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! 

5 Keys to Getting a Scholarship Offer

Every time I go on social media it never fails that I will see numerous tweets in my feed the start with: "blessed to receive an offer from." More and more colleges are offering earlier and earlier. This is becoming more and more common place. With the advent of social media, there is so much more daily interaction between prospects, coaches, and parents.

Everyone wants to know how they get their offer. I get texts, calls, and emails from parents each week asking what they can do to help their child get more exposure. They want to know how they can increase the opportunities for their son to get an offer. I have had experience on both sides of this as a high school recruiting coordinator and as a college football coach. There are really five keys to getting an offer, but first, let's look at what an offer is.

An offer is simply a college saying we intend to offer you some sort of scholarship to play for us. If a D-1 offers you a scholarship, they are going to pay for your entire cost of schooling. If a D-2 or NAIA school offers you a scholarship, it can be anywhere from $1 to a full ride. Very few D-2 players will get a full scholarship. D-3 schools can't give athletic scholarships, but offer other forms of aid.

An offer is not a scholarship. Schools will offer hundreds of scholarships, but there are only going to sign a small number. This means that many players with offers will not get a scholarship. Some will not have the qualifying test score. Some will have a bad year. Others will get into trouble. Everything you do is being evaluated by someone.

A scholarship is an grant-in-aid that will help you pay for the cost of college. College is the key. College is about education. Athletics are important, but you must take advantage of the opportunity you are getting to get an education. Your scholarship can be taken away if you don't take care of business in the classroom. It can also be taken away if you violate school and/or team policies.

Here are the five keys to getting to getting an offer...

1. Be An ELITE Player
Only 2% of high school players will get any opportunity to play in college at all. Less than 1% will get an opportunity to earn a D-1 scholarship. Only elite players will get that opportunity. Elite is very rare. I talk to a lot of parents who think their son or daughter is elite, but when I put on the film I see above average. 

I recently sat down with the family of a defensive lineman who does not have any offers. He has size and strength, but he is average on the field. He doesn't look elite on film. If you want to get an offer, your film has to be very impressive. It has to show you doing things that are elite on a consistent basis. Colleges will not recruit someone who his average no matter how big they are. Big guys who are average players get people fired.

To be a great player starts with talent, but the next aspect is vital...

Here is the key: They need to know who you are. No one will recruit you if they don't know who you are. You need to get your film in front of coaches. Better yet, get yourself in front of coaches. Go to college camps so you can perform in front of coaches. Go to showcases that have a large media following and perform. 

2. Have An ELITE Work Ethic
As a high school coach I had the opportunity to coach over 100 scholarship players. They all had one thing in common. They worked harder than everyone else. Talent will only get you so far. Talent and work ethic are necessary to be elite. Very few elite players are lazy. There are a few, and they are the guys who are 5 star recruits in high school that get sent home before the end of their freshmen year of college.

College coaches are going to watch you practice. They are going to talk to your high school coaches. They are going to talk to your math teacher, a counselor, and the principal. They want to know if you are a hard worker. They want to know about your attitude. Do you have an elite work ethic? Do you take reps off in practice? If so, they will move one.

The weight room is a vital place to see your work ethic on display. The harder you work in the weight room, the better you will be on the field. In college, the strength and conditioning staff will push you harder than you have been pushed. If you can't handle a high school workout, you will never handle a college workout.

Play Hard EVERY Play
The harder you play, the more recruitable you become. If you take plays off, you will become uncrecruitable. Coaches watch game films before they recruit you. And they aren't going to just watch your best games. They want to see you against great competition. How hard do you play against great players? How hard do you play when you are behind by 3 scores? How hard do you play when you are up three scores?

Here is something vital to remember... You are not just on the film you provide college coaches. You are on everyone's film. Your opponent is sending film to coaches as well. You are on that film. If you send the college coach a great film, but then he gets a film of you playing terrible, it will have a negative effect on your evaluation. Remember that the next time you think about taking a play off.

