BobcatBenny
08-26-2009, 12:40 AM
http://www.reporternews.com/news/2009/aug/24/deleon10-1/
De Leon taking a chance on the 10-1
By Evan Ren (Contact)
Monday, August 24, 2009
DE LEON — At first glance, the seldom-seen 10-1 defense looks like a one-way ticket to getting burned.
Experienced football coaches have looked at its diagrams for years and instantly scoffed at the premise behind it. Others have experimented with it, but quickly junked the scheme as soon as the risks were exploited.
At De Leon, however, the defense has found a home under the guidance of second-year coach Jason Ferguson — a disciple of the scheme’s developer, the legendary G.A. Moore.
The scheme shares some aspects of the old gap-eight and Chicago Bear “46” defenses, with the corners and strong safety, along with two linebackers, crowding the line of scrimmage. This often leaves the middle linebacker and free safety on an island — something most coaches deem too risky.
When properly run, however, the 10-1 has a proven track record that includes eight state championships won at Celina and Pilot Point by Moore (412-85-9), who has amassed more career wins than any coach in Texas prep football history.
“It’s an attacking-style of defense,” said Ferguson, who played under Moore at Pilot Point. “It’s a system that you have to sell out to and you have to believe in it.
“It’s an ‘attitude’ kind of defense, and if you don’t believe in it, you’re going to get lit up bad.”
As a result, the 10-1 is among the rarest defensive alignments employed at the high school level. So rare is the scheme, that only four Texas programs are known to employ it — Celina, Collinsville, De Leon and Aubrey — all which have direct ties to Moore.
The 70-year-old Moore, in fact, has come out of a five-year retirement to take over the program at Aubrey, ending a five-year hiatus from the game.
The idea behind the defense is simple: Bring more people than the offense can account for and destroy the play before it has a chance to develop. No thinking — just attacking.
“We believe that if we put enough pressure on you, we’ll put you in a situation where you don’t have time to react,” Ferguson said. “Hopefully, that will start messing with your head a little bit and we’ll gain momentum.
“We just teach our kids to tee-off and go. Just pin your ears back and go.”
There is, of course, some risk involved.
With every spare man charging through gaps in the offensive line, the corners in the 10-1 scheme must “jam” the wide receivers and prevent them from getting into the open field.
If a receiver succeeds in getting behind the coverage before the pass rush gets there, “they score,” said Ferguson with a laugh.
“We have to be as physical as possible,” he said. “We want to be as close to you as possible, and just be in your face all night.”
The defense does come with multiple looks, with the base set resembling the goal-line defense that Moore initially intended it to be. It is not uncommon to see eight or nine defenders in the box, seven of whom are stacked on the line of scrimmage. The most common look shown by De Leon is similar to the “46” defense, first popularized by former NFL coach Buddy Ryan at Chicago in the 1980s.
On paper, the scheme looks entirely beatable, particularly for teams that employ a modern spread offense.
“You can beat this defense on the chalkboard all day long,” assistant coach Brian Ramsey said. “But you get out there on the field and it’s a little different ballgame.”
Initially, even De Leon players were skeptical of the scheme. And after getting torched by Roscoe in their first scrimmage last season, doubt wasn’t in short supply.
“I thought it was going to be a long season at first,” linebacker Hayden Lewis said of the 10-1. “But after a while, we started getting better at it.”
In fact, the Bearcats got much better, using the 10-1 to post (ironically) a 10-1 record with three shutouts in 2008, while holding eight opponents to 10 points or less.
De Leon blazed through the regular season with a 10-0 record, and didn’t lose until a 31-3 loss to Quinlan Boles (13-1) in the bi-district round. It was the first time the Bearcats had posted double-digit wins in 19 years.
“At first I was kind of scared,” defensive back Tanner Welch said. “I didn’t know what I would be up against, but I adjusted to the defense and started liking it.”
All of this begs an obvious question: If the winningest coach in Texas high school football history invented this defense, and it has been met with nothing but success, why do only four schools in the state run it?
Part of that is due to a lack of information, since there is little or nothing printed on the 10-1 in circulation. Much of what makes this defense work properly exists in the minds of Moore and those who have coached with or played for him.
“A lot of people have tried to line up in this defense, but they didn’t know the technique,” said Ramsey, a Celina graduate. “And if you don’t play the technique right, you’ll get your teeth kicked in.”
