[EKUAlum05]

His philosophy on the onside kicks is something I agree with at the level of HS he coaches. It would not work at a high level of High School (think 6A with Trinity, GCL, Florida) but at your standard issue level of High School Football I think it is genius. You look at smaller school football in KY and typically Special Teams are severely deficient.

Most teams start around the 30-35 yard line... most teams struggle to punt the ball 35 yards... most teams stick Freshman and Upper Classmen who are unable to see the field otherwise out there... most teams spend a minimal amount of practice time on their units.

If you are going to allow them to start at the 35 yard line why not master an onside kick that they recover at the 40? Why not try a perfectly placed pooch kick that one of those Freshman or space filler upperclassmen have to make a play on at the 35? Typically up-men will not be returning the ball for a TD so you take that out of the equation.

I think about the Pikeville vs. Middlesboro game where Pikeville recovered something like 3 or 4 kickoffs. Not onside kicks...KICKOFFS.. simply because Middlesboro was not well coached on Special Teams and did not know how to react to a ball hitting the turf. Same thing for the Pikeville vs. Raceland playoff game where Pikeville had a couple of key kick recoveries that led to their comeback last year.

I can't get behind always going for it on 4th Down... I could buy always going for it once you are across your own 40... but to forego a punt facing 4th and 15 at your own 11 seems foolish.

I have often wondered as a Belfry fan if philosophically it would make sense to be more aggressive on 4th Down. Belfry's offense has been predicated on getting 3.5 yards per carry and keeping the sticks moving and Belfry has a ridiculously high conversion percentage on 3rd Down. If you adopt always going for it on 4th Down then you only need to average 2.5 yards per carry. One of Belfry's biggest obstacles hasn't necessarily been that they can't throw the ball...but that the risk of throwing the ball is too high if it results in an incomplete pass and a 0 yard gain.

When you are relying on 3 downs and you pass on 2nd and 7 and it is incomplete you have a 3rd and 7 where you need to gain 7 yards. To pickup 7 you are asking your offense to either use another pass or a play outside of your base offense.

I think it would be staggering to see the difference between Belfry's conversion percentage on 3rd and Less Than 4 vs. 3rd and 5 or greater.

When you are relying on 4 downs and you pass on 2nd and 7 and it is incomplete you have a 3rd and 7 where now you only need a gain of 4 and a gain of 3. Now you can run your base offense on 3rd Down and potentially again on 4th Down. That pass goes from a liability to a luxury.