Building A Defensive Call Sheet To Dominate

After being an offensive coordinator for 7 years and enjoying a lot of success, I switched over the the dark side and became a defensive coordinator. I was coaching at a program where we coached both side of the ball, so I was well-versed in the potential of our defensive players. We made the transition from a 3-4 defense to the Odd Stack. The biggest area we had to transition was on our preparation. 

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 build your call sheet to dominate your opponents. Our call sheet helped us post 6 shutouts while giving up just 6.8 points per game. We made the deepest playoff run in school history. 

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 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 take him away and disrupt timing. 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. 

In addition to stopping playmakers, we needed to stop what our opponent did. It is important you enter the data into your video program. It only takes a few minutes to do a game, but having the data will give you what you need to build a championship call sheet. We wanted their run/pass percentages by personnel, formation, and down and distance. Once we know what they did, we can build a call sheet designed to stop them. 

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 and who they wanted to do it with. Using this data will help you make better play calls that are more disruptive to the offense. 

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! 

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

 

The Three Biggest Mistakes Coaches Make When Scouting an Opponent

Every week we are going to prepare to play an opponent, we are going to try to learn as much about our opponent to be as prepared as possible. Sun Tzu said it best in "The Art of War." If you don't know your enemy you will suffer defeat. 

Nearly every coach in America is going to prepare for their opponents each week. There are three big mistakes that coaches make in scouting an opponent. These three things will always get you beat. 

1. They don't enter any data into their video program. 

2. They have different coaches entering data each week.

3. They don't look at the data. 

They Don't Enter Any Data

This is something I see more frequently than you can imagine. I have coaches reach out to me to help solve problems in their program, and when I log into their Hudl account, they haven't entered any data. One school gave up 32 points a game. They had pretty good players and matched up well with five teams in their district. They ended up barely making the playoffs and losing in the first round. They had not entered any data on their opponents. 

It doesn't matter what side of the ball you coach, you need to have the most basic data entered so you can get a picture of your opponent. You can divide up the responsibilities and have 3 coaches enter the data for a game in 15 minutes. You can knock out three games in an hour. Three games will give you a good picture of your opponent. 

Once you enter the data, you can click a few buttons and generate information that will help you better prepare for your game. If you are a defensive coach, you can get an opponent's run pass percentages based on formation and down and distance. You can get their field zone tendencies. 

If I am an OC, I can get their blitz and coverage percentages. I can get their field zone tendencies. I will know when to run a man beater or zone beater. Or, when they are bringing pressure so I can throw a screen. 

I am a better play caller if I know what my opponent is going to do. How much better of a play caller are you if you know the defense brings a 5 man field pressure and plays man free behind it on 3rd and 3 or more? How much better can you call a defense if you know the offense is 70% run in 12 personnel, and if the back is to the boundary they run to the boundary? 

There is no excuse for not entering data on your opponents. Take 15 minutes with your coaches and enter the data for at least one game. 

Here is an example of a call sheet when I was a DC. By investing 35 minutes entering data, I had tendencies on my call sheet, and was able to then list my favorite calls to stop what they did. This call sheet is part of my Defensive Game Planning Packet . 

As you can see, I have the offensive tendencies listed for each down and distance situation from each hash. Because I know what they do, I can script my best calls to stop what they do. This is just one benefit of entering the data. 

The Have Different Coaches Entering Data Each Week

This is something I screwed up at one point. If Coach Williams is going to enter the formation, then Coach Williams enters the formation for every single film. If Coach Williams calls Trips Right "Toledo" for one game, and then Coach Jones calls Trips Right "Kentucky" for the next scout film, your data is going to be jacked up. Have the same coach enter the same column data for each opponent. 

You can have 1 coach enter Down and Distance, Hash, Yd Line, Play Type, Gain Loss, and Result. You can have another coach enter Formation and motion. Another coach enters play type and ball carrier. If you are scouting a team's defense, you do it much the same way. Except now you have one coach enter the front, stunt, and blitz, and another coach enters the coverage and tackler. 

If you divide up the duties, it goes quicker. You should have a universal language, so each coach uses the same terminology, but by having the same coaches entering the same columns each week, you are going to have consistent data. 

They Don't Look At The Data

This is one that I don't see a lot, but when I do it is frustrating. If you are going to have your coaches invest the time to enter the data, you need to look at the data. Once the data is entered, it can give you important information. I am going to take this information to create our practice schedule and scripts. Because we have the data, we are going to focus on what our opponent is most likely going to do. We are not going to waste time one things they rarely do. 

Have you ever gone through a practice week and spent time on something you never ended up calling? Or you spent 30% of your practice time on something your opponent did 5% of the time? That comes from not looking at the data. 

We are spoiled. Every video program provides some easy to read reports that helps us to have a picture of what our opponent will do. We need to take advantage of this information. Knowledge is power. 

The other aspect of using the data is scripting our practices. If we were playing a wing-t team that ran the ball 95% of the time, we spent more of our practice in inside run, and less time in pass hull. If we faced a defense that liked to bring 5 and 6 man pressures and play man coverage, we were able to build our practice plan to spend more time in blitz pick up. 

If you want to really to be organized and prepared, check out my game planning resource. I mentioned my defensive resource above. I also have an Offensive Resource. Below is an example of a few of the documents in the offensive resource. 