Snyder coach Chad Rogers experimented with the 10-1 two years ago after visiting with Moore personally, but soon came to realize that it required an all-out commitment to achieve success.
The Tigers still use it on a limited basis but have decided against a total commitment.
“It’s not a defense that you can just put in and say ‘we’re gonna run it,’” Rogers said. “Celina’s kids have been running it since the third grade and they understand everything about it.
“We had to tweak it and go back to some other stuff we had been doing. We still use some of the alignments and reads, but as far as using a straight 10-1 defense, we don’t do it.”
Fear is another factor.
After studying the scheme, most coaches shy away from it because of its lack of a safety net.
“A lot of people look at our defense and say ‘you’re fixin’ to get burned,” Ramsey said. “But it’s about pressure and getting to the football. People look at it and think they’re going to eat our lunch.”
Even when Moore himself explains how to run his defense properly, most coaches simply won’t commit to it. He has given lectures on his scheme at coaching clinics, and diagrammed it in detail at a regional meeting, to no avail.
“I gave a lecture on it at coaches school one year and after I was finished, the coach from (Dallas) Pinkston came over and said, ‘Do you really think you can beat us with that defense? We’ll score all day long on that defense,’” recalled Moore, who was reached via telephone. “The next year, we played Pinkston and beat ’em 56-0 and that same coach came over to me after the game and asked if I’d diagram that defense for him again.”
The defense has been utilized as high as the 5A level by Moore, who took the scheme to Sherman in 1986-1987.
Taking over a team that went 0-10 the year before, Moore posted back-to-back 6-4 seasons at Sherman, before returning to Celina in 1988.
Still, many skeptics insist the 10-1 cannot be used successfully at the 5A level — especially in an era of spread offenses and aggressive passing games.
“I just laugh,” Moore said. “I’m not going to argue with those people. ... You can beat any offense or defense on a chalkboard, and whoever has the chalk last is going to win.
“It all boils down to execution and convincing the kids to get after it.”
In the meantime, Moore’s defense continues to win when properly employed. Last year, Celina was 12-4 at the 3A level, and Collinsville reached the Class-1A playoffs and finished at 6-5.
The small fraternity of coaches who keep the faith, however, will likely remain on the endangered species list.
De Leon taking a chance on the 10-1
By Evan Ren (Contact)
Monday, August 24, 2009
DE LEON — At first glance, the seldom-seen 10-1 defense looks like a one-way ticket to getting burned.
Experienced football coaches have looked at its diagrams for years and instantly scoffed at the premise behind it. Others have experimented with it, but quickly junked the scheme as soon as the risks were exploited.
At De Leon, however, the defense has found a home under the guidance of second-year coach Jason Ferguson — a disciple of the scheme’s developer, the legendary G.A. Moore.
The scheme shares some aspects of the old gap-eight and Chicago Bear “46” defenses, with the corners and strong safety, along with two linebackers, crowding the line of scrimmage. This often leaves the middle linebacker and free safety on an island — something most coaches deem too risky.
When properly run, however, the 10-1 has a proven track record that includes eight state championships won at Celina and Pilot Point by Moore (412-85-9), who has amassed more career wins than any coach in Texas prep football history.
“It’s an attacking-style of defense,” said Ferguson, who played under Moore at Pilot Point. “It’s a system that you have to sell out to and you have to believe in it.
“It’s an ‘attitude’ kind of defense, and if you don’t believe in it, you’re going to get lit up bad.”
As a result, the 10-1 is among the rarest defensive alignments employed at the high school level. So rare is the scheme, that only four Texas programs are known to employ it — Celina, Collinsville, De Leon and Aubrey — all which have direct ties to Moore.
The 70-year-old Moore, in fact, has come out of a five-year retirement to take over the program at Aubrey, ending a five-year hiatus from the game.
The idea behind the defense is simple: Bring more people than the offense can account for and destroy the play before it has a chance to develop. No thinking — just attacking.
“We believe that if we put enough pressure on you, we’ll put you in a situation where you don’t have time to react,” Ferguson said. “Hopefully, that will start messing with your head a little bit and we’ll gain momentum.
“We just teach our kids to tee-off and go. Just pin your ears back and go.”
There is, of course, some risk involved.
With every spare man charging through gaps in the offensive line, the corners in the 10-1 scheme must “jam” the wide receivers and prevent them from getting into the open field.