On the other hand, you can get noticed off another player's film. When I was at the college level we found one of our best players that way. We were recruiting a kid from another team, and were watching film of a game. We were grading it just like we would grade one of our players. There was a kid on the other team flying around and making plays. We found out who that player was and called his coach. We watched two more games and ended up giving him a scholarship. We didn't know who he was until we saw him on someone else's film.

When a coach sees this film-- and they will see this film-- will they be more apt or less apt to recruit you?

*One important note: Your highlight film will get you noticed. Make sure your film has your best plays first. A highlight film is just that. Don't put every play on your highlight film. If it is a great play, put it on your film. Once a college has interest, they will watch your game film. If your highlight film is done poorly, they will not look at your game film.

3. Have GOOD grades 
Your talent will get you noticed. Your grades will either make you more recruitable, or unrecruitable. The more C's, D's, and F's you have, the less recruitable you become. You must strive to get A's and B's in your classes. Every single year I have been coaching, despite our best efforts, we have at least one player who sabotages their future because of poor grades. Every year one guy who would have multiple scholarship offers does not get to go because they have a low GPA. If you have a 2.5 or below you are sabotaging your own future.

Here are the NCAA Division 1 Academic Standards

Here are a few keys...
A. Show up to class on-time
B. Smile at the teacher and be polite
C. Complete your classwork
D. Put your phone away during class

If you are a clown in the classroom, you might not get an offer. Everything matters. Colleges are recruiting several players at your position and you are being evaluated on everything. If you are causing disruptions in school and getting into trouble, you are sabotaging yourself.

4. Measurables.
Only elite players with the right measurables will get an offer. The measurables are height, weight, 40 yard, vertical jump, shoe size, etc. You can be the best linebacker in the world, but if you are 5-8, you aren't getting a D-1 offer. You have to have ELITE TALENT, ELITE WORK ETHIC, and the RIGHT Measurables. Below is an image showing the average D-1 Recruit.

These measurables are the average of NCAA D-1 recruits. There are very few exceptions to this. The better your talent and work ethic, the more of a chance a team MIGHT take a chance on someone who is missing a measurable. 

5. Use Social Media As A Tool
Your Twitter/X, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram accounts can be a tool to get you recruited. And if you aren't careful, they can get you uncrecruited. Every D-1 school is going to monitor your social media accounts. What you post, like, and retweet matters. If you are positing videos and pictures of yourself drinking and smoking, you are going to be less apt to be recruited. Use your social media to show the best of who you are, not the worst of who you are. Use twitter to encourage your teammates. Use twitter to post highlights from your last game. Use social media to thank college coaches for visiting your campus. If you see someone do something great, shout them out on twitter.

Remember, you are the brand you are trying to sell. You need to understand that everything you share on social media becomes your brand. 

Numbers Game
Everything comes down to a numbers game. If a college is recruiting two offensive lineman, and they need a guard and a center; they might not recruit you if you are a tackle, and they can't see you playing guard. The If you are a receiver, and a school only needs one receiver, there is less of a chance of you getting a scholarship. If a team has 6 safeties on scholarship, chances are they aren't offering another safety. You can be the best safety in the world, but they are not going to recruit you unless they see you playing another position.

They May Move Your Position
Colleges will recruit you to suit their needs, regardless of where you played in high school. I once had a kid who played safety in high school get recruited to be a defensive end in college. He was 6-2 195 and ran a 4.7. He was not fast enough to be a college safety, but had a frame that would hold 75 pounds, and he was still growing. He ended up being a 6-4 260 pound defensive end. Be willing to change positions if it will increase your chances to get a chance to have your school paid for.

At the end of the day, control what you can control. You control your work ethic and your attitude. You control your performance on the field and in the classroom. If you need to make changes in your life, then make those changes. Understand that every decision you make will either help you get recruited, or keep you from being recruited.

If you really want an advantage... I do recruiting seminars for parents and prospects throughout the year. I help them navigate the recruiting process to increase the chance they earn a scholarship. The pictures you see came from my webinar on the how to earn a scholarship. I have made this webinar available at a huge discount. 

