Game Planning For A More Explosive Offense: GAB Concepts

One of the most important aspects of being explosive on offense is detailed preparation. And one of the best ways to be explosive is to get your best athletes opportunities to touch the football. We have all had games where our best athlete was limited in touches. I learned this lesson early in my career when we had a tremendous athlete who was not getting touches. Kindu Brown was his name, and he was a receiver. We knew he was explosive and could change games, but we weren't getting him enough touches. We had a very good stable of running backs, and Kindu was a receiver for us on offense. We were running the ball 85% of the time, which limited touches for our receivers.

One lesson I learned early on is that players win games, not plays. You can have the best play in the world drawn up, but if the best player isn't touching the ball, the play may not work. Average players can screw up well blocked concepts. Conversely, great athletes can turn a poorly blocked play into a touchdown. When our best players aren't getting touches, we are not going to be as explosive as we can be on offense.

"GREAT PLAYERS WIN GAMES, NOT GREAT PLAYS"

We knew if we could get Kindu 8 touches on offense, that he would find a way to turn 4 of those touches into explosive plays. The problem was, we were not getting him those touches. He was getting more touches on defense through interceptions than he was on offense. As a young offensive coordinator I was doing a bad job of getting him the ball.

After three games we were undefeated, but we hadn't gotten Kindu enough touches. We were missing some big play opportunities. As our schedule got more difficult, we knew we had to get him the ball. The answer we came up with was very simple. We added a section to our offensive call sheet we simply titled, "Get Athletes Ball," or GAB. 

This addition of GAB was the most important part of our call sheet. If we have one great athlete, we have selected plays for this athlete. We typically will have 3 to 4 plays that we feel give this athlete a great chance to score a touchdown. If we have 2 athletes we want to get touches, we will list 3 or 4 plays for that athlete. Below is an example of our get athlete the ball column of my call sheet.

In the box I am going to list the plays we like best for the athlete. For example, if left side inside receiver is our best athlete, we might put bubble as a concept to get him the ball. The second play might be a jet sweep to that player. The third concept might be a reverse where he is going to get the football. Whatever concepts you run that ensure that athlete will touch the ball is what you list. Maybe you have 2 plays that guarantee he will touch the ball. Then you put those two plays.

Typically are GAB concepts are pretty consistent week to week. However, if we see something we can exploit against a particular opponent, we will adjust that call. As the game goes on, I will put a check each time we call these plays. Next to the check I write the result in pencil real small. I want to know who many times we got our best athlete the ball and how many yards we gained. 

The result of adding this section to our call sheet was that our best athletes got more touches, and we scored more points. We were much more explosive. I remember we had a concept we called to Kindu that the defense had taken away by alignment. In my head I knew we should call a timeout. As the ball was snapped I said, "this ain't good." Then Kindu got the football. He made the first two defenders miss, broke a tackle, and turned a 1 yard loss into a 60 yard touchdown. Great athletes make great plays, and players win games, not plays.

I know this seems simple. But in the heat of a game cooler heads often don't prevail. We want to be able to be methodical in our play calling without regard to emotion. By adding a section where you have plays ready to get your athletes the ball, you will get them more touches and you will score more points. 

To help coaches in preparation, I have created an Offensive Game and Practice Planning Resource Packet. This packet consists of 9 downloadable documents that are already formatted, saving you hundred of hours recreating the wheel. These are the documents I used at the high school and college level to prepare our offenses. Included in this packet is our offensive call sheet in excel format. It is a two sided color document formatted for legal sized paper. It is a very detailed call sheet that will help you be a better play caller on gameday! This resource packet is available for instant download! Click here to order yours today: Offensive Game and Practice Planning Documents  These documents will help you SCORE MORE POINTS!

Additionally, I have a defensive packet available for defensive coordinators. These are highly coordinated with the offensive packet, helping your program as a whole to be on the same page. Click here for the Defensive Game and Practice Planning Packet: Defensive Game and Practice Planning Documents

Using AI to Supercharge Your Offensive Game Plan!

