Usually, for coaches in the Big 30 All-Star Football Charities Classic, the adjustment comes on defense.
The mandated 4-3 defense and limitations on stunting, blitzing and pre-snap positioning challenge coaching creativity.
But this year, for the game’s 44th renewal, it’s on offense where the major alterations will come.
Elk County Catholic coach Tony Gerg is in his first stint with the game and will coordinate the Pennsylvania offense.
“My background is in the single-wing … I even ran it my first year as head coach,” Gerg said of the offense that was popular in the 1930s and ‘40s, relied on an unbalanced line and was the precursor of the modern spread formation. “Even after I stopped running the single-wing, I still used an unbalanced line with the spread because it told us how the defense was going to adjust.
“But in this game, you’re required to use a balanced line and there are restrictions on how much you can spread the receivers.”
He quickly added, though, “It’s still football … you’ve still got to block your guy. We’ve just got to adjust how we do it.
“And the reality is, coaching isn’t going to win this game anyway … the players will. It’s our job to make things as simple as possible for them and give them enough plays that they can handle to win the game.”
Gerg has 22 players from his 43-man roster on offense.
“It’s perfect,” he said. “We have enough players that we can run two complete units. And the other thing we’ve done is try to keep players together from the same schools. I think when players know each other, they’re much quicker to share information and talk with each other.”
To be sure, the ECC coach’s offense has three players from his own school, plus three each from Cameron County, Warren and St. Marys Public, accounting for over half of the unit.
“What has really impressed me is that I’ve been able to have heart-to-heart talks with the kids and really get to know them,” Gerg said. “My whole staff has been impressed … these are really good kids. They’re enthusiastic, polite, smart and do things together.
“My biggest concern is to make sure everybody gets a chance to be in the spotlight. For a lot of them, this is the last football game they’ll play and they deserve that opportunity.”
The one key position, as in all of football, is quarterback, and in the Big 30 Charities Classic, historically it’s been different skill sets as in one more proficient as a thrower and the other being more run-oriented.
This year, though, for Pennsylvania, what separates the quarterbacks is size.
ECC’s Nate DaCanal is 6-foot-2, Bradford’s Kyle Kirk is 5-foot-3.
“Nate is more of a traditional quarterback,” Gerg said. “Kyle is different because, even though he’s 5-foot-3, he throws 90 mph … he’s been bruising the hands of our receivers. In his case, with a line in front of him that averages over 6-feet, we’ll do some things to give him a better view downfield.
“Both of them can and will run, but we’ve already told them not to take unnecessary hits and to get down to protect themselves.”
Gerg, who coaches in the Allegheny Mountain League’s South Division (ECC, Kane, Bradford and Ridgway players are in the game), knows a bit less about the North (Smethport, Cameron County, Port Allegany, Otto-Eldred, Coudersport and Sheffield). However, his only real unfamiliarity was with three Warren County schools (Youngsville, Eisenhower and Warren).
His offense, after DaCanal and Kirk at quarterback, consists of tailbacks Seth Drummond (Otto-Eldred) and Matt Marconi (St. Marys), fullbacks Spencer Gray (Eisenhower) and Tristan Reed (Cameron County), wing backs Brendon Mattson (Warren) and Jared Braun (ECC), and tight end/receivers Grant West (Otto-Eldred), Davis Gardner (Kane), Parker Smith (St. Marys) and Dawson Ambrose (Bradford).
On the line are centers Mitchell Cashmer (ECC) and Hunter McNutt (Eisenhower), guards Corey Thompson (Coudersport), Nicholas Williams (St. Marys), Gabe Donato (Sheffield) and Wyatt Geist (Cameron County), and tackles Nate Shroyer (Otto-Eldred), Derek Rieder (Cameron County) and Hayden Salapek and Joe Carlson (both from Warren).
Kane’s Joe Johnson will handle the punting, placekicking and kickoffs.
(TOMORROW: New York offense)
