The Quest for 8 Man Football

As the Michigan High School football season comes to an end, I want to explore something that is becoming ever more popular: 8 man football. According "8manfootball" this is "still about blocking, tackling, and hitting. It is "real" football and it is played just as hard if not more dedicated athletes.. It is coaches every bit as well as any forma of the game. 8man football is exciting and fun to play and watch."

To devle into the game a little more, 8 man football is played by high schools that might not have enough students to adequately produce an 11 man football team. With small schools, they might have some of their stronger position players play on offense and defense; this can make the players very tired very quickly and may lead to more injuries. With 8 man football, two players are taken from the offensive line and the other player is removed from the backfield. On the flip side, defensive positions are taken form the tackles, linebacker, or secondary positions.

Also, leads that would put a normal 11 man game out of reach can be overcome in minutes during an 8 man game, due to the fast pace of the game. Some states also use a mercy rule, normally around 45 points.

Now how does one coach an 8 man football team? It might not be as hard as you would think. There are some things that you don't have to worry about, such as jersey numbers; any player can wear any number, which is very different from traditional football as only certain numbers can do certain things. Some fields are even shorter in some states, going with 80 yards by 40 yards. Play calling can be very similar as well. The way I look at is schools do 7 on 7 scrimmages all the time and coaches run plays for those, add one more player and you have 8 man football.

I am not saying that Coleman should just jump into it right away, but I think it is a very strong possibility for them; enrollment numbers are down, meaning there are less people that are going out for sports. I think it would be a good change and could see their talents explode with the switch. Something to consider!