New Offensive Idea Shared with us...Is It Legal?

[KurtBryan]

Dear Officials:

We have been discussing some very good new offensive concepts with various coaches nationwide - not just about our offense but their great ideas too, etc.

* I have a question for Officials - there is a coach who is going to run his offense like this predominantly...

A. Virtually every play after the ball is snapped, either 2, 3, or 4 offensive players will Group close together in the backfield, in the middle, to the left or to the right.

B. After they Group, one of the ballcarriers will Pop Out with the football, and every other player will Pretend he has the ball, etc.

C. Then they will either continue faking, or execute reverses, pitches and/or pass or run with the actual football.

Are there any rules against that on each play?

It is intriguing and when told to me, it gives a coach some excellent ideas.

KB

www.A11Offense.com

[daggo66]

There is nothing illegal against it. There is nothing new about it either. Have you ever heard of the single wing? We had a team here a few years ago that ran it exclusively.

[Mike L]

Trick plays all the time. Yeah, that'll work. Every time I get a team that likes to run all sorts of trick plays what I end up seeing is a team that can't block, can't tackle, and has little concept about what they are trying to achieve. I hate to throw cold-water on the plans, but it's what my few years of experience has shown me.

[ljudge]

Hey Kurt, I never saw this one before. But on thing I have seen is teams doing this on kickoff returns of balls kicked deep. There's nothing illegal about that either.

[goldenwings68]

geez!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:

[GarthB]

Everything you've presented on this board you label as "new". I'm just guessing here, but are like 12 years old when everything you learn about you figure must be new?

[RoyGardner]

Originally Posted by KurtBryan

Dear Officials:

A. Virtually every play after the ball is snapped, either 2, 3, or 4 offensive players will Group close together in the backfield, in the middle, to the left or to the right.

B. After they Group, one of the ballcarriers will Pop Out with the football, and every other player will Pretend he has the ball, etc.

C. Then they will either continue faking, or execute reverses, pitches and/or pass or run with the actual football.

I think someone's been illegally videotaping our local Pop Warner Mites!

[Ed Hickland]

Originally Posted by RoyGardner

I think someone's been illegally videotaping our local Pop Warner Mites!

Must have been those guys from New England...understand they are out of work.

[jaybird]

Originally Posted by Ed Hickland

Must have been those guys from New England...understand they are out of work.

Looks like they were filming the wrong New York team!

[tiger49]

This would be a new concept in the US....unlimited motion

I know it is illegal down there but not in Canada. Maybe one day we will see the change as it would open up the game and stop DBs from grabbing and holding a reciever at the line.

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by tiger49

This would be a new concept in the US....unlimited motion

I know it is illegal down there but not in Canada. Maybe one day we will see the change as it would open up the game and stop DBs from grabbing and holding a reciever at the line.

Our motion philosophy even extends to eligibles hitting the line at the snap. Even if they block out the view of the ball for the wings, they are still onside.

[cos_man99]

Originally Posted by ljudge

Hey Kurt, I never saw this one before. But on thing I have seen is teams doing this on kickoff returns of balls kicked deep. There's nothing illegal about that either.

Hey Ljudge, you say there is nothing illegal about this on free kick plays. However, if I undertand the original post correctly it is a bunch of players in a "huddle" during the live ball play. If the ball is being handed around in there or even from one player to another everything is fine on a scrimmage down as long as all this occurs behind LOS. However on upon receiving a free kick R may only hand off backwards. So if the ball is handed forward inside this "huddle" it would be an illegal forward handoff.