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

The No-Mesh Mesh... One More Time

 

I keep seeing questions about the Point Mesh online, so I thought I would re-post my article on it again.  I've included a few new clips, and plan on adding a couple of more recent ones in the coming weeks.

If a particular video won't play for you, refresh the page.  It should fix any problems.

 

 

A while back, I mentioned I would do an article concerning the no-mesh mesh or what I like to call the point-mesh method of reading the dive on the Inside and Outside Veer. So here it is. Actually, this is an excerpt from an email I sent a coach a while back concerning the topic. It's been cleaned-up and spell-checked a few dozen times - which means there's probably no more than 2 or three dozen errors left to correct. Fortunately for me, I can live with that many errors so here it is. Here are my notes and observations from watching Coach Spark's veer install video, hearing him speak about it at his clinic, and first-hand observations from our use of it at M.H.S.

 

The Point-Mesh Method or No-Mesh Mesh

 

1. The speed of the dive is important. If you have your HBs sitting back at 5 yards off the ball, it's going to seem like the QB is just standing there waiting for the dive back to make it to the line. In C-N's splitback alignment, the HB's feet are 4 to 4 1/2 yards off the front tip of the ball... And are aligned so as to split the inside leg of the guards (who are 2.5-3 ft from the center.) The dive hits FAST- so the misdirection of the ride-and decide is replaced by the misdirection of Oh-sh**-there-goes-the-dive-back-with-the-ball. The HB's aiming point for ISV is the outside leg of the guard and the inside leg of the tackle for OSV.

2. The path of the QB is important. The QB path is not only down the LOS but up into the LOS as well. This is important- the QB needs to work his first step towards the dive read forward as well as sideways. He is trying to put his foot in line with the toes of the playside guard before the snap. We will lay a half bag down at that angle so it forces the QB up into the LOS as he works down the line during the individual period. They all hate that, but it helps get them going at the proper angle.

3. There is no ride-and-decide in the no-mesh mesh. The QB extends the football out straight at the dive read while gripping the football firmly in both hands. If the dive read does anything besides step straight in at the QB, he leaves the ball extended and hands off to the HB. If the dive read comes at the QB, he pulls slightly before the HB arrives and continues to the pitch read. The HB rolls over the "ball" and is either tackled by the dive read or if he is able continues up field to help seal-off inside pursuit.

Coach Sparks said on his tape he did this due to 60% of C-N's fumbles on the option coming from mesh problems. I also heard at one of his excellent C-N clinics that the speedier dive (and the QB being up into the line) helps reduce problems with backside pursuit. It also takes away angles for defensive linemen trying to slow-play the dive, feather, etc.

4. Some might think the no-mesh (or point mesh) is too difficult to read. The idea to put into the QB's head is this: if he just guesses every time on the dive read, he should be right about 50% of the time. All we want him to do is be right 25% more of the time. Don't pressure him too much- many times our QBs have missed the dive and given the ball when we should have kept -- but we ended up with decent yardage due to the HB's momentum, the speed of the dive, and the dive read not being able to get more than an arm across the path of the ball carrier. Our biggest plays seem to come off the dive... The HB hits it and nobody knows he has the ball until he's at the depth of the FS.

Here is a video clip where you can see the angle pretty good. Notice the QB is getting up in the LOS and he doesn't swing the ball back and ride the HB. In this clip, we are facing 40 front and end up reading a DE instead of a DT.

 

 

The next clip shows the QB keeping on ISV. If you watch it a few times, you'll se that he almost immediately pulls the ball back in for the keep. The "give" is technically what we are supposed to do when the dive read squats on the LOS, which is pretty much what the read did. However, he does "box in" completely, and seeing this gave the QB the impression that he had committed to the dive. I've said it before, reading the dive is more "art" than "craft." Another factor may be that the QB is one of only four seniors on the field along with a host of freshmen - including the dive HB. I think the QB might have taken it upon himself to try and carry the team at times. He was (and is) a competitor.

 

 

Well, that's about it. If you want to see a few more clips, here they are.  I'll get some in from the Flexbone when I have the proper setup in a couple of weeks.  Flexbone is similar, but the QB's first steps are a lot shorter than Split Back QB's steps...  and the FB's toes are closer to 3.5 yards from the tip of the ball than the 4 yard depth we had them at MHS.  Actually, it was the heels, but who's counting?

 

 

OSV Point Mesh Below

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How C-N does it.

 

 

 

 

 

Addendum 08 Dec 2008

from a post on the Flexbone Association:

Personally, I don't worry what the QB is doing with his feet on ISV as long as the following things are happening:

1. The QB's getting into the LOS on ISV.
2. The dive back (FB or HB) isn't tripping over the QB and isn't being forced out closer to the dive read.
3. The QB isn't bowing back into the backfield on a pull.
4. The dive is hitting fast and not taking too long.

If all that is happening and we're racking up 300-400 yards rushing... I don't care if the kid is hopping on one foot back there.

I think there is a tendency to over-coach QB's... just video your QB+backfield period and the inside period. If there's a consistent problem, address it. If not, don't give your QB more to worry about.

But to try and answer your question, we use point mesh in the Flexbone (before that in split backs). I have the QB step with the playside foot towards the read and then brings the opposite alongside it on his next... he advances using short steps and keeps his weight as evenly distributed as possible so he can push off either foot (inside for a pull, outside if he has to tuck up into the LOS for some reason.)

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." - Will Rogers

Windows Sucks

I've thrown in the towel.  Ever since upgrading to Windows XP 64, I've had no luck installing 2 items:  A Fujitsu duplex sheetfed scanner (perfect for scanning those 100+ page playbooks, natch!) and my TV Tuner card.  The second item is what has chapped my a$$ of late.  Without the ability to hook up a small DVD player to the composite inputs and record plays to AVI format, I'm having a hard time getting clips up on Veersite. 

I managed to find 64 bit drivers for the damned thing, but the TV program itself insists on doing nothing except screwing up and freezing my computer.

So I'm bidding on a used IBM with good ol' regular 32 bit XP on it on EBAY tonight and hopefully I can get that sucker here in the next week.  Then I can install the TV / Video Capture card in it and get down to ripping some video. 

 

Coach Smith

UPDATE: 2/28/09

I got a good deal on Ebay for a nice little compact 3 gig Pentium 4 computer  with Vista on it.  I should be able to install my capture card and get it to work, since all the software is supposed to work with the 32 bit version of Vista.  Hopefully, in a week or two, I'll have some updated clips dealing with the Flexbone.