If a receiver succeeds in getting behind the coverage before the pass rush gets there, “they score,” said Ferguson with a laugh.
“We have to be as physical as possible,” he said. “We want to be as close to you as possible, and just be in your face all night.”
The defense does come with multiple looks, with the base set resembling the goal-line defense that Moore initially intended it to be. It is not uncommon to see eight or nine defenders in the box, seven of whom are stacked on the line of scrimmage. The most common look shown by De Leon is similar to the “46” defense, first popularized by former NFL coach Buddy Ryan at Chicago in the 1980s.
On paper, the scheme looks entirely beatable, particularly for teams that employ a modern spread offense.
“You can beat this defense on the chalkboard all day long,” assistant coach Brian Ramsey said. “But you get out there on the field and it’s a little different ballgame.”
Initially, even De Leon players were skeptical of the scheme. And after getting torched by Roscoe in their first scrimmage last season, doubt wasn’t in short supply.
“I thought it was going to be a long season at first,” linebacker Hayden Lewis said of the 10-1. “But after a while, we started getting better at it.”
In fact, the Bearcats got much better, using the 10-1 to post (ironically) a 10-1 record with three shutouts in 2008, while holding eight opponents to 10 points or less.
De Leon blazed through the regular season with a 10-0 record, and didn’t lose until a 31-3 loss to Quinlan Boles (13-1) in the bi-district round. It was the first time the Bearcats had posted double-digit wins in 19 years.
“At first I was kind of scared,” defensive back Tanner Welch said. “I didn’t know what I would be up against, but I adjusted to the defense and started liking it.”
All of this begs an obvious question: If the winningest coach in Texas high school football history invented this defense, and it has been met with nothing but success, why do only four schools in the state run it?
Part of that is due to a lack of information, since there is little or nothing printed on the 10-1 in circulation. Much of what makes this defense work properly exists in the minds of Moore and those who have coached with or played for him.
“A lot of people have tried to line up in this defense, but they didn’t know the technique,” said Ramsey, a Celina graduate. “And if you don’t play the technique right, you’ll get your teeth kicked in.”
Snyder coach Chad Rogers experimented with the 10-1 two years ago after visiting with Moore personally, but soon came to realize that it required an all-out commitment to achieve success.
The Tigers still use it on a limited basis but have decided against a total commitment.
“It’s not a defense that you can just put in and say ‘we’re gonna run it,’” Rogers said. “Celina’s kids have been running it since the third grade and they understand everything about it.
“We had to tweak it and go back to some other stuff we had been doing. We still use some of the alignments and reads, but as far as using a straight 10-1 defense, we don’t do it.”
Fear is another factor.
After studying the scheme, most coaches shy away from it because of its lack of a safety net.
“A lot of people look at our defense and say ‘you’re fixin’ to get burned,” Ramsey said. “But it’s about pressure and getting to the football. People look at it and think they’re going to eat our lunch.”
Even when Moore himself explains how to run his defense properly, most coaches simply won’t commit to it. He has given lectures on his scheme at coaching clinics, and diagrammed it in detail at a regional meeting, to no avail.
“I gave a lecture on it at coaches school one year and after I was finished, the coach from (Dallas) Pinkston came over and said, ‘Do you really think you can beat us with that defense? We’ll score all day long on that defense,’” recalled Moore, who was reached via telephone. “The next year, we played Pinkston and beat ’em 56-0 and that same coach came over to me after the game and asked if I’d diagram that defense for him again.”
The defense has been utilized as high as the 5A level by Moore, who took the scheme to Sherman in 1986-1987.
Taking over a team that went 0-10 the year before, Moore posted back-to-back 6-4 seasons at Sherman, before returning to Celina in 1988.
Still, many skeptics insist the 10-1 cannot be used successfully at the 5A level — especially in an era of spread offenses and aggressive passing games.
“I just laugh,” Moore said. “I’m not going to argue with those people. ... You can beat any offense or defense on a chalkboard, and whoever has the chalk last is going to win.
“It all boils down to execution and convincing the kids to get after it.”
In the meantime, Moore’s defense continues to win when properly employed. Last year, Celina was 12-4 at the 3A level, and Collinsville reached the Class-1A playoffs and finished at 6-5.
The small fraternity of coaches who keep the faith, however, will likely remain on the endangered species list.