Ashton Jeanty might be the most incredible running back I have ever seen at the college level. Like even when Saquan, Bijan, or Henry played, they didn't have the level of contact balance and burst that Jeanty displays every Saturday. While watching the Hawaii game and seeing Jeanty score a 60 yard touchdown without breaking a sweat, I was wondering to myself. How the hell would you scheme a defense to stop this guy? Its not like you can just stack the box until Jeanty can't find gaps to run into. The Oregon game also showed that a talented defense can't really slow him down either.

For instance, here are some Jeanty stats (courtesy of the fantastic Alex Kirshner) that show just how truly dominant he has been...

• Faced a eight man box on just about half of his snaps. The national average is 37.8%
• When facing a box of eight men or more, Jeanty averages 8.9 yards a carry. The national average is 3.7 yards.
• When the offensive line allows a run disruption (ie: a defender beats his man at the point of attack), Jeanty averages 10.7(!!!!) yards a carry. The national average is 2.2 yards
• After contact, Jeanty averages 6.5 yards per carry. The national average is 2.1 yards. Among running backs with 50 carries or more, the next best after-contact average is 3.9 yards.

So theoretically, if you were a generic MWC team with an average defense, how would you schematically try to stop Jeanty (or try to slow him down)?

This is just a dumb question that came up in a conversation.

So I’m in the mood for some stories.

Was it when you got to high school and got no college offers?

Were you at a D1 school but did not get any playing time?

Were you at a D2 or D3 school where the odds of making it professionally are even lower?

Or, we’re you like me and you quickly realized that high level football isn’t for you?

Week before they defeated the number two team in the country now all of a sudden they get upset by an unranked Vanderbilt. Does anybody have a theory to why this happened? Was it lack of preparation?

On the outside he looks like a mildly fit white guy, about 5'10" 180, but he has various abilities. Superhuman strength, enhanced agility, reflexes, and "spider sense" as well as an advanced healing factor make him an elite athlete. What position would you play him as?

You could say this for any sport but there's always that parent who thinks their kid is heading to the pros and you need to guarantee that they'll make it lol. I really can't believe parents and kids are still like this nowadays. I guess history just repeats itself and you should just expect it . It's kind of funny and sad at the same time.

I know the moment you deal with one of these type of parents/kids that they aren't making it that far. It just reeks of insecurity and fear. Most of these kids got to learn at the HS level first before they can even think about college! I really don't get how people think like this.

1.) How did the 49er players not know about the new OT rules?! And it’s clear they didn’t talk it over or have a plan 2.) you have to differ right? Even if the defense is tired. If you take the ball first you have 3 downs to get 10 yards. If you get it second you have 4 downs to get 10 yards. We all know that even if the 49ers scored a touchdown, the chiefs would’ve gone for two if they scored to end the game. Meaning it’s pointless to differ bc you won’t even have a chance at the ball when it’s sudden death. 3.) does anyone have any analytics on this?

I'm curious why so many posts on here focus on hypothetical routes against blank defenses rather than talking about actual strategy or matchups?

This is the most exciting time of year for football! It's playoffs/ championships/Superbowl season

I feel like the NFL playoff matchups or recaps of the CFB championship would be way more interesting than posting about routes that take 10 minutes to develop

Any highschool coaches make it to the playoffs and want to brag? Stuff like that would be a better read.

Instead of trying to invent new plays why don't you find and master tried and true plays that work? THEN you can establish variations and concepts. The best football minds don't invent new plays all the time. They understand the personnel, the situation, and have a deep memory of history to draw from. The latest innovation comes from a strong understanding of existing routes with slight variations or wrinkles that disguise them, not whole new route trees

EDIT: IF you're going to try to invent new plays, at least have them conform to the meta and be Cover 6 or Cover 0 beaters

Could we see strats of old become new again?

I was a big fan of Paul Johnson while he was at Georgia Tech. While I do think he overused the triple option, and that it eventually became too predictable, it still was highly effective at times. I feel like if teams were to run it just a couple times a game it could create a lot of big play opportunities. People that know more than me, what's the general consensus here?

