As scrimmages across Texas and the country kick off, I wanted to talk to you about how you win your scrimmage. Every year we had one or two scrimmages depended on when we started practice.
Scrimmages are extremely beneficial to your program. My favorite part was having the opportunity to compete against another educational institution. Instead of beating on ourselves, we got to physically compete with someone else.
The first thing I ask as we begin preparing for a scrimmage, is what do we want to take away from this scrimmage? What do we need to learn about our team? This comes down to two things:
Who
What
This leads us to our definition of winning the scrimmage. The scrimmage doesn't matter for your district standings or for your state playoff seeding. It doesn't count towards your win-loss record. Your scrimmages are about getting good work, evaluating your players and scheme, and coming out healthy.
It doesn't matter if we scored more times than our opponent, or if we busted off a bunch of big plays. What mattered most to us was having an opportunity to evaluate ourselves, and coming away from the scrimmage healthy.
Evaluating Our Team
I mentioned previously we were going to evaluate the who and the what.
Who do we need to see compete to evaluate on our team? What concepts do we need to focus on during this scrimmage?
The Who
We already know who are top guys are. There are always going to be some guys that are returning and proven. You already know what they can do. I wanted these guys to get some work, but they weren't the focus of our scrimmage. My focus was wanting to see the guys who we needed to evaluate further.
Today I want to talk to you about something very important to consider during games, practice, and watching film.
One of the biggest mistakes I have seen made by coaches, and I have made as a coach, is focusing too much on the result. Sometimes you will have a very poorly executed play work out because your opponent jacked things up on their end. You might miss two blocks on a run play, but your running back breaks a tackle and ends up in the open field for a 75 yard run. Everyone gets so excited for the result, that they don't correct the mistake.
When you don't correct mistakes, it is going to be harder and harder to replicate success when all things are equal. I see this a lot with teams that are loaded with talent, or they have one or two really good players. They will have a bunch of big plays because they have players who are just better than everyone else. They are able to break tackles in the open field. Or they have a defensive lineman who is unblockable for most high school offensive linemen.
To avoid this issue, it there are a couple of things every head coach and coordinator should do. First, give your guys specific jobs during games. During a game, it is very important that every coach know what they are looking at, and actually look at that. Every coordinator should have guys assigned to watch different things. I have a sheet for each coach telling them where they should be during the game (sideline or box), and what they should be looking at. One simple rule is to have guys in the box watching away from our sideline, and having guys on the field watch the side nearest our sideline.
When you have specific roles, you don't miss anything. If everyone is watching the game, no one is going to see when a mistake is made. Game Planning Packet for OC's
In addition to looking at mistakes, guys are looking at what the defense is doing. If you don't have a coach assigned to watch their secondary, you won't know if they are playing sky or cloud, and how they are reacting to certain routes and run actions. On defense, you need to have someone watching the offensive line, and someone watching the receivers on each side of the field. There is nothing worse than giving up a deep pass, and no one saw the route that was run. If you don't know what route was run, you don't know who made a mistake.
When you have a great play, celebrate, but if there was a mistake on the play, don't let the result keep you from fixing the mistake. If a lineman missed a block but the back broke a tackle, fix the mistake. If a receiver ran the wrong route, but the QB scrambled and had a big gain, correct the mistake as soon as possible. This means every coach must have a job to do and they must do that job. If someone wants to watch the game, they can buy a ticket. There is nothing worse than having a player make the same mistake, but no one correcting the mistake until film on Saturday morning. That mistake should have been fixed during the game.
The same thing is true on the defensive side of the ball. You can't have everyone watching the game. You need to have guys assigned to watch different aspects of the offense. There is nothing worse than giving up a big play, and not knowing what route they ran, or what blocking scheme they used. You have to have specific roles for each coach and have those roles clearly laid out. You need to be able to correct mistakes immediately, not the next day. Defensive Game Planning Resource
Nearly every big game this year will have at least one game changing special teams play. If you look back at big games of every level, special teams always play a factor. At the high school level special teams can give you an advantage over your opponent when you are at a talent deficiency. We won a lot of games over the years because we had really good special teams. We also lost a few because of poor special teams.
