The Triangle Teach them to Read it, Anyone can Predetermine it by Ragan Clark
"The Triangle" Teach Them to Read It, Anyone can Predetermine It" CONTENTS FOREWORD iii WHY I GOT INTO OPTION FOOTBALL 1 HOW TO LINE OFF AND PAINT THE TRIANGLE 3-6 Where to place the triangle Step 1. Putting the cord down and painting line AB. Step 2. Putting the cord down and painting line CDE. Step 3. Putting the cord down and painting the 4, 5, 6 and 6 yd lines. Step 4. Putting the cord down and painting lines the lines FG and FH. Step 5. Marking the QB s heels and the 45 degree angle line. Step 6. Putting the cord down and painting the line for the HB s inside ft. FINISHED TRIANGLE AS IT SHOULD LOOK WHEN PAINTED ON THE FIELD 7 VEER COACHING POINTS FOR QB ON THE TRIANGLE 8-11 QB Double / Triple Option Mesh Footwork QB: Carrying the Ball after the Mesh QB: The 45 degree Angle Pitch QB: Option Pitch Mechanics QB: Keeping the Ball Instead of Pitching VEER COACHING POINTS FOR FB ON THE TRIANGLE 12 FB Veer and mesh with QB footwork VEER COACHING POINTS FOR THE HB / TB ON THE TRIANGLE 13 MIDLINE COACHING POINTS FOR QB, FB AND HB / TB ON THE TRIANGLE 14 PREDETERMIING 15 READING AND EXECUTING THE DOUBLE OPTION 16-18 1 Techniques 6 and 7 Techniques 4 Technique 5 Technique READING AND EXECUTING THE TRIPLE OPTION 19 PRACTICE REPS: RUN MORE, PASS MORE OR BALANCED OFFENSE 20 i
HOW TO USE THE TRIANGLE IN PRACTICE 21 QB DRILLS FOR VEER TRIANGLE MECHANICS 22 RUN PLAYS YOU NEED TO CONSIDER IN AN OPTION PACKAGE 23 * True FB and Gun SAVE MEASUREMENTS FOR TRIANGLE 24 CONTACT INFORMATION 25 True FB Any formation that has the FB in his normal position behind the QB> Could be I, Wing T, Double Wing, Double Slot, One Back, etc, ii
FOREWORD Over 20 years ago, I went to the Glazier Clinic in Atlanta. I bought a book for $5.00. It was written by AL Black, and its title was How To Run The Run & Shoot Offense. In that book I found a piece of information that corrected an error I was making in executing a play. We then used the play successfully for the next 25 years. I hope that you, in reading this, are as lucky as I was. I sincerely hope you will at least find a way to improve one thing you have been doing or get a new idea. I still, at age 65, wake up everyday wishing that I was still coaching. Some of you have probably gotten resumes from me in the past year about Assistant/OC jobs. About six weeks ago I drove nearly 700 miles roundtrip to talk to a Coach in Florida about an Offensive Coordinator job. I would have taken it, but they wanted me to teach eight Science classes too. It wasn t the Head Coaches fault, it was the ministrators ; enough said about that. If you were one of those I sent a resume to, and you bought and are reading this now; I m no longer mad at you for not hiring me. I personally do not think that a kidney transplant (my wife, Barbara, gave me the kidney), two hip replacements and a heart attack and six bypasses are any reason to quit coaching. I finally retired because of, well whatever it was; it wasn t a very good idea. I only mention my health problems, to tell you, do not ever quit coaching unless you have lots money and hobbies that you know can replace coaching. I was still coaching after my last health problem, and I should ah, could ah kept on. Why do I still want to coach? I loved the excitement, I loved the mental aspect of the game, I loved the competition, I loved the Coach camaraderie, I loved seeing kids who were tough enough to hit and, even more, were not afraid to get hit, I loved and respected those kids who had nothing but football, and thought that was enough (I still remember those kids at Ohatchee who walked 2.5 miles home everyday after a hard practice and came back the next day for more and another long walk), I loved those kids who never got to play much but practiced hard everyday, because being a part of the team was enough, but most of all, I loved teaching kids discipline and hopefully how to be a better man. 1
CHAPTER 1 WHY I GOT INTO OPTION FOOTBALL In 1970 I was the Head Football Coach at Ohatchee High School, a Class A school in Ohatchee, Alabama. At the ages of 23 and 24 I had coached consecutive basketball teams at Alexandria High School to second and fourth place finishes in the State Tournament, so you can imagine that I had a pretty high opinion of my coaching. My total yearly salary was about $4200.00. Since I had a wife and one child and did not receive a salary for coaching basketball, I decided to take the Head Football job at Randolph County High in Wedowee, Alabama in 1967. We lost our first game 7-0 to an opponent who had beaten us by 35 points the previous year. Due to lots of injuries and lots of poor coaching by me we finished 0 wins and 10 losses. Due to the death of my Father, I decided to take the Ohatchee job and get back closer to home. The first two years we finished 3 6-0 and 3 6-1, so after three years of head coaching football, that former stud basketball coach had a 6 22-1 record. Luckily, in 1970, a record of 11 2-0 and second place in the State saved my job. This is where the option story begins and I ll keep it short. In the spring of 1970, I and two of my Coaches got into a borrowed truck with a camper in its bed, and headed to Austin, Texas to learn the wishbone, Even though we had been 11-2 the previous season, I wanted to run the full house Wishbone Triple Option offense because I had four backs that I wanted in the game at the same time. Darryl Royal at Texas let us look at film and told us just enough for us to be confused, but we still went ahead and installed the option in the spring of 1971. Probably about now you are saying, why is he talking about the Wishbone, how is this going to help me, everybody knows the Gun is the offense of today? The option is still the most consistent running play and always will be because; YOU DON T HAVE TO BLOCK EVERYONE AT THE POINT OF ATTACK. Play action option passes will get you more opportunities to throw one on one because they have to get eight or nine, if they can, in the box minimum to stop the option when you can READ it and execute it. It will work on every level, especially if you are out athleted. I quit head coaching to become Offensive Coordinator, for my son Bill Clark, at Prattville High School, Class 6A, from 1999 to 2001 and again in 2003, Running the option out of the I formation and in 2001 out of the full house wishbone; our record was 40 wins, 6 losses over those four years. We had great defense, but that s another value of the option; if you ve got a great defense try not to make many mistakes, use ball control and let your defense put you in position to score and win. The Option has always worked, and always will, if you know how to read it, which your players will by using the triangle. Please understand, I do not claim to be the best x and o guy around. I do not have the best record in the State of Alabama, I am not in any Hall of Fame and though I am old enough, I did not invent the wheel. I am not trying to get you to run 4 back Wishbone. 2
I know that you probably expect to see the same old plays that I ve given a fancy name, The Triangle. This is not an x and o manual. This is a technical manual. If you do it enough times the same way, you will get very good at it. I am going to help you teach your players to learn to execute and understand the fundamentals necessary to read the option and execute it the same every time they run it. I guarantee you that after they learn how to run the triangle they will be able to execute it to your highest expectations as far as reading the option. YOUR QB BEING ABLE TO READ MAKES THE DOUBLE OPTION THE BEST GOALINE RUNNING PLAY THERE IS. Ask Tennessee, Nebraska scored 3 TD s from the 5 yd line in to win the Orange Bowl in 1997, and gain a share of the National Championship with Michigan. Learning to lay out the triangle is several pages long on paper, but it only takes minutes on the field. Let s get started. 3