We know that prices have gone up with everything, so we have reduced this to under $30 so every single prospect learn what it takes to get that scholarship! You get lifetime access to the webinar, where I teach you everything you need to do to navigate the recruiting process. If you want to take advantage of this limited time offer, click Here to get access to this webinar now at a huge discount! It is divided into sections, making it easy to navigate to find the most important information you need! It includes information on NIL and the Portal!

You will get lifetime access to all the materials in this course! That way, you can watch at your convenience. 

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

For you coaches who are preparing for the upcoming season...

A lot of coaches ask me about my call sheet and how we prepared. We have a very systematic approach that we have developed over a 20 year period. Last summer I made our offensive game planning documents available for coaches to purchase for a nominal fee. The response was outstanding. Coaches from all levels of football in the US and internationally began using this resource. The head coach from one of the top 5A programs in Texas said these documents helped them to be much more prepared.

If you are interested in this resource, click here: Offensive Game and Practice Planning Resource.  Every document in this resource is completely editable and customizable to your program. Everything you need is in this resource. You order it today and you will be able to immediately begin downloading the documents and using them to be better prepared. This even includes our 2-sided color calls sheet! It prints on to 11x14 paper. I also include our weekly and daily practice plans, wrist bands, scouting forms, and much, much more! For just a few dollars you will score more points and win more games with this resource! It is on sale right now, so don't delay!

I also have a defensive game and practice planning resource that can be ordered here: Defensive Game and Practice Planning Resource. It has everything you defensive staff would need to dominate!

I also have a special teams resource available here: Special Teams Resource It is awesome because it includes teaching presentations and video for every phase of special teams!

This year I put out a book on RPO's that will give you a systematic process to build RPO's into your offensive system. The book has an iBooks version and an Amazon Kindle version. The iBooks version can be read on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It is an amazing book that gives you over an hour of video! It has been read by coaches at all levels, and they have all loved it! This book gives you a systematic process for installing and teaching pre snap and post snap RPO's! This book will greatly enhance your offense! It can be ordered clicking here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1078061959.

If you don't have an apple device, you can order the paperback version! It is available on Amazon!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1520447485

Three Keys to Eliminating Chaos on the Headsets

One of the biggest challenges for play callers is making a play call when you have chaos on the headsets. I am sure no one reading this has ever had this problem. 

Yes, I was being sarcastic. Everyone who has coached a down of football has had chaos on the headset. Football is an emotional game with a large group of people invested in the success of the team. 

How many times did the chaos on the headsets make it tougher to call a game? How much better would you be if you could eliminate chaos and have your coaches focused on their individual job during the game? It's hard to call the touchdown play when you have chaos on the headsets. 

I speak at several coaching clinics each year, and this is the most popular clinic topic I talk about. Every single coach who attends this session tells me this is the topic they took the most out of. 

I am going to give you three keys from my clinic talk to help you eliminate some of the chaos on the headset. 

1. Have Clearly Defined Roles
2. Have a Communication Plan
3. Have a Game Plan and Call Sheet

Have A Communication Plan

When I first became a coordinator, we had chaos on the headset. It was mayhem. If the play went well we all screamed and cheered. If a play went bad we all yelling about who screwed up. We had to get a play call in and we were still talking about the last play. This went on for an entire season. I complained to my head coach. He said, maybe you should tell guys what you want. What an innovative thought.

Too often, we assume everyone is going to know what you want to them to do. We think that everyone magically end up on the same page. No one will be on the same page if you haven't given them a plan. You have to be intentional in everything you do if you want to be elite. 

We evaluated the strengths of our staff. We then discussed this as a staff to make sure everyone was in the best place to ensure team success. This might mean you put a guy upstairs that has been on the field. It might mean you move a guy from the box to the field. 

Our plan was broken into three parts. 

1. Who is in the box and who is on the field?
2. What is each coach watching?
3. What is each coach saying?

I was our OC and QB coach. I had been on the field calling plays, but I moved to the box. Our OL coach stayed on the field. Our WR coach moved to the field from the box. Our RB coach was going to be on the field. We had a JV coach who would be with me in the box charting plays. 

