3 Things You Can Take From the Bowl Games For Your Offense

Like most of you, I watch football games with a notepad and a remote to rewind and watch plays again. I diagram plays and take notes on what teams are doing that we can adapt. 

As I was watching the college football playoff games, I found three things we can use at every level of football. These three things were consistent across all of the games that were played, and many of us can relate to these three things. It is a great reminder as we enter the winter growth period in preparation for the 2026 season. 

1. Games are won at the line of scrimmage

This is true at just about every level of football. In nearly every one of our wins we won the line of scrimmage. I don't think we any games where we won the line of scrimmage. In football, everything starts and ends up front. In every CFP game, the team that won the line of scrimmage won the game. You have to be able to run the ball and you have to be able to stop the run. 

What do you need to to do to improve your play on your offensive and defensive lines? Do you need to make schematic changes? How can you improve your technique? What do you need to do in the weight room to become more explosive? There is no substitute for strength and no excuse for a lack of it. 

A big part of your success up front is your mindset. Your players have to believe in themselves. They have to believe they can perform at a high level. They have to believe that you have prepared them to play at a high level. As you prepare for your season, what do you need to do to prepare your guys up front to play with more confidence? 

2. Take Shots

This is huge. You have got to take shots down field. One of the most important things you can do as an offensive coordinator is keep a shot chart. Make a mark every time you take a shot down field. You need to take at least two shots a quarter. 

When we talk about taking a shot, we are not just talking about throwing a vertical route. That is part of it, but a shot can look different depending on your system. If you are a wing-t team, your shot might be counter criss cross. If you are an option team, your shot might be reverse off veer. An air raid team might run screen and go. A pro style offense might run boot throwback. 

One way we got really good at taking shots was getting better at throwing and catching. We invested time running vertical routes, throwing vertical routes, and catching vertical routes. When we got press coverage, we were going to take a shot. We had a definitive way of throwing the vertical route vs press coverage the same every time. The receiver knew where the ball would be, and the QB knew where he had to place the ball. 

Take shots down field, and make sure you chart your shots. Hold yourself accountable to taking at least 2 shots a quarter. How can you get your best guy in a position to win a matchup? 

I wrote more about this here: Shots, Screens, and Snap Count

3. Less is more 

I watch every game with a pad and paper and I am trying to chart as much as I can. One thing that stood out was how teams playing in the CFP did not run a lot of concepts. They ran a few concepts but changed the presentation. They used different formations, motions, shifts, trades, and backfield actions, without changing the blocking scheme. 

In one CFP game, I watched a team run inside zone or a variation of inside zone on nearly every run play. They ran maybe two outside zone concepts. They ran a couple of gap runs. 

Defenses today are multiple. They change fronts. They gap exchange. They bring a variety of pressures and simulated pressures.  The us post-snap rotation with their secondary to disguise coverages. Teams that are successful making deep runs keep things simple for their big guys. This allows their big guys to be able to make adjustments and play fast. 

Where can you simplify some things in your offense? Are you carrying too many concepts, and that is keeping you from being really good at what you do? 

I wrote about this here: How Much Is Too Much Part 1 and Here: How Much is Too Much Part Two: Fully Installed Concepts

Using AI to Supercharge Your Offensive Game Plan! AI is not coming, AI is here! 

AI can help you be more explosive on defense by supercharging your game planning! Imagine how much better of a play caller you will be if you know what the defense is going to do! If you know they are playing zone coverage, you can make a call to beat zone. If you know that they are going to play cover 3, you can call a cover 3 beater. Instead of guessing, you are going be able to call more touchdown plays! Using AI to Supercharge Your Offensive Game Plan will completely revolutionize your game planning! It will save you several hours each week! Instead of pouring over reports that aren't helpful to offensive coordinators, you can use AI to get your data, your way! 

This is available at a special price. That price will be increasing, so don't wait. This will give you everything you need to use AI. Whether you are a beginner to technology, or you are a technological guru, this will give you a huge advantage over your opponents. Instead of spending hours combing through reports, you can have all of your information in one place, allowing you to quickly make decisions and build your game plan. Use the code AI at checkout to save $15 for a limited time! 

