Former PHS Football Coach Taking the A-11 Pro

When Kurt Bryan that he was stepping down from his position as Piedmont High School's varsity football coach, he said he was leaving to pursue another football-related opportunity. That opportunity: forming a new professional league around his A-11 offense, which turned a national spotlight on Highlander football.

During his five-year tenure as head coach, Bryan created the A-11 with offensive coordinator Steve Humphries, who . The innovative scheme, which uses the scrimmage kick formation to disguise which players are eligible receivers, allowed Piedmont to compete with the bigger, stronger teams in the North Coast Section.

With the A-11, the Highlanders had a 7-4 season in 2007 and a 7-3-1 season in 2008. Rivals High, a Yahoo! Sports publication, even said the A-11 could be the, "future of football."

But in 2009, the national rules committee for high school football banned the scheme, deeming it unsportsmanlike.

In Bryan's new pro league, according to an Oakland Tribune report, the A-11 would be legal.