Building a championship football team

by Paul W. Bryant

OUR OFFENSIVE STANCE

The offensive stance is very important. It is difficult enough trying to attain maximum results when they are lined up in their proper stance, but it puts your players at a distinct disadvantage and handicaps them greatly if you permit them to assume a stance that is improper and incorrect. Therefore, we put first things first, and try to coach our players always to take the proper stance.

Offensive Stance for Linemen

The stance for the linemen, with the exception of the center, is basically the same, with allowances being made for various physical characteristics, which vary from individual to individual. The inside foot is forward, the feet staggered in an arch to toe relationship. The tackles and ends exaggerate the stagger from heel to toe since they are further removed from the center and quarterback.

The feet should not be spread wider than the individual’s shoulders, with the weight of the body concentrated on the balls of the feet. The heels should be slightly in, with the cleats on the heel of the forward foot almost touching the ground. The ankles should be bent slightly. The knees should be bent slightly more than 90 degrees, and turned slightly in. The tail is even or a little higher than the shoulders, and splitting the forward and rear heels. The back is straight, shoulders square, neck relaxed, and eyes open keeping the defensive linebacker in line of sight. The hands are placed down slightly outside of the feet, elbows relaxed, and thumbs in and slightly forward of the shoulders.

Offensive Stance for Center

The center lines up in a left-handed stance with the feet even and slightly wider than the shoulders. The weight is on the balls of the feet, heels turned slightly in, with the cleats on the heels of the shoes almost touching the ground. The knees are slightly in and bent a little more than 90 degrees. The tail is slightly higher than the shoulders and about two inches in front of the heels. The center places his left hand inside his legs down from between his eye and ear almost directly under the forehead, with the fingers spread and the thumb turned slightly in. The shoulders are square, the back is straight, the neck is relaxed, and the eyes looking upward. His right hand grasps the football like a passer. He should reach out as far as possible without changing his stance. The center is coached to place the ball on his tail as quickly as possible with a natural turn of the arm. He should drive out over the ball with his head coming up and tail down, keeping his shoulders square as he makes his hand-back to the quarterback.

Quarterback’s Stance

The quarterback is coached to get into a football position with the feet slightly wider than the shoulders, weight on the balls of the feet, heels and knees turned slightly in, knees bent slightly, and a natural bend at the waist in order to be in a good position to receive the ball from the center as he snaps the ball on the hand-back. The elbows must be bent and in close to the body.

The quarterback’s right hand goes up in the center’s crotch. He turns it slightly to the right. At this spot he applies pressure with the hand to his center’s tail. The left hand must be in a comfortable position, making slight contact with the right hand, and it is used to trap the ball and to assist the right hand in taking the football from the center.

Halfback’s Stance

The feet of the halfback should not be wider than the shoulders, and staggered in a heel to toe relationship with each other. The weight should be on the balls of the feet, but will vary slightly depending upon the direction the halfback must move in carrying out his particular assignment. With the snap of the ball he should throw himself in the direction he is going, and he should not use a cross-over step.

His knees should be bent a little beyond 90 degrees, with the knees and heels turned slightly in, and the tail a little higher than the shoulders. The halfback’s shoulders should be square, with his head and eyes in a position to see the defensive linebacker on the opposite side from him. The inside hand should be down, slightly forward and inside of the knee with the thumb turned a little to the inside. The body weight should be forward slightly.

Fullback’s Stance

The fullback lines up with the feet even and a little wider than his shoulders. The cleats on the heels of his shoes should touch the ground. The heels and knees are turned slightly in with the weight on the balls of the feet. The head and eyes are in a relaxed position, but where they can see the second man standing outside of the offensive end. The hands are directly in front of each foot with the thumbs turned in. The shoulders are square, the back is straight, the tail is directly above the heels, with the weight slightly forward, but not to such an extent he cannot start quickly in a lateral direction to either side.