Here is a video showing the power of AI!

You don't need to spend countless hours to figure out how to use AI. Use Using AI to Supercharge Your Offensive Game Plan and I will give you everything you need to start using AI right now! This is not a piece of software you have to renew each month or year. This is a resource that you will be able to use from day one. It includes access to the custom AI analysts I built! Remember to use the code AI at checkout! AI will help you get your time back on the weekends, while making you more prepared than ever!

Call Sheets! 

A big piece of the preparation puzzle is your call sheet. 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. 

Seven Books Every Coach Should Read

Coaches often ask for book recommendations, and there are some great books that every coach should read. These are books that I read at different times in my coaching career, and still look back through today. 

These aren’t just great books for coaches. These are great books for anyone who is a leader. These are listed in the order I read them, but all of them are valuable in different ways. There are really eight books here, but we are counting two books as one. I had also already published the title when I added the eighth.

Winning Everyday by Lou Holtz.  

The first book I read as a first-year coach was Winning Everyday.  Holtz gave some great life lessons that were not only beneficial to me as a coach, but I used them as a human. 

Bill Walsh- The Score Takes Care of Itself 

If you want a book focused on what setting standards off the field. If you do things right in your daily habits, everything will work out as it should on the scoreboard. This was a great book as a complement to Finding the Winning Edge. You can find copies of Finding the Winning Edge on Amazing, but the cost is often very high. I would recommend every football coach read it if you can get a copy. It is worth every penny. 

Nick Saban- How Good Do You Want to Be 

Nick Saban’s book “How Good Do You Want to Be is written in typical Saban voice. This takes you inside how he built LSU and Alabama into championship programs. This book taught me the importance of setting high expectations and holding yourself and others accountable to the standard. 

Pete Carroll - Win Forever 

Always Compete 

Next I read Pete Carroll’s Always Compete and Win Forever. These are both top-notch books that give you insight into how Carroll developed the USC program. I love Win Forever, but it is hard to find and that is why I included Always Compete. 

Always Compete has many of the same principles, but they were much more refined when we wrote Win Forever. Win Forever gives you a bluepinrt for building a championship program. 

We are counting these as one book, so don't @ me on the math! 

Coach K: Leading With the Heart 

Coach K is a legendary basketball coach, but his book Leading from the Heart is a great book for coaches to read. He gives you insight into how you can be a transformational coach. 

Called to Coach - Bobby Bowden

And perhaps my favorite is Called To Coach by Bobby Bowden. Coach Bowden takes you through his journey as a coach and how he built the program at Florida State. He talks a lot about how important it is to be a servant leader. 

These are very good books I highly recommend to anyone who is a coach or leader. I recommend these books because everyone in a leadership position can take something from these books and use them in their own situations. These books made an impact on me, and I hope they will benefit you in your coaching journey. 

Football Scouting Methods- Steve Belichick

This is the bible of scouting opponents written by Bill's dad. When people ask me where I learned how to scout an opponent, it is this book. This book gives you everything you need to build a foundation of scouting teams you will play. The theories and concepts in this book are transferable to today's game and will help make you a better coach. 

Newly Released 3-3-5/3-5-3 Book!

I just released my book on the 3-3-5/3-5-3! I take you through everything it takes to be successful with the Odd Stack Defense, from personnel, to structure, to gap responsibilities, run fits, pursuit, coverages, pressures, and more! I give you a complete tool box for dominating on defense. Whether you run the 3-3-5/3-5-3, or you just want to learn more, this book has nuggets to help you win more games! The book includes a video walk through that is 35 minutes long, where I talk you through the book and the defense! Dominating with the 3-3-5/3-5-3 Defense. Enter the code: DOMINATE at checkout to save $10! 

One of the most important aspects of coaching is your preparation and organization. When I was a defensive coordinator we posted 6 shutouts and gave up just 6.8 points a game. A big part of this was our preparation. 