Both of these resources have everything you need that is already built and fully editable and customizable. They have call sheets, practice plans for the entire week, scouting report templates, depth chart templates, personnel templates, wrist band templates, and more. All the work is done, all you have to do is enter your information and dominate your opponents. They are less than $13 right now. And you can order BOTH in this bundle for additional savings! Offensive and Defensive Game and Practice Planning Bundle

These three mistakes take zero talent to overcome. Make sure you enter the data of the opponent you are going to play. Make sure you are consistent with who enters that data. Make sure you take the time to use the data. 

I hope this has helped give you some useful information. I recommend you check out my YouTube channel as well. I have several videos posted on game planning and scouting. https://www.youtube.com/@JamesVint/videos

Three Big Mistakes Prospects Make In Recruiting - Camp Edition

Every year I see talented athletes make critical mistakes that limits their opportunities for college scholarships. I wanted to a take a minute to share these mistakes with you, and give you some tools that can help you increase your chances of earning a scholarship. Today we are going to focus on college football camps. This is part of a course I have for parents and prospects called How to WIN the Recruiting Process and Earn a Scholarship. 

The first and most important thing you need to understand is that college athletics are a business. Coaches are required to win football games to keep their jobs. If they don't win, they get fired. When they recruit athletes, they want to find players who will help them win games. How can you help them win more games?

Mistake One

The first mistake that prospects make is not going to camps. It seems simple right? It is not enough for a coach to watch your film. They want to see you in person. They want to have an opportunity to work with you and coach you individually. If you are not going camps, they don't have this opportunity. They can't evaluate you. You need to attend college camps during the summer. 

Every single year I talk to parents and athletes who are very talented, but they don't have any offers. I always ask, what camps did you go to. Many of them say they didn't go to any, or they went to one camp as a junior. Last night I met with a parent of a graduating senior who has no where to play next year. He went to one camp last summer.

You need to go to college camps to give yourself a chance to get evaluated. Don't wait until your junior or senior year to go to camps. Go to college camps as a 9th and 10th grader as well. Camps are a chance for you to audition. They are a chance to showcase your skills. Go to four or five camps each summer. Make sure you are also attending your school workouts. 

Mistake Two

The second mistake I see prospects make is going to the wrong camps. It is fun to go to the camp at your favorite Power 4 school, but understand that if you are not that quality of player, you are going to be one of 500 kids standing in line not getting reps. 

At camps and Power 4 schools they divide players into groups based on ability. The top guys they want to evaluate will be with the coaches from the host school. Everyone else is put in groups with the GA's and student managers. 

At some camps, there will be coaches from smaller colleges working with these lower ability groups. But do to the sheer number of kids, they aren't going to be able to give you many reps. 

Pick college camps at schools you have a chance of being recruited by. If you are not a Power 4 or FCS player, it is better to go to the D2 and NAIA camps at schools where you have the ability to play. Go to at least three or four camps at a level you can play. It is okay to go to that dream school camp, but understand that it may not advance your recruiting. Or, you could go there and make a name for yourself. 

Understand this: Just because a coach invited you to camp doesn't mean they are recruiting you. If a college really wants you at a camp you will know. They will tell you they need you there to evaluate you. They probably have talked to you several times. Know when they are serious about giving you an opportunity, and when they just want to get the camp numbers up. 

Third Mistake

The third mistake I see prospects make at camps is not standing out, or standing out in the wrong way. When you go to a college camp, you have 2 to 3 hours to make an impression. What are you going to do to set yourself a part from 500 other people?

I was at a camp last summer and a talented athlete was working with the top group. The position coach was excited to see the kid move and work with him. But the young man was always at the back of the line. He let players go in front of him. When it was time for one-on-one's, this kid again went to the back. While other kids got four or five reps, he got one. The staff did not offer him a scholarship.

If you stand in the back and don't get reps, you aren't going to help yourself. You need to take initiative to get reps. Make eye contact with the coach. Listen to coaching and do what the coach is asking, even if it is different than what you might normally do. 

The coach wants to know if they can see themselves coaching you. Are you going full speed? Are you giving great effort? Do you listen? Do you take reps? These are simple things that take zero talent.

Here is a HUGE KEY! Wear something that will help coaches identify you. Most camps are going to give you a shirt to wear with a number. You need to wear something that will make it easy to identify you. Wear bright orange cleats. Wear your hat backwards. Wear a bandana. Wear something that will help them be able to say, "hey, did you see the kid with the orange cleats?" 

There is a line between drawing attention to yourself and being a distraction. Don't draw negative attention to yourself. That is why bright colored cleats are an easy way to differentiate yourself.

As I mentioned above. these are part of a webinar I did on CoachTube that has helped many athletes navigate the recruiting process. That webinar is divided into sections so you can watch it a little bit at a time. It also has downloadable resources you can use to increase your chances of getting an offer. How to WIN the Recruiting Process and Earn a Scholarship is on SALE right now! 

Additional Game Planning Considerations

When you prepare for an opponent there are some areas that you need to consider to be more prepared. You are always going to look at personnel and tendencies on both sides of the ball. You are going to look at what they do and who they do it with to determine your game plan. There are a couple of additional considerations I would recommend you look at. 

Snap Count

How do they snap the ball? Do they give a verbal command or do they use a clap? Do they go on the center? Is there a tip when the ball is going to be snapped? Once you determine their snap count, you want to have your scout teams simulate this snap count in all of your group and team periods. While your defense is going to watch the ball, you want them to hear in practice what they will hear during the game. 

If you can have scouts be a at a game in person, this is something to have them listen for. Have them get where they can hear the snap count during pregame. 

