Fourth and 1 on your opponent’s 40. Do you go for it? Probably. How about fourth and 3 on your own 40? That’s a little less likely. How about fourth and 5 inside your own 10-yard-line? Who in their right mind would go for it? Pulaski Academy would, and that’s why they’re state champs.
The Arkansas school, led by Kevin Kelley, won the 5A State Championship this month with one simple philosophy: No Punting. No matter what the situation, no matter the opponent, they go for it on fourth down. Is there something to it? They’ve got some math behind their strategy, but the only math that matters is their undefeated record.
“You can just tell people are in the stands thinking, ‘You’re an idiot,’ “ Kelley said.
There’s method to his madness, though. An average NFL play gains five yards. At the high school level, it’s probably substantially more, so going for it is rarely a long shot.
If Pulaski has a fourth-and-8 at its own 5-yard line, Kelley said his explosive offense likely will convert a first down at least 50 percent of the time. If it fails to convert, statistical data from the college level shows that an opponent acquiring the ball inside the 10-yard line scores a touchdown 90 percent of the time. If Pulaski punts away (i.e., a 40-yard punt with a 10-yard return) the other team will start with the ball on the 38-yard line and score a touchdown 77 percent of the time. The difference is only 13 percent.
Before you go thinking that the team’s kicker must have the loneliest job in the world, Pulaski uses an onside kick on every kickoff.
If his team does not recover the onside kick, the opponent likely will field the kick around its own 47-yard line. On a typical kickoff, the other team usually starts around the 33-yard line.
“You’re only giving up 14 yards,” Kelley said. “And you get a chance to get the ball.”
Got all that? It may sound more gimmicky than the A-11 Offense, but results speak for themselves.
10:11 am on December 24th, 2008
This team would do quite well in the CFL.
10:58 am on December 24th, 2008
This guy is my hero.
11:32 am on December 24th, 2008
This coach has spent about 1000 hours playing Madden. Cause you never punt on Madden. Ever.
1:12 pm on December 24th, 2008
Yes, it's brilliant to give your opponent a short field all the time. That's exactly why the Broncos lost to the Bills even though they outgained them 532-275. This can work in high school, but if any special teams coach implements this in the NFL, he should be drop-kicked to the curb.
2:47 pm on December 24th, 2008
No punting? Well ain't that a kick in the head.
4:39 pm on December 24th, 2008
That's too much math for me.
7:39 pm on December 24th, 2008
Hey, whatever works.
9:23 pm on December 24th, 2008
This guy definitely does NOT have any bigger coaching jobs in his future.
11:03 pm on December 24th, 2008
Hey BoumtieBoumtie, what bigger jobs of any type do you have coming up in the future? I wouldn't worry about someone who is successful not having opportunites in the future. They usually don't give coaching opportunities or most any opportunites to failures.
12:46 am on December 25th, 2008
I attended PA and I can attest that this system really does work. And to the d-bag with the Thriller pic two up, Coach Kelley turned down a college job in the past, but you just believe whatever you want. I'm proud of our no punt tradition, Go Bruins!
10:37 am on December 25th, 2008
I love this philosophy. How many times have you seen teams punt, only to have a long run back and wind up with a net of 10 yards? Or my favorite, punting from your opponents 40 yard line, kicking the ball into the endzone, and winding up with a net 20 yards. Going for it on your own 5 yard line is ballsy, but your opponent is going to get it in good field position anyway. Kudos to the coach. They won their state championship. My high school has averaged 1 win a year for the past 10 years, so why not try it? What have you to lose?
11:59 am on December 26th, 2008
What a D-Bag. So if he is up 30 and it is 4th and 7, he is going to go for it. Super-dooper douchebaggy. This guy and his team are chumps.
7:03 pm on December 26th, 2008
Chumps? Football is a true team sport. Why should a team lighten up, if you've let them gain 30+ points on you, then you really just need to get beat down. Maybe then you'll come to play next time.
On a side note however, this is purely a high school tactic, however it seems to be working well for him. Football is huge in statistics and this guy seems to understand them well.
1:48 am on December 28th, 2008
If you look at it mathematically it makes sense. Professor Romer of Cal did a study of this based on the NFL and many others have followed suite. Why you see so many punts is that coaches are worried about looking bad because they go against conventional wisdom. It is the backlash of the fans and media.