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!

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! 

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

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

Using Tempo to Create Explosive Plays!

Offensive coordinators are always striving for new ways to gain an advantage over the defense. We go to clinics and visit coaching staffs trying to find new ways to gain more yards and score more points. One very important area that has helped the evolution of football is tempo. Over the last ten years we have seen a significant increase in the number of teams who use elements of tempo in their offense.

Back about 15 years ago I began my own experiment with tempo. We were getting ready to play a team that had us physically overmatched. They were better than us up front. They were faster than us in the secondary. They had dominated everyone they played. We decided to play at Nascar Tempo for entire drives. We were in the I Formation for the most part, and we were option based. We did jump in the gun to run our zone read concepts, but our identity was being in the I and running the ball.

In the first quarter we ran 30 plays and racked up over 180 yards on the ground. We had two drives that started inside our own 10 yardline. We were able to consistently move the football. As soon as the play ended we were sprinting to the line and getting set. We were going as fast as we could and the defense was lost. They couldn't communicate their fronts and coverages. They couldn't get lined up properly. Despite being overmatched we were able to consistently move the ball. Our tempo system was born.

"We ran 30 plays in the first quarter and racked up over 180 yards on the ground!"

The second tempo we added was our Freeze or Look tempo. We are going to make it look like we are going to run a play at Nascar Tempo. We would sprint to the line and the quarterback would say, "ready go." If the defense jumps we snap the ball and run verticals. We essentially get a free play. If the defense doesn't jump the quarterback says, "easy-easy look-look." The offense looks over and we signal to them the play we are going to run. When we use the freeze/look mode I have a chance to look at the defense and call a play based on how they are lined up. I found I called a better game when I could see how the defense lined up each play.

We then added four more tempos to our offense. Playing fast is great, we like to do it, but the defense will adapt to whatever speed you play. If you play fast, the defense will get acclimated and play fast. If you play slow, the defense will get acclimated. But if you change tempos the defense will not be able to settle into a comfort zone. Each tempo we added had a specific purpose, and the defense never knew when we were going to run a specific tempo. We are able to change speeds from one play to the next. Because we can play fast every snap if we want to, the defense must prepare that way. They must get their call in immediately, regardless of what speed we actually go.

Adding an element of tempo has helped us to become much more explosive on offense. When we change speeds we have more explosive plays than when we play one speed. The biggest mistake I have made is slowing down when we had injuries and trying to shorten the game. When we did this we sacrificed effectiveness on offense. We eliminated what might have been the most dynamic part of our offensive system.

Coaches ask me about tempo and how we implement it into our system, and I decided to write a book about it. There really wasn't a book that gave a systematic approach to building a multiple tempo system into an offense. This book I wrote talks about how to incorporate tempo into any offense. It gives you a process that can easily be adapted to anything you might do. What is special abut this book is that it contains video! It is built on Apple's Ibooks platform. The downside is that it can only be viewed on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. I also have version for the Kindle with text and pictures! There is no video on the Kindle version.

I shared the book with a few close friends in coaching, and they believe this is one of the best pieces of information available on tempo! It takes you through a simple process for each of our tempos, and how you can fit them into your system. Whether you are running a wing-t system and huddling, or you are an Air Raid team, you can benefit from what I talk about in the book.

One very important aspect of the book is the price. I wanted it to be affordable to coaches. There may not be a better value out there!

Here are a couple of screenshots from the book:


The book includes over an over of video clips so you can see each tempo in action! I include practice footage as well, so you can see how we teach and install each tempo! And, I show you how you can build picture boards as one method of communication! I also take you through a simple communication system you can use to implement tempo into your offense!

If you are looking to learn more about tempo, this is a book you NEED to purchase! Here is a link to the book:  http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1075902270

Here is a link to the Amazon Kindle Version: http://www.amazon.com/Using-Multiple-Tempos-Create-Explosive-ebook/dp/B01ATOL46A/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1453231742&sr=8-3&keywords=james+vint

This book will give you something you can use with you program!

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/