Penalties

Do they have pre-snap penalties? When our offense prepares we want to see if they jump offsides. If so, we want to figure out what we can do to get some free plays and free yards. Does their offense get pre-snap penalties? Is there a tendency with their pre-snap penalties? Is there anything we can do to help get them to start behind the chains?

I also want to look at whether they are a team that has a tendency to be chippy. Do they get 15 yard penalties? Have they had unsportsmanlike conduct penalties? I might talk to another coach who played our opponent to get some insight into this. This allows us to prepare our players through the week to not respond. The response always gets a penalty. We want to make sure we don't get stupid penalties that will cost us valuable yards. There are some teams that like to bait opponents into penalties. 

We had one team I hated to play because they weren't very good and they were even less disciplined. They would hit guys after the play and didn't seem to care if they got a penalty. Prepare your guys when you play teams like this to make sure they focus on playing the play and not the extra stuff after the whistle. 

Tips and Giveaways

Are there different tips that opponents give you that tell you what they are going to do? We played a team once whose QB would have his feet staggered if it was going to be a pass and his feet were parallel if it was going to be a pass. Our OLB's could see his feet. Our boundary backer's job was to say Eagle if he saw staggered feet and Dog if he saw the feet parallel. 

Another team we played had a receiver who would pull on his gloves if a play was going to be a pass. He did it every single pass. If he didn't pull on his gloves, it was a run. Another team had their tackles in 2 point stance on pass and 3 point stance on run. 

One year we played a team who loved to run a gap exchange blitz with the nose and an inside backer. It was going to be very difficult to account for. After watching a lot of film we realized the nose guard tipped the stunt. He would put his foot back to the side the backer was going to be stunting. We showed this to our guys and came up with a code word our center would communicate with the guards. We had our scout team run this stunt in inside run and team periods, as well as during our indy time to practice communicating and executing our adjustment. We were able to account for the nose and backer early in the game and hit some big plays. They didn't run this stunt after the first quarter. 

Not everyone is going to tip what they do, but finding one or two things that you can use to help your players is valuable. One key to this is to only give a tip if you are sure. If you are not sure, don't give the tip. 

Kick Operation Time/Protection Weakness/Block Point

We always wanted to time how long it took for a team to execute their punts, extra points, and field goals. We also charted their kick point on punts. Where does the ball come off the foot in relationship to the snap point? This helped us to prepare our guys to block kicks. Knowing where the block point will be is important. 

Along with this is finding the protection weakness Everyone has a weakness in protection. They have someone who doesn't execute at a high level. From there, we can attack that weakness and work to the block point. By timing their kick operation ,we can determine if we can beat the protection weakness and get to the block point in time to have a chance to disrupt or block the kick. If we can't get there because they have a fast operation, we will most likely set up a return. If we know we can get to the block point, we will go after at least one punt. 

If you have in-person scouts, you want them to get to the game 90 minutes early if possible so they can watch all of pre-game. You want them to see the specialists and look for potential weaknesses. Watch who can't catch kicks. Then see if guys that can't catch kicks are on the field during kicks. You can then kick to them and give yourself a chance to get the ball back. 

Things You Need to Make the Officials Aware Of

This often goes hand in hand with penalties. We played a team whose defensive backs played press man and would hold receivers down the field. We saw it on film and asked the officials to watch for it during the game. Another team had an issue with high-low blocks. We made sure to make the officials aware of this. Once you let the official know, play football. Don't let the fact that it may not get called every time throw you off your game. 

Additional Points

• Catch all kicks. This is so important. When you let a punt hit the ground you are going to give up field position. Every 10 yards you give up is another first down you need to have to score. 
• Prepare for Pooch Kicks. Prepare your kick return team for returning pooch kicks. Coach your guys on when to fair catch the kick. If a team like to pooch kick, put a dynamic returner where they kick the ball. Don't waste him lined up deep if they don't kick deep. 
• Look for times you can kick an onside kick. Do they have a large area of green grass? Kick the ball to that grass. If their front row guys leave early, practice a surprise onside and call it. 

These are a few important areas you can look at to help prepare as thoroughly as possible. You want to give yourself the best chance to win the game. If you want to be more prepared each week, I highly recommend you check out my game and practice planning resource. I spent much of my career as a coordinator. I was an offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, and coached at both the high school and college levels. I have made available all of our game and practice planning resources that helped us win more games. These have everything you need to be more prepared. They are editable and customizable, and are available as an instant download.  https://sellfy.com/p/AndN/ 

It includes everything from a scouting report template, to weekly practice plans and scripts, 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. 

The Quarterback Dilemma

One of the biggest mistakes I made as an OC that I see offensive coordinators make is their personnel at the quarterback position. You get to put 11 guys on the field, and you need to put your best 11 on the field. Too often we get caught up thinking we have to play a "quarterback" at the quarterback position. If your quarterback is not one of your best 11, then he does not need to be on the field. 

If you have a kid playing quarterback that doesn't throw well or run well and doesn't put any pressure on the defense, you need to evaluate if he gives you the best chance to win. We have all had quarterbacks who were great leaders that maybe didn't throw well or run well, but your team was it its best when they were on the field. 

But if you have a kid on the field that doesn't run well or throw well, and the defense doesn't have to account for him, then you might need to look at playing a different kid. Then you need to adjust your system to fit your best guys being on the field. 