1. Celebrate Special Teams
Your attitude as a coaching staff is vital to the preparation and performance as a team on special teams. You can tolerate special teams, or you can celebrate special teams. Unfortunately, many programs tolerate special teams and their programs reflect this.
When you celebrate special teams you embrace them as a staff. You have the same passion, energy, and enthusiasm coaching special teams that you have for every other phase of the game. Your players will feed off you. You have to sell your players on the value of special teams, and how great special teams will help you win more games.
We had a special teams player or players of the week every single game. We honored them with something special. At one school we had special shirts for our special teams units. We had a championship belt that a guy got to wear on the sideline if he had a big hit or a takeaway on special teams. We had names for our units that our players took pride in. Again, it starts with coaches being passionate about coaching special teams.
2. Use Wrinkles
During my coaching career I have had the opportunity to coordinate special teams and special teams units at a few different schools. We always wanted to find a way to use special teams as a way to help us win games. We wanted to force people to have to prepare for our special teams. We wanted them to have to take time from offense and defense to have to look at what we did on special teams.
I learned a lesson my first year as an OC. While meeting on Sunday the head coach informed myself and the DC that we were going to take 10 minutes from our offensive and defensive preparation to work special teams. Our opponent was very good on special teams and had a few wrinkles we had to take time to prepare for. I carried this with me, and we made a decision to do some things a little bit different that would force teams to have to prepare.
How We Were Different
The first thing we did was added a cluster kickoff formation. Jerry Campbell, a coaching mentor of mine, introduced us to this in 1999. Coach Campbell had come up from Westwood High School in Round Rock, Texas to help us install some option and zone read concepts. We were talking about special teams, and he showed us the cluster kickoff. Below is a diagram of our cluster kickoff
We would start in the cluster and attack the ball. We would either onside, pooch kick, or break out to our normal kickoff formation. This did not take us much time to teach, but it forced our opponents to spend time preparing for our the different looks we would give. Here is a screen shot from a game showing the cluster.
Another element we added was using a gate formation after we scored. We would sprint to get lined up in our gate formation. After a touchdown teams often have their heads down. We wanted to take advantage of this and have a chance at a quick two point conversion. We had five gate concepts we could run, in addition to shifting to kick. The defense had to take time to prepare for our gate formation. We would install our gate formation during the first three days of camp when we were in shorts and shirts. Below is a picture of our gate formation:
We also added some wrinkles with our punt team. Our punt team would align and shift from one look to another. We would show a shield look from a balanced set and then an unbalanced look. We also would show one or two fakes early in the season. Again, this took time for our opponents to cover. Our punt return team would bring pressure each week. We always had a way to attack the weakness of a protection without having to install anything new.
3. Coach The Details
This is vital. Too often we install our specials in a team setting. There is nothing wrong with this, but at some point you have to teach the individual skills. We had a special teams block and return circuit, and a special teams cover circuit. We worked players through stations to help them to learn how to do their job.
We then worked an individual period, a group period, and a team period for special teams. We coached them just like offense and defense. We had 4 coaches involved in each special teams unit. We coached them on specific details for their position. We didn't just tell two guys they double-teamed L3, we worked it in an individual period. We didn't just talk to our jammers about how to wall off the gunner, we practiced it in our individual period. We taught them how to off hand jam, and what to do when they lost contact. Coaching the details is vital.
Special Teams Change Games
When we took over a program that had not won a game in 3 years, special teams helped us beat people were shouldn't beat. Every time we broke a big return we made it easier for our offense to score. Every time we recovered a kickoff we gained a possession, while taking a possession from our opponent.
