None of the coaches I have ever met actually “invented or reinvented the wheel,” but they all have “go to” plays that they use to catch their opponents off guard when they need a big play. These are a couple examples of plays that I saved for special circumstances:
Football: Claw Stunt = I didn’t normally blitz a middle linebacker from the opposite side. As this was the case, we had many big plays/sacks against opponents passing games when we did. Keys to success were the interior down lineman(Nose Guard or “3” Tackle) blasting the center into the opposite “A” gap to create a seam & the non-blitzing MLB freezing to guard across from him with a fake blitz step.
Basketball: Red Fire = Sometimes you really want, or need, to shoot an open 3pt. basket. Against man to man defense, one of my favorite “big play” changeups was running my point guard, or another player with shooting ability, through a squeeze screen that would block off the trailing defender. During most games we would attack the defense with “give and gos” to the point guard, usually out of a 1-4 high set. The key to “Red Fire” was to fake the previously utilized give and go off of a high post screen and then cut off the trailing defender, who was trying to prevent the give and go, with the squeeze, opening up the return pass to the point guard for an open three. Having a great fake of the give and go by the wing and point was key in setting up the squeeze.
(Editor’s Note- If you look closely Coach Bennett drew these plays on a bar napkin!)
Greg King- Sterling
So the belly sweep was added to our arsenal after attending a clinic and hearing one of the all time great wing - t coaches, Rich Erdelyi from Carnegie Mellon. It was something that we could add that would be another misdirection off our base play. We were able to down block and then pull both guards. The 1st guard would log block the DE/OLB and the backside would pull up on the defensive back. The timing could be tough with the fullback’s path and the backside guard pulling. I really liked it in practice…so we started to use it. There was a problem though. It did not work as well against teams that were not as disciplined. When the DE/OLB would run upfield instead of closing on the down block, it gave us some trouble. Enter the Sycamore Spartans. They were a very talented team and were very well coached by IHSFCA Hall of Famer, Joe Ryan. When watching tape, they were very good at playing sound, fundamental football. We added a time period in each practice where that is the only play we ran. We mixed formations and motions to disguise it. It was also a great way to get the ball to our best player even more. It was a key for us to get a 34-27 OT victory at Sycamore. We used it the rest of the year and were somewhat successful with it. In the 2nd round of the IHSA Playoffs Lombard Montini came to Sterling. Once again a very well talented and disciplined team. The play did not work as well against them. One of the keys to the play is getting a good down block on the defensive tackle. There was a slight problem with that….that player was Jaleel Johnson. Jaleel transferred into Montini for his senior season from Westchester St. Joseph. Jaleel went onto play at Iowa and was a 4th round pick of the Minnesota Vikings. This comes to mind what a great philosopher once said…”It is not necessarily the X’s and O’s, bit the Jimmy and the Joes!”
This is a pretty common backdoor series that a lot of people run. We began to use it because a coaching friend ran it against and burned us with it over and over.
We would run a shooter on the baseline off a double screen. And sometimes, we actually ran the play to set up the shooter. In this drawing it is #2.
As #2 ran baseline, a key was that our person who was going to backdoor had to got stand on the elbow. This was a detail that was important for us because often the player who was going to go backdoor would be in a hurry to go or would not get high enough.
When the point guard would spin and come back, our player on the elbow was instructed to fake by touching the three point arc then go backdoor.
Things I liked about this simply play-
1- We could make a call to set up different players to be the backdoor cutter or the point guard. Often we wanted to have a player who was our best offensive player be the backdoor cutter because they would overplay, but many times it worked by putting a less proficient offensive player in the position because they often had a less skilled defender.
2- I played with our out of bounds plays, and our mm offensive sets so that we could run them (false action), end up in this backdoor alignment, and then run the play. Buy running one of our regular sets, teams were more likely to be caught off guard.
It really took a skilled passer to run this but when years we found that passer, it was very effective. We once scored 12 points in one game by putting the play at the end of other plays, running it on both sides of the floor, and putting different players in the position. Not only could we score points but it tended to make an opponent back off defensively which helped with execution of everything else.
Sorry I didn't make any diagrams for this segment for a couple of reasons. First of all, I think I can describe them pretty well. Also, there are different options on how coaches might want to use within the plays I am describing. There are a number of end line plays, backdoor sets, 3 point actions, but I chose three different options that came to mind.
