So my kids coach is Herm Edwards...

[MahiMike]

My son plays center for the MAA Tigers Mighty Mites A team. Every practice his coach tries to get their O-line to block better. (One thing you notice right away is that offensive line is much harder than D-line. All the kids want to play there because they know this.)

Anyways, every single game we try to run on every stinkin down. Even though our team is smallish and are usually outweighed by 20 lbs/kid, we still keep trying to pound it in. Even little kids figure this out and their defenses stack all 11 near the line.

The result - 1 and 3 so far. The one game we won, our Defense scored.

Guess my point is this; no matter what level you play, if you're predictable and one-sided, you lose. Maybe I should have Herm come watch?

[jidar]

You didn't mention the age, but if it's 11 or younger then that's how it goes at that age.
Pass plays at that age are as likely to be intercepted as completed. Easily. Been watching and helping coach kids tackle for several years and the typical team probably averages 1 or 2 pass attempts per game and the the split is almost exactly 1/1/1 for incomplete, interceptions and completions.
If you have an extremely good athlete at QB then maybe it's different, but if you did then you could probably run it too.

If your kids are small though running up the middle just isn't the right thing to do. They should be fast so pitch plays should work well.

[pikesome]

My son's 12 and my experiences match jidar's. Through 3 games I've seen maybe 6-8 passes, total, and with the exception of a sweet pass over the middle to our TE for TD they haven't been productive. I'm not a coach but it seems that the secret to winning so far has been good run blocking, some speedy runners to the outside and late game endurance. My son's team is reasonably deep and, as long as they keep their enthusiasm up, that seems to be a major factor in winning.

[BigRedChief]

Reverses almost always work because kids at that age don't stay home.

[wilas101]

I would agree that running is just the way it is but oddly enough my kids team (11-12 yo) was held out of the end zone for 2 games until this past week when they went to the air and scored on 3 passes. One 60 yd, and the others were like 30 yarders.

If you have a kid that can throw you can make it work because receivers are always open. Of course if your qb can barely throw (like ours) then things are always more interesting.

wow... not until I typed this out did I see the similarity between my son's team and the chiefs. Can't run the ball. All td's via the pass with a weak armed QB, and the defense hasn't given up a 2nd half td all year.

[pikesome]

I would agree that running is just the way it is but oddly enough my kids team (11-12 yo) was held out of the end zone for 2 games until this past week when they went to the air and scored on 3 passes. One 60 yd, and the others were like 30 yarders.

If you have a kid that can throw you can make it work because receivers are always open. Of course if your qb can barely throw (like ours) then things are always more interesting.

wow... not until I typed this out did I see the similarity between my son's team and the chiefs. Can't run the ball. All td's via the pass with a weak armed QB, and the defense hasn't given up a 2nd half td all year.

It's all about YAC at this level. What passes for "bombs", thrown 10-20 yards maybe, are always jump balls in a crowd. Which means bad things 90% of the time. At 12, Culpepper to Moss is not the way to go.

[DaKCMan AP]

My son plays center for the MAA Tigers Mighty Mites A team. Every practice his coach tries to get their O-line to block better. (One thing you notice right away is that offensive line is much harder than D-line. All the kids want to play there because they know this.)

Anyways, every single game we try to run on every stinkin down. Even though our team is smallish and are usually outweighed by 20 lbs/kid, we still keep trying to pound it in. Even little kids figure this out and their defenses stack all 11 near the line.

The result - 1 and 3 so far. The one game we won, our Defense scored.

Guess my point is this; no matter what level you play, if you're predictable and one-sided, you lose. Maybe I should have Herm come watch?

Aren't these leagues set by weight (ie. 75lb, 85lb, 95lb, 105lb, etc.)?? When I played as a kid they were and it eliminated a lot of the weight disparity.

[mikey23545]

At ten or eleven years old, most QB's can throw the ball about 10 yards with a strong tailwind.

I don't think you're going to see too many Air Coryell offenses in that age group.

[Brock]

At that age, you need speed more than size. Your coach is probably just dealing with the fact that he doesn't have either.

[BigRedChief]

Aren't these leagues set by weight (ie. 75lb, 85lb, 95lb, 105lb, etc.)?? When I played as a kid they were and it eliminated a lot of the weight disparity.
In the 5th grade my son had to play with 7th graders because he was too big.

[wilas101]

At ten or eleven years old, most QB's can throw the ball about 10 yards with a strong tailwind.

I don't think you're going to see too many Air Coryell offenses in that age group.


Very true. Our QB can throw maybe 20 yards if he really plants his back foot and does everything correctly. No more than 15 though if you want to see any accuracy.

I think the biggest problem is the size of the football. The kids we have that are big enough to actually hold onto the ball and throw it are linemen out of necessity because they're the biggest kids out there.

for the poster earlier that talked about the leagues being set according to weight, i don't know what its like everywhere else but out here in the sticks they work according to age with a weight limit on who can carry the ball.