We were smart on special teams. We never kicked deep if a team had a big-time returner. We kicked the ball to spaces, not people. When we covered, we covered with the intent to get the ball back. We wanted to be physical when we tackled and try to get the ball out. We never punted to great returner. We wanted to have a 35 yard change of possession.
When we returned our kicks we set up a simple return where we could create a crease and get vertical. We didn't try to bring a ball across the field running laterally. We got vertical and found a crease. Our punt return unit was very good at blocking kicks. We always brought pressure from somewhere, and worked hard to hold up cover guys. If our returner made a guy miss we felt like we could have a big return.
We won games we probably shouldn't have won because of our special teams. We felt like it was simple for us to install, but took time for our opponents to prepare. We were able to change momentum and ultimately win games because of our special teams.
To help you with your special teams, I put together an AWESOME special teams download that has EVERYTHING you need to be explosive on special teams and win more games. Here is a screenshot of everything included:
Coaches tell me this is EXACTLY what they have been looking for to improve their special teams. This has everything from video cut-ups to practice footage, to scouting packets, to teaching presentations. If you want to be more explosive on special teams, this is what you need! Click here to order yours today! Special Teams Resource
Here are a couple of additional screenshots!
If you are looking for specific resource you can use to help you be more effective with your game planning and more explosive on offense, check out my offensive game planning packet at https://sellfy.com/p/AndN/
It includes everything from a scouting report template, to practice plans, to a two-sided color call sheet, and more! Each of the nine documents are fully editable and customizable! Order today and start preparing for your first game right now! This helped us be able to be prepared to attack the defense and put more points on the board. It also helped us be much more efficient and targeted on the weekends when we were game planning.
When I was a defensive coordinator we adapted this to our defensive preparation!
Here is a link to the defensive game planning documents. It includes 12 fully editable and customizable documents. https://sellfy.com/p/AY1u/ These are what we used to post 6 shutouts when I was a defensive coordinator. Defensive coordinators at all levels of football are using this.
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!
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.
Over the last several years we have gone all-in on RPO concepts. RPO's are simply Run-Pass-Options, where you essentially call two plays in one. The play might be a run, or it might be a pass. You don't know until the ball is snapped. The offensive line and backfield will execute the run, while the receivers run a pass concept. The goal is to make the defense wrong no matter what they do.
Over the last 15 years I have had the opportunity to speak at clinics all over the country about offensive concepts. In the last 5 years coaches have wanted to learn about RPO concepts, and how you can adapt them to your offensive system. One of the questions I get asked is how did we get to this point?
Our evolution of RPO's began with trusting our quarterback to be able to make choices. This started with a system we learned from Jerry Campbell in the 90's called "option on me." Jerry came up and helped us install the option game from the ground up, and taught me how the quarterback can call best option at the line. We would simply call a formation and point to our quarterback. That meant the play was on him. He could call midline, load, or veer option based on defensive alignment. Our offense exploded after installing this in the late 90's.
The next step in our journey took us into the realm of packaged plays. With a packaged play you called a run and a pass, and the QB would look at the defense and determine based on alignment whether to execute the run or pass. If he chose to execute the run, he would communicate this with the offense. Typically he would verbalize the call to the line and signal the receivers. Everyone would execute the call.
One of our favorite calls when we were under center was a sprint out concept strong paired with inside zone. In the diagram below, the defense aligns in a Middle Open shell showing cover 2. This means we have numbers in the box. The quarterback would signal to the receivers and verbalize to the line that we are going to run the called run play. As you can see in the diagram, we have numbers for the run game. The Z and H will block the most dangerous secondary force support player.
We have 8 on 6 in the box. Because the defense is playing 5 over 3 with our splits, we are able to run the football in the box.
If we had the same packaged concepts called and the defense adjusted to bring a 7th man in the box, we could execute the sprint out concept. This is illustrated below.