Using AI to Create a Dominant Defensive Game Plan

If you want to be able to call the right defense at the right time, then you need to check out my newest resource! I spent over a year building an AI Game Planning Analyst that will help you save several hours each weekend while being more prepared than ever before! Using AI To Create a Dominant Defensive Game Plan will revolutionize how you prepare for opponents. 

This was tested with programs of all levels, and every coach that used it said it revolutionized their game planning. Instead of flipping through multiple reports, you have everything in one place. The best part... You can talk to your data! You can ask questions and get responses. This is available at a special price right now! For a limited time, you can use the code AI at checkout to save $15. 

Along with using AI, we want to make sure we are organized. I have a defensive game planning resource available for you! 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. 

I built our detailed game planning process and documents from these principles. If you are looking for specific resource you can use to help you be more effective with your game planning and more explosive on offense, check out my offensive game planning packet at  https://sellfy.com/p/AndN/ 

It includes everything from a scouting report template, to practice plans, to a two-sided color call sheet, and more! Each of the nine documents are fully editable and customizable! Order today and start preparing for your first game right now! This helped us be able to be prepared to attack the defense and put more points on the board. It also helped us be much more efficient and targeted on the weekends when we were game planning. 

When I was a defensive coordinator we adapted this to our defensive preparation! 

Here is a link to the defensive game planning documents. It includes 12 fully editable and customizable documents. https://sellfy.com/p/AY1u/ These are what we used to post 6 shutouts when I was a defensive coordinator. Defensive coordinators at all levels of football are using this. 

And finally, I put together a special teams resource. This has everything you need, included drill tape, practice tape, and game footage. It includes teaching presentations and scouting forms just for special teams! https://sellfy.com/p/tJwz/ This helped us to build dominating special teams! 

I wanted these to be available at a very reasonable cost. These can help you to be more successful on the field and more efficient in the office! 

A while back 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. 

Books

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

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

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:

Using Multiple Tempos to Create Explosive Plays Kindle Version

New Book

Over the last several months, I have stepped out of my comfort zone and wrote a new book about faith and purpose. The book is available as a paperback on Amazon, and as an eBook for the Kindle App. The cool thing about the Kindle app is that you can read the book on any device. I invite you to read it, and discover the power you receive when you make a decision to walk with the Lord. Here is a link to the book: Finding Faith

Since publishing the book, I have received numerous texts, calls, and emails, from people who are going through similar trials and tribulations. They were feeling many of the same things I was feeling. The found comfort in the book. They also found they had a desire to change and to live better. They wanted more joy. 

I would invite you to read the book and discover the possibilities that God has planned for your life. 

Domination Begins with Preparation

Every team wants to build a program that consistently dominates opponents each week. I believe there are four elements to building a dominating program.

1. Talented Players

2. Mental and Physical Toughness

3. Disciplined Approach

4. Elite Preparation

All four of these are necessary if you want to build a program that consistently competes for championships. Today's focus will be on the fourth element, "Elite Preparation."

Have you ever walked out of the locker room and gotten into your car after game and said, "why didn't we call XYZ?" Or, "why didn't we get Johnnie more touches? Have you ever faced a situation in a game and your kids didn't know what to do? These are just a few of the many questions coaches at all level pose to themselves after a game. And each of them can be answered through preparation. 

When I first became a coordinator I liked to call things from the hip. Our practices and game plan didn't match up. Because of this, our practices were often inefficient with a lot of wasted time. It didn't look like we were wasting time because each period was planned out and we followed a schedule. We hustled between our segments and our transitions were efficient. If we had such a fast-paced practice, how did we waste time?

It started with the lack of a game plan. We used to say, "we do what we do." There was no need to plan because we were going to run our offense. I had to learn the hard way that a lack of detailed preparation will lose games. We practiced a lot of things we never ran. In fact, we spent more time practicing plays we weren't going to run than plays we were going to run. We wasted a lot of reps. I thought we were doing a good job. I was wrong. 

The reason I didn't prepare is that I didn't have a system of preparation. I visited several college and NFL programs and investigated how they prepared. What did they do to make sure every base was covered. We began to take a all of the information and put it together. 

