[UCFB]

Which do you consider to be the most important in the game of football overall to winning as a team?

[charlie22]

speed

[Recznik]

Thats a good question IMO it depends on the offense ur running lets say wing-T U would need speed and lets say wish bone I would have to say strength. But alittle of both is always A good thing.

[vette72]

Strength Will Always Compensate For Lack Of Speed, You Can't Catch Anybody No Matter How Slow They Are If You Are Laying On Your Back

[cuppett777]

strength 1st then speed, but you need them both

[Spud6]

Strength.

[GRIFFIN]

Strength

[Big Five-0-]

Strengh, then speed.

[King Leonidas]

Speed Kills!!!

[PinPoint]

You can't hit what you can't catch lol

[barrel]

Speed. You started to see this in the late 80s early 90s when colleges started going more for speed. Teams started playing undersized guys that had speed. Miami is the poster child for the concept of speed and the nation followed on the college level. Jimmy Johnson goes to Dallas and the pros begin to follow after he played undersized.

One of the places strength holds true is on the OL and to a degree DTs. In both cases there is a huge premium placed on quick feet.

[Sarrr]

Both.

A team of juggernauts is going to get burned by speedsters, a team of speedsters will get run over by juggernauts. It's more pronounced when the defense is one sided. The game is set by the offense unless the defense can play their game better.

[fooseballer1]

You can't hit what you can't catch lol

Actually you made a good point.You cant gain yardage if are slow out of the back feild.....SRRY but its the truth

[bell_co98]

both lol

[BlackcatAlum]

Both.

A team of juggernauts is going to get burned by speedsters, a team of speedsters will get run over by juggernauts. It's more pronounced when the defense is one sided. The game is set by the offense unless the defense can play their game better.

Thats exactly what I was thinking.

Past state champions have a combination of both speed & strength. I've never witnessed a team win just on speed without being able to overpower their opposition.

[JackFrost]

Strength. You might be as quick as cat, but your not going to always be in open field. Blocking, tackling, running straight up the middle, etc. all requires alot of strength to become great. Yeah itll be nice to have outragious speed to make those big runs or what-not, but when your line cant block nobodey or stop an opposing player from scoring, it dont matter how fast you get to them if they just run over you.

[Patriot]

You need a strong line and a fast back! But if a back has both then watch out!

[cj2561]

RB need to have both. There is times were a RB just have to run over someone for that exit yard....

[phdballer]

Type of scheme plays a large part in what is more successful but I think in high school football technique and positioning are more important than strength. I think the best lineman in the state last year Mister Cobble (Louisville Central) put on a show with his quickness way more than he ever did with his strength. In the option offense you want speed more than strength because you are reading a guy anyway so unless your QB reads wrong then the DT or DE is always wrong. Leading to huge gains with Centrals speed.

[JMEWLS]

Look at the SEC. Why do they win National Championships? Because they are the fastest conference in the nation. Speed always overtakes strength in my opinion.

[Csportsman11]

Speed...You cant teach Speed(you can make yourself faster) you either have it or you dont...strenght you can teach in weight room...you cant tackle what you cant catch L'ville Central is a Great example...so YES SPEED.....

[UCFB]

Speed...You cant teach Speed(you can make yourself faster) you either have it or you dont...strenght you can teach in weight room...you cant tackle what you cant catch L'ville Central is a Great example...so YES SPEED.....

speed is trainable, people dont run 4.2 and 4.3 40 yard dashes without yards of hard work and speed training.

[Stardust]

speed is trainable, people dont run 4.2 and 4.3 40 yard dashes without yards of hard work and speed training.

I'll disagree from this sense. In Speed, a top athlete can shave as much as 3/10's of a second off of their speed, which is a TREMENDOUS accomplisment. To go from 5.6 to 5.3 or 4.6 to 4.3 is a 6-7% gain in speed, which is a relatively low success factor.

