Coach Vint: 4-4

Showing posts with label 4-4. Show all posts

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Building A Defensive Call Sheet

When I first became a defensive coordinator, I thought I would call everything off the hip. I would go by feel and what was happening in the game. Every morning after our game I would say, "why did I make that call?" Or, "why didn't I call XYZ pressure package that we worked all week?" I began to realize I had to do a better job of planning and preparation. I didn't have good defensive call sheet because I didn't know where to start. As an offensive coordinator I had a very detailed call sheet. I decided to adapt this to defense. This article will give you a couple of ideas that will help you to better prepare for your opponents. You may want to include these in your own call sheet this season.

Our number one goal on defense was to get the ball back. That was the premise for everything we did. We could get the ball back one of four ways.
1. They score. This was the worst way to get the ball back.
2. We get a turnover on downs. This was good, but often meant they had driven into our territory and went for it on fourth down.
3. We could force a punt. This was good, as it usually meant we stopped them on their side of the 50.

4. We got a turnover. This was best as it meant we created momentum, and often would have great field position.

When I put our call sheet together, I did so with the thought of getting the ball back the third and fourth way. But, we were prepared for the second way as well. When we built our call we focused on a couple of areas first. We wanted to make sure we knew who their playmakers were, and when they went to them. One week we faced a team that had a great receiver they would go to every time it was 3rd and 4 or more. We knew we had to take him away. We scripted a couple of calls that were designed to cover him with some sort of a bracket coverage. Below is an example of this column:

Depending how many playmakers our opponent has, we may use 2, 3, or 4 of these columns. Typically we are going to have 2 of these columns, because most teams have 2 playmakers. Some teams may have 3 or 4, but most teams have 1 or 2. Usually each of these guys are go to guys in specific situations. This same team had a big back that they went to on 3rd and less then four. They ran power 90% of the time. We had a call specifically designed to take power scripted. We might have 1 or 2 calls. Sometimes we might have 3 calls we like. The big key is I can look at this column and quickly communicate a call to our guys on the field.

The next column I built was our opponents personnel groups and run pass percentages, followed by the calls they made most often, and what we liked to call against this group. I used these typically on first and 2nd down situations. I had a coach telling me personnel, down and distance, and run/pass percentages. I would then make my call based on the call sheet. We were using concrete data to make calls. Below is an example of what this section of my call sheet looked like:

Most teams are very tendency oriented, and I wanted to know what their tendencies were from each formation and personnel grouping. I also wanted to be reminded of screen downs. We had calls built in to take away screens against teams that were screen heavy. I also wanted to know if there were certain personnel or formation keys that tipped us to what our opponent would do. The stars * are the calls they make most using our terminology. The numbers are the calls I like against these personnel groups. This way I am not trying to guess what to call. I am not smart enough to do that.

The backside of my call sheet is designed with down and distance situations. We list each situation by hash, put our opponents run/pass percentages, and then list our favorite calls. Typically we will have 2 or 3 calls we list. Breaking this data down by hash helps us to be very targeted. Some teams will be 60% run on 3rd and short, but if they are on one hash that might be 80% run, and in the middle might be 40% run. This is important because it helps us make the best call in each situation.

Here is an example of 2nd and short. You can see that our opponent tends to run more in the middle and right hash, but they are more balanced on the left hash. I can now make better calls based on the hash.

Each section of our call sheet gave specific info that helped us to be able to take away what our opponent wanted to do. We called our call sheet an in-game info sheet because it contained a lot of necessary data that allowed me to call our defense quickly and efficiently. I had a communication coach relaying information to me based on this sheet. We felt like this helped us to put our kids in a position to be successful. A good defensive call can help your players to be able better do their job. We ended up with 6 shutouts and beat some teams we shouldn't have beaten. We were able to play very well on defense. Adding these columns might benefit you as you build your call sheet this season.

There is much more to our call sheet, as we also had calls by field zone and down and distance. I also had a section called the Big 12, which consisted of the 12 things they do that makes up 90% of their offense. I talk more about that here. As far as generating the data, Hudl gives you some great reports. But if you want to take your data to another level, check out this post I wrote: http://coachvint.blogspot.com/2023/07/defense-game-planning-keys-to.html

Many coaches tell me they want to build a call sheet, but they don't know where to start. Many have asked about my call sheet, and I decided to put together a packet of every single document we have used to prepare on defense! This has everything we used, including our 2 sided color call sheet. You will be more prepared on defense and will be able to dominate your opponent! You can click here to learn more: Defensive Game Planning Resource You can order it now and download it instantly! For a limited time, it is one sale using the link above! It is completely editable and customizable. This resource is available for instant download! It has everything we used to post 6 shutouts and make a deep playoff run!

If you are looking to improve your preparation, take a minute to check out this resource packet.

Additional Resources for Coaches:

Last year I got hooked up with CoachTube, and put together three courses for offensive football coaches. I put together two courses on RPO's, and a course on Building An Elite System of Communication. All of these courses will help you to score more points! https://coachtube.com/users/coachvint

Installing Post-Snap RPO's

Installing Pre-Snap RPO's To Get Your Skill Guys More Touches

Building An Elite System of Gameday Communication

All three of these courses are detailed, with everything you need to be more explosive and to score more points.

The course on communication gives you a detailed approach to your gameday communication. I give you a system and a process to improve the quality of conversations, leading to improved play calling on game day. This course has received outstanding reviews from coaches at all level of football. A coach with multiple state titles told me this course helped them to be much more efficient and explosive this season.

