BLACK

1. You must clearly identify what your responsibilities are as the offensive coordinator (play caller) of your team.
2. You must constantly analyze the methods you are using to implement your game plan and determine the capabilities of the group of players you are dealing with each year.
3. Determining the size and scope of the offense you wish to run in any given year or game is the single most important aspect of developing your game plan.
4. In creating your game plan, you should keep the four key measures of turnovers, explosive plays, 1st down efficiency, and Red Zone efficiency in mind.
5. You should establish an opening sequence that can be identified, practiced, and implemented by the entire coaching staff and offensive team.
6. You should identify the parameters of every situational offensive segment and identify the measurable success of each segment and how you are going to achieve those levels of success.
7. You should have a plan for every conceivable contingency your team will face, no matter how unusual the circumstances may seem.
8. You should be as detailed and specific as your time and materials allow.
9. You should make sure you are using all the tools available to you.
10. You should recognize the most important factor in your game plan is the human element, and that the way you interact with your coaches and players affects any and all preparations you make.

1. Allows you to make decisions in the cool and calm of your office during the week after a thorough analysis of your opponent.
2. Allows you to determine a desirable pass/run ratio.
3. Allow you to make full usage of formation and personnel by making the run and pass interactive.
4. Gives you a chance to challenge the defense and see what adjustments the defense may have incorporated into the defensive game plan, based on your different formation and personnel.
5. Gives your assistant coaches a specific focus as to what is being run and what they should watch for.
6. Gives the players, especially the quarterback, an excellent chance to get into a rhythm, since they are able to anticipate the next call.
7. Allows you to script specific “special” plays and increases your chances of actually getting them run.
8. If your “openers” are successful, it will give your offense a tremendous amount of confidence.
9. Provides you with a great deal of versatility and enables your offense to look very multifaceted and diverse to a defense without having to run a large or unruly number of different plays.

Billick, Brian, "Developing An Offensive Game Plan", 2001, pg 23-26

Not to long ago, I had the privilege of spending an evening or two drinking .......and chatting it up with some seasoned coaches, veterans of the NFL coaching grind. Many of the stories ran into one another and stretched spans of never-ending days into months. One coach in particular talked about how Friday afternoon would essentially be the only day of the week that they had an opportunity to actually 'be home' and maintain whatever family life you thought you had. The days during the 28-week siege of a season (not counting OTA, "off-season" requirements), would often begin at the office at 430 am and not end until 10 or 11 at night. This coach was adamant that no one slept in the office, that these were days chocked full of football.


What the hell are these guys doing all day? What could possibly demand so much time? How much film could you possibly watch in a day's time? Are these guys bullshitting or what?

Well, here is a Bill Walsh-era game week schedule format. Those days are filled and with the advent of 'instant (video) libraries' (where every game from the previous week can be called up at a moment's notice, shared by the league) are becoming more and more specialized and refined. This is just an outline, however, and in the dog-eat-dog world of professional (and NCAA) coaching, you realize that you (and your staff) will do whatever it takes to gain an edge. This also can help explain why you see so many guys recycled in the league, because it is such an enclosed, tight-knit fraternity; not made for just anyone.

Sample Game Week Schedule
MONDAY
1100 Individual coaches finish viewing and grading video.

• View film as an offensive/ defensive staff.
• Written comments for each play
• Catalog comments by both player and play for analysis

1300 Staff meeting
1400 Team meeting Special Teams viewing of game
1430 Offensive / Defensive viewing of game

• Coordinator reviews 15-20 key plays with the entire offense, major points of emphasis Break up positionally to review film

1615 On-field (practice)
1645 Practice ends
2000 Dinner
2100 The running back, offensive line, and tight end coaches meet to outline basic runs and pass protections schemes for morning meeting with the coordinator


TUESDAY (Coaches only, players' day off)
800 Personnel report on opponent by the team's Director of Pro Personnel
830 Offensive staff meets and discusses base runs and pass protections
1000 Offensive line coaches begin run and protection sheets, and view goal line, short-yardage, and red-zone situations. The offensive coaching staff lists base pass, play action, and action passes and specials
1130 Lunch, workout, miscellaneous
1400 List nickel passes and nickel runs
1600 Begin scripting sheets
1700 Review blitz situations
1800 Dinner
1900 Finalize

