Progressive Football Strategy: The Coach Who Never Punts

[TreeFiddy]

Modern spread has a lot of similar concepts to triple option but the pitch man is a WR 

[southsideguy]

was that what hal mummy tried?

[UNT 04]

Doesn't hurt that PA is private school with ton of $$$

[GMG24]

1 hour ago, UNT 04 said:

Doesn't hurt that PA is private school with ton of $$$

Lol and can openly recruit.  Oops I meant offer a reduced tuition 

[oldguystudent]

10 hours ago, GMG24 said:

Lol and can openly recruit.  Oops I meant offer a reduced tuition 

That was something that surprised me when I moved to Texas.  Where I hail from, the Catholic schools play in the same leagues as the public schools and they win all the championships every year.  I moved here and couldn't figure out why that wasn't the case until I learned they have their own organization outside of UIL. 

[jtm0097]

I do not see this working on the FBS level. Sometimes the Punter's leg is a better option, especially if you have a defense that can get you the ball back.

[StealthEagle84]

This strategy works for lower levels of football but works less and less as you move up the 'talent' ladder.  In other words, the math works when your punter can only hang one 25-30 yards from scrimmage or your kicker can only boot one downfield 40 yards.  Furthermore, as players get bigger and faster (older), they can cover more ground at a faster and faster rate.  So yes, this works when your kicker has a small leg and your cover guys can't get downfield quickly.  But at higher levels, this works less and less as kickers progressively get stronger legs and players can cover downfield at a faster rate.  As the kicking game gets more specialized, teams can flip the field more easily, making this model obsolete.   

Edited March 20, 2017 by StealthEagle84

[golfingomez]

While i think less punting and having more confidence is where the game is heading in the FBS level, I find it hard to believe that teams would fully adopt this style. The coach would have to be an established person who has the trust of his AD, or simply... a desperate AD. I could see a coach implementing a 'no-punt' rule, unless he is inside his own thirty five, or has longer than a 4th and 15. which, in itself would be revolutionary. 

Changes in the game happen when you can't hang with the big boys at their own game. It's why Hal Mumme turned around a D-III program in a year, using an almost unheard of spread approach, and why his protege Mike Leach was able to build Tech up and hang with the Longhorns.  SImilarly, when Art Briles took that concept and spread the field even further, his high school teams were unstoppable. 

Unlike the two quick examples above, as compared to schemes and plays, this approach is more reliant on strategy and playing the analytics game, than on using limited talent on the field more effectively. 

Unlike the spread, Air Raid or Briles' 'System', this approach hasn't caught on with a lot of other schools at the high school level, which is nowadays the real proving grounds for new ideas in football. So until more coaches have solid data on whether this is a viable approach, I wouldn't expect it to make it to the next level.

[MeanGreenMailbox aka TFLF]

It's like Joel Klatt says, that kind of thing doesn't work in the higher levels of football because you can't out-athlete people in the NFL week after week like you can in high school, or in some college conferences. 

It goes to the out-athlete discussion.  Back to Alabama.  They won national titles running the option.  They won national titles running a pro-style.  They won with Kiffin making them more pass-oriented than Saban had been before.

If you have the athletes, you can do it.  But, very, vert few teams can out-athlete people past high school, lower collegiate level.

[NewNTfan]

At Locust Grove, Mason Fine was our punter also, but we rarely punted.  Here are his stats.  He rolled out and I assume made a decision to throw, run or punt.  A lot of the time on 4th down we used the swinging gate formation, but sometimes normal spread formation.  You can see as he got more mature, the number of punts went down.  He was our only punter also.  You can see it was a rare occasion, even deep in our own territory.  It was sweet when it worked out, but a little bitter when you give the other team a short field.

2015 - 7 punts - 45 avg.

2014 - 9 punts - 46 avg.

2013 - 17 punts - 44 avg.