The Importance of Formation Recognition

By Ryan Ruschhaupt, Assistant Coach Monterey Peninsula College    Football is an ever evolving game where some of the most creative and intelligent coaches in sports find ways to defeat you merely by the alignment of players in a formation. Offensive coordinators search for alignment weaknesses in order to outflank a defense, while defenses utilize disguise in order to deceive and confuse an offense. Long gone are the days when we faced a team that stays in a pro-set offense or a base 4-3 the entire game. Offensive formations can be wide, tight or even unbalanced in just one series or even a set of downs. Modern American football dictates that we must have players in the proper position to make the play; there are too many liabilities for having misaligned players.     At Monterey Peninsula College our head coach Mike Rasmussen understands and emphasizes the