With the guard just outside his opponent the tackle may take considerably more room, taking care to be outside the outside man on the attacking line; he should not be coaxed out too far to protect the space between himself and his guard save when he can carry two of his opponents with him. The tackle may handle himself with more latitude than the guard, facing slightly in the direction of the opposing backs should he deem it necessary. It is a good plan for him to do a little restless shifting in his position in order to coax his opponents into giving away the direction of the play. He should keep his eyes on the ball and charge the instant that it is snapped. If his end is playing the waiting game he should drive through at once and ram into the interference, carefully keeping his feet the while, whereas, should his end be coached in the smashing style, he should drive into the opposing end with arms outstretched, straightening the latter up, and keeping his body well away. He will need to keep his head up and watch for the direction of the play, as well as note the work done by his own end in breaking it up. For the moment he is playing both end and tackle, and his weight gives him the chance to "stall."

If the play goes outside his position he should work free of the end on the outside and tackle the runner, while if the play is aimed directly at him or inside his position, he will do well to drive the opposing end into it, or charge through inside the end and smash into the play. If the play is headed for the other side of the line he should go through and follow around in the hope of tackling from behind.

The defensive end should play all the way from one to five yards from his tackle, according to the system used, assuming the position for the sprinter's start. Needless, perhaps, to say, he should start with the snap of the ball, and if playing the smashing style, should get right into the interference and at the man with the ball as fast and as hard as possible, keeping his feet; and if unable to reach the runner causing as much wreckage as be can. His course should be just enough off the straight line to enable him to turn the interference and runner in, but this should not be accomplished at the cost of getting on the spot promptly. If playing the waiting game, he should run forward straight back of the line about a yard, and then go in on the outside, keeping the interference at arm's length, nailing the runner if possible, and if not, turning the mass toward his own tackle. In both cases, should the play be headed for the opposite side, the end should follow around on the jump, alert to make the tackle or pick up a fumbled ball.

If the defensive end is played back on punts he must take care of the offensive end going down the field, whereas if he is playing on the smashing system it is his duty to go in and hurry the kick and block the kick if possible. The greatest danger in following around is that the end will overrun a play that depends for its success on the double or delayed pass. Of one thing the end must always be certain, and that is never to let the interferers reach his body with their shoulders, in which case he will be put out of the play, and the interference will continue in its course very little shaken up. A good defensive end is never slow to leave his feet when he finds it absolutely necessary in order to wreck the interference, and the man who is playing the smashing style is in better shape to do so, I believe, than he who is coached in the waiting system. It is the end's duty to hurry forward passes as much as possible, and here again the advantage lies with the smashing end in that he can go in in perfect safety, confident of the support of his tackle and halfback, and spoil one of those indeterminate "forward pass or run" maneuvers that sometimes gain a lot of ground if the attack be compelled to make its decision at an early stage.

On the offensive a capable center makes all his passes with a single, sweeping motion, and when necessary to look at the back to whom the pass is to be made, concentrates his attention on that single feature of his play, trusting to get the charge on his opponent after the ball is cleanly sent away. Some coaches maintain that the center should look at his opponent when making the pass to the quarterback, and at the back when making the direct pass, but it is a better plan, I think, if he will put his head down and look backward between his legs now and then even when making the pass to the quarter. In this way the fact that a direct pass is to be made will not be advertised for the benefit of the enemy. The center, on the attack, should play on a low plane, with his knees wide apart, the ball in both hands opposite his forward foot, elbows inside his knees, and his back perfectly straight. Indeed all the forwards should remember to keep their backs straight all the time on the offense, for this is one of the keynotes of the successful, sustained charge.

Forwards play closer together on attack than on defense, crowding in as much as is necessary, and often as closely as is permitted under the rules, keeping in mind the maxim that "the territory behind the scrimmage line is sacred to the backs." The word "sacred" is a strong word, but not too strong to suit the backfield men, who dislike having their forwards let opposing line men come streaming through on them before they can get started.

The beat position for the offensive forward is with his outside foot and his inside hand on the line of scrimmage, and his eye on the ball, save that some latitude may be allowed in the latter matter when a starting signal is used. If the play is going directly through his position, the center should charge absolutely straight into his man, while if to one side, he should make certain to charge with his shoulder and his body on the same side as the play, and drive the defensive center away from the direction taken by the runner. When the play goes outside of tackle, on either side, the center charges clean through and takes care of the first man in the secondary defense. In making the long pass to the fullback for a kick, the center should sacrifice every other consideration to that of perfect passing, and on no account is he to pass too high. Better a pass along the ground than over the back's head, for in the former case there is still a chance of getting the kick away, while in the latter the kicker is in for serious trouble.