Adapt To The Skillset 

If you are an air raid team and you don't have a quarterback that can execute air raid concepts, you have two choices. Put a kid at QB who can execute those concepts, or put one of your best 11 at the quarterback position and build your offense to their skill set. The same is true for any offensive system you might run. Great offensive coordinators are able to find a way to get their best 11 on the field where they can capitalize on their skillset. Adapt your play calling to the strengths and skills of the guy taking the snaps. 

QB Touches The Ball Every Snap

Your quarterback is the only player who is going to touch the ball every single play. If you have a kid who can do dynamic things, then it is okay to snap him the ball. I understand that not every kid is capable mentally of the responsibility of communicating the play and taking a snap. But if you are struggling on offense and your QB is putting any sort of pressure on the defense, you might consider changing who is taking the snap every play. 

Who gives you the best chance to win the football game? Who is the guy you can put at quarterback that can increase your production numbers? 

It might be that you don't have a quarterback who gives you the best chance to win, or it might be that your starter is injured. Your backup may be a great kid, but does he give you the best chance to win? 

We went through this a couple of times in my career. We had a kid who had come through our system as a QB. He spot played as a 10th grader, and then was ready to take the starting job as a junior. He worked hard and did everything right. Three games into the season we were struggling to score points. We were doing our self-scout analysis and realized we had most of our explosive and productive plays when we were in our wildcat personnel. We went back and watched all of our first three games and looked at the data. The data said we were averaging 4.4 yards per play with our QB taking the snap, and 8.2 yards a play when our "wildcat" was taking the snap. 

We made a decision to retool our offense to give our wildcat the majority of the snaps. We already were a read based offense that had elements of misdirection. We decided to do more of that with a better athlete taking the snap. He had a decent arm, but he was not going to be able to throw us down the field making progression reads. We set up our pass game with more "him" balls. A him ball is where I tell the QB to throw to "him," or a specific player. That took pressure off the QB. 

Building Concepts 

We ran inside zone, outside zone, counter, and power. We built our concepts to play off each other as a series. We ran outside with the back in a sidecar position. To complement this, we ran counter off of outside zone action with the QB carrying the ball. This was simple for our guys to execute, but stressed the defense. Below is our QB counter concept. 

The QB is going to ride the back as the back accelerates through the mesh. The QB is going to pull the football get downhill. The guard is pulling to kick, and the Y or H back is going to wrap to the PSLB. This is a very simple concept. We can also wrap the guard and kick with the Y. The linebackers cannot fly on flow as they must read the guard. 

We then built a boot concept as a play action component off the QB counter. When the safeties added themselves to the box, we were able to take advantage of space. The blocking looked the same, with the BSG pulling to account for the unblocked edge player. The QB is going to sell the OS Zone fake to the back, take one step as if he is pulling to run counter, then gain depth and width. 

He was going to have a two man read, looking at the flat first, then the crosser. The key was the timing of the routes and the QB understanding the timing. If the QB does not have the flat or the crosser, run. 

If you have a kid who can run the ball well that can take snaps, it puts a lot of pressure on the defense. Even if he doesn't throw particularly well, you can build concepts into your pass game that simplify things. We used sprint out and boot concepts where he had a simple high-low read. If the read wasn't there, he could run. We would throw fast screens as an extension of the run game, and would throw hitches and verticals.

The big thing I want to get you to think about is simple. Do we have our best 11 on the field? Are we married to a system, or are we married to production? 

This is just a small example of a simple way to put together a series. There was more too this, but this is how it started. As you begin to look at what you are doing and put together a package for a more dynamic player, build off what your kids already know. Take that prior knowledge and build a simple series of plays that complement each other. 

Importance of Preparation

One of the biggest parts of our success was our preparation. You have to do a great job of game planning for your opponents which will greatly improve your play calling ability. If you want to be more prepared each week, I highly recommend you check out my game and practice planning resource. I spent much of my career as a coordinator. I was an offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, and coached at both the high school and college levels. I have made available all of our game and practice planning resources that helped us win more games. These have everything you need to be more prepared. They are editable and customizable, and are available as an instant download.  https://sellfy.com/p/AndN/ 

It includes everything from a scouting report template, to weekly practice plans and scripts, 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. 

Screens, Shots, and Snap Count

When you are going to play against an aggressive defense, you have to use their aggressiveness against them. Turn their identity into your strength. There are three things you can do to take advantage of aggressive defenses. 

Snap Count

I am going to start with #3, snap count. When we play an aggressive defense that is timing the snap count, I am going to adjust our snap count. We are going to go on different cadences to slow them down. We want to keep them from being able to time up their blitz and jump our snap count. 

When we were under center, we would go on two and three, as well as on set and on a color. When we were in the gun, we would go on a clap. Sometimes we would go on two claps, or something we called scatter. 

In addition to slowing down the defense, we also would get them to jump. If you are a gun team, I would suggest adding a freeze call. The freeze call means that we are going to line up without a play called. We are going to clap, and if the defense jumps, we are going to snap the ball and get a free play with the receivers running verticals. If we complete it, great. If not, we take our free five yards. In NFHS rules you don't get the free play, so you take the free five.

If they don't jump, our QB says easy, easy, look, look, and we signal in the play we want to run. This gives our coaches a chance to look over the defense and call a play we like. 

Against an aggressive defense we will work to get them to jump multiple times a game. We will take a free five anytime we can get it. We will also do this anytime it is 3rd and less than 5 yards. This can give  us a free first down. If you are not doing this, you are missing an opportunity. 

