A-11 offense
Encyclopedia
Offensive philosophy (American football)
The approach to offense in American and Canadian football has splintered and evolved in the 100 years in which the modern form of the sport has existed. Many philosophies exist about deploying a team's 11 players.-Smash Mouth:...
that has been used in some levels of amateur American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
. In this offense, a loophole in the rules governing kicking formations is used to disguise which offensive players would be eligible to receive a pass for any given play. It was designed by Kurt Bryan and Steve Humphries of Piedmont High School in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
The scheme was used at the high school
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
level for two seasons before the national governing body of high school football, the National Federation of State High School Associations
National Federation of State High School Associations
The National Federation of State High School Associations is the body that writes the rules of competition for most high school sports and activities in the United States. Most high schools, whether public or private, belong to their state's high school association; in turn, each state association...
, closed the scrimmage kick loophole in February 2009, effectively banning important facets of the offense.
Basic concepts
The most striking characteristic of the A-11 is its use of an "Emory & Henry"-style spread formation, with the players on the line of scrimmage spread across the field as if they were wide receivers. In conventional formations (including the Emory & Henry), five of these players are offensive linemen. In the A-11, however, players who play any position may be stationed across the line.This was possible because, at the time the A-11 offense was created, a loophole existed in the high school rule books that allowed teams in a "scrimmage kick" (i.e., a punt
Punt (football)
In some codes of football, a punt is a play in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it touches the ground. A punt is in contrast to a drop kick, in which the ball touches the ground before being kicked....
or field goal) formation to be exempted from numbering requirements. Instead of including five offensive linemen who wear uniform numbers in a specific range and who are obviously ineligible to receive a pass, any player wearing any number can be used anywhere on the field. Since there were no restrictions concerning when the "scrimmage kick" exemption could be used or not used, the A-11 offense could be used on every down.
To use the scrimmage kick formation exemption, the player who receives the snap (presumably the kicker or placeholder) must stand at least seven yards behind the line of scrimmage. The A-11 places the quarterback in that position, which becomes a deep shotgun formation
Shotgun formation
The shotgun formation is a formation used by the offensive team in American and Canadian football. This formation is used mainly for passing plays, although some teams use it as their base formation. In the shotgun, instead of the quarterback receiving the snap from center at the line of scrimmage,...
. This has the effect of reducing the need for offensive line protection since defensive players have more ground to cover before reaching the passer. The offense also places an additional passing back (similar to the wildcat offense
Wildcat offense
|- style="text-align:center;"| || |- style="text-align:center;"| Base Wildcat || Speed Sweep|- style="text-align:center;"| || |- style="text-align:center;"| QB Counter || Split Zone|- style="text-align:center;"...
) in the backfield next to the quarterback, creating the potential for either one to run or pass the ball.
The A-11 still must abide by rules which cap the number of eligible receivers at five (maximum six if the quarterback hands the ball off or laterals to an ineligible receiver who then passes the ball). However, it is unclear which players will be eligible until just before the snap, making pass coverage more difficult; the eligible numbered players could interchange between eligible and ineligible positions after each play. The use of eligible numbers on every player on the field, coupled with the deep position of the quarterback, forces more of the defense personnel to go into "pass defense" mode and puts less focus on run defense or pass rushing.
High school
As mentioned, the A-11 offense was designed by a high schoolHigh school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
coach who used a "loophole" in the rules concerning allowable formations to design an every-down offense. As more schools began using the A-11, others called the system "an unsporting act" and "outside of the spirit of the rule code." Consequently, high school associations in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, and the District of Columbia banned the use of the A-11 for the 2008 season.
