Special Fall 2026 Season Pass - Introductory Offer
A new, Limited time, "Season Pass" to our Member Resource Libraries is now available for $29.95.
The Fall 2026 Season Pass is a "true" Season Pass in that it provides unlimited access to our Member Resource Libraries through Dec 31, 2026.
It is available here and is processed by Stripe and can also be purchased at our affiliate site where it is processed by PayPal.
The North Catholic Option Offense - a series of articles from Mike Schuster, Founder of Option Central
We have released the first in a series of 1- Articles that were written by Founder Mike Schuster
when he published Option Central.
In this article, Mike
talks about how and why North Catholic became an Option team in
the '90's, the results on the field and the start of Option
Central.
The entire North Catholic system remains accessible in the Option Central Member Library, and will continue to be accessible to Members until the entire series of Articles has been published in our Public section and available to everyone.
Check out the Training the Option Quarterback from Mike Schuster.
Training the Option Quarterback - an article from Rob Zeitmain
Next up as we roll out articles from our Members Article Library is Training the Option Quarterback from Rob Zeitman.
Coach Zeitman contributed this and another article to Option Central before he moved to Ferris State, where he served as Offensive Coordinator during the early years of Ferris State's ascent to the top of Division II Football.
The quality of the work of Coach Zeitman and then Ferris State colleague Brad Corpe on their video series: The Ferris State Pistol Option Offense - aka "The Showgun" is as indisputable as the Ferris State results on the field during those years.
The entire Ferris State Pistol Option Offense collection - available in our Video Library, remains extremely popular with Option Central Members.
Option Plays that I Would Run Today - an article from the Football Coach who invented the Trap Option, aka Freeze Option
In the late 70's, while coaching with Bill Parcells at Wichita State, Larry Beckish experimented with a formation that looked a lot like what later came to be known as The Pistol. This was at least 10 years before the formation reportedly was used for the first time in Pro Football, and 25 years before it was named "The Pistol" and popularized by University of Nevada head coach Chris Ault in 2005.
Option Plays that I Would Run Today is the first from Coach Beckish and the second in a series of articles from The Option Central Article Library that we're moving to our public section. The entire text of The Trap Option - 40 Plus 60 Equals Option is available in eBook format in our Member Resource Section
Article Library to move to public section
Built primarily during the first 10 Years of Option Central and largely through contributions of "Guest Writers", the Option Central Article Library is a one-of-a-kind collection.
With most, if not all of this editorial content still relevant to this day, we've decided to release our entire collection
of articles to the public over the coming months. Since
this will entail moving each article to
a public-facing page and updating the articles to a modern,
mobile-friendly design, the process will be gradual, but its a process that has begun.
In addition, as we roll out articles, we
will be building a Contributor Index page that, along with the Articles
and a redesigned Article Index, will be mobile-friendly.
When complete, the work of the many
outstanding coaches who contributed to Option Central in its
early years under Founder Mike Schuster will become part of the
public domain, and available to the entire Option football
coaching community.
We're excited about this new initiative and looking forward to reconnecting with coaches who contributed articles in the first 10 Years of Option Central.
The Poor Man's Flexbone article from the first 10 Years of Option Central
We recently had the opportunity to connect with Coach Chip Seagle after listening to his recent podcast featuring Tony DeMeo, and have moved his article, The Poor Man's Flexbone to our public article section.
Check out The Poor Man's Flexbone, and give Football Talk with Coach Chip a listen as he interviews Coach Tony DeMeo in a 2 part show.
Coach Seagle's YouTube Channel sports hundreds of videos, including a 5 part Guest Coach series that featured one of our recent contributors, Jack Byrne
The Triple Gun Screen Game - New Course now available at CoachTube.com
Option Central Contributor Tony DeMeo has published a new course on CoachTube.com.
The latest collaboration between Coach DeMeo and Option Central, The Triple Gun Screen Game course combines presentation slides, game video and play illustrations.
As is the case with many of the other components of The Triple Gun, The Triple Gun Screen Game can be effectively incorporated into any Offense.
The 25 years of Option Central podcast
A "deep dive" podcast about the birth and development of Option Central since its founding in 1999 to the present day is now available.
This is a time-efficient and convenient way to learn about Option Central and what we offer to our Members . Listen now...
New Contributor profile added - Coach Jack Byrne
In Triple Option for All Levels: Simplifying Blocking Schemes from Varsity to Youth , Option Central Contributor Jack Byrne explained his approach to developing his Offensive Line from the perspective of a Head Football Coach of a “David” and not a “Goliath”. During his tenure as the Head Football Coach at Windham H.S. in New Hampshire from 2019-2024, Coach Byrne led his Windham Jaguar teams to the Division I playoffs three times, while competing against much larger schools.
A critical component in the development of his players and success of his teams was the Foundation Strength program. Designed specifically for programs with limited kids, limited staff, and limited time to be simple, reliable, and easy to implement, Foundation Strength was built for Small Schools, Underdog Programs, and Overworked Coaches .
Visit our Contributor Profile page to meet Coach Byrne and learn more about the strength training system that was designed for coaches who find themselves in a similar situation.
New Memberships available
After reviewing our Membership plans, we implemented new, lower renewal pricing for active Members of Option Central. In addition, the same renewal pricing is included in each of the following 1 Year Access Plans:
A 1 Year Access Plan processed by Stripe is available here at Option Central and will be active immediately upon payment and email address validation.
A 1 Year Access Plan processed by PayPal is available through our affiliate site and will typically be active within 24 hours. T