Hinsdale South debuts no-huddle offense

Updated: July 6, 2011 3:52PM

In a two days of action at the West Suburban Conference’s first 7-on-7 passing tournament, fans had a chance to see new Hinsdale South coach Mike Barry’s offense evolve.

Barry, the former coach at Evergreen Park, is bringing the no-huddle spread to Darien, and the quick-paced, pass-first model made its debut in the conference’s passing session at Addison Trail on June 28. On the first day, Barry sent in plays by using his own hand signals, directed toward all seven players.

On the second day, three of Hinsdale South’s offensive coaches wore headsets to communicate between Barry and assistant coach Dean Norman on the sidelines, with another coach behind the team out on the field.

Hinsdale South played its second four-game set on June 30, with Barry verbally calling plays on a headset, and Norman signaling the play with a set of hand gestures to the players on the field. Norman wore different colored tape around each wrist.

In the no-huddle, quarterbacks immediately make verbal calls after completions, and receivers are constantly keeping their eye on coaches on the sidelines for what route to run.

“This is what we do. It’s the only way to do things,” Barry said. “This allows for a lot of flexibility in attacking defenses. It’s also flexible (when) instituting personnel. A lot of communication is the key.”

Barry and his staff were the only coaches using headphones at the 11-team West Suburban tournament. The Hornets also were the only team running a no-huddle offense, though many other teams use the spread. At last one exception was Oak Park-River Forest and new coach John Hoerster, who’s using an option offense brought over from Mount Carmel, where he was a former assistant coach.

The two Hinsdale quarterbacks getting the majority of the snaps at Addison Trail were senior Michael Cross and junior D.J. Deolitisis. Barry said his quarterbacks and many other offensive players have picked up the offense quite well.

“There is a lot more on the quarterback, no question about it,” Barry said. “They have to make the correct reads, that sort of thing.”

The new-look offense will make its season debut at Romeoville on Aug. 26. The Hornets (3-6 last season) play their first three games on the road before opening at home against Addison Trail on Sept. 16.

Barry won’t give away any trade secrets regarding his no-huddle offense, but promises that, “multiple players can get the football on any play. It’s flexible. It takes what the defense gives you.”

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