In February 2009, the National Federation of State High School Associations
National Federation of State High School Associations
The National Federation of State High School Associations is the body that writes the rules of competition for most high school sports and activities in the United States. Most high schools, whether public or private, belong to their state's high school association; in turn, each state association...
rules committee voted 46–2 to close the loophole allowing the linemen-free formations featured in the A-11. The system's creators petitioned the California Interscholastic Federation
California Interscholastic Federation
The California Interscholastic Federation is the governing body for high school sports in the state of California. It mirrors similar governing bodies in other states; however, it differs from some of the others in that it covers most high schools in the state of California, both public and...
to allow use of the offense over the next three seasons on an experimental basis, but the appeal was denied. The scheme's creators have since made adjustments and ran the new version of the A-11 offense for the entire 2009 season. It now abides by all numbering requirements at every level of football, without any numbers exchanged between plays. The ineligible numbered "anchors," like any ineligible receiver, can neither receive forward passes nor advance downfield before a forward pass is thrown across the line of scrimmage, but can catch lateral and backward passes, take handoffs, advance downfield prior to a screen pass to an eligible receiver, or even throw the ball if it is given to them. Since the adjusted version of the A-11 offense abides by the numbering requirements, it is similar to the older Emory & Henry offense; as such, unlike the previous version, it is legal in most levels of football.
College football
The scrimmage kick formation is allowed on fourth downs under NCAANational Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
rules and on conversion attempts, and a few situations which define a scrimmage kick formation with an additional requirement that "it is obvious that a kick may be attempted." It is otherwise not allowed for most normal plays, making the A-11 impossible to use on an every-down basis.
NFL
The offense is not currently legal in the NFLNational Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. The main problem is the league's rules concerning the required jersey numbers of players at different positions. Players who usually play at positions that are usually ineligible to receive a pass must declare themselves as eligible receivers to the referee if they will be lining up at an eligible position in a formation. The referee then announces their eligibility before the play, negating the surprise factor of not knowing which players may go out for a pass. The Emory & Henry formation and two-quarterback system are both legal, though they are rarely used.
CFL
In Canadian footballCanadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
, there is no scrimmage kick exemption in the CFL, and persons who wish to change position from an eligible to an ineligible receiver (or vice versa) must physically change their uniform to a number that reflects their eligibility, and must seek permission from the official to do so.
Furthermore, until the end of the 2008 season
2008 CFL season
The 2008 CFL season was the 55th season of modern Canadian professional football. Officially, it was the 51st season for the league. It was also the first CFL season in which all of the league's regular season and post-season games, including the Grey Cup game, were aired on TSN. This meant the CFL...
the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
rulebooks dictated that a designated quarterback must take all snaps, which made the two-quarterback system used by the A-11 (as well as offenses such as the Wildcat) illegal in the CFL. On June 8, 2009 the CFL listened to suggestions from fans and removed this rule, mainly so that the Wildcat formation could be used for the 2009 season
2009 CFL season
The 2009 CFL season was the 56th season of modern professional Canadian football. Officially, it was the 52nd season of the Canadian Football League. The Montreal Alouettes won the 97th Grey Cup on November 29 with a last second 28–27 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders...
and all succeeding seasons.
Youth football
At most levels of youth football, the A-11 remains as legal as their use and/or application of high school rules.Other levels
Though there is no way to implement the A-11 in six-man footballSix-man football
Six-man football is a variant of American football that is played with six players per team, instead of 11.-History:6-man football was developed in 1934 by Chester High School coach Stephen Epler as an alternative means for small high schools to field a football team during the Great Depression...
due to all players already being eligible receivers under those rules, the concepts of A-11 could theoretically be expanded into nine-man
Nine-man football
Nine-man football is a type of American football played by high schools that are too small to play the usual eleven-man game. As of 2007, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota had nine man football....
, eight-man
Eight-man football
Eight-man football is a type of American football, generally played by small high schools. Rules and formations vary greatly among states and even among different organizations, but the one constant is eight players from each team on the field at one time, as opposed to eleven-man football, which...
and indoor variants of the game, all of which have ineligible players. However, like in youth football, the extent of how much an A-9 or A-8 offense is used in those levels is unknown, and it is nonexistent in indoor football.