We had specific things each coach was watching for. We had what we called our "batting order" for who would speak and what they would say after each play. This coach says this, then this coach says this, then this coach says this. We worked under the rule that less is more. 

We had a specific language we used. If one coach says we have an under front when we have a 1-5 technique to the tight end, but another coach calls that a field eagle, then we can't have elite communication. I put a simple terminology sheet together that would help me as a play caller understand what each coach is saying. 

We had a procedure for how we communicate between series. Our players and coaches knew where to go and what our process would look like. This helped us to be better at making adjustments and greatly improved our coach to player communication. You have to have a plan in place. 

We practiced our communication in the office before we ever put the headsets on for a game. We would pull up a quarter of a game and go through two or three series, practicing our communication. If the first time you ever put the headsets on is when your first game starts, you are setting yourselves up for failure. 

Have Cleary Defined Roles

If no one knows what they are supposed to do, how can they do what you need them to do, when you need them to do it? Every coordinator should define the roles of each of their coaches. You should define these roles on paper. Each coach should then be given these roles, in writing. You then should discuss what each coach's role is during the game.

Each coach had a role that defined exactly what they were supposed to be looking at during the game. Each coach had a specific thing they were supposed to say between plays and during plays. This eliminated any confusion. Our OL coach was watching the box. Our receiver coach was watching near side secondary. Our RB coach was watching the linebackers. The JV coach next to me was watching far side secondary and charting plays. As the OC I was watching the big picture. 

Because each coach knew their role, we eliminated much of the confusion. 

Have A Game Plan and Call Sheet

This was a big piece of reducing chaos and being more efficient with our communication. We built a game plan with each coach being involved in putting together part of the plan. Each coach was filling in certain areas of our call sheet. On gameday, each coach had a copy of the call sheet. We discussed the call sheet on Sunday and made sure every single coach understood the game plan.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we would have a live period that was mostly unscripted. We would put the headsets on and practice our communication. We would work through different situations, just like it was a game. This helped us find where we needed to make adjustments to our call sheet. We would almost never add anything to the call sheet, but we would take some things away.

This shows one area of our call sheet. We had the defensive blitz percentages and the percentages of man coverage they play in each situation. We then had a small menu of plays we liked. Every coach was on the same page and coach anticipate what the next call would be. If you don't have a call sheet and you don't want to create one from scratch, check out my Offensive Organizational Resource. 

Adjust this to Your Staff

Your plan has to fit your staff. When I was in the Bronx, we did not have a lot of coaches. We had to adjust the plan to fit the size of our staff. When I was in Texas, we had many more coaches, so we could break things up further. You have to determine what fits your staff and put a plan in place. 

If you have a chance to see this talk at a Glazier Clinic, come up and introduce yourself. If you haven't, I have put together an on-demand session on CoachTube on Building an Elite System of Gameday Communication. The price is also dropped for a limited time. You will have lifetime access to this session, and it includes some in-game downloadable! 

Coaches tell me this session on CoachTube helped them to greatly reduce chaos on the headsets and score more points! 

If you want to incorporate simple RPO concepts to get your skill guys more touches, I have two additional video courses on CoachTube. Installing Pre-Snap RPOs to Get Your Skill Guys More Touches While Protecting Your Runs and Designing and Installing Post Snap RPOs to Create Explosive Plays.  This will help you score more points while getting your dudes touches! If you want to save a few $$, here is a link to get all three videos at a huge discount! Coach Vint Bundle Deal

Earlier I mentioned our Call Sheet and gave you a link to our Offensive Game Planning Resource. This includes editable and customizable templates for you to use with your team to be more organized and score more points! 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!

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. 

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, templates, and scouting forms just for special teams! This helped us to build dominating special teams! 

