SLPYBEAR WEEKLY POLL -- Week #3 -- Can HS players play both ways?

[slpybear the bullfan]

This Week's Poll...

This week Slpybear would like to know if you believe that High School atheletes have the intelligence, skill, and talent to play both ways successfully in the complex schemes of today's HS Football.

Polls should close on Friday.


Last Week's Poll...

Last week we saw that the none of the downlower's head coaches called all of the plays. It was evenly split between Head coaches either calling the O, calling the D, or none at all...

For complete week 2 results click here... (http://bbs.3adownlow.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18150)
For complete week 1 results click here... (http://bbs.3adownlow.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17852)
For complete week 0.2 results click here... (http://bbs.3adownlow.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17671)
For complete week 0.1 results click here... (http://bbs.3adownlow.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17546)
For a Summary of the 2003 Poll Results, click here.... (http://bbs.3adownlow.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17444)


As always, I welcome your thoughts and suggestions.

Slpybear

[LH Panther Mom]

If a player has the stamina & mentality to play both ways, he should if he has earned spots on both sides.

[Titans]

Yes, they can!

Those who say no should remember back to SLC.

Dane Johnson was the Class 3A player of the year when Southlake Carroll won the state championship. He was the starting QB and FS.

Then was named the Class 3A state championship player of the tournament for the winning SLC basketball team that same year.

Kids can handle it.

[Keith7]

In Gainesville kids practice an offense and defense position regardless if they end up playing them in the game or not, so who ever is the best will end up playing that position no matter if u start both ways..

I figured all schools were like this

[FranksBullDog]

I a small AAA school like Marlin they have to but they play many larger schools that do not.

[neck_06]

west columbia is much like gainesville, in that they too make their players learn an offensive and a defensive position, and most of the time, teams have to have some people play both ways, because its hard to find enough good atheletes at a 3a school to have 22 different starters.

[PPHSfan]

I don't care how much of a stud you are. You can still be better playing one way at a position than you can if you have to play both ways. That does not mean that you are not the best player at both positions regardless, but a tailback can be more effective if he is sitting on the bench while the defense is on the field, no matter how big fast and strong he is. You can't ask a kid to run the ball all night on offense, and line up and get hammered by guys twice his size while playing defense and expect him to be at his best when carrying the ball. And that is just one example.

[JasperDog94]

I have to agree with you PPHSfan. There's no substitute for fresh legs, especially in the 4th quarter.

[Keith7]

alot of top teams last year had there top players playing both ways.. Burnet had shipley playing WR/DB, Gainesville had McBath playing WR/S, and Brown QB/S and many others playing both ways.. Forney had Baylen Laury play RB/DB.. all these people played both ways an excelled on both sides of the ball with out missing a beat.. with this being said, players can play both ways

[Rocksolid]

Of course players can play both ways they are more effective if they only play one way but most smaller 3a schools with 30 or less players on their team need prolly 5 or 6 players to go both ways occasionally for the better of the team and with an effective conditioning program most players can do it without missing a beat

[crabman]

I talked to our head coach in Cuero (Reeve). He has a record of something like 105-18 in 5A football until coming down to 3A Cuero. I asked him what the difference was between 3A and 5A. He said players going both ways was the biggest difference. There is a little bit of talent difference but not much. A good 5A team may have 8 or 9 Good players while a 3A team may have 5 or 6 on each side of the ball. The difference is when the offense can work on perfection for 2 1/2 hours without worrying about defense or special teams. In 3A you get one hour of offense, one hour of defense and 30 minutes of special teams. Your skill level just doesn't progress as much. The key in 3A is getting that team with 9 or 10 good players on each side of the ball and having that coach with the optimum practice and optimum scheme to maximize that limited talent.

[KTownBalla]

Pretty resounding outcome...

