YourKillinMePetey

Crawford in Waco area used to run it at all levels but don’t know if they still do.

4 day school week passed with one member voting no

The point I was trying to make with the fake QB example was that a lot of coaches now want to run the flavor of the month offense, even if it means running an offense that your kids are ill equipped for. I agree you aren’t going to win any games with the kid I described but yet I see it on a yearly basis now. I don’t agree that you don’t need to have speed to run the spread effectively. The whole point is getting guys in space and being able to use their speed. That’s really the only way to use that space. With all the power versions of it now you don’t necessarily need a QB that is a fantastic passer but if he’s not he’d better be able to run. But I also reiterate that not every shotgun offense is the spread. A lot of teams put their QB back deeper to make reads easier and to give them extra time. At the high school level that can be invaluable. But several of those teams are really just running an I or wing t or even veer offense with their QB in the shotgun. At the root of it all there will be well over 1,000 programs in this state that are not going to win a state championship this year. You have to coach what you know , have athletes no matter what you run, and stay away from the injury bug to get there. Simply running a spread offense is not going to get you there.

I think Malakoff can beat Brock if they can get them to turn the ball over, which is something they don’t do often. If they can steal a couple possessions they can do it. Brock 28 Malakoff 21

Lots of speed on both sides of the ball. Don’t know that they do to Lake Travis what they did to Southlake Carroll. Carroll made a lot of mistakes.

There is very little innovation in football now. Not because coaches aren’t trying or as creative but simply because everything has been tried. There is only so much you can do with 6 people eligible to touch the football. What happens now is a reimagining of “old” ideas. For example the air raid is all the rage these days but if you listen to Mike Leach or read his book, a lot of the concepts come from the wishbone. The wider splits and the idea of equal distribution of the ball, according to him, came from wishbone tape he and Mumme studied. The best coaches in America are high school coaches and I say that because they have little control over who will be on their roster year in and year out. College and nfl can go out and recruit and draft in the mold they want. Coaches like Surratt at Carthage will always play deep into December because they are willing to build their offense around the players they have, not the players they want. I’m sure he would love to have another Ingram in the backfield but he doesn’t so he has went out and made the adjustments the kids he has need to be successful. I have no problem with any one type of offense. I love them all. But coaches who are “wing t guys” or “spread guys” and aren’t willing to adapt do so at their own peril. You aren’t going to have the same players to run the exact same scheme year in and year out. And you can’t run the spread with a QB that runs a 5.3 40, can’t throw farther than 10 yards, and can’t spell cover 2. But by golly let’s put 4 WR out there with our 180 lb tackles and put that stud QB I just mentioned in the shotgun, call it the spread, and he’ll go win us a championship. It’s ludicrous!

As long as they don’t get off to a slow start like they have so many times this season, Pleasant Grove takes it.

Wow just wow

Longview will definitely have the edge in all the measurables but I watched that Haltom-Tascosa game and Tascosa is very good at what they do. Longview’s defensive staff will be pulling a lot of late nights getting ready for the flexbone.

These types of statements are what really rile me up about the whole thing. And I know it may be hearsay but if you have a brain you will see that you do not have to be a spread team to be successful. I love the spread but I am from Athens, played there, and have watched for years. Essary got as much out of those kids as anyone ever has. Was the offense conservative, yes. But it was built for the kids that were there. Not to mention Essary was able, for the most part, to sidestep the politics that have infested the place for decades. Would Pleasant Grove be as successful as they’ve been without the wing t? Carthage is utterly dominant year in and year out because they are the Patriots of East Texas. Their offense has basic principles but last year it was more of a pro set team because of the Ingram kid. Now this year they don’t have him so it’s more throwing and spreading out more(although I don’t consider their offense a true “spread”). Anybody got a problem with what Carthage does? I’m sure they’ll ponder moving to the spread once the glare from all those rings gets out of their eyes. The spread is not a miracle potion. Teams that run it without the right personnel are absolutely ugly. And Athens doesn’t have the right personnel. Anyone who has actually watched them will agree. They are big kids that play hard with very little speed and usually have QB’s that don’t have extremely strong arms. That’s not a knock because I know they do what they can. But it is extremely near sided to make a coaching change just to go out and find a “spread guy”. Arkansas did it. How’s that working with the personnel left over from last year? Tyler Lee since Owens left?

Newton hands down

I too would love to see Mason win. Both programs have had success so I hope it will be a good game for the kids. Refugio is really hard to keep up with but I think San Augustine would have a better matchup against Mason. If nothing else Mason has the better mascot.

How did Essary underachieve? He’s the winningest coach in Athens’ history with 75 and the most playoff wins with 4 which to me says as much about the job he did as it does about the mountain he had to try and climb. Athens has never been consistently successful in football and there are a lot of reasons for that. Coach Essary is a wing guy for sure but he took what he knew and got as much out of those kids as anyone before him. I saw many games where they were outmanned but rarely a game where they didn’t look like they knew what they were doing. That’s not just coaching. That’s genetics. That’s a lack of industry to bring people into town. That’s decades of accepted mediocrity. Athens does not have the athletes currently to run the spread. And anyone that thinks they do are delusional. No matter what incarnation of the spread you run, you have to have speed, an offensive line, and a QB that can at least keep defenses honest with his arm. Keep in mind that not every offense that operates out of the shotgun is the spread. No matter what systems you run on offense or defense, it takes more than ink on a page to make it work. That ink doesn’t run. It doesn’t tackle. Do I think Essary underachieved? Coaches always have games that they wish they could have back. But in most years I feel like he took the teams as far as the talent could go.

Malakoff has a very good program. I’m honestly surprised they are here losing as many players as they did to graduation. People have been picking against them since bi-district it seems like so you can never underestimate a team like that.They have a really good coaching staff and I promise Atlanta fans they will not lay down.