When the defense brought the strong safety in the box, we knew we had to leave someone unblocked. Typically this would mean pushing our zone once gap to the frontside, leaving the backside end unlocked. With a packaged play, the quarterback would simply check to the pass called and the offense would execute the play. Below is a video clip of the sprint out strong.
As you can see in the video, we were able to put the strong safety in conflict. He was in the box to play the run, but he also had to be a man defender on a pass play. We were able to take advantage with our tight end. The safety in the middle of the field cannot get over the top fast enough, and we were able to score. The quarterback looked at the defense and communicated with the offense that we would be running the sprint out pass.
Our First RPO
One of the first true under center RPO's we installed was what we called BOZO. We ran it off inside zone. The #1 WR ran a 3 yard stop route while #2 ran a 1 yard stop route. The offensive line blocked inside zone. The QB would determine based on presnap alignment whether to throw or execute the run. If the defense left the inside backer inside the box, the QB would read inside to outside. If he linebacker was outside the box, the QB would give the ball. The offensive line is blocking inside zone. Below is a clip of this concept.
Trips Check
The next step was having a three play package. We did this from trips, and we called it Trips Check. We would align in a trips formation and have 3 plays called. We would call Inside Zone Read with a hitch to the single and a bubble to the trips. We wanted the quarterback to open to the trips to mesh with the back.
The QB would first look at the single WR side and find the 2nd defender. We count 2nd level players within 7 yards of the LOS. If the corner is more than 7 yards off, we don't count him. In the diagram above, the corner is #1 and the LB in blue is #2. If the LB was in the box, the QB could throw the hitch route. If the LB was outside the box, the quarterback would go to his next presnap read to the trips side. The QB would find the 3rd defender to the trips side. If he is outside the box, run the ball. if he is inside the box, throw the bubble. In the diagram above, the quarterback sees the #2 linebacker to the single is outside the box. He doesn't want to throw the hitch based on presnap alignment.
To the trips side he sees the #3 defender inside the box, so the QB knows he can throw the bubble. We have numbers with 3 on 2. If the quarterback were to execute the run we still have a body for a body, but throwing the bubble gives us the best chance to be explosive. Initially we had the QB tell the OL when he was throwing with a one word code. We decided this was unnecessary.
With Trips Check, we felt like we had numbers regardless of how the defense lined up. If they bumped a linebacker out of the box to the trips side, we had numbers in the box.
If they aligned in an odd front and stayed in their 3-4 look, we had numbers in the box.
If they wanted to play us in a bear front and load the box, we had numbers on the perimeter.
We felt like we always had an answer. The offensive line would block inside zone read, and the skill players would execute the hitch to the single and the bubble to the trips. The quarterback would make a simple read and be able to take advantage of the defense. We could run any of our inside run concepts from this formation.
What this concept did was took a packaged play concept a step further. Instead of calling two plays and having the QB check to the right play, we built both plays into one call. This cut down on verbiage and helped us to play faster.
Building A Pass Into Every Run
Our next evolution was simple. We would call our runs and build in passes. We did this through a simple set of rules. By building in a simple set of rules that were consistent every single run play, our players were able to play very fast without thinking. On our inside runs we would no longer have our receivers block for the run. Instead we would run a quick pass concept.
Have you ever called a run, and come to the line of scrimmage to have the defense loading the box and leaving a receiver uncovered? Or, they have the corner playing 10 yards off your best receiver? Or, have you ever called a quick game concept like bubble, only to have the defense playing man press?
What I am about to discuss gave us built in answers. We didn't ever want to have to run into a loaded box again. We wanted to be able to protect our run game. We also wanted to be able to have a built in way to throw the ball to our most explosive athletes in space if the defense was giving that to us. We wanted to do these things without adding new verbiage and without having to check a play at the line.
We came up with a simple set of rules. On an inside run the offensive line would block the called run. The receivers would execute their quick game rules. The rules were very simple.