• Script sheets
• Scripts and cards
• Scouting reports and installation slides

2000 Begin short yardage and goal line discussions

WEDNESDAY
730 Staff meeting
815 Quarterback meeting

• Basic defensive profile
• Run checks
• Protection perimeters and concerns

830 Special teams meeting
900 Team meeting (5)

• Scouting report
• Install base runs, nickel runs, and protections

930 The offensive line breaks off

• Install base runs, nickel runs, and protections

1000 Individual meetings
1115 Walk-through
1145 Lunch
1245 Individual meetings (view video of opponent)
1315 Meetings end
1330 Special teams meeting
1400 Practice
1615 Practice ends
1715 Coaches review practice video

• Finalize short yardage and goal line offense
• Finalize red-zone offense
• Review backed up and four minute offense
• Review script sheets and prepare cards for Thursday's practice

THURSDAY
730 Staff meeting
815 Quarterback meeting

• Review blitz
• Outline red zone approach

830 Special teams meeting
900 Team meeting (5)

• View practice (the offensive line is separate)

930 Offense together - install short yardage, goal line, red zone and backed up plans
1030 Individual meetings (view video of opponent)
1115 walk-through
1145 Lunch
1245 Individual meetings (view video of opponent)
1315 Meetings end
1330 Special teams meeting
1400 Practice
1615 Coaches review practice video
1700 Discuss openers


FRIDAY
730 Staff meeting
815 Quarterback meeting

• Discuss openers

830 Special teams meeting
900 Team meeting (5)

• Review practice video (the offensive line is separate)

945 Offense - review the checks and alerts, review the game plan by personnel and formation
1100 Individual meetings
1130 Practice
1300 Practice ends

• Finalize offensive sideline sheet
• List openers

SATURDAY
900 Review practice video (the offensive line is separate)

• Individual meetings - hand out final game plans

1030 Practice
1115 Practice ends
1800
2000 Check into hotel
2100 Special teams meetings
2130 Offensive / defensive meetings

• Review openers
• Use cut ups to support opening calls
• View game video to give players a flavor of the game
• Plan and review key situations (e.g. short yardage, goal line, blitz, etc)

2200 Team meeting
2205 Snack

"You can't herd cats....but you CAN find a little bit of catnip and
have them follow you to the ends of the earth"

Important things to consider when disseminating information to your players.
Areas of the field (+20, 40-40,-35, etc)

1. top 5 formations and WHY they use them
2. top money plays between the 30s out of what formation
3. red zone matchup plays (inside the 15)
4. kids should know what players do what (how the OC uses the players) and the weak links in the OLine and tips those players give pre-snap ("look to #65 presnap for a run/pass key")
   If Steve Smith is on the field, you had better know where he is at.
   If Steve Smith is lined up outside the numbers, look for this....
   If Steve Smith is lined up in the backfield, look for this....

That may be authentic coaching clinic gibberish, but it doesn't help us play on Friday night!

Explaining WHAT works and WHAT doesn't work based on the game plan. The point of the scouting sheet is to inform your players on what the offense is trying to do. Letting them know what they are seeing on a down and becoming familiar of the strengths and weakness of said matchup (formation / personnel).

It is important to hammer away at what is most important on a given down or formation or field area.

Compartmentalize what is important.

• Defend the endzone, field, and down conversion on a given series.
• Ensuring the proper matchups (secure numbers, minimize liabilites, exagerate opponent's weakness with formation).

If you can put together a comprehensive overview of your opponent's offense, chances are, you have a pretty good idea of how to defend them. If you just spit out numbers based on some tendency calculus, chances are you are just going to shoot from the hip on game night. DC'ing on game night should be analytical and surgical in its application.
Practice week should be sharpening your tools to operate with.
The 'scouting report' should just be a crib sheet of what you ALREADY GO OVER IN FILM/PRACTICE.
The paper version is just something they should reference, something to read on the toilet.
Sending home a cheat-sheet scouting report and video cutups of the game is all a part of the job of TEACHING the game.

my one pet peeve.........my one aggravation...........

O-R-G-A-N-I-Z-A-T-I-O-N

Not that difficult, really. Just know what you're going to do, and do it on time.
A radical concept? Can't imagine..........

Now while it has come close by a few select individuals, I have yet to be overwhelmed by a demonstration of any remotely competent exercise of basic organization and planning down here.

Shoot from the hip and sling it, and make sure you gab it up while you do it, to add effect.