The A-11 Offense (All Eleven Players Potentially Eligible) is an innovative new offense that blends aspects of almost every type of offense in the history of football such as the West Coast, Spread Option, Run and Shoot, Shotgun Zone Fly, Wing-T, Single Wing, Notre Dame Box, Triple Option and Veer just to name a few.  Teams can use the A-11 as a “package” to supplement their own offense & feature up to eleven players as potential threats, and even two quarterbacks in the shotgun!

HOW IT WORKS:

The A-11 features up to all eleven players wearing an eligible receiver jersey number, either 1-49 or 80- 99, with two quarterbacks in the shotgun formation at 7 yards, and with nobody under center - thereby meeting the criteria for a scrimmage kick formation. In “base” sets, the A-11 Offense has a center, and a tight end on each side, and three wide receivers to the right, and left respectively. By spreading the potentially eligible receivers across the entire field, it forces the defense to account for every possible receiver on each play.  Of course, on any given play, only six of those players can go downfield to catch a pass, and the five “covered” players remain ineligible to catch a downfield pass on that particular play.

IT WAS SUCCESSFULLY OFFICIATED:

The A-11 was in development for more than two years before being unveiled by Piedmont (CA) during the 2007 season. Referee crews from multiple regions in California had little trouble adjusting to the new offense and their feedback was overwhelmingly positive declaring the A-11 Offense fun, refreshing and easier to referee in real life, than on the whiteboard.

HELPS SMALL SCHOOLS COMPETE:

"Respectfully, throughout football history at the high school level, other teams have run a few plays from a scrimmage kick formation. But this is a brand new system in football, and for the thousands of small schools like us nationwide that are forced to compete against much larger schools on a regular basis, it's the only way we can be competitive. The larger enrollment schools have a very unfair size advantage over the smaller schools, and so we had to try something new." Explains Piedmont head coach, Kurt Bryan. And so, the A-11 Offense was born to try and somewhat negate the sheer overwhelming size advantage much larger schools maintain over the small ones.

AN ADDED BENEFIT OF SAFETY:

The Piedmont coaching staff is also excited about the added safety aspect of the new offense, says A-11 co-creator Steve Humphries. “An unforeseen benefit for us has been a major increase in the safety and protection of our players. We have not had major injuries to our offensive players in a game or practice due to the spread out nature of the A-11, and this is a major selling point. It really helps the players of the much smaller schools stay healthier during the season, which in turn allows schools like us to remain competitive throughout the entire year.”

THE A-11 IS FUN FOR THE PLAYERS:

“As soon as I implemented the A-11 system into our spread offense, our players attention skyrocketed. Now when I talk about the passing game, running game, play action game, everyone listens because they know they may be “THE GUY” at any time during the game that scores the touchdown. Our new team motto is All For One and One For All. Everyone Eligible! We can't wait for the season to begin.”

- George Crace, Head Football Coach, Horizon Christian H.S., Tualatin, Oregon