Goal Line/Short Yardage

Package at Midland Lee

M idland Lee is a large (5A) high school
located in West Texas. We are a two-
back, 75 percent-run football team that may
with sets and personnel that might give us
an advantage by alignment or by personnel.

be considered a dinosaur, in that we still How Our Short Yardage Package

bang the run with a lot of two tight end/three
tight end schemes. Our staff has experi-
ence in doing this and it is what we can
teach the best. My personal experience is
John Parchman as a defensive coach defending the wing-T
every week in a hard-core West Texas foot-
Head Coach ball league. Anyway, this has been a good
fit for us (77 wins in the last seven years).
Lee High School We feel that it is difficult, sometimes, for the
teams that we play who have played vs.
Midland, Texas one-back offenses all year to change gears
to defend against our style and tempo.
Developed
We have always run a lot of wing sets to
create a four-man blocking surface to run
the pitch sweep and we are probably
known as a sweep team. We found that, by
alignment, defenses were always dictating
that we double team a defensive end in
order to get the edge.
Diagram 1: Short Yardage Package

Our Run Philosophy

Sometimes, in every game at every
level, you come to a situation where you
need to just get after it and run the ball to
get that yard or two on the goal line or short
yardage. If you have plays that are sound We hated to waste a man on a double
in those situations, why not use them at team when we didn’t have to. We started
times on first down or other situations dur- making a “flip” call that helped us on the
ing the course of the game? We work hard perimeter but wasn’t much help spreading
at getting a body on a body and, for the things out on the inside.
most part, are a “rule” blocking team. We
can’t block every defense known to man, Diagram 2: Short Yardage Package
but we do a good job of making line calls,
recognizing fronts, and adjusting during the
game on the sideline.
We don’t use a lot of zone blocking,
although we use zone concepts in many
schemes. We use no sleds, chutes, dum-
mies, etc., with our linemen, but we pad up
every workout and learn to come off of the
ball, get a body on a body, and finish off a The “Flip” set has eventually evolved
block. These guys take great pride in the tra- into a “Nasty” slot that still gives us a four-
dition that has come out of our school in this man blocking surface, but allows us to use
area (currently we have three starting in the the “Big” back in more things to help our
NFL and another half-dozen playing D-I offense. The things that we are doing out
football). We feel that a good back can work of this set is what we want to talk about
off stalemates and make yards if we can just today.
maintain contact with the defensive men.
Diagram 3: Short Yardage Package
Personnel and Personnel Groupings
When we select offensive linemen, we
look for tight ends first and select them for
blocking ability as a main consideration. A
profile of our tight ends over the past seven
years would be about 6’3/240/4.8/340
bench type guys. We run a lot of two-tight
(closed) sets and three-tight (big) sets with
a tight end playing at the wing or slot posi- Our three basic short yardage plays
tion. We signal in our personal groupings from the “Nasty” slot are the Sweep (Toss
from the sideline and can actually run the 48-49 punch), the Wedge/Iso (Killer 46-47
same set several different ways with differ- wedge) and the Trap (Belly 34-35
ent personnel groupings. We try to do a lot Banger).

• Proceedings • 79th AFCA Convention • 2002 •

 Diagram 4: Toss 48-49 Punch Diagram 7: Killer 46-47 Wedge Diagram 9: Belly 32-33 Banger
vs. Overshift vs. Overshift vs. Overshift

Backside: Power cut off (p/c) or we might Coaching Point

Diagram 5: Toss 48-49 Punch
vs. 62 Goal Line
fold backside A-gapper with center and guard. Center will try to influence nose and
nasty will trap the nose.
Coaching Point
Vs. a three-technique, we will wedge Diagram 10: Belly 32-33 Banger
with G/T and the nasty will block the first vs. 62 Goal Line
thing outside the wedge.

Diagram 8: Gap Weak

Sam Shoot Pinch

Diagram 6: Toss 48-49 Punch

vs. Balanced Even

Diagram 11: Belly 32-33 Banger

Coaching Point vs 5-2
Vs. a three-technique, to wedge we
make a “Dynamite” call to change the
blocking scheme to blast or iso.

End must decide if he can reach or Coaching Point (Diagram 9)

needs to call for the down block Playside line-base (zone) look. Nasty
scheme. Back Trap.

NCAA Position on Gambling

The NCAA opposes all forms of legal and illegal sports wagering. Sports wagering has
the potential to undermine the integrity of sports contests and jeopardizes the welfare
of student-athletes and the intercollegiate athletics community. Sports wagering
demeans the competition and competitors alike by a message that is contrary to the
purposes and meaning of ‘sport.’ Sports competition should be appreciated for the
inherent benefits related to participation of student-athletes, coaches and institutions
in fair contests, not the amount of money wagered on the outcome of the competition.

For those reasons, the NCAA membership has adopted specific rules prohibiting ath-
letics department staff members and student-athletes from engaging in gambling activ-
ities as they relate to intercollegiate or professional sporting events.

• Proceedings • 79th AFCA Convention • 2002 •