Suspended in Time

[Reginald Rutledge]

I had a high school coach over at my house yesterday wanting me to know about the potential applications of miniature football to the game of high school football. We began to discuss the techniques of read and react. He asked me how does that relate to miniature football. His premise was based on nickel and dime coverage schemes and it freaked him out about what I was saying.

He asked me the question, "Reginald, why don't you just let the players run after the catch or after breaking the first level?" I told him that the similarities to what he do and what I do are similar. When the players catch the ball or break the first wave, there is a momentary suspension of time. If you play back any tape of games, when a player catches the ball, there is this reaction to the ball. I told him, this is where in miniature football, this is our suspension of time and we react on the ball.

We fooled around with various coverage schemes and blitz packages as he was looking for any edge over his opponent for this weekend's Texas high school playoffs. I found it very interesting having a coach at my house trying to get a leg up on his opponents this Saturday. By night's end, he had spent about 2 hours talking football.

But the suspension in time and zone packages were the highlight of the strategy session.

Reg