By Darrin Sheffer This past off-season was a bit of a roller coaster for me. Not only did I lead my schools freshman team to a winless season (see: https://obsessedwithoffense.blogspot.com/2017/07/0-8-how-losing-season-made-me-better.html ) but the HC of our schools varsity squad resigned from his position and moved to a different school. Our administration took a LONG time to hire a new coach. There was a point during this time where a good friend of mine was applying for the position, and he tasked me with coming up with new offensive and defensive system for our school. Long story short he did not get hired, so all of my research was wasted for this year. I did keep all of my research though (just in case I ever do get to run an offense or defense in the future) and I recently found an article that I read over and over again (see link below). I had made the decision that if I were in charge of our school's offense, I would...
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By Darrin Sheffer As a coach/teacher/educator of young people, have you ever had one defining moment: something a student/player said, a comment from a parent, something of that nature that completely changed your feelings about what you do as a coach? I want to share my moment with you. If you have read my previous posts about my first season as a HC you will know that we did not have a lot of success. The season was filled with so much frustration that I had difficulty seeing any good coming out of it. I felt depressed and powerless, which lead me to feeling that maybe coaching football was just not for me. But then, probably at the perfect moment my views changed dramatically. What changed? I received a hand written letter from one of my players. http://www.crystalgraphics.com/powerpictures/images.photos.asp?ss=thank+you Now before I tell you what the note said I want to give you some background about the kid who wrote it. ...
By Darrin Sheffer Last night I was laying in bed with my Wife Heather and 1 month old son Soren sleeping on my chest. We were winding down from a long Summer day watching Last Chance U on Netflix (my wife tends to feed my football obsession sometimes). I quite enjoy the series, especially because it gives people insight into the lives of these young men and the hardships that they have been through. If one thing really sticks in my head though, it is how the head coach of EMCC treats his players and fellow coaches. I'm going to be honest, I would not want my son playing for someone who coaches like Buddy Stevens. Heck, I would not work for someone like that either. I understand that he is under extreme pressure to win and win big, but the way he goes about it does not seem like the best possible way to handle things. https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/36j83w/what_are_your_favorite_angry_coach_moments/ My wife said something to me th...
By Darrin Sheffer Continuing the Wing-T series from part one I still want to keep going with the Why of the Wing-T. In this post I want to focus on quotes from other coaches on Twitter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Twitter_Logo_Mini.svg I put out this Twitter Post: "Calling all Wing-T Coaches, I need personal testimonials on WHY you run the Wing-T. Message me with your story." I have only had this up for about two days and I have received quite a few good quotes that I would like to share with you guys. These are just a few: From Chris Fore, MA, CAA https://twitter.com/CoachFore "Took over an 0-10 program who threw 35 picks in the spread. Installed the Wing-T, improved to 5-5, lost 2 games on last play of game!... Ran it from 2001-2009. Love the wing t! Helped our little schools to have success." https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wing-T_Power.png From Jon Kroeger https://twi...
By Darrin Sheffer Are you a youth football coach looking for an effective offense? Are you a High School coach seeking an offense that is difficult to defend? Are you looking for an offensive system that is different than what many other teams are running today? If you are any of these I would like you to think about and look into my personal favorite offense: The Wing-T. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wing-T_Power.png "Coach, why is your title Wing-T Part 1?" That is because I feel so strongly about this offense and I have so much to say that one blog post just won't cut it. So today's blog post I want to focus on one thing: Why the Wing-T? I am probably not the best person to explain the Why, so I'm going to let another coach (Job Linboom) explain his Why because his views are very similar to mine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT-QoZU1By4&index=4&list=PLeHREAiANxgqko9MjM5NgIMYjHjsIuObJ&t=184s Are yo...
By, Darrin Sheffer Before I go any further I want to make one thing clear: everything stated below is my personal opinion. What does that mean? It means that not every coach who reads this will like or agree with what I have to say. And you know what? That is OK. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I love talking ball and debating X's and O's with other coaches so if you have a comment you would like to make please comment below or talk to me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DarrinSheffer https://www.flickr.com/photos/transforminggenerosity/13776713843 I'm a teacher and I often go on a rant about something during class (most teachers do) and when I do I always tell my kids that I am "getting on my Soap Box". I'm about to get on my Soap Box about a topic which I have been thinking about lately: What is the most OVER-RATED position group in football. If I asked many people this they may say QB, but I would like to co...
By Darrin Sheffer It's sexy, flashy, almost everyone is doing it; but is it the right thing for your team? It's 2017, a year when 7 on 7 passing camps are almost a Must Do for high school offenses. More kids are trying out for wide receiver or quarterback than ever before. Turn on your TV on Saturdays this fall to root for your favorite college team and you will see it. Go to any HS varsity football game in your area and you are likely to see at least one if not both teams doing it. What could Coach Sheffer be talking about? No Huddle, Up Tempo Spread Offenses. Before I go any further I want to clear something up: I am not against the Spread. Yes, I am a Wing-T guy. Yes, many of my posts so far may have favored more traditional ball control offenses. I don't care what offense someone runs, be it Wing-T, Flexbone Option, Single Wing, Pro Style, Spread or anything in between. My philosophy is it doesn't matt...
By Darrin Sheffer 7/10/2017 https://gtswarm.com/threads/diamond-formation.826/ As a young coach I will admit that it was difficult for me to choose an offensive scheme to focus on. When I was given the opportunity to coach my schools' freshman squad (not enough players for all three freshman, JV and Varsity last year) I at first figured that the Varsity coach would want me to run a watered down version of the Spread Offense that Varsity was running. However, after having meetings with the HC it became apparent that he did not truly care if we ran one offense or the other. The only thing he was worried about was that we used the same terminology as the varsity (route names, etc.) So over that summer I spent a lot of time doing research trying to figure out what "I" wanted to do. I have had experience playing in a Traditional Wing-T in high school and a no huddle Pro offense in college. I have some experience coaching under a Flexbone Trip...