You have to drill your center to snap the ball when the defense is in the neutral zone. This is a big key so you can get the free 5. Now, tell your guys to play the play, because occasionally the flag doesn't come out. 

One thing I like to chart is how many times a defense jumps offside, and when they tend to jump. This is going to help me know if there are certain downs and distances where they are going to be more susceptible to jumping offside. 

Screens

When defenses are going to bring 5 and 6 man pressures, we want to be able to attack the space they create. We want to throw our screens into green grass. Often this means throwing the screen into the area vacated by the blitzers. 

We want to make sure the QB has a chance to get the ball out, and get players in a position with leverage to block remaining defenders. We use fast screens, which are catch and throw to the perimeter, and slow screens, where we draw the rush and have a player work to a vacated area. 

Our fast screens are typically bubbles and what we call quicks to the #1 receiver. Our slow screens are going to me tunnel screens to detached receivers, and slip screens to backs and tight ends. Below is an example of a slip screen vs. a 5 man pressure with the Mike blitzing. 

A big key to success with your screen game is who is catching the ball. A player who can make people miss in space will create more explosives. A physical player who is going to be hard to tackle is great for shorter yardage situations. We want to throw a lot of screens, especially if we have a good athlete in space to get the ball to. This also makes defenses less likely to bring pressure. 

Shots

When teams bring pressure, they are often going to play man coverage. We want to take advantage of the best matchup we can get and take a shot over the top. We are going to get the ball out quick, and make the throw 26 to 32 yards down field. One big mistake coaches make is trying to throw the deep ball off a deep drop. The longer the QB has the ball, the more the chance he will get pressured.

We want to take shots down the field every single game. We want to know when we are going to get press coverage and take advantage of it. Even if we don't complete the shot down the field, we have forced the defense to defend space. This opens things up for our run game. 

A big key to your pass game is getting the ball out when you face pressure. Work to design concepts that get the ball out of the quarterback's hand quickly. Taking vertical shots allow us to do this. 

When you face aggressive defenses, you have to find ways to turn their identity into your strengths. Get them out of their comfort zone. 

1. Screens
2. Change Up Your Snap Count/Freeze Calls
3. Take Shots Down the Field

A big piece of this is preparation. You have to do a great job of game planning for your opponents which will greatly improve your play calling ability. If you want to be more prepared each week, I highly recommend you check out my game and practice planning resource. I spent much of my career as a coordinator. I was an offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, and coached at both the high school and college levels. I have made available all of our game and practice planning resources that helped us win more games. These have everything you need to be more prepared. They are editable and customizable, and are available as an instant download.  https://sellfy.com/p/AndN/ 

It includes everything from a scouting report template, to weekly practice plans and scripts, 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. 

What If You Were Dominated In Your Scrimmages?

 As fall camp begins, everyone is excited. The players are excited, the coaches are excited, and the fans are excited. Everyone has an extra bounce in their step. Coaches in Texas just finished their scrimmage or scrimmages, and are preparing for their first real game. The first real test for their teams. Coaches in some states have already played their first game, and other states are a week or two away. 

Scrimmages give you an opportunity to answer questions about your team. Until you have a chance to hit someone from another school, you don't really know your team. Remember, winning a scrimmage is about everyone staying healthy, building some depth, finding where you need to improve, and learning what your team does really well. Sometimes scrimmages don't go as we planned. 

I talked to a coach today that had two really bad scrimmages. They have several seniors, but only a handful were starters last season. They have some young guys providing depth who are very talented, but are still developing. They scrimmaged two elite programs and struggled. They couldn't move the ball with any consistency on offense and they gave up several big plays on defense.

They open their season with a perennial powerhouse and he is worried about the confidence of his players. After the second scrimmage they were mentally drained. 

How do you handle this as a coach? When things are going well everyone has confidence. But how do you handle when things go really poor? How do you handle when you aren't meeting expectations? 

Four Thoughts

First, find areas you did well. There is always something that went well that you can build off. Find things to show your players that will build confidence in what they are capable of. 

Second, when something didn't go well, look at the fundamentals. Did we step with the proper foot? Were our eyes in the right place? Did we use the proper technique? Show your players film and talk about how you will use this to grow. As you prepare your practice plan, include time for your coaches to reteach your players to develop these fundamental skills. 

Third, evaluate who your dudes really are and who you dudes aren't. Someone you didn't expect to step up has done something to grab your attention. Someone you thought would be a dude wasn't as good as expected. What personnel changes do you need to make? What can you do as you prepare for week one to make sure your best players are in a position to be successful? Everyone loves a tall safety, but maybe that guy is a better outside backer. Maybe you have an outside backer that should be playing with his hand in the dirt. 

Fourth, what schematic adjustments do you need to make? I am not talking about installing a new offense or defense. I am talking about adjustments to your current scheme to help your players be more successful. 

One example of this is when we had a very young offensive line. They were not able to win off the ball consistently and hold blocks. They were going to get better, but we had to help them. We adjusted our read concepts to make sure we were reading defenders where we had little chance of a good block. We also used some misdirection to slow the pursuit of the defense. We needed them to be less decisive to help our offensive line. 

We also realized if we could get the ball on the perimeter where we had to block less players, that we could have some success. This took pressure off our offensive line. We spent time with screen concepts to get our guys the ball in space. 

Defensively, we had struggled with getting blown off the ball. We could not sit in our base against the better teams we would play. We made some adjustments to create some gap exchanges that gave us a chance to disrupt our opponents. 

