Choosing Your Youth Football Offense
It is that time of the year when the panic sets in. Many youth football coaches are wrestling with exactly what offense to run this season. In some other situations, your Pop Warner team has already started practice and that elaborate RPO offense you had in your mind isn’t looking quite the way you thought it would.
Full disclosure, this part of coaching football is hard at any level. I have been on offensive staffs at the college and NFL level where full scale changes have been made AFTER the season had begun. Why? Either injuries forced us to do it or we simply realized that we made a mistake thinking our personnel could run our scheme.
So if you are wrestling with this, don’t panic. Sit down and look at your roster before you make any decisions. Let me be more specific. Sit down and evaluate who is going to play quarterback for your Pop Warner aged team.
First Things First. Who Is Your Quarterback?
Odds are your quarterback is not going to be able to dominate or even control a youth football game with his or her arm. The arm strength is not normally developed enough for a 10-11 year old player. I realize there are exceptions.
However; keep in mind that good youth football defensive coaches are going to make you and your youth football quarterback prove that you can throw the ball. If you are out there in a spread formation and your quarterback cannot complete passes to your outside receivers, it is going to be a long game and maybe even a long season.
Is Your Youth Football Offense Big or Fast?
Of course your quarterback is not your only consideration. You are going to need to step back and take an honest look at the the size and speed of the rest of your Pop Warner team. Are you looking at a larger more physical group fitted for a power offense? Or is your group smaller but faster, suited for a perimeter attack.
Most good offenses have an inside and outside run game plan but make no mistake, one is the main thing and the other is the changeup. Your counter runs and misdirection football plays will keep the defense honest throughout the game. This will only make your core running game better.
Create Your Youth Football Passing Game Off Of Your Run Game
When it does come time to throw the ball, consider passes that come off of your run game. Too many times youth football coaches expect their young quarterback to drop back and find the open receiver without doing anything to actually create an open receiver with play action or a boot pass.
Remember: When It Comes To Youth Football…Less Is More
Finally and my parting words of advice to youth football coaches is to limit how much you are trying to do. If you choose a Power I formation and a Spread formation, you have immediately almost doubled the number of techniques that you will need to teach. This is a recipe for failure.
Find two or three similar youth football formations that allow you to drill your fundamentals throughout the entire Pop Warner season. This will not only allow you to have enough practice time but it will also ensure that your youth football players are learning the game and becoming sound football players.
FirstDown PlayBook offers you 12 other Pop Warner formations. You should consider one or two of these for your Pop Warner offense. Tap on any one of the tiles below to visit the article describing that formation. After reading the article then go join FirstDown PlayBook and get busy coaching your Pop Warner team with the best football playbook available!