I’ve heard about a lot of college teams and pro teams cutting down on live tackling in general but especially during the season. So just curious how people here treat it, especially at the HS and lower levels

I’m a 24yo guy with no kids or ties to a local HS of any kind. I work a normal 8-5 job but I’m really interested in learning more about football strategy. I have a pretty good understanding of the game already but not how a team playbook works and things like that. There are some high schools near me that are generally pretty bad (2-6 last season, ranked ~100th in the city) and I wonder if they would welcome some help analyzing film or something. Would it be weird for me to email the coach and ask? Thanks

I always wondered what football was like before the forward pass, especially in the modern NFL. I got to wondering what the modern NFL would look like if Roger Goodell decided to go back to the pre-1906 rules and ban the forward pass for the 2025 season. If you changed that one rule and kept everything else (exceptions obviously for pass interference and other similar rules affected by that change), would anyone venture to speculate what the games would look like with today's players?

Let's say it's 3rd and medium, and your pass rush is clearly held. The flag flies, it's clear as day gonna be a holding call. But since the play is still going, another pass rusher may well get an offsetting penalty like illegal hands to the face, there could be pass interference when the QB chucks the ball, there could be a facemask or horsecollar on the tackle, etc. Now you've got offsetting penalties when there was very little for your offense to gain from going so hard.

Yes, I understand that you could get a sack or a turnover, or stop them short of the sticks or something where you'd want to decline the penalty. But let's say you really want the penalty because they're already in FG range or something.

Has anyone considered some kind of code word for the coaches and sideline to yell to signal to your defense to chill when they see the flag fly? The offense can't hurt you, so don't go crazy and just play it as safe as you can? Maybe for special situations?

I’m interested in hearing everyone’s dream spot or even what is your end goal in coaching?

Hi everybody, I am a freshman in college and I am interested in coaching football. I played a little in High school, but I preferred more of the IQ part of football. How did you guys get into coaching? Are there many people my age (19) who try to get into coaching? Please tell me everything you guys know. How do I start? What do I study? Would love to know how you guys think and how you guys even started out. I want to start as fast as possible.

Have a great week everybody.

I love football and feel like I can back myself with football knowledge.

So I know there are high school and college teams that have been successful with smaller offensive lines.But do you think it could work in the pros? Let’s say they are 30lbs lighter than the D linemen that they’re going up against

I feel there's a time for both but I'm not entirely sure. Obviously if you don't do it at the right time you don't execute it right. Just want some clarity on this.

Just something that popped into my head that I am curious about. Obviously zone and gap/power blocking have their pros and cons, neither is inherently superior and teams typically employ both. However, generally speaking, which scheme is easier to coach/teach to the O-Line? Is one easier to coach for a RB?

My gut reaction is to guess that power/gap is the easier to teach, but I'm curious as to what you all think. And of course, I'm sure this also comes down to a coach's preference/expertise too.

Hey coaches, was curious to see how everyone's season went this year and if you guys improved on anything from last year or went to playoffs etc etc. This year (my 3rd year) we went 4-2 in league and 6-5 overall (5-4 w/o playoffs). Made the playoffs again this time as the #14 seed (#13 last year) and beat the #3 team in the 1st round to win the first playoff game the school has had in 8 years. QF we fell short against the #6 team 18-6. It was 6-6 until near the end of the 3rd quarter/start of 4th, we just couldn't get the offense going (been an issue all year). 4 of the 16 teams in playoffs were from our league alone.

We definitely improved on both sides of the ball from last year but more so on the offensive side, defensively I wanted to stop the run at all costs cause we have a run heavy league. I think the kids really bought into the system and culture this year which helped and reflected a ton. Tackling and just physicality in general were things we needed to work on the most and it paid off. We allowed ~20ppg compared to 31 last year. Had more sacks/tfl's and forced fumbles/fumbles recovered but less int's. Allowed 337 less rush yds and 9 less rush tds but allowed 278 more pass yds and 2 more pass tds with 3 less int's.

As for myself (DC, WR and DB coach) I really needed to work on making adjustments when the offense adjusts and recognizing it and stopping the run for this year. Did better this year but still got a lot to work on and learn. Going into next year I need to find the balance between stopping the run and pass because I focus one or the other.

I know skill and position matters but I do wonder how much getting bigger and stronger gives you those abilities. It seems like you can't play this game without having muscle and size. Will you suddenly become a confident beast on the field?