As you prepare for that first week, you need to ask yourself where you want to be when district starts and when the playoffs start. What do you want to have installed? What are your goals for your non-district schedule? Of course you want to win all your games, but what do you need to accomplish in non-district to prepare for your district schedule? What do you need to do to prepare to make a deep playoff run?

Great coaches are able to find a way to maximize the success of their teams, regardless of talent. How good you at developing your players to the best they are capable of being its the true measure of a coach. 

A while back I put together some thoughts on Winning With A Talent Deficiency. I also recorded those thoughts on my YouTube Channel: 

Let me add this... Preparation and Organization

Being prepared for your opponent is a big part of beating people who are more talented than you are. If you want to be more prepared each week, I highly recommend you check out my game and practice planning resource. I spent much of my career as a coordinator. I was an offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, and coached at both the high school and college levels. I have made available all of our game and practice planning resources that helped us win more games. These have everything you need to be more prepared. They are editable and customizable, and are available as an instant download.  https://sellfy.com/p/AndN/ 

It includes everything from a scouting report template, to weekly practice plans and scripts, 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. 

Using a SWOT Analysis With A Struggling Offense

There is nothing more frustrating for an offensive coordinator than not being able to move the ball consistently. It is frustrating when you can't get first downs to keep the chains moving. You want to give your defense a chance to rest, while also controlling field position. Ultimately, you need to put some points on the board. 

When you are struggling on offense you have to look at why you are struggling. This is where I recommend a SWOT Analysis for coaches. SWOT stands for:

• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities 
• Threats

This is a tool that has been used in the business world for decades, and also can be a powerful tool in sport. 

Listen, if you are struggling on offense I can tell you that I have been there. I have been in situations where we couldn't buy a first down. The SWOT analysis helps you to figure out what you are during currently, and what you need to change and adjust to improve. This is a valuable tool used in the business world that is also a valuable tool for coaches to use. 

At the end of the day you have two choices. You can keep doing what you have been doing and get what you have been getting, or you can make some adjustments and strive for a better, more desirable result. 

Before we perform the SWOT analysis, we are going to answer some overarching questions:

• Are you doing simple things that it takes to be successful on offense?
• Communicating the play to the unit, then QB/OL communication pre-snap
• Lining Up Right
• Base fundamentals- Eye Discipline, footwork, etc
• Are you getting your best players touches?
• Are your taking advantage of space?
• Are you running into a loaded box?
• Is there a particular front or coverage you are struggling with? 
• Are you running your identity concept?

These questions will give us some background information we will use for our SWOT analysis. Great leaders Analyze, Adjust, and Adapt. 

SWOT Analysis

Strengths and Weaknesses

The first thing we are going to to is talk about our strengths and weaknesses. We are going to look at our personnel strengths and weaknesses, our concept strengths and weaknesses, our practice strengths and weaknesses, and our process strengths and weaknesses.

Personnel

With personnel, I want to look at our best players and our best position group. We are going to rank our offensive players from top to bottom with their position. Next we are going to rank our position groups. This helps us to determine our strongest and weakest players and position groups.

Is our offense designed to play to our strengths of our personnel? Are we doing things that ask too much of our weakest personnel or position groups? Are the best players on the field? Are we finding ways to get our best 11 on the field at the same time? 

Then we going to look at our data. Are we getting the ball to our best players the most? If so, what is the result of their touches? Do we need to change how we are getting them or trying to get them the ball? If we aren't, what do we need to do to get them more touches? Are we taking shots? This is a big one. We want to take a couple of shots each week.

I like to look at each player and look at their average yards per touch. Sometimes the really good athlete isn't as good with the ball in his hands, and the guy we think isn't as athletic is actually more explosive. We are going to look at that to determine if the right guys are in the right places, and the ball is getting to them in the best ways for us to gain the most yards.

Concepts

This is a great segway into our concept analysis. We are going to again look at the data. What concept has been our most effective? Who is the personnel involved in that concept? Do we have better personnel to execute that concept? What concepts are not effective? 

To determine effectiveness you need to have a metric. I look at average yards per play, negative plays, and explosive plays. We want a run concept to average 5 yards, with less than 5% negative plays and 15% explosive. With pass concepts we want to average 10 yards per play with less than 5% negative plays and 25% explosive. For fast screens we use our run metrics, as these are an extension of our run game. We look at each of our concepts and then rank them. Then we look at how many times we called each concept. 

Here is an example of an analysis on our run and pass concepts. You can do this with Excel, or you can use a report to find this information. We use Recon Football to generate this data. 

Are we calling our most effective concepts most? If not, why? How can we adjust our play calling so we call our best concepts more often? Do we have the right guys getting the ball? 

If we see that we have a bunch of negative concepts, we are going to figure out why. What do we need to do to fix those concepts? Is it a personnel issue, a practice or drill issue, or is it an issue that we can't fix. If we can't fix it, we are going to scrap the concept. 

In the image above we can see that when we call a run, 35% of our runs result in a pass. This is because we use pre and post snap RPO's. I can see that we need to look at some concepts in our pass game to figure out why they are less effective. Is it a formation issue or a protection issue? Is it a scheme issue or a coaching issue? What adjustments can we make to improve these concepts? How can we coach them better? 

Win More Games By Eliminating Lost Yards on 4th Down

There are some things I saw this week that cost teams football games. Teams lost games they should have one because they didn't gave away too many yards. The most under coached area of football at the high school level is punt return. Most teams spend 5 minutes a weak coaching their punt returners, and the only time their punt returners catch kicks is during pregame. 

