A nice article on one of this season’s clients
MARYVILLE — It’s out with the spread and in with the flexbone for the Oak Ridge High School football team.
Even though the Wildcats finished 12-1 a year ago, the tough running yards were sometimes hard to come by.
Oak Ridge coach Joe Gaddis spent much of his time in the offseason mulling the move to the flexbone, which has been popularized by the success of Georgia Tech in recent years.
The offense features a fullback, two slotbacks and is often void of a tight end.
“It (the flexbone) fits our personnel better, and we’ve got to be able to run the football against the better teams we face,” Gaddis said as he put the Wildcats through the paces at Saturday’s East Tennessee 7-on-7 Perimeter Passing Day at Maryville College.
“We’ve got a lot of good running backs this year, and (the flexbone) allows you to get three on the field at the same time.”
The passing camp, the unofficial kickoff to the season for many schools, featured 34 teams on five fields during the day-long event.
Gaddis said the Wildcats not only will be able to run the ball better, they can throw it more efficiently out of the flexbone.
Thank you for the mention. We are slowly coming along. It is a tough transition from the spread for the QBs, but they are getting there. (As a fan and parent) I like the offense and the matchups you get in the passing game. My son loves playing the “A” back position.