What Smaug can learn from Strike Slip

There are at least three things that I can think of that Strike-Slip does well that Smaug can benefit from. In descending order:

1. Run a System

We sort of ran a system last year, but it was not not nearly enough. The offense should be well thought out and documented in advance. It doesn't have to be rigid, but there should be no guesswork involved for the offensive players on the field. We can beat inferior teams with no system, but when we play teams that are as athletic and talented as us, we need every advantage we can get.

2. Have called plays

This follows closely with point #1. Taking the guess work out of running an offense is an easy benefit.

3. Huck Smart

Hucks are green lighted, but only on the right kind of look. We want to lead our receiver with a flat throw, and the receiver should be to the opposite side of the field that the receiver is cutting from.

4. End Zone Mentality

Our end zone offense needs to change from focusing on a one-man iso to running off give-and-go handler movement, looking for quick horizontal cuts off the front of the stack. This isn't set in stone; the important thing is, we need to move away from a system that doesn't work as well.



The question now is, what should Smaug's offensive system be? I want us to be able to run both a vert stack and some form of ho. There should be as much similarity between the two systems as possible for simplicities sake. The handler motion is the most important part to lock down because it must be the most reliable and it should be the most frequently used part of the system.

I'm not sure if the Strike-Slip vert would work with college players. It's pretty simple in concept, but it might require more throwing skill than we have. Time will tell.

UCLA is a team full of very smart people, but I feel like we've haven't used our intelligence in the right way. Memorizing plays would be a good use of our brain power. Over thinking things would not be.