If you want to win more games, and beat people you shouldn't beat, you have to find areas where you can excel. Coaching your 4th down defensive unit will help you win more games. Not coaching your fourth down unit will lead you to lose more games. It is most glaring in seasons where you might not have as much talent or experience on the field. That is when the lost opportunities on 4th down. 

One of the biggest areas of lost yards is letting punts land and roll. Every ten yards the ball rolls is another first down your offense has to get to score. Last night I watched a team force 6 punts. One punt they fielded and started at their own 38. They ended up kicking a field goal. The other 5 punts they didn't field. Four of them the ball rolled anywhere from 15 to 30 yards. One of them was shanked and only went 20 yards. Overall, they lost 124 yards from punts rolling. They lost the game 28-10 because they lost the field position battle. 

The most difficult part of this is most coaches don't even realize the yards they are losing on 4th down, and the affect it has on the game. Every time you let a punt land, you give up an average of 12 additional yards. That's a first down. That also shortens the field for your opponent's offense when they get the ball back. If you start at your own 20 and go three and out, you are punting from inside your 30. If you start at your own 35 and go three and out, you lengthen the field for your opponent. Don't give away free yards. 

Too many coaches treat 4th down defense as an inconvenience. Because of this, they give up yards that negatively affect field position, which affects them on offense and defense. 

Let's talk about how to make your 4th down defensive unit become a strength rather than a liability. 

1. Practice Catching Punts

Break this into 3 parts. First, have your returners work technique with a coach coaching them. We are going to teach them how to properly catch a punt, throwing them the ball from close distance.

Work on catching balls kicked to you, kicked to the side, and kicked on the ground. Teach your players how to circle the ball and field a punt that is bouncing. Teach them how to recognize you have space. Do this with a coach throwing the ball, 15 to 20 yards from the players. 

Second, have a coach throw or punt to the players from 30 to 35 yards away. Start with the punts going to the returner. Then to the side, then short, then over their head. Move up if you have to. When you do this drill, have the returners not catching the punt aligned 10 yards from the returner on either side, as if they are cover guys. Have them moving towards the returner, but never getting within 3 yards of him. This gets your returners used to catching the ball in traffic. 

Third, have your punter punt the football to the returner. During the first two drills, your punter is warming up and your snappers are doing their snapping drills. Then have them punt live, with your snapper snapping and punt team protecting. We don't have them cover. We have 3 guys downfield simulate the cover team. We want our returner to get comfortable catching kicks with guys bearing down on him. 

Once our returner caught the ball, we wanted him to get vertical and make one guy miss. We wanted him to get 5 yards on every return. We told him to get five or six. This meant get five yards or six points. It all starts with fielding the kick. You can only return kicks that you actually field. 

2. If you aren't going to invest time catching punts, then block every punt

If 80% of the times the ball is punted to you you are going to let it roll, then you might as well try to block the punt. But coach, I don't want to get called for roughing the punter. Then practice blocking kicks. You get roughing penalties because guys don't know how to properly block a kick, and what angle to take. You can teach them how to block kicks. If you want to block more kicks, check this out: Coach Vint's Special Teams Resource

Now, better than catching punts or blocking punts is this... Do Both. Really Well. We always had someone going for the block, even when we were calling a return. I never wanted to waste an opportunity to get a block. If they were lazy in protection, we were going to get the block.

Winning With A Talent Deficiency

What do you do when you have a talent deficiency? This is a situation that most coaches will face at some point in their career. Sometimes you face this a few games a season, and sometimes you are going this every single game. What do you do? How do you handle this situation? 

No two programs are in the same place, and this will look different depending where you are, and what stage you are in with building your program. What remains consistent are the five keys to winning games when you are at a talent deficiency. 

1. Play Mistake Free Football
2. Play Together As A Unified Team
3. Win The Takeaway Battle
4. Make Big Plays On Special Teams
5. Shorten the Game

Play Mistake Free Football

When you are at a talent deficiency, your window of opportunity and margin for error is going to be smaller. Every time you make a self-inflicted wound, you shrink your margin for error. Teams with a lot of talent have much more room for errors and can overcome mistakes. When you have less talent, you don't have room for mistakes. 

What we are talking about are things that take zero talent. We are talking about lining up right, stepping with the correct foot, not committing pre-snap penalties, not jumping offsides on defense, and the like. Coaches need to make sure their are 11 guys on the field, not 10 or 12. These are things that take zero talent. Do the things that take zero talent really well and you will win more games. 

Play Together As A Team

This is so important. Everyone has to do their job, and only their job, to the best of their ability. They have to trust that the other 10 guys will take pride in their job every play. They have to trust that their teammates will give great effort. They have to trust that their teammates are going to be where they are supposed to be, when they are supposed to be there, doing what they are supposed to do. They have to trust their teammates will line up right and play with great effort. 

When you are at a talent deficiency, you have to convince your team that the whole team playing together is much stronger than the sum of the parts. This is the definition of Synergy, and is a vital part of playing above your ability level. Guys have to be bought into each other, care about each other, and be willing to sacrifice for the success of the man next to them and the team. 

Win the Takeaway Battle

First and foremost, you have to have great ball security. You have to practice ball security and emphasize it everyday. If you want to win a game you shouldn't win on paper, you need to take care of the football. It takes zero talent to have great ball security. 

