Just the facts...Coach

      This time of year, coaches across America are gearing up for spring football.  Most have spent the winter, combing over stats as they self scout their team and find their direction.  Many will attend conferences like the AFCA, which by the way was held in my hometown of Charlotte.  A great number go to these clinics to find the latest, greatest play.
       My philosophy has been to look for little nuggets on process - especially more efficient ways to practice and teach.
       Early in my coaching career, I was fortunate to work with Greg Richardson, former defensive coordinator at Johnson C. Smith University.  The career coach was always dispensing words of wisdom.  One of the first things he told me was to go through his drill book and find my every day drills.
       He said, "A position coach is only as good as his drill set."
       That sage advice really helped jump start my coaching career.
       Another big boost came from a YouTube video of the late Bill Walsh doing a clinic while at Stanford University.  Walsh talked about finding the balance between the number of plays that you were trying to run and making sure that you had enough practice time to run all the drills necessary to master each play in your playbook.

      That being said, the next question is -- how much is too much?  That answer can slap you in the face, especially when you consider that on every level - little league to the NFL - limitations are being placed on the amount of time that you have on the field.
        I found that on the college level the 20 hour rule has severely hindered coaches ability to really teach the game.  However, rules are meant to be followed.   So, no matter on which level you coach, adjustments have to be made on exactly how much you are trying to accomplish.
        As a journalist, one of the things that I have mastered over three decades is - asking the right question.  Every time I come into contact with a fellow coach I ask, "Coach, what do you hang your hat on?"
   

The answer varies.  Former South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier gave me one of the best answers during a break at the South Carolina coaches convention several years ago.  The Ole Ball Coach said, "Well, it's real simple. I try to get the ball in  the hands of our best players."  Spurrier's inference was, of course, that this isn't rocket science.
         Well, if you buy into that premise then you will probably agree that it doesn't take a playbook the size of a phone book to accomplish the feat of winning football games.
         I was taught this lesson first hand going head-to-head with coaching legend Jim Oddo for three years.  You could call it a baptism under fire or you could just say we got baptized.
         The former Charlotte Catholic head coach has long been known for running the triple option.  Truth is when they run it, they run all over you.

         In our match ups, it was always such a stark difference -- our fast-paced spread offense would move down the field with the ability to take it the distance on any play while Oddo's team would play keep away for what seemed like hours when we didn't score.  I wondered why they were so good.
         My quarterbacks coach Wayne Starkes would say, "Those kids have been running those same seven plays since they were in elementary school. 
         The thought occurred to me and was confirmed by Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo that the key is indeed repetition.
          Their offense, and in turn their practices, were designed to make sure that players got enough reps to master the techniques as Walsh discussed. So, what is the right number?  Personally, I went on a quest to boil down my offense to the bare essentials.
          After years of self study, I arrived at a formula of 5 runs and 10 passing plays.  To be more specific, it's concepts not plays.  For instance,  outside zone is a blocking concept or scheme.  Using the same blocking scheme, we can hand the ball to the running back, slot back (jet sweep) or even have the quarterback run.  The largest group on the field, the offensive line, only learned one concept no matter what goes on behind them.
           In the passing game, we run schemes that attack front to back and challenge the defense from sideline to sideline.   Each scheme can be run in two-by-two, or three-by-one sets.  Motions and tags can challenge the defense as well. The result is an offense that can be installed quickly and more importantly get players playing fast because they are not bogged down with too much information.
           From that point, coaches can focus on refining techniques to make sure that these plays are run correctly. 
           Here are a few questions to ask when developing an offense:

1.  How many total plays do you run in a game? I hear the number 80 thrown around a lot.  I'm not sure if defenses coaches would be in full agreement but it's a round number.

2.  How many unique plays or concepts do you run in a game?  I remember when I first started putting together a play sheet.  It was printed on 11 by 14 inch paper.  To steal a line from my full time work - a lot of that was left on the cutting room floor.

3)  How many times do you run those plays during practice?  If you have three heavy lifting days of practice a week with 12 plays of team each day that means you have the opportunity to run 36 plays during the week.  One of the things I tried to do on my practice script was carry the same play from team apart (two offensive huddles running our first ten script in rapid succession) on to inside run or seven on seven and eventually onto the script for team.  

4)  How many times do your players (1st and 2nd team) run each play during the week?Dividing up reps can be tricky. While you want to make sure your starters get enough to be ready, you also have to consider that at some point you may have to count on one of your reserves at some point of the game.

5)   Is that enough to get good at it?  I remember Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy saying that he sent his coaches home at 6 o'clock because he said,  "If they stayed any longer, they would come up with some plays that we don't have time to practice."   One of my biggest fears would be to get into a game and call a critical play knowing that my team may have only run that play once or twice in team during the week.

     You can get a further explanation by watching this Players2Pros clinic at Village Christian Academy in Fayetteville in February 2018.

       
To hear it straight from the Master Bill Walsh himself click on these two links to here his clinic:

Bill Walsh Clinic Part 1
Bill Walsh Clinic Part 2

Please email me with questions and comments at coach.mcraft@gmail.com.