Hoop Dreams

When I was named head coach at Juniata College in 1998, my staff and I needed to determine what type of offense best suited our personnel. We had a number of quality receivers, an inexperienced offensive line and a quarterback with a great deal of potential. We decided to develop a passing attack that would teach our quarterback a few basic principles and carry him through an entire season. We did not want to make many play changes from week to week, and it was imperative that our coaches and players had a clear understanding of what we want to accomplish with each play. In short, we decided to keep it simple. Our entire passing game revolves around the same principles as fast-break basketball. Where are we going to find the one-on-none, two-on-one or three-on-two matchup? To do this, we train the quarterback to let the coverage dictate where the ball is thrown. It is important to note