The first one has been used by many coaches, but I think there is a time and place for it when taking the ball out in a full court situation against man denial pressure. This is especially effective when the team puts a man deep and not on the ball or if you have a good point guard and the defense doubles him on the inbounds. Since the inbounder can run the baseline after a timeout following a made basket, the offense can also pass the ball out of bounds before inbounding the ball. So if you step a man out of bounds, you can pass right back to the inbounder stepping inbounds. If you put a good free throw shooter there, it is a good way to get it in his hands. In 1999 I was ready to use this late in the State quarterfinal game since we had run it before, but our sophomore coach talked me out of it. I suppose there would have been some pressure to execute it on a big stage.
The second situation is also versus full court pressure. This would be with 1-2 seconds left and either tied or maybe down a point or two if the defense puts a man on the ball. Many have used this as well, and Illinois did a good job of running it against Michigan in the Final 4 but didn't get the call. We used different actions on the back end over the years, but the first option is running a man up to screen the man on the ball. This has to be after a made basket as well because the inbounder runs one direction and then back the other way. The screener tries to take the charge. You need to alert the official that you are trying it so they are aware. We got this only once, but it was to win a game against Aurora West after we made both free throws. There was another time we got into it after an opponent's made FT, but our screener was a split second late when our inbounder ran the baseline.
The last one I thought of is something I used when I was younger but decided maybe I should refrain from as I became more experienced. It did actually work twice, but some things need to fall into place. If we had the ball to start the second half, we would huddle early and hustle out to set up our sideline out of bounds. The only catch is that we lined up at the wrong end. The inbounder has to tell the official we knew what we were doing. It is interesting when the official would chuckle and not point toward our basket. If the other team is late getting out of the huddle, they are usually running out to play defense and may not notice we are lined up in the backcourt. Then a man breaks toward our basket for a layup.
Mike Tracey- Alleman, UTHS
Most of our teams ran the football. In fact, some of my wonderful fans called each pass a trick play. We won a playoff game completing zero passes, and we won a tough conference game the same way. It's not because we didn't try to complete passes. Sometimes the defenses we saw took away the routes we wanted to run.
In terms of the trick play, the best thing we did over the years was the old-fashioned half back pass. We set it up off one of our 3 Favorite Running Plays: the dive option, the speed option, and toss to the tailback. The secret of the play was to sell the run as much as we could.
Quite honestly, I didn't call enough of those kind of plays during my career. The half back PASS was the simplest of the so-called trick plays to execute. We had to get the ball in the hands of a running back who was a threat . Fortunately, we had talented kids that could throw the pass and receivers that could sell the block and then catch the pass.
We determined who the receiver is going to be by how the defense was playing our base run plays. The dive option was a good play to run the half back pass from because we only had to see if the force player was a free safety or a corner . The corner was usually better to throw against because of one on one coverage.
This play, and many other trick plays are great to incorporate in your offense . Just remember, run the ball first, and have someone who could complete the pass off the run fake.
I would be remiss if I failed to include this story. It was during a freshman football game in Savanna. Massey was doing what he usually did on defense. He would line up as deep from the ball as humanly possible. When the ball was snapped, Evan would diagnose the play. His survival skills kicked in and he went the opposite direction of the play.
Our opponent had the ball near their goal line. I was doing what I normally did, fighting through double and triple teams to try to get in the backfield. On this particular play, I had a clean shot on the quarterback, and I took it. The ball fluttered in the air. There was no way Evan could avoid it. He picked it off and ran it back over 100 yards for a touchdown.
Sad to say, a referee spoiled the play by calling roughing the quarterback on me.
After the game, I received the most severe tongue lashing I ever did receive on any football field. It was not from our head coach, an assistant coach, or one of our captains . It was from Mrs. Massey, Evan's mother. She really let me have it. Mrs. Massey was one of the nicest people on earth and I was shocked by her display.
I never again roughed a quarterback in the end zone. I think Evan might have scored one touchdown his sophomore year and maybe two in his varsity career. Mrs. Massey was just being protective of her her son, whose main goal in football was to survive until basketball season started.
(Editor’s Note- Just as Mike has interesting “memories” from Savanna days, my interesting “memory” is how many times the coaches moved me from wide receiver into a tight end position so I might block for our tackle. But in high school I was 6’4” and 225 pounds!)
Jeff Parsons- Wethersfield, Fulton
New York Series
THis was our go to in clutch situations vs man to man. We had several options off this and could even run it as a continuity office if need be, This is a total execution and timing play. if executed correctly, it leads to a 3-5 foot uncontested shot or lay-up every time.
Phase #1-1-4 high set. PG (1) passes to the wing. Either wing is good. We are diagramming the right wing (3). Wicked that is going on (5) back screens the PG (1). It is the PG (1) to set his or her man up for the screen. While that action is going on (4) slides down to the opposite block. (2) is spaced out on the opposite wing occupying his man.