1. If there is one of you, run a stop route at 5 yards.
2. If there are 2 of you, run "quick."
3. If there are 3 of you, run bubble.
That was it. Any inside run we called from any personnel group used those rules. We didn't need any tags to incorporate these rules. It was built into the call.
In addition to protecting our runs, this gave our skill players more touches in space. Even if we had a quarterback who struggled throwing the ball, we could complete high percentage passes. The first year we built this in we nearly doubled our passing yards with a running quarterback. Not only that, our running game improved because we were able to force defenses to unload the box.
When we get into a 2x2 set and run inside zone read, we get the quick concept on both sides. The defense must align to stop the quick game or the quarterback will catch and throw. If the defense aligns to take away the quick game concept, we have numbers in the box. Below is an example of our inside zone read RPO from a 2x2 set.
The defense essentially has to decide what they want to take away. If they take away our quick game, we should have numbers in the box. Below I talk you through this simple concept and talk you through three clips that will give you some insight into presnap RPO's.
As you can see in the third clip, the quick game action holds the safety and slows him down in run support. We actually were running a quick game variation to the field where we tag a "sucker route" or quick and go. This helps to hold the safeties, allowing the back to gain extra yards. To the boundary side we are running a scissors concept reading the outside linebacker.
I hope this gives you something you can use with your program. I love being able to build quick game passes into our run game concepts. Since we began doing this we have greatly increased our number of explosive plays. This helps your offense add some balance without an expensive investment. I have helped many schools install these simple RPO concepts, and they have found them to be very beneficial.
This barely scratches the surface with what we have done as far as RPO's. We now run them in multiple ways reading literally any 2nd and 3rd level defender!
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!
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.
If you want to learn more about installing RPO's, I wrote a book called Installing Explosive RPO Concepts Into Any Offense. I wrote it for iBooks, which includes cut-ups to reinforce the application of these concepts. In the book I give you a systematic process for installing 2nd and 3rd level RPO's. Coaches at all level of football tell me this is a game changer! The book can be found for iBooks here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1078061959
The iBooks version can be viewed on any iPhone, Mac, or iPad. It is a game changer in book technology! This book will give you everything you need to build RPO's into your offense!
A few years ago I was speaking at a clinic about our game planning and an FBS coordinator asked me after the talk to go through what we do. I shared with him our offensive game planning resource and he used it through the spring. He emailed me back that it was a game changer. It was an honor to have him use these documents. After speaking at clinics and hearing that more coaches didn't know where to start, I decided to make these available.
It includes everything from a scouting report template, to practice plans, to a two-sided color call sheet, and more! Each of the nine documents are fully editable and customizable! Order today and start preparing for your first game right now! At one time this was $99, but it is available right now for less than $13!
Here are a couple of screen shots to show you what our call sheet looks like:
This shows you a small portion of it. It is a fully editable, customizable two sided call sheet. It gives you the ability to better organize and be prepared on game day. It helped us to be better play callers on game day. There are eight other fully customizable documents! Some of the top high school programs in the country use this, as do several college programs!
When I was a defensive coordinator we adapted this to our defensive preparation!
Here is a link to the defensive game planning documents. It includes 12 fully editable and customizable documents. https://sellfy.com/p/AY1u/ These are what we used to post 6 shutouts when I was a defensive coordinator. Defensive coordinators at all levels of football are using this. Again, it is less than $13 right now!
And finally, I put together a special teams resource. This has everything you need, included drill tape, practice tape, and game footage. It includes teaching presentations and scouting forms just for special teams! https://sellfy.com/p/tJwz/ This helped us to build dominating special teams!
I wanted these to be available at a very reasonable cost. These can help you to be more successful on the field and more efficient in the office!
Over the last several months, I have stepped out of my comfort zone and wrote a new book about faith and purpose. The book is available as a paperback on Amazon, and as an eBook for the Kindle App. The cool thing about the Kindle app is that you can read the book on any device. I invite you to read it, and discover the power you receive when you make a decision to walk with the Lord. Here is a link to the book: Finding Faith
Since publishing the book, I have received numerous texts, calls, and emails, from people who are going through similar trials and tribulations. They were feeling many of the same things I was feeling. The found comfort in the book. They also found they had a desire to change and to live better. They wanted more joy.