The first thing we did was put a game plan in writing. It wasn't merely a list of our plays. We looked at every single aspect of our opponents and came up with our favorite calls for each week. A call means formation, motion, and play. We decided to script our openers, and build down and distance scripts for each game. We came up these while we game planned on Saturday and Sunday. 

Once we had our game plan in place, we built our scripts for practice. We scripted every period based on our game plan. We felt we need to practice every call a minimum of 6 times. Our ultimate goal was 12 reps for each call. By scripting our practice segments we made sure every single element was covered.

We then made a list of all the situations we wanted to cover. We came up with a system to teach each situation and incorporate into our practice each week. Below is our weekly list. 

These are the most important situations that we practice week. We work our take a safety as well, which is not on this list. It is vital you teach them why you are taking a safety as well. You don't need to spend a lot of time on each of these. We work our two minute drill for 5 minutes a week. We work our 4th down go for it play 3 times each week. Our players know what we will call before we call it. Below is our overview showing when we work each situation.

Every single thing we did in practice had a purpose. We never had a situation that we didn't cover, and our players were able to adapt quicker during games. When our defense got the ball back, our players knew what we were going to call before we called it. They knew we were going to take a shot, and they knew what play we would call.

Two of the questions above that we often asked were "why didn't we call XYZ?" And, why didn't we get Johnnie the ball more? We solved these by adding a section called GAB or Get Athletes the Ball. I had a couple of calls set up for each of our best players. I knew when we were struggling to "think players, not plays." By having a section on my play calling sheet that targeted our best players, I made sure to make calls to get them touches. 

I also made sure I had some shot calls on my sheet. I wanted to make sure we called enough big plays that we could score fast. These were momentum calls that could change a game. 

When we adjusted our game planning it didn't take more time. We still watched a lot of film and talked as a staff about what we saw. What changed, however, were the difficult conversations with the head coach about why I didn't get XYZ the ball. We scored more points and became more dominating. 

Take the list above and build these into your practice plan. Script them into your regular practice plans and make sure you get them covered. Having a simple system of preparation will help you be more dominating in all phases of the game.

One of the keys to our preparation was our outstanding group of documents we used for all three phases. If you are looking for fully editable and customizable documents that you can tailor to your program, I have made mine available. 

Here is a link to my offensive game planning documents: https://sellfy.com/p/AndN/

It includes everything from a scouting report template, to practice plans, to a two-sided color call sheet, and more! Each of the nine documents are fully editable and customizable! Order today for under $15 and download them tonight!

Here is a link to the defensive game planning documents. It includes 12 fully editable and customizable documents. https://sellfy.com/p/AY1u/

And finally, I put together a special teams resource. This has everything you need, included drill tape, practice tape, and game footage. It includes teaching presentations and scouting forms just for special teams! https://sellfy.com/p/tJwz/

I hope you found something in this post you can use with your program! Good luck this season! 

The little things are the Biggest Things

The little things are the  biggest things...

What does this mean? Quite simply... details matter. The seemingly insignificant details matter to the success of any endeavor. If you want to be successful you have to pay attention to the details.

Early in my coaching career I was a "big picture" guy. I didn't spend much time focusing on the how. I was more focused on the what. I didn't understand the value of coaching details. I thought we could out scheme people. If we drew it up on paper, we would win. That's what I thought it mean to out coach people.

Then I had the opportunity to watch Nick Saban coach defensive backs. He was focused on the how and the what. Coach Saban broke down small techniques to their smallest part. Everything fit together. If a player did something wrong, he immediately corrected them and they did it again. He had a process for teaching. Most importantly, his players learned and executed.

That is one common bond that successful teams shared... Attention to detail. They cared about the things that most organizations don't care about. They made it a point to take care of the small things. They set a standard, coached the standard, then held their players accountable to the standard. They accept nothing less. They focus on the details within themselves, rather than the external that they had no control over. While this wasn't the only factor they had in common, it was perhaps the most important.

The programs that were not as successful seemed to look past some things. They didn't value the details. They let things go. They didn't have an edge to them. Watching those programs, it was obvious something was missing. These are the teams that never play to their full ability. They are the very talented yet mediocre teams. They are the mediocre teams that never seem to improve. They don't get to parallel on squat. They don't keep their lower back locked in on dead lift. They don't put the right weight on the bar... 