Weight based leagues would be interesting but it can be aruged either way I suppose. We just tell our kids "you're smaller than everyone now and you're going to be smaller than everyone in high school. figure out how to work with what you have."

[KC Kings]

Most younger kids can throw a ball 10-15 yards tops, and I don't mean 10-15 yards down the field. That means the ball is thrown to the mass of players right in the middle of the field. I coach a 1st and 2nd grade team, and the only regular passes we have completed this year are screens to the WR's. We have had some luck with a HB sweep option pass, (of course you tell them what to do in the huddle so it isn't really an option), and do well running a fake sweep one way, and have the QB roll out the other way.

We set up the fake sweep/rollout with a sweep left to our fast kid, and he burns the D for anywhere from 20 yards to a touchdown. Next play we line up twins left and throw a quick screen. Now the defense on the right side is getting ansy because they haven't seen any action, and the defense on the left side has been burned twice in a row so the coach tries to get them fired up. On the fake sweep left the entire left side of the defense crashes to the RB, the right side of the D bites and doesn't stay home. The QB rolls out to no pressure for an easy 5-10 yard pass to the WR.

[MahiMike]

Aren't these leagues set by weight (ie. 75lb, 85lb, 95lb, 105lb, etc.)?? When I played as a kid they were and it eliminated a lot of the weight disparity.

yes, 90 lbs is the max. My son is 73 and about the biggest kid. He's 9. Goes up to 10 or even 11 if less than 90. We're a small, athletic team. It's true that few kids can throw that far. My son played QB in flag but they need his size and strength on the line. No matter how much they practice, they just can't keep those guys out. At best it's a stalemate. Sometimes they do get their pancake blocks in but then another kid misses his block and it's over. That leaves mis-direction, power I, wishbone or passes. We got killed on a pass last week that looked just like our flag football team's play. Handoff to RB, rolls right, all the kids move up to tackle him and he throws deep to wide open guy (LT play).

[DJJasonp]

Reverses almost always work because kids at that age don't stay home.

....Nor Eric Hicks. :banghead:

[Sully]

I've been watching my nephew play Pop Warner for a few years, and it never ceases to amaze me how much these coaches don't realize they are coaching little league... not the NFL. My nephew came home from a preseason practice with a playsheet containing a good 50-60 plays. Of course, week 2, they played Neil Smith's team (he coaches, apparently, and his son plays) and they ran a total of 2 plays the whole game, over and over... and won by a lot. If you can teach the kids to play a little football, complete with blocking and tackling and being an instigator of contact, it will go a lot longer toward winning than dreaming that you are the next coming of Paul Brown.

[DaKCMan AP]

I've been watching my nephew play Pop Warner for a few years, and it never ceases to amaze me how much these coaches don't realize they are coaching little league... not the NFL. My nephew came home from a preseason practice with a playsheet containing a good 50-60 plays. Of course, week 2, they played Neil Smith's team (he coaches, apparently, and his son plays) and they ran a total of 2 plays the whole game, over and over... and won by a lot. If you can teach the kids to play a little football, complete with blocking and tackling and being an instigator of contact, it will go a lot longer toward winning than dreaming that you are the next coming of Paul Brown.

Yep, when I was a kid we had about 10 plays that we ran and were pretty good. 8 of the 10 were runs (off-tackle left, off-tackle right, sweep left, sweep right, QB sneak, reverse, and up the middle) and one of the passes was a WR screen. No need to throw the ball all over the place at that level. Good blocking and speed kills.

[pikesome]

Yep, when I was a kid we had about 10 plays that we ran and were pretty good. 8 of the 10 were runs (off-tackle left, off-tackle right, sweep left, sweep right, QB sneak, reverse, and up the middle) and one of the passes was a WR screen. No need to throw the ball all over the place at that level. Good blocking and speed kills.

Execution is key I think. At this level most of the kids seem to be thinking about what they have to do instead it being somewhat "instinctive" like good HS or college play. That's my son's biggest problem, he's trying not to get called out for lining up wrong, getting in his stance properly, not false starting, telling the substitution girl that he's going in, a variety of things not directly related to blocking. Some of the kids have played long enough to be over the worry but my son is in his first year, it's a lot to do at once when you're thinking about all of it.

[Sully]

I remember this particular game my nephew played last year. He was a RB, and the team had a devestating lineman ( I think they only played 3 linemen).
ANyhow, they'd snap the ball, this lineman would drive his guy 10 yards, and the RB would pick up 8-10 yards every time... Yet they only ran that play once every 10-12 plays. At some oint, and I think it is more true at that level than any... make them stop you. Don't change jsut for change's sake.

[ChiefsCountry]

If I was coaching little kids football I probally would make it a wishbone based team.