I would invite you to read the book and discover the possibilities that God has planned for your life.
My background on the offensive side of the football is with Option principles. My first opportunity to be an offensive coordinator was running an I-Based offense that focused on running the Midline, Load, and Veer option concepts. When we evolved into a gun and pistol offense, we continued to be option based. We try to find new and innovative ways to read defenders.
Perhaps the easiest and most popular read play to install is the inside zone read. Offenses from youth football all the way up to the NFL have adapted some form of the inside zone read. While many programs have put their own stamp on this popular concept, the principles are the same. The offense is going to block the box defenders while reading the backside C gap defender.
The inside zone read allows the offense to cancel a defender without having to block him. It can give you a man advantage. You essentially can get one more blocker to the second level. Defenses have to not only have to cancel gaps, but now they must make sure they account for the QB as a runner. Defensive coordinators have to make sure they have a player assigned to the QB and to the running back. When defenses have to account for the QB, they have to borrow from the secondary, or ask their defenders to react very quickly to get in a position to make sure the QB doesn't run free.
The bowl games were fun to watch as several teams employed different versions of the inside zone read. UCLA ran it well against Kansas State, hitting several big plays. Perhaps the biggest play came in the fourth quarter when K-State was mounting a furious comeback. UCLA needed a big play... and they got one.
The Bruins aligned in a one back gun set with a TE. Essentially this is a pro set, but putting the H back in the slot to the open side forced K-State to have to essentially defend an extra gap up front. K-State's answer was to roll their safety down to 5 yards put him man on the H back.
As you can see from the picture below, Kansas State has a dive and a QB player by alignment.
Because they had two players outside the read side tackle, one of them could play the dive, and one could play the QB.
On the snap of the ball the QB meshed with the dive back and saw the defense had a dive player and a QB player. We teach our QB, "when in doubt, give it out." This is a principle we used back in our option days. We would rather have our back getting downhill and being physical.
The problem for K-State is that both players worked to the QB. Instead of playing their responsibilities, they made a choice to do their own things. The two things that kill a defense faster than anything are blown option responsibilities and missed tackles. Both of these will get defensive coordinators pulling their hair out!
When both players went to the QB, they left a huge void in the C gap. The UCLA's read side guard and tackle did a great job of comboing the 3 Technique to the backside backer, leaving no one to play the dive back.
With the secondary in man coverage, there was no one left when the RB got through the first and second levels of the defense. The result was touchdown run that put UCLA up two scores.
I am sure K-State spent many, many reps drilling their guys on option responsibilities. However, UCLA did a great job of mixing up their looks on the perimeter. That is one of the reasons I love the zone read game. You can show the defense several different looks without having to change your blocking scheme.
Adding RPO's makes the inside zone read a lethal concept!
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!
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.
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.
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.
If you are looking at adding the Inside Zone Read, or looking for a new wrinkly you can use, 101 Pistol Option Plays is now available as an interactive ibook. It has play diagrams, slides, blocking scheme descriptions, and hours of video! It is divided into two books, and the IS Zone Read and other read game concepts are found in Part Two, which consists of plays 54 to 101 and can be found here:
One of the keys to our success was tremendous preparation!The key to preparation was our outstanding group of documents we used for all three phases. If you are looking for fully editable and customizable documents that you can tailor to your program, I have made mine available.
It includes everything from a scouting report template, to practice plans, to a two-sided color call sheet, and more! Each of the nine documents are fully editable and customizable! Order today for under $15 and download them tonight!