You Get What You Emphasize

If you want something done right, emphasize it. If it is important, then emphasize it. Things don't happen magically. You have to make them happen. It is a process. You need to have a process if you want sustained, consistent results. You are always creating an incentive. If you reward bad behavior, what will you get? Yes, that's a rhetorical question... 

What do you do if a kid doesn't do something right? Make them do it again. It starts with accountability. We must be willing to hold our players accountable for not meeting the standard we have set. There are several ways to do this, but the best way is to reteach and have them do it over. A great way to teach players to be accountable is to have the entire group do something over. They are all counting on each other. If one of them makes a mistake it affects us all. This can be taught.

Everything we do is becomes habit. If we repeatedly let things go, that is exactly what we will get. Our kids will not do things right. If we tell them to have a flat back on our push-ups, we need to make sure they have a flat back. If we want them to sprint through the end of the drill, we have to emphasize them sprinting through the end of the drill. If they don't sprint through, send them back. 

Why? Why does this matter?

We need to build the habit of doing little things right. We need guys to pay attention to details when there is very little pressure. If a guy can't start behind a line, how can you trust him to line up right on the field? If a guy won't do a warm-up drill right, how can we expect them to do their position drills correctly? If a kid fumbles, are you emphasizing the five points of contact? Do you teach it? Do you coach it?

If you want your receiver to take a split to the top of the numbers, he should align at the top of the numbers. If he doesn't his split should immediately be corrected. If your linebacker is suppose to be lined up with his heels at 4, accept nothing different. If your offset back is suppose to be aligned at 4 yards on the outside leg of the guard, accept nothing else. You will find, however, that lining up wrong is a byproduct of your off-season program. Kids have to be taught to pay attention to details.

Finally, every one of your coaches must be bought in. If you have 6 coaches and only three are willing to hold kids accountable, you will not become consistently successful. You need every single coach willing to coach the seemingly insignificant details. 

Kids that don't pay attention to detail tend to be kids that will give up on a play. They are the kids that are not going to want to face adversity. They will fold under pressure....

If you aren't going to hold them accountable to something, then don't make it part of your program. If you tell your kids to hustle between drills or stations, but you aren't going to hold them accountable, then don't expect them to hustle. 

Making It Work...

1. Clearly Define Your Standards of Performance

2. Teach Your Standards of Performance

3. Hold Your Team Accountable to the Standards of Performance

If they perform, reward them. If they don't, reteach and repeat. Reteach and repeat until they meet the standards you have set.

Let me close with this... Coaching the little things is hard... It means you hold them accountable. It means confrontation and correction... Coaching the details means you can't take a rep off. It means you can't let up. You have to always be on your game.... 

Every program we have turned around started with coaching the details. The better we coached the details, the more consistent we became. Once we gained consistency, we were able to see growth. Once we saw growth, we gained confidence... Once we gained confidence, we started winning more games...

If you take care of the little things, the big things tend to take care of themselves...

In January of 2016, I published a couple of iBooks that can help your program with X's and O's. The first is on Installing RPO's into any offense. Here is a link to the iBooks version: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1078061959. The ibooks version includes explanations, diagrams, and video clips on multiple RPO Concepts. It will give you a simple process for implementing them into your offense.

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

One of the keys to our success was tremendous preparation!The key to  preparation was our outstanding group of documents we used for all three phases. If you are looking for fully editable and customizable documents that you can tailor to your program, I have made mine available. 

Here is a link to my offensive game planning documents: https://sellfy.com/p/AndN/

It includes everything from a scouting report template, to practice plans, to a two-sided color call sheet, and more! Each of the nine documents are fully editable and customizable! Order today for under $15 and download them tonight!

Here is a link to the defensive game planning documents. It includes 12 fully editable and customizable documents. https://sellfy.com/p/AY1u/

And finally, I put together a special teams resource. This has everything you need, included drill tape, practice tape, and game footage. It includes teaching presentations and scouting forms just for special teams! https://sellfy.com/p/tJwz/