Phase #2- Simultaneously (3) dribbles down as (1) sets a screen in the middle of the lane on (4)'s man.
Phase #3-(4) reads the screen and goes under or above it. We preferred to set the defender up high and v-cut low. As soon as (3) sees (4)'s number on the front of his shirt he throws a bounce pass to his baseline hand. (4) pivots on his left foot after the catch squares up and should be positioned at the backboard for a lay up.
The continuation part is that the defense would often switch, having (1) pop up to the top of the key and reset the office and we could run it again to either side. Again if this is executed and set up screens and read screens properly it scores the ball 90 percent of the time.
Volleyball not really as many options for so-called trick plays. Volleyball for us it would be just doing something that a team rarely did in a certain circumstance. It might be a setter attacking the second ball instead of setting it. Often it might be setting a different location of the net than you normally did. In Volleyball today it is often setting a back row attacker. More of a surprise than a trick, but a server conserve a type of server location that they normally don’t do. That of course carries a certain degree of risk.
Perhaps the most effective might be running a combination with two or even three attackers flooding a zone and the ball goes to the second or third attacker coming in. When you think of the net as the line of scrimmage in football, much afford a volleyball offense is trying to do is to Upset the rhythm of the team on the other side of the net, similar to football. Either through this direction or timing to get the other teams block or defenders to hesitate or lean one way or the other.
Tim Engebretson- UnitedWe had 2 go to trick plays. The first was the swinging gate that you see so many people using on extra points. We liked to use it right after a kickoff. Especially if our opponent had just gained some momentum. The best it ever worked for us was in a playoff game vs. Carthage. We were up a couple scores but they just marched down the field and scored. The momentum had completely changed. They were the defending state champs and seemed poised to take control of the game. We ran the swinging gate and it went for about a 70 yard TD. We gained momentum back and won the game comfortably. They were not nearly the team they were the year before but it was still a great win.
The other trick play we liked was a fake punt we stole from Dale Grawe at ROWVA. They burnt us with it so we decided to start using it. It was really kind of the hidden ball trick. It worked quite often. We would tell the officials of our intentions before the game because it was hard to find the ball and easy to blow the play dead early. In one game we told 5 of the 6 officials but the 6th official didn't get the message from his crew. As luck would have it, that official blew the fake play dead and cost us a TD.
Although these plays worked very well at times they blew up in our face a few times as well. There were times we gave our opponent great field position and momentum.
Bob Anderson- Williamsfield HS
Bob is retired as boys basketball coach at Williamsfield. At a school of only 89 students, in 45 years, his teams won 732 games along with numerous tourney and conference championships. His 1997 team made it to the Elite 8.
Mike Cooper- Ottawa HS
Mike is the retired Athletic Director at Ottawa HS. He was varsity girls basketball coach for 22 years, as well as sophomore football coach for many years. He was inducted in the the IBCA HOF.
Tim Engebretson- United HS
He was varsity head football coach for many years at United HS. He also has coached basketball at different levels. His 2005 team won the Illinois State Title, and Tim is in the Illinois Football Coaches' HOF as well as the United HOF.
Greg King- Sterling HS
In his head coaching career at Sterling, his football teams went 78-28, and had 10 straight play-off appearances and 5 conference titles. In addition to his success as a football coach, he was inducted in the Illinois Athletic Director's Association HOF.
Mark Massey- Clinton HS
Mark was the head volleyball coach at Clinton for 38 years. His teams won 818 games, and twice took second in State. He is in the Iowa Volleyball HOF and Clinton HS HOF.
Thom Sigel- Rock Falls/Rock Island HS
Thom coached basketball for 32 years. His teams won 502 games, and he has the distinction of winning the State Title at both Rock Falls and Rock Island. Thom is in the IBCA HOF.
Mike Tracey- Alleman, UTHS, Moline HS
Mike coached football at Alleman, UT, and Moline for over 20 years. He is considered the premier football coach in WB6 history. His teams won 140 games, and twice finished second in State. Mike is in the Alleman HS HOF and the Illinois Football HOF. He was also selected Illinois AD of the Year.
Greg Bennett- Lewistown
Greg coached many sports at Lewistown. He had teams go to State in girls basketball and football. He is in the Illinois Football HOF as well as being in the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame. He is know for his commitment as a coach and his high energy level.
Jeff Parsons- Wethersfeild, Fulton
Jeff was a highly successful baseball and basketball coach at Kewanee Wethersfield. He was inducted into the IBCA HOF. Presently he is the Athletic Director at Fulton
The last play that Coach Sigel described was pulled off by the Louisville women recently as they came out "early" from the quarter break and set up at the wrong end. They scored an uncontested layup.
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