10 Keys to A Great Highlight Film

If you are a prospect wanting to play college sports, you need to put effort and intentionality into building your highlight film. There are thousands of talented athletes who should be getting recruited, but they sabotaged themselves with a lazily thrown together highlight film. These 10 Keys will help you to put together a highlight film that will give you a better chance of being recruited. 

Before I get to the 10 Keys, it is important you know why you are making a highlight film. Your highlight film is often the first introduction coaches will get to you. There are tens of thousands of prospects putting their highlight films together. What are you doing that will set you apart from the others? Coaches click the link to watch your film, and they will watch as long as they have a reason to keep watching. They will stop watching the minute you give them a reason to stop watching. 

When coaches put your film on, do you give them a reason to keep watching? Read these 10 Keys and then go through and fix your film. If you aren't intentional with your film, you are going to hurt your chances of getting a chance to earn a scholarship.

10 Keys To A Great Highlight Film

1. Only put highlights on your highlight film

Too many guys put average plays on their highlight film. Your highlight film is called a highlight film because it has only highlights. You being on the field does not make it a highlight. If you aren't sure if it is a highlight, then you need to ask your coach to look at it. If you aren't sure, it probably isn't a highlight. Too many players put average plays on film because they worry about their film being too short. Your highlight film does not need to be longer than 3 minutes. If you only have one minute of highlights, don't add average on film to try to make it longer. 

2. Put your most explosive plays first

This is a huge mistake I see many players make. They hide their best plays in the middle of the film. Your BEST plays come first. Your most explosive plays should come first. If you had a 99 yard touchdown run, that play should be the first play on your film. Give the coach watching your film a reason to keep watching. I want to add that your highlight film does not need to be in chronological order. This is a huge mistake I see prospects make. Put your most explosive plays first. 

3. Show them where you are before the ball is snapped

This is another mistake I see made far too often. Put a circle around yourself or insert an arrow pointing to you before the ball is snapped. If they have to guess who you are they won't find you. 

4. Don't put music on your film

They are going to turn the volume down most likely. But if a coach is watching your film in an airport or anywhere in public, they don't want loud music blaring. Music doesn't help your recruiting. The wrong song can hurt your recruitment. 

Making the Most Out Of Clinic Season

With clinic season ramping up, I wanted to share some thoughts with you to help you grow as a coach and in the profession. Building a network is one of the most important aspects of growing as a coach. 

There are two ways to build a network. First, is social media. Social media has made coaches more accessible than ever. You can communicate with coaches and share ideas 24 Horus a day, 365 days a year. Social media can be a powerful tool. 

While social media is a powerful networking and learning tool, going to clinics and conventions in person is even more powerful. Virtual learning is very good and technology has opened doors, but there is no substitute for the personal connections you can make at a clinic or convention. So when you go to a clinic or convention, what do you do to get the most out of it?

Professional Growth

Clinics and conventions give you an opportunity to meet coaches and develop professionally. When you attend a clinic or convention, you are going to be able to listen to a variety of speakers who are teaching different aspects of the game. In addition to listening to coaches on your side of the ball and coaches talking about your position, listen to coaches on the other side of the ball. Also, listen to speakers to fill your gaps in knowledge. 

If you are an offensive line coach, listen to quarterback and receiver coaches. Learn about the pass game. If you are a quarterback or receiver coach, listen to some offensive line coaches. If you coach defensive line, listen to secondary coaches. If you are an offensive line coach, go listen to defensive line coaches and defensive coordinators. This will help you learn more about what you will be going against each day. If you are an OC, go listen to DC's and secondary coaches. Learn what they are doing to defend what you are doing on offense. 

You also want to be flexible as a coach. A good ball coach can change positions to meet the needs of the staff. You also open doors of opportunity if you can change positions to pursue an opportunity. 

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. 

Winning The Bye Week

One of the most important weeks in everyone's schedule is the bye week. Depending on the size of your district and how your schedule is structured, your bye week may come at a different part of the season. 

Depending on when your bye week falls during the season, what you do that week may have some nuances. But for the most part there are a number of things you want to do during the bye week, regardless of when it falls. In my career we have had the bye week as early as week 3, and as late as after our last regular season game. 