[Phil C]

I agree with you in that it is probably best to play one way but too many of them have had success playing both ways. In high school Earl Campbell at Tyler was a great running back and won all state but he also played linebacker and was all district so it worked for him to go both ways in hs. At Ut when Tommy Nobis played for Coach Royal he was possible the best linebacker in the country and a great player. Even then it was rare for players to play both ways but Coach Royal realized that with a great player like Nobis it was crazy to just have him in the game for about half the time so they had him play guard I think and he was good at it even though not as good as at linebacker. So there are cases for both points of view. In smaller schools they probably have no choice but to have some players play both ways.

[Texas Aggie]

If a player is a good enough athlete, he can play both ways. The only thing that I don't believe in is QBs playing both ways.

[PPHSfan]

So you think a tailback can be just as effective at running the ball if he is playing defensive tackle, as he can if he is sitting on the bench resting?

Can a defensive end be just as effective at the pass rush if he is also playing offensive tackle instead of resting?

Can a nose guard be just as effective at stuffing the hole, if he plays center, instead of resting while the offense is on the field?

Sure there are guys that are studs. And yes there are guys that can play Fantastic football both ways. But you can't be as good both ways as you can one way, no matter what kind of superman you are.

[Keith7]

Originally posted by PPHSfan
So you think a tailback can be just as effective at running the ball if he is playing defensive tackle, as he can if he is sitting on the bench resting?

Can a defensive end be just as effective at the pass rush if he is also playing offensive tackle instead of resting?

Can a nose guard be just as effective at stuffing the hole, if he plays center, instead of resting while the offense is on the field?

Sure there are guys that are studs. And yes there are guys that can play Fantastic football both ways. But you can't be as good both ways as you can one way, no matter what kind of superman you are.

no he might not be as effective as he would be resting.. but he might be more effective tired then the other person that would be in that spot fully rested.. if that makes sense

[LH Panther Mom]

Perfect! :clap:

[handNthedirt]

Whatever gets you and your boys a W! Also, playing an athlete both ways also raises his stock with college recruiters.

[PPHSfan]

Originally posted by handNthedirt
Whatever gets you and your boys a W! Also, playing an athlete both ways also raises his stock with college recruiters.

That too is open for debate. If my tailback can get 2000 yards and 25 touchdowns going one way, but only 1200 and 15 when he also plays on the defensive line, then I say his stock goes down.

[handNthedirt]

Don't you think the college recruiter takes that into consideration. In my opinion, playing both ways shows great heart and a desire to win that can't be matched, but that's just my opinion.

[handNthedirt]

...along with tremendous athletic ability, which is ultimately what a D1 recruiter is looking for.

[slpybear the bullfan]

Folks, I think the question is not can the "Stud" Athelete be as effective going to ways vs. only going one way...

...Rather, the better question would be "Is the two way stud who is only 80 or 85% effective because of playing both ways better than the next athelete on your team?"

Cause the ol' slpybear believes that if your stud going at 85% is better than the next best player then you gotta get him on the field. Heck, you can rest him throughout the game by smart substitutions when the pressure is off... BUT... when the pressure is on give me the best 11 on the field. Even if that means that some of those 11 could be better if they didn't play both ways.

[handNthedirt]

I couldn't have said it better myself!

[kaorder1999]

if it helps the team then the player should be on the field as much as possible. Sure he will need some breathers but if they need him on the field to be successful then he needs to be on the field.

If hes a stud running back and they dont need him on defense then its a no-brainer. Sit him.

[gamers]

I think coaches want to have their best athletes on the field as much as possible. Coming from a smaller school, coaches don't have the luxury of having guys who play only one position. To win, the coaches have to play a handful of guys the entire game. They don't seem to tire out though, so it's alright. Having the best athletes on the field gives coaches the best chance of winning. I think it's just fine to play guys both ways.

[Chief Woodman]

Yes

[snakebite]

Our high school football team has 21 senior football players on it, and out of those 21, 20 play both defense and offense, including our qb, and as of week 2, we are 3-0 facing elgin, then texas eylau liberty, then we head into district 20-3a.

[stangcenter60]

i think it depends on how important the player is to each side of the ball...i think a player should only play both ways if he is the best at that position when he is in that fatigued state....if he can play 4 quarters of a game and in the 4th quarter still be the best player for that position then let him play both ways.......