Multiple Wishbone Attack - Counter & Option Plays

with Mike Rude,
Vienna-Goreville (IL) High School Head Coach;
7x Coach of the Year; Illinois High School Football Coach Hall of Fame (1995)

Running the football in the age of the spread is great way to establish a hard-nosed identity with your players. What's more is a counter or option play that goes for big yards is exciting to watch. Here, you will learn from an experienced and dedicated coach that will keep your offense scoring and simply destroy your opponent on game day.

Using whiteboard diagrams and film footage, 47-year veteran of high school football, Mike Rude, explains the counter and option plays needed against well-coached defenses. Coach Rude explains all the necessary blocking rules, techniques, and schemes to keep you competitive.

The Counters & Reverses

After pounding the rock with the base plays, any well-coached defense will look to take away your "bread & butter" plays. When this happens, they'll be vulnerable to the Wishbone's misdirection plays. The counter series includes the counter fold, counter iso, fire trap, and sam reverse. Coach Rude also shows examples of each play with game video while emphasizing key coaching points.

Outside Veer

The outside veer play involves the quarterback reading the end man on the line of scrimmage as a "dive key." Coach Rude explains the read progression for the quarterback on both the dive and pitch phase of the play and also details the importance of closing the offensive lineman splits in order to make the play more efficient. He shows you how the triangle block is used against a "50" defense and the responsibilities for the load blocking halfback and pitch back.

Inside Veer and Midline Option

Coach Rude diagrams what he terms 'veer 5,' which is a triple option play designed to attack the defensive tackles. He explains the read progression for the quarterback and coaching points for the halfbacks and fullback.

You'll also see the 'veer solid,' which is designed to be run to the tight end. The "solid" call tells the tight end to block the player responsible for the quarterback on the option. This scheme simplifies the read progression for the quarterback and eliminates the defense bringing two edge players to force the quarterback to execute in a hurried manner.

The midline option is designed to attack even front defenses and is probably the easiest option play to read from the quarterback's standpoint.

Blocking Schemes

Most high schools that follow NFHS rules have outlawed cut blocking. Most colleges that run triple option football rely on cut blocking from their running backs and lineman. Thus, it's a common argument against running the triple option with Federation rules, but this is where Coach Rude's experience comes in. He'll teach how he's modified the blocking schemes with special legal blocks to keep this style of offense lethal on Friday nights.

Give your Wishbone offense attack a boost with these great counter and option looks!

56 minutes. 2017.