Option from Game 10.  We pitch off EMOL and wrap pulling G up to backer…  although in this case, there’s “nobody home.”  Not sure why the SE and WB didn’t X on the perimeter, tho…  I thought I would include it so those that think I’m nuts might reconsider…

Counter Option

Counter Option

(Alternate Title: The "well, hell..." Article. Read on. You'll figure out why.)




The Flexbone Counter Option was a conundrum for us this past year. We kept repping it, and repping it, and repping it... but never could get up the nerve to run it for quite a few games. I think it was the "watch the QB turn and get flattened by a fire-breathing 5 Tech coming Hell-for-leather nightmare" that Coach Wells and I both seemed to have concerning the play.

Ironically, it wasn't the concern about not being able to cut the 5 tech... unlike a lot of the guys I've read over at the Flexbone Assoc. Nah, neither of us worried too much about trying to log the psDE and pitch off the OLB. It just seemed natural to pitch off the 5 tech and wrap the pulling G up on the psOLB. If you're faking it well, he will at least be planted for a count, and that should give the pulling G a pretty good angle on him. If the pulling G ends up colliding the psDE (the pitch read for us,) he should collision the outside hip... and the QB should work past it until he gets a pitch read - probably the psOLB. We worked this in individual periods, inside run... and in team.

And by the way, our QB never got hit in the chops running this play. Are you kidding? If anyone had been stupid enough to fly their 5 tech in for a kill shot, the give on ISV would have eaten them alive... and they knew it.

We will double a playside 3 tech if we get one. If the linemen smell a rat (look for the cheese!), they will call "Down" and we should pick up trash. But it's nice to have the FB to fill for the pulling Guard nonetheless.

I tell the Twirl WB to align a little wider... and since the pitch WB has no motion "One and None" is the alignment rule for him. We will try and widen the read with the psT... unless we have a 3 tech, which will cause him to tighten just a bit.


The QB is to do exactly what we DON'T want with our point-mesh veer, we step back off the LOS and ride the FB... then turn inside and attack the outside shoulder of the DE. We want to make him make us pitch... and won't try and keep it unless he just comes upfield something ridiculous. I picked that up from Coach George DeLeon's Freeze Option Video. It works. Good stuff. His take on the Freeze can also be directly applied to the modern-day Midline 100%.


It's good to "X" block with the SE and WB on th e perimeter... although we frigged that up a few times... yet it still seemed to work okay for us. In fact, the pulling Guard often had no one to block as the OLB would fly across the formation thinking Veer. When this happens, Life Is Good - buy a tee shirt.

This play works well out for the Nasty Slot as well. I love saying "Nasty Slot." Anyway, it also works well weak in Unbalanced SE-Over sets as well. It's not bad when run to the boundry since you usually pitch behind the Tackle... leaving room for the WB to get north and south.

We will run this vs. a 52 (or 3-4 if you're into all that 3-stuff). It helps if the DT's are pinching or at least playing B Gap. However, if the psT can just stalemate and the QB works his magic and forces the DE to take him... that pitchback going up the sideline for a big gain is a wonderful sight to behold.

I'm not going to get into debates about the pros and cons of logging the DE and pitching off the OLB. While it can happen... for us, it's an accident at best. This is the way we run it. In the words of the immortal Flip Wilson, "What you see is what you get." Feel free to improvise - just don't waste time trying to convince me to do so as well (why do guys attempt this? I think it makes you feel good if you can talk me into something... I don't know.)

Anyway, here are a few last thoughts... we won't run this if the 43 OLBs are Eagled outside the 5 tech in 90's. Why the hell would we? Find the 1 tech and run Belly, Belly, and more Belly until the OLB lines up where you want him or you score. Run Midline Double at the 3 tech. Don't try and force a play to work against something where it can't, Grasshopper. Ommmmmmmm...

It helps to spend some quality time with the QB and backs explaining what it is you're trying to accomplish - in a perfect world we'll get a pitch every time and score up the sideline. I tell the QB, "look, Johhny, don't be a hero..." sung out of tune. He has no idea what the hell I'm talking about, but it eventually sinks in that is not one of those plays where we expect him to be running the TD. It can happen, but we really want to get a pitch. He will eventually get this. I tell him not to worry, he will get much better chances on ISV and Belly Option. Maybe Freeze Option, too... if we can get it in. We're going to try and two-platoon this season... which will give us much more time to do such things. We have around 100 boys out for football and I honestly think we'll have at least 22 that CAN play dead in that proverbial Cowboy movie. Yippee Ki-Yay, Mother- "watch yo mouth... Shaft!"

I'm full of it tonight.


Coach Smith

ps. if there's a video clip of us here running Cntr-O, then I had insomnia and got it finished. If not, look for it Monday or Tuesday night. Oh, hell, it's 1 am. I'm going to bed. Goodnight.

pps. If you don't like the SS left untouched, you can have the bsT release off the bsDE for him. With the Twirl motion and counter action, inevitable secondary rotation, etc, the Tackle should have no trouble getting in the way if he takes an intelligent cutoff angle.

HOLY COW! Carson-Newman Clinic THIS WEEKEND!!!

I really feel like I dropped the ball on this one...  but the annual Carson-Newman clinic is this weekend, Gentlemen.  I've looked at a flyer for a few seconds, but didn't have a means to scan it.  I've missed the last two clinics and am no longer on the mailing list...  thus, no flyer for me this year.

 

You can rest assured, however, you will not be disappointed if you attend.

 

Coach Smith