Here is a link to the defensive game planning documents. It includes 12 fully editable and customizable documents. https://sellfy.com/p/AY1u/
And finally, I put together a special teams resource. This has everything you need, included drill tape, practice tape, and game footage. It includes teaching presentations and scouting forms just for special teams! https://sellfy.com/p/tJwz/
There is nothing I love more than bowl season! For a two week period there is football on pretty much non-stop on ESPN. If you are a football coach, bowl season is a great time to begin your winter research and development period. I love getting out a pad and paper and taking notes on what teams are doing on offense, defense, and special teams. I record nearly every game and go through each play several times. I firmly believe the inventor of DVR was a football coach!
There were several takeaways from this year's bowl games. First, it's all about numbers. Every offensive team was trying to gain a numerical advantage at the point of attack. If we can get one more blocker to the point of attack, we have a chance at a good football play. If we can get an angle here and leverage there, we can make a big play.
It seems nearly everyone is running some sort of a read or "option" concept. The premise is that it is easier to "read" a defender than to block that defender. By reading a defender, the offense can block a second level defender they normally wouldn't be able to block.
One great example of the numbers game was UCLA running inside zone read against Kansas State. UCLA is aligned in a 1 back set with both the back and the H back to the boundary. Kansas State aligns to defend the field, putting only 3 defenders to the boundary side. They are going to be a gap short.
UCLA is going to be left a man short to the boundary. UCLA runs the inside zone read with the boundary end being the read. The end takes the QB leaving K State with no one to play the QB. The QB pulls the football and attacks the second level of the defense.
Three things are happening in the above illustration. First, the LG and LT from UCLA are executing a zone combination block perfectly. They are delivering the down defender to the linebacker. The linebacker is working to the A gap, but because the defensive lineman has been driven three yards off the ball, the linebacker is caught in traffic.
The second thing in the picture is the read key is squeezing to take the dive back. If the read key squeezes to take the dive, Kansas State needs to have a player for the quarterback. Typically this would be the inside backer working over the top. However, the Kansas State linebacker is playing into the A gap. With no QB player, the defensive end should have played the QB.
The third thing in the picture is the outside receiver running a quick hitch route at the LOS, with the H back working to block the corner. The QB is going to attack the second level with the quick hitch essentially becoming the pitch man. The key is the quarterback getting downhill to stress the defense. Because K-State is playing to the field, they have no force player to the boundary. Essentially the corner has become the force player, and he is being blocked. There is no pitch player for K-State.
The QB sees the corner commit inside with the H back riding his hip. He flips the ball out the the #1 WR who sprints up the sideline for a big gain. This is a very simple triple option concept off the base inside zone read play.
When the offense can get a numerical advantage over the defense, big plays are often the result. Offensive and defensive coordinators are matchup in a game of strategy trying to counter what the other is doing.
In my career coaching football I have had the opportunity to be both an offensive and defensive coordinator. On offense we are trying to gain a leverage and numbers. On defense we were trying to cancel gaps while making sure we were not exposed in the pass game. With 11 players on each side of the ball there are a ton of factors that come into play on whether a concept is successful or not. It comes down to execution and athleticism!
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.
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.
Coach Vint has authored several books and instructional DVD's with Coaches Choice. His book 101 Pistol Option Plays is actually available now as a 2 volume interactive ibook for the iPad! It is similar to a traditional book, but it contains several hours of video as well!
One of the keys to our success was tremendous preparation!The key to preparation was our outstanding group of documents we used for all three phases. If you are looking for fully editable and customizable documents that you can tailor to your program, I have made mine available.
It includes everything from a scouting report template, to practice plans, to a two-sided color call sheet, and more! Each of the nine documents are fully editable and customizable! Order today for under $15 and download them tonight!
Here is a link to the defensive game planning documents. It includes 12 fully editable and customizable documents. https://sellfy.com/p/AY1u/
And finally, I put together a special teams resource. This has everything you need, included drill tape, practice tape, and game footage. It includes teaching presentations and scouting forms just for special teams! https://sellfy.com/p/tJwz/
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!
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.
