Remember the A-11 offense, that wacky football invention by mad scientists Kurt Bryan and Steve Humphries over at Piedmont High in California? It kind of startled opponents when it debuted two seasons ago, when Piedmont lined up and everyone just went long. Actually, Bryan utilized a loophole in the rules by lining up the offense in a punt formation on every down, thus making multiple players eligible to catch a pass. Hilarity, and wins, ensued.
Well, the thing started to catch on: 41 states legalized the A-11, and several schools adopted it as their primary offense. Then in stepped the National High School Federation last season to outlaw it. (“Conform … conform …”) So is Piedmont lining up in a T formation this season, handing the ball straight ahead to a fullback? Nope. They’re still fighting The Man.
Bryan had vowed to tinker with the rules once again to help his undersized squad maintain their edge against bigger teams in their league. I caught several Piedmont games last season (the town is an Oakland suburb), but missed their nonleague opener on Friday. Fortunately, Carl Steward of the Oakland Tribune was there.
The A-11’s co-creators, coach Kurt Bryan andoffensive coordinator Steve Humphries, took the NHSF offseason rules changes intended to defang their cutting-edge offense and added more teeth.
Hence, on the Oakland school’s second play of the 2009 season on Friday against Drake of San Anselmo, a Piedmont player wearing No. 77, George Fullerton, took an end-around from quarterback Cormac Cragie for a 7-yard gain … out of a Statue of Liberty handoff. Doesn’t the NHSF rule change, which mandates that four players line up on the line of scrimmage wearing numbers 50 to 79, prevent No. 77 from carrying the ball?
No. Players wearing those numbers — the so-called ineligibles — still can carry the ball, throw it, catch screens and block. They just can’t go downfield to catch passes.
“The roots of the offense are still 100 percent the A-11,” said Humphries. “Our entire offense and the terminology has remained basically the same. All 11 players are still potential threats, and we might even have more options now than before. We do everything with the ineligible player that’s legal that’s hardly ever used.”
Using the revamped A-11, Piedmont beat Drake — a team it lost to last year — 41-14.
There is no doubt great wailing and gnashing of teeth over this from football traditionalists — the same ones who last year worked so hard to get the original A-11 banned. But look folks, football is going to evolve whether you’re with the program or not. It wasn’t that long ago that the forward pass was looked on by football purists as blasphemy from the netherworld. According to some, we should still be playing rugby.
Innovators come in all shapes and sizes — Bill Walsh tweaked the blueprint just a bit in the 1970s and came up with the West Coast offense. Bryan and Humphries set convention on its ear and invented the A-11, leading their perennial also-rans to the playoffs and increasing attendance at Piedmont games from 800 to 2,000 fans per game in two years.
To hear Bryan and Humphries tell it, more coaches than ever are considering the possibilities of the A-11, not only at the high school level, but colleges and pro. Humphries said Boise State converted a successful two-point conversion out of the A-11 formation against Oregon last week. The Tennessee Titans, in an exhibition game, ran a Statue of Liberty out of a punt formation that was on a DVD of Piedmont’s top 75 A-11 plays from last year. The DVD was sent to 18 NFL coaches and more than 40 college programs.
“Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher is a big fan of it,” Humphries said.
The Piedmont coaching staff has been innovative in other areas as well. They streamed their games live on their own web site last season, and this season have teamed with RIVALS.COM and the National Collegiate Scouting Association to create the A-11 Network, to stream the games nationally.
Bryan and Humphries also sell A-11 concept manuals on their web site for $149; something for which they’ve been criticized. But they’ve also distributed countless A-11 installation manuals and DVDs for free, and much of their revenue goes back to the school. So what, the inventor of the Wildcat offense didn’t get paid for his efforts?
“It’s crazy where the game is headed,” Bryan said. “One of our guys said it best, that once you let the genie out of the bottle, you can never put it back in.”
2:43 am on September 11th, 2009
So why, exactly, does the NHSF want the A-11 banned? It’s not like you need an all-star roster to run it.
4:37 am on September 11th, 2009
Traditionalist coaches were saying that it’s a gimmick, and not in the spirit of the game. And since the NHSF is largely made up of like-thinking former coaches, you get a ban.
10:39 am on September 11th, 2009
Actually, teams using A-11 were breaking the rules. They would line up in a “scrimmage kick” formation with all 11 players in elegible numbers. The scrimmage kick formation was intended for kicking and punting. The A-11 teams had no intention of kicking or punting when in this formation, they simply were trying to fool defenses by breaking the rules.
11:28 am on September 11th, 2009
That’s not breaking the rules at all. Just as running a fake punt for a first down is not breaking the rules. If you run a fake punt, you had “no intention of kicking or punting while in that formation” as well. You’re simply trying to fool the defense.
11:41 am on September 11th, 2009
there is such a thing as going to far and turning the game into a freak show. i dont know if this offense will do that. however…
it will be interesting to see what happens as the game continues to evolve. maybe this will result in 300 lb linemen no longer being needed. or more strict rules to keep the integrity of the game in place.
a game without structure + rules, becomes more like a pickup game that is boring to watch. which what this offense may make the sport look like. i need to see more.
12:33 pm on September 11th, 2009
the a11 is exploiting the punt/kicking rule and using for it something it was not intended for.
after learning more about the a11, i think it is garbage.
not surprised it was voted down 46-2. but this means more rules will be needed as these coaches find more loopholes.
Basically it is rare to see it in:
college. it can only be used on 4th down or when punting/kicking is expected.
nfl, due to player number requirements.
the rules are more relaxed in high school, but this offense may force changes to that similar to college and the nfl.
dont like it because it is based on playing games with players jersey numbers and trying to mislead the defense.
and it is not the same as a fake punt. learn about the rules and understand the importance of integrity of the game.
12:55 pm on September 11th, 2009
I’m sorry, did you want the five-minute argument, or the full 30 minutes?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teMlv3ripSM
You damn kids and your pot and your spread punt formations. Get off my lawn!
4:49 pm on September 11th, 2009
“That’s not breaking the rules at all. Just as running a fake punt for a first down is not breaking the rules. If you run a fake punt, you had “no intention of kicking or punting while in that formation” as well. You’re simply trying to fool the defense.”
The point of the scrimmage kick formation being legal for punts is that it allows you to get players on the field who can cover kicks and they don’t have to have lineman numbers. Saying they were breaking the rules at the time may not be the best way to put it. They were using one rule to get around another. Hence the reason for more defined rules.
12:34 pm on August 15th, 2011
Look I have seen the video. While it is a fun offense the traditional defense was able to stop it. someone will come up with a creative defense to match it. I was thinking a 2 5 4 defense to help contain the rush threat and support the wide threat at the edges. I like the A11 especially when dealing with high school since it give smaller schools an opportunity to compete more competitively. I think the big problem is the way they handled exploited the loophole and the NHSF snobbed it. I think if they had approached the NHSF first and said we need to be able to compete against these bigger teams. This is how plan on doing it. Let us try it out a season and if people adopt it why not