Many youth coaches think that somehow a run-dominated offense at the youth level is not “high school” level football. That’s far from the truth, there are plenty of high school teams across the country that rarely pitch and thrive.

Some examples of youth soccer crimes

Right off the top of my head, Don Markham’s Bloomington High team in California set a record by scoring 880 points in a 14-game season, with over 90% of the touchdowns being runs and over 90% of the yards. in a hurry. Locally, the most dominant large school program is Millard North, with about 2,500 students and located in suburban Omaha. They have won 3 state titles in the last 6 years and have played for many others. Millard North consistently averages over 400 rushing yards per game and last season had at least 3 games where they not only didn’t pass for a single yard, but didn’t even bother attempting a single pass. Millard North lost in the state championship game last season in a closely contested game.

Some staggering numbers:

A coach friend attended a coaching clinic a few weeks ago and reported on John Shillito at Zeeland West High School in Michigan.

Here are some interesting stats on Coach Shillito’s teams:

Three-year record of 34-4 at ZWHS

In 13 years, over 26,000 rushing yards, averaging over 9 yards per carry

Twenty-three 1,000-yard rushers in thirteen years.

They’ve only thrown for 500 passing yards twice in a season.

Nine different Fullbacks have rushed for 1,000 yards in a season

In 1999, 3,500 yards in the trap game alone… 7,000 total yards in fourteen games.

Some keys to the success of Coach Shillito:

Get ready to blockade all fronts in the world. Energy off the ball, Passing is a small package, all action game, Look for an athletic lineman, mobility is more important than size, Practice things that apply to offense, No shooting or sledding work, No tackle on the scout team, Ball moves at a very fast pace.

Does any of this sound vaguely familiar to those who have been to my clinics or have read my book on Youth Soccer Coaches?

Pop Warner National Title Game

Just because the rage or rage today seems to be all about extended passing attack, remember that the two teams in the country that played in the Pop Warner National Championship game this year in Junior Pee Wee (ages 9-11) completed only 25% of his passes. Yes, these two 15-0 teams combined to complete just 25% of their attempts. The most important fact was that another 25% of those attempts were either intercepted OR resulted in a sack. So if the top 2 Pop Warner teams in the country out of thousands of teams are completing the ball at that rate, how well will skillful average teams do? You do the calculations.

I have nothing against the pass, I love to score with it, it is a valuable weapon in youth football and we will make sure we execute our passing packages well. But if he thinks he can move the chains by consistently shooting the ball in youth soccer with average kids, the facts don’t support his view.

Use this data to help shape which of the many youth soccer offenses makes sense for your youth soccer team.