You have to emphasize turnovers in practice. You have to have a period where you work on takeaways. When you are at a talent deficiency, stealing possessions is key. If we can finish three more possessions than our opponent, we increase our chances to win. Takeaways also create a short field. This gives us a better chance to score. 

Early in my career we beat a team we were supposed to lose to by 30 points, according to the papers. We forced 5 turnovers in the game. 2 were pick 6's, and two of them we returned inside the 10 yeard line. We only had 5 first downs, but we won the game 36-34. We couldn't move the ball against our opponent, but we were able to score because of the short field. 

Make Big Plays On Special Teams

Special Teams will win you games you shouldn't win, and lose you games you shouldn't lose. We want to make sure we are really good in punt protection. We want to make sure we don't kick the ball or punt the ball to their good returners. We want to make sure that we get vertical on our returns and then try to find daylight. We want to field every kick cleanly, so we don't give up hidden yards. 

The big one with this is blocking kicks. Blocking kicks are huge factors in beating teams you shouldn't beat. In the game I talked about earlier, we also blocked a punt, which gave us the ball inside their 5 yard line. This led to a short touchdown. The difference in the game was when we blocked their first extra point and returned it for two points. It was a huge momentum shift after they had gone up 13-0. 

Practice blocking punts and extra points. Find out who your best kick block guys are and help them improve that skill throughout the year. Blocking kicks is huge for winning games you shouldn't win. 

Let me also add that onside kicks can help you steal a possession. Find their weakness and install an onside kick to exploit it. You don't have to kick a traditional onside. Find the space in their return alignment and kick to that space. DO NOT KICK TO THEIR STUD RETURNER! I have made this mistake, and it rarely turns out good. There is nothing wrong with a pooch kick that won't be returned. They will start at the 25 or 30, and that is a win. 

Field Punts! There are hundreds of lost yards each game because coaches don't teach their guys how to catch a punt. 

Shorten the Game

This is a big key, and can help you beat teams when you are less talented. You can control when you snap the ball and how much time runs off the clock between plays when you have the ball. If you are a huddle team, take a little more time before you send the play in. 

A lot of guys tell me that tempo is a big key to what they do. Tempo is the great equalizer, but it can also be a double edged sword. If you are going 3 and out, your tempo will do more harm than good. But there are ways you can strategically use tempo. 

You can go fast and snap the ball, which keeps the defense on their heels. They are going to tend to be more vanilla. You can also bluff the snap, where you make it look like you are going fast, but you don't snap the ball fast. When you say your snap count, or clap, they might jump. Take the free 5. When you signal the play, you can also signal another bluff snap. This might get them to jump. 

Another thing to do is to bluff the snap, then signal in a whole new formation and play. Your guys now will get lined up and execute the play. The defense just made a call and now they have to adjust. This is a great way to run clock while using the concept of tempo.

If you huddle, you can use what we called 6 seconds. We would tell our guys six seconds from clap to snap. That means we would clap when we said ready break, sprint to the line, and call our cadence quickly. This is especially effective with unbalanced sets where the defense has to recognize surfaces, eligibles, and backfield sets quickly. 

When we were at a talent deficiency, we wanted to find a way to keep the game close in the fourth quarter. If we were within one score, our opponent might tense up. They suddenly are worried that this team they are far superior to was playing with them. 

Find ways to shorten the game, which will give you chance to win the game in the fourth quarter. 

Everyone Must Believe

Sun-Tzu says Every Battle Is Won Before It Is Fought. You have to prepare to the point that your players believe they have earned the right to win. Saying we are going to win is not enough. You have to convince your players that they have done everything it takes to win the game in preparation, and they have earned the right to compete. 

You also have to believe in each other. You have to believe the guy next to you is capable. The players have to believe in each other, and they have to believe their coaches will put them in the best position to be successful. The coaches have to believe in the players, and that the players will do things above their ability. The coaches also have to believe in each other. They have to believe that their colleagues will coach at a high level in preparation for the game and during the game.

If your players believe in each other, believe in their coaches, and believe they have earned the right to compete, they will believe they can win the game. If they believe, they increase their chances of winning. If they don't believe, they will lose. Henry Ford said, "The man who thinks he can and the man who thinks he can't are both right." The question is, which man are you? 

If you do these 5 things and you believe, you increase your chances of winning against a superior opponent talent wise. If you don't do these things, or you lack belief you can do these things, you won't have a chance. 

When you go into a game where you are at a talent deficiency, take the focus off the ability of the players. Focus on taking care of the things you have total control over, and build that belief in your players. 

I know we didn't talk about scheme, and scheme matters, but I wanted to focus on the things that every coach can do, regardless of talent level or what scheme they run. The biggest thing about scheme is finding ways to get your strengths attacking their weaknesses. If they are a team that flies around but has bad eye discipline, use reverse and misdirection. If they like to time up blitzes, change your snap count. To attack personnel, find the guy they are hiding, and attack him with your best guy. Everyone is hiding someone. 

Let me add this... Preparation and Organization

Being prepared for your opponent is a big part of beating people who are more talented than you are. If you want to be more prepared each week, I highly recommend you check out my game and practice planning resource. I spent much of my career as a coordinator. I was an offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, and coached at both the high school and college levels. I have made available all of our game and practice planning resources that helped us win more games. These have everything you need to be more prepared. They are editable and customizable, and are available as an instant download.  https://sellfy.com/p/AndN/ 

It includes everything from a scouting report template, to weekly practice plans and scripts, 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.