Subscribers Ask: With Patrick Ross Head Coach • Lindenwood University

Over the last few years, Patrick Ross has gained a reputation for both turning programs around and having prolific offenses. In his second season at Ottawa University in 2003, Ross’ team improved from 5-5 to 9-2, winning the KCAC title and advancing to the national playoffs. He was named national NAIA Coach of the Year the following season, his first at Lindenwood, leading the Lions to an 11-0 regular season record. That year Lindenwood tied for the same number of wins the team earned in the previous four years combined.
  

  Last fall, the Lions averaged over 50 points per game. The year before, Ross led Lindenwood to the best season in the program’s history. Playing in the NAIA Championship Game that season, the Lions fell short of the title, losing to Sioux Falls, 25-22. The 2009 team scored the most points in Lindenwood history – 744 – and averaged 53 per game.
   

Ross runs a version of the spread offense – a cross between the West Coast offense and the zone read. Lindenwood scored 90 points in one game last fall and 77 in another. His seven-year record at the school now stands at 80-26. Coach Ross answers your questions:

Q. Is your offense a no-huddle offense? If so, how do you call the plays? Greg Bronson, Head Coach, Lockport High School (NY).

    Yes, our offense is no-huddle. To call plays, we use a numbering system, from 1-110. We can fit 110 plays on our wristband. We will have one coach signal the formation, shifts and motions, and another coach who will signal the play number and any tag we might add to it.

Q. What would a typical practice schedule look like for your offense? Bryan Gray, Head Coach, East Hall High School (GA).

    Our offense practices during the year, typically from 3pm to 6:30pm which includes position meetings, special teams meetings and a total of 24 five minute on the field periods from 4:30-6:30pm.*

Download a sample Pratice Schedule Here

Q. While I am sure there are many, what are the most difficult obstacles to overcome in order to turn a football program around? Frank Ochoa-Gonzales, Defensive Line Coach, Cocoa Beach High School (FL).

    When turning a program around, it starts with a mental attitude. The positive mental attitude needs to be exuded by everybody involved in the program. The head coach, the staff, and the players are just the start. For a complete turnaround, your administration and others on campus need to buy into the positive attitude. The only way to achieve the proper mindset to be a winner, is to act like you are a winner. You need to carry yourself like a championship caliber team. You need to practice like a championship caliber team, and most importantly, you need to show the character that is instilled in championship teams. All this needs to be done before you step on the field for the first time.

Q. Could you diagram your 5-man and 6-man pass protections and illustrate them using ‘hots’ if that is what you do? Could you also describe what the QB and receivers do if there is a ‘hot’? Ray Hradek, Head Coach, Medina High School (OH).

    Slide protection is our primary six man protection. For us, slide protection is a combination of man concepts and zone concepts called according to defensive tendencies or alignments. The zone side of the protection should be the side that is facing pressure. Man concepts are incorporated on the backside of our protection and will utilize the running backs to pick up backside pressure or a late leaking defender. Our five man protection is a man concept protection which has a number of defensive alignments and movements. The protection is built on recognition of fronts and the accompanying calls/adjustments that go with corresponding fronts, pressure recognition and personnel alignment.*  

    We have all of our “hot” or “man-beaters” built into each route concept we design. The QB and the WR will not adjust the route, unless the WR is blatantly not covered. To run “hot’s” effectively takes a lot of practice time. We would rather spend that time working on another part of the game. Defenses have gotten wise and most do a great job of disguising the real look. So we spend more time on recognizing what is going on once the play is developing.  

Q. Anyone that goes 11-0 and plays for the NAIA Championship has to have a good defense in addition to your offense. What kind of base defense do you run and what do you think about the 4-2-5 defense? Hal Glover, retired coach, Centreville, VA.

    Between 2004 and 2010 we ran an Okie (3-4) defense. It worked well for the type of athletes we had. I like the 4-2-5. I think it can be extremely multiple. Although showing multiple looks creates problems for an offense, it can just as easily create problems for the defense. Communication between the athletes is critical - poor communication can lead to an easy touchdown for the offense. Against a spread team, you can play six in the box, and still disrupt receivers at the line of scrimmage. If you can avoid giving up the big play, you have something.

Q. Which defensive front and coverage gives your QB the hardest reads? Todd Fulton, Assistant Coach, Norton Community High School (KS).

    When we first converted to the spread in 2007, the hardest thing for us to deal with was a team which would play cover 2, jamming all the receivers at the line then dropping into the five short zones. We have since developed a package of cover 2 beaters which makes it harder to do that by incorporating that fifth receiver more – still not a great look for us in our quick game, however.

    The other look that has given us some issues at times is the 4-2-5, because those rolling safeties can confuse the quarterback and the inside receivers as to whether it’s a “one-high” or “two-high” look. This has some impact on our different route conversions. We have been so good at the skill positions that man schemes have virtually disappeared, but disrupting those receivers at the line of scrimmage is pretty effective against a timing-based three-step game.

Q. During your week preparing for an upcoming opponent, how do you get the second group of O-linemen enough reps to be properly prepared? Bill Cretaro, Assistant Offensive and D-Line Coach, Chittenango High School (NY).

    It is a challenge to get the first offensive linemen enough reps, let alone the second group. The first thing we do is run a ton of plays and run them fast. Like most spread teams, we try to get as many plays off in practice as possible. If we have 20 minutes of team, we expect to get 40 plays off. By running practice this way, we need to make sure we have great film and a lot of film time. We also chart and script each rep, meaning, we will know exactly which player took which rep throughout the course of the week. If a player is deficient in a certain play, we will be sure to work on that specific play in individual time.