FIRST AND SHORT

Coach's Confidential: Who's the real field general?

JR Radcliffe
jr.radcliffe@jrn.com

Each week at The Push, we ask area coaches to provide anonymous answers about the issues surrounding high-school football. Check out this week's installment.

In the NFL, it's become seemingly consensus that the most important player on the field is the quarterback, and the second-most important is the pass rusher. What are the two more important positions on a high-school field and why?

Coach 1: I think the high school game is too varied for there to be an easy answer to this. Some teams can have a QB that hands off 50 times a game and go undefeated while others will build everything around him. I will say this – when you do have a QB who is the best player on the field, that is the toughest thing to overcome defensively and it’s also the No. 1 thing that I would want offensively.

Coach 2: Depends on your system. A QB is always important regardless of system. Defensively, a dominant interior DL can make a huge impact because most teams still run the ball.

Coach 3: My middle linebacker is key because he controls the defense and stops the run, which is the mainstay for most HS offenses. I would say center is still one of the most underrated positions in all sports.

Coach 4: Offensively, I believe it depends entirely on the system you run within your program. It will most often come down to the quarterback or a big time Running Back. Defensively, the linebacker position always seems to standout as being the most important position at the high-school level. The most dominant defenses always seem to have a stud at that position who is simply unblockable and relentlessly attacking all over the field.

Coach 5: I would agree that the quarterback is most important. I think that a legitimate deep threat is the second-most important, at least to an offense. Really good defensive lineman (whether a pass rushing threat or not) may be the third most important.