For a lifter, it is not uncommon for lifters to go from 250 bench to 300+, or a 17% increase in strength. So, speed is obviously God given. Even though strength can be God given, tremendously more achievement can be attained in lifting versus running. Thus, Speed cannot be as easily taught than strength. Which makes my answer, Speed over Strength on the football field. I'll teach the strength.....

[cougarpride08]

Speed kills.

[UCFB]

I'll disagree from this sense. In Speed, a top athlete can shave as much as 3/10's of a second off of their speed, which is a TREMENDOUS accomplisment. To go from 5.6 to 5.3 or 4.6 to 4.3 is a 6-7% gain in speed, which is a relatively low success factor.

For a lifter, it is not uncommon for lifters to go from 250 bench to 300+, or a 17% increase in strength. So, speed is obviously God given. Even though strength can be God given, tremendously more achievement can be attained in lifting versus running. Thus, Speed cannot be as easily taught than strength. Which makes my answer, Speed over Strength on the football field. I'll teach the strength.....

it also depends on size, ur not going to find any linemen running in the low 4s on the 40s, but they are likely to be lifting huge amounts. strength and speed also have alot to do with genetics, but both take tremendous training to increase to maximum potential. As for the 4.6 to 4.3 example being 7% increase, i believe th fastest man to ever run a 40 broke 3.9. that being the maximum for all human beings 4.3 is very close. i think the maximum bench press recorded is 1020pounds, so a 300 lbs bench with a 17% increase is not near the maximum strength. you would have to use a different scale to measure the increase, but lowering you 40 time .3 seconds is a **** of alot harder than increasing ur bench 50lbs depending on your size. most pro athletes are some of the fastest humans on earth, were as they arent really the strongest, but are very strong, i suppose in that sense that speed is more of a factor and usage in football, and more sports, but strength is also basis of speed, the bigger your legs, the harder and faster your gonna kick.

[bac2369]

Speed Kills and Strength Dominates. So both matter.

[Hilbily]

Both are very important. At the highschool level i will take speed overall.

[Stardust]

it also depends on size, ur not going to find any linemen running in the low 4s on the 40s, but they are likely to be lifting huge amounts. strength and speed also have alot to do with genetics, but both take tremendous training to increase to maximum potential. As for the 4.6 to 4.3 example being 7% increase, i believe th fastest man to ever run a 40 broke 3.9. that being the maximum for all human beings 4.3 is very close. i think the maximum bench press recorded is 1020pounds, so a 300 lbs bench with a 17% increase is not near the maximum strength. you would have to use a different scale to measure the increase, but lowering you 40 time .3 seconds is a **** of alot harder than increasing ur bench 50lbs depending on your size. most pro athletes are some of the fastest humans on earth, were as they arent really the strongest, but are very strong, i suppose in that sense that speed is more of a factor and usage in football, and more sports, but strength is also basis of speed, the bigger your legs, the harder and faster your gonna kick.

Both are very important. At the highschool level i will take speed overall.

Excellent qualifier Hilbily. Look at Highlands. They go the route of speed linemen. You will rarely see anyone on the line that hits the 250 mark (a staple of programs line Trinity and St. X.) Mueller puts guy's on the line that are athletes with speed. Their offensive and defensive schemes are designed to get to a spot faster than you. Though the opposition may be stronger at that opposing spot, HHS takes the angle and forces the other player into a position that mitigates his strength just long enough for the play to execute.

I have watched opposition game plans be wrecked because they thought they could blow the Birds off of the ball. Now obviously when the Birds face a team that not only has size but technique, meaning the the opposition knows how to defend the same spot that the Birds are trying to take advantage of, the Birds will lose that battle.

Highlands takes advantage of speed the way that the Bronco's lines during the Elway days played. Beat your man to the spot (with speed), and we will create a crease.

[blackcat_mvp6]

Look at the SEC. Why do they win National Championships? Because they are the fastest conference in the nation. Speed always overtakes strength in my opinion.

Great post!

[BaseballIsLife]

Looks look at comparitive purposes in college football.

SEC = Speed
Big 10 = Strength

And I think we all know who is the better conference when comparing these two...