The last two weeks I've talked about your terminology and
how it can impact your players’ reaction times and efficiency when it comes to
running either an up-tempo offense all the time, or just when you are in a
hurry-up situation. This week I’d like to touch on the nuts and bolts of
actually installing an offense.
I believe that when installing an offense, you have to work
backwards from your first game. You generally know when that is, and since you
also know when your first practice is, you can create an installation calendar
listing each practice. This literal calendar can be an invaluable aid in
keeping you organized and on top of the progress your offense makes.
Prior to creating your installation calendar, you and the
rest of the offensive staff should have a discussion regarding the
philosophical direction of the offense. Make sure you’re all on the same page
(including the head coach, if s/he’s not part of the offensive staff) as far as
what your expectations are in both personnel and scheme.
I think it is important to note that no matter what your own
personal philosophy of offense is, you may need to alter it to suit your
players’ abilities. I can remember my first year as an offensive coordinator,
in 1999. I’d taken over a men’s semi-pro team and had come straight from the
high school ranks. I thought that the West Coast style of offense the high
school ran would be fine for a bunch of grown men. I was wrong! Fortunately, it didn't take me very long to realize it, and we were able to make the switch
over to an option-based system with drastically simplified line rules.
Once you decide on the direction of the offense, then you
need to establish what your “go-to” play will be – what play will you use to
set the tone for a game? That should be the first play you install, the first
one you run during your very first team session. In past years for me, it has
been the inside zone run, the outside zone run, the counter, a four verticals
pass and a fly sweep. Each of those, depending on the team, was the “go-to”
play for the year. The team knew, and had confidence in, those plays and knew
that when the going got tough, they could execute that play and have a
better-than-normal chance at success.
After that, after setting the tone, then you need to work
the rest of your offense in. I normally group the plays by concept, so that the
progression flows for everyone, and they can see, understand and retain the
plays better. For example, in the pass game, if you start with your 4 Vertical
concept, then install all the variants off of that. One year, my four vertical
was called “Roadrunner” and then we had “Coyote” and “Acme” off of that, so
those plays were installed right after Roadrunner. I would try to avoid
installing more than one concept per practice.
Same thing for your run game – if you start with the inside
zone, then install all of your variants of that before going to your counter
gap concept plays.
Make sure that when you’re installing your base offense that
you run them from all of your formations, unless you specifically decide not to
run a particular play from a formation. That’s OK – there may be a perfectly
fine reason to not pair a formation with a play. But 90% of the time, you
should be able to run your base plays from all your formations.
I use a “ready list” spreadsheet to keep me on track. I
start out with a Master – usually one from a previous year, when you have every
play, every formation and every variant listed. Then I make a new sheet (tab)
and mark it for the first practice – eliminating 95% of the Master. Then for
each successive practice, I add to it what will be new for that practice. I
normally pass those out to my QB and let them know that they are responsible
for knowing assignment and formation for everyone else (maybe not the OL in the
run game, but they should know the pass pro basics and the overall concept of
the run plays). Obviously, not all the play/formation combinations on a ready
list will make it to a team practice script, but the practice scripts are made
from the ready list.
I’d be happy to send you a sample of what I’m talking about
– just hit me up in the comments, on Facebook, Google+, Twitter or via e-mail.
That should get you started down the right path!
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