My two RPO courses take you through a systematic process of installing RPO's into your offensive system. RPO's put the defense in conflict, forcing them to defend all 53 yards of width and all 6 skill players every single play. I not only give you a system, but I teach you the methods to develop your own RPO concepts.

https://coachtube.com/users/coachvint

A few years back I published a couple of iBooks that can help your program with X's and O's. The first is on Installing RPO's into any offense. Here is a link to the iBooks version: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1078061959. The ibooks version includes explanations, diagrams, and video clips embedded!

If you don't have an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you can order the Amazon version for the Kindle. It has everything except the embedded video. You can order it here: http://www.amazon.com/Installing-Explosive-Concepts-Into-Offense-ebook/dp/B01B12YSCG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

I also wrote a book on Tempo. It will greatly help you build a multiple tempo system with simple communication that will allow your kids to play with confidence. It also had over an hour of video clips! You can order the ibooks version here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1075902270.

Order the Amazon Kindle version here:

http://www.amazon.com/Using-Multiple-Tempos-Create-Explosive-ebook/dp/B01ATOL46A/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Thursday, July 7, 2016

Using The Big 12 to Prepare on Defense

Over the last 10 years I have had several opportunities to speak at clinics around the country talking about our success on defense when I was a defensive coordinator. One thing that ultimately comes up is how we game planned for our opponents. While we had good players, we felt like a big part of our success was our guys having confidence going into each game. We spent a lot of time preparing for our opponents which allowed us to be able to anticipate what are opponents were going to do.

One of the most important parts of our game preparation was what we called The Big 12. The Big 12 were the 12 things our opponent did most. We made a list of these 12 things. We found that most teams pull 85% to 90% of their offense from 10 to 12 calls. When we say call we mean formation, motion, and concept. This gives us a lot of insight into what our opponents are going to do. Here is an example of The Big 12 from one of our opponents.

Looking at these 12 concepts, you will see that 1 in 4 plays was going to be stretch. When they got into Trey, we expected a stretch play to the trey side. The other concept they ran off of this was GT weak. This allowed our guys to know we were most likely going to see an if/then. If I am strong side, then I am expecting stretch. If I am weak side I am expecting GT. When you look at this list, you will see these 12 concepts accounted for 86% of their snaps. They had a list of 10 things that accounted for the other 14%. The other concepts were reverses, draws, and a couple of pass and play action concepts.

When we went into our preparation for the week, we had the last 2 periods of our team vs. scouts to finish practice where we went only against these 12 concepts. We made sure our guys knew these were their bread and butter. In our other 3 periods of team vs. scouts we ran everything else. This helped us to be prepared for everything our opponent ran, with an emphasis on what they did most. During our inside run period and our pass hull we focused on these 12 concepts as well. This allowed us to work these in a small group setting as well.

The Big 12 list helped us to be much more prepared and we were able to make more plays. One example of this was when we faced a team that ran a screen to the back whenever they brought the flanker in short motion to the formation. This was their 9th most popular concept. Because we had it in the Big 12, we worked it accordingly in practice. When our opponent ran it in a game, we were able to intercept the screen and return it for a touchdown.

One huge mistake many defensive coordinators make is that they come up with scripts of 100 different plays. They script everything their opponent has done, and they make a scout book. They then roll through that book from start to finish. They end up running things their opponent may have run only twice in 3 games as much as something the opponent ran 24 times. This is not effective.

Choose one of your opponents from last season and go through two or thee games, and make a report of the 12 things they did most. Typically this will account for a high percentage of what they did offensively. If they run a lot of formations, we may expand this to 16, 18, or even 20 things. We never go above 20. Our goal is to target 85% to 90% of what they do. This will help us to better prepare our players. Our practices are more efficient, and we have less wasted time.

I put together a video of the process we use to determine the Big 12.

By targeting our preparation, we were more prepared and our players made fewer mental mistakes. I believe we tackled better because we were in a better position to make tackles. We were able to get more takeaways because our guys were in a better position to create turnovers. Being targeted in your preparation will help you to be much more successful on the field during games.

One thing that will help you greatly in your preparation is having the right documents to game plan and prepare your practices. I have put together a group of 12 documents that are fully editable and customizable for you to use to prepare to be dominant on defense. These documents helped us to produce 6 shutouts and hold our opponents to under 7 points per game. We were plus 24 in turnover margin, and were able to make a deep playoff run for the first time in school history. The Big 12 is included and can be found on the play menu page of the weekly practice schedule document. The documents are available for download for less than $15 by clicking here: Defensive Game and Practice Planning Packet This packet includes everything from an in-game call sheet to weekly practice plans and scripts. It includes an install schedule and scouting report template, and much more. Click here to order yours today: Defensive Game and Practice Planning Packet Here are a couple of samples from the packet:

Every coach who has gotten this resource says it helped them improve on defense. They were better prepared for their opponents and were able to coach with more confidence. These documents are already formatted, and are ready for you to simply plug in your information! Everything you need is in this packet!

In addition to this defensive preparation packet, I have a Game and Practice Planning Resource packet for Offensive Coordinators. It can be found here: Offensive Game and Practice Planning Documents. It is what I used to prepare as an offensive coordinator when we averaged over 45 points a game and 450 yards.

I hope you took something from this post that will help you to better prepare for your opponents this season.

A few months back I published a couple of iBooks that can help your program with X's and O's. The first is on Installing RPO's into any offense. Here is a link to the iBooks version: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1078061959. The ibooks version includes explanations, diagrams, and video clips on multiple RPO Concepts. It will give you a simple process for implementing them into your offense.