subject: Gifts from the Opposing Flag Football Coach [print this page] Gifts from the Opposing Flag Football Coach
I'm not talking about a birthday gift or a wrapped present, but even a better type of gift. The type of unexpected event, either planned or not, by your opponent that comes at the perfect opportunity for your team.Every once in a while a gift may come from your youth football opponent and we live by the old saying never look a gift horse in the mouth. For example, you find yourself in a situation where the other team is overpowering your team at the line of scrimmage. I mean to the point where they are getting 4-5 yards per carry directly off tackle or up the middle. Nothing seems to work, even after all of your adjustments.I guess things were working too well, since now our opponent starts passing. They just drove over half the field running the ball and had us on the ropes, so now they start passing. I don't know if it is ego, or just stupidity, but I see this situation happen every year, at every level. Maybe the opponent thinks they'll catch you in a big play. Never question why this has happening, just take advantage of it! This brainiac now has a second and long, if he didn't turn the ball over and begins to panic. What does he do now? Now Einstein become Bill Walsh and passes on every down. He took a dominating good situation and made it go bad.A few years back we were on the outside looking in at the playoffs and were in desperate need of a win. We were facing our neighboring nemesis, who gives us fits every year, and were concerned we were in big trouble as they were playing fantastic at the time. As soon as the ball kicked off, we notice something very strange. None of his key players were in the backfield. We thought we made a mistake on our scouting report, but looked over on his sidelines and noticed his studs were sitting on the bench. Not just one or two of them, but all six of them. A gift from the Gods, as we went on to an easy win. This victory gave our players the confidence we needed to finish our season on a strong note, making the playoffs and competing for the championship. We did find out in the off season that the opposing coach was having parent problems regarding playing time and we making a point in this game. He had a completely different agenda for this game than we did.In conclusion, we do not care why these situations happen, but we know they do happen and we need to be ready to take advantage of them when they occur.