During my coaching career we tended to make the most out of our bye week, but we also lost some bye weeks as well. Not only did we lose, we got blown out. Before I get to that, let's talk about winning the bye week.

There are 5 main things you can do to win the bye week each season. 

1. Get injured guys healthy
2. Extra tutorial time
3. Improve fundamentals like blocking and tackling'
4. Install a new wrinkle or trick play
5. Build Depth

During the bye week we want to make sure we give guys that are banged up a chance to rest. This goes hand in hand with #5 on the list, building depth. During our bye week we wanted to give our key guys who are most involved enough work to improve, but we wanted to rest their legs. This meant we could give some backups more reps, while also putting the focus on some guys who we would like to see prepared for a bigger role. 

We want to spend some time getting guys into tutorials to make sure we don't lose anyone to grades. Our bye week usually came near the end of a grading period, which allowed us to get guys into tutorials for opportunities to improve their grades. Just about every coach has some guys who need extra academic attention to be successful. 

We spend a lot of practice time fixing ourselves. We take our areas where we need to show improvement and we focus on those during the bye week. We are going to dedicate time to things like blocking and tackling, and getting off blocks. We are going to work on ball security, catching the football, and all of the fundamental skills we might find we are struggling. 

We are going to install something our opponents have not seen. Usually we are going to put in a trick play or two, and a new wrinkle off something we have had success with. We are going to make sure to call any trick plays we install early in the first game out of our bye week. We also might install a new formation or formation variation, which again, we will run early in the game. 

Now that we have talked about things we do to win the bye week, let's talk about losing the bye week. I learned some hard lessons, and I am hopeful that sharing some of these will help you to avoid the same mistakes I made.

Getting A Player Injured in Bye Week Practices

I have learned this lesson the hard way. One year we had a bye week before our last game of the season. This was going to be for a district championship which would determine seeding for the playoffs. We lost our running back during what was essentially a walk through period. We didn't have shoulder pads on as we were practicing in T-Shirts and shorts. He bumped shoulders with another player and injured his shoulder. This forced us to evaluate some things. We always wore shoulder pads after this during our bye week practices. Losing your best offensive player is not something you want to do during the bye week. 

Having Guys Fail Classes

There are few things worse than players not being eligible because they failed a class. This is why tutorial time is important during the bye week. We want to give them time right after school to see teachers for classes they are struggling in. This goes a long way towards helping your players improve their academics, while also building good will with teachers. 

Not Focusing on Fundamentals

Every single game of every single season we see breakdowns on film. I have yet to have a team every play a perfect game. There is always something fundamental you can focus on during the bye week. If you aren't tackling well, spend some time working on where your breakdowns are occurring. You can do much of this with very controlled drills. 

Unfortunately, we have lost a few bye weeks over the years by focusing more on scheme than fixing our fundamentals. Make a list of fundamentals you need to improve and then prioritize that list during your bye week. 

Recharge Your Batteries

Depending on when you have your bye week, you have to find time to recharge the batteries. Football is a long season, and the by week is an important time to not only prepare physically, but you have to recharge mentally. Typically we are going to have a shorter practice each day, and might even give the players a day off. If you give the players a day off, let your coaches get home for dinner on that day.

We know the work has to get done and there are a lot of theories on how to get the work done. The one thing I wish is that I had been more intentional with how I spent my bye week. It's okay to turn the lights out a little bit early during the bye week to let guys spend some quality time with family. 

Have A Plan

If you are a head coach or a coordinator, you should be planning your bye week in the weeks leading up to. Write down the things you need to work on and begin to prioritize what is most important. The week leading up to the bye you should have an outline of what the week will look like. Have your practice plan mapped out the week before. Then, you can make any adjustments as you get into the bye week. 

The bye week is an important week in your schedule. Treat it with intentionality, and make sure you have a plan to make the most out of your bye week. 

 Let me add this... Preparation and Organization

Being prepared for your opponent is a big part of winning more games. 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.