Cripes! Get back to fundamentals...

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

West Coast Offense

Had a little time to browse through my vids this weekend and coincidentally enough a discussion popped up recently going over the nuances that differentiate the "WCO" from the "Air Raid" offensive system. My thoughts on the matter were

"...from what I can tell, Air Raid is an "idiots guide to passing" (via the WC concepts).

Anymore, Air Raid is all gun, and uses probably 10% of what most WC offenses use. Also, the AR progressions are deep first / shallow last, whereas WC is primarily short first, deep last.

I'll post some Callahan / Gruden clips later in the week (2000-era) in skelly (w/ play name/tag) and it is all over the place.

AR is just a handful of concepts - there isn't much to it - with an ample sprinkling of screens.

As far as the RnS influence, I could definitely see the stealing of (philosophical) concept of verticals-to-sail - basing out of a vertical stretch into other concepts (which is essentially the RnS....vertical, to balanced, to choice routes). If you go from Verticals, then to Sail, then to Dig/Shallow, you can bridge that to RnS, pretty easily."

In the meantime, here are some clips for posterity of the Gruden/Callahan Oakland Raiders during a skelly session. Play names are included in the posts, feel free to correct me as needed or offer any other comments.

I felt this was makes for an interesting discussion because it is through these concepts that you can trace the evolution of the modern game (or watch it as it takes place) back to its roots. You can see how concepts become more and more streamlined as the superflous chaff (less efficient method / terminology) is removed. You can see where Air Raid staples were derived from and this illustrates the adaptation of the passing game.

For Additional Readings:
http://www.westcoastoffense.com/
http://www.westcoastoffense.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Spread-Offense-Passing-Game/dp/B000GAKPBS

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Norm Parker - Nothin' Fancy

People will make a big deal about "having a month to prepare" for flexbone can make any defense look good, but with Norm Parker, What You See Is What You Get.

Parker's no-nonsense approach to defense, stressing (schematic) minimalism and disciplined fundamentals is what has been showing up every week for years in Iowa City.

Below are some clips from the defensive annihilation at the Orange Bowl with Iowa's defense matching the formation (doubles or trips) then gap controlling the front 7 (spilling to force corners).

There is nothing here that will blow your brains out with scheme - but the flawless execution of footwork and hand placement along the front is what gets this done. The most entertaining element (IMO) is watching the backside outside linebacker methodically shuffle into the hole for cutback. This also puts him in great position to match the final 3.

With the 'even' (coverage) defense matching the even (formation), it allows MLB Angerer (rep Bettendorf!) to completely sell out to the fullback on every play.

Even though #94 Clayborn is a consummate ass-kicker, if you need an example of "bock-down-step-down" DE execution; this is it.

For the compendium of defending the triple option, see Coach Hoover's series here

Monday, June 21, 2010

Brian Billick - Game Planning & Openers

The following 10 key points summarize what I have attempted to share with you in this book;

You must clearly identify what your responsibilities are as the offensive coordinator (play caller) of your team.
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.
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.
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.
You should establish an opening sequence that can be identified, practiced, and implemented by the entire coaching staff and offensive team.
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.
You should have a plan for every conceivable contingency your team will face, no matter how unusual the circumstances may seem.
You should be as detailed and specific as your time and materials allow.
You should make sure you are using all the tools available to you.
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.

Openers

Considerable interest has been focused on the concept of “openers,” whether it be the famous “25 Openers” Bill Walsh utilized, to the programmed shifting and motioning of Joe Gibbs’ Redskins teams. What the concept of openers boils down to is a very specific and detailed approach to your opening game plan. As far back as 1979 at the American Football Coach Association National Convention, Bill Walsh – in his clinic talk, “Controlling the Ball with the Passing Game” – labeled the establishing of your openers as “the single most valuable thing that a coach can do as far as the game plan is concerned.” At a minimum, establishing your openers should accomplish the following nine purposes:

Allows you to make decisions in the cool and calm of your office during the week after a thorough analysis of your opponent.
Allows you to determine a desirable pass/run ratio.
Allow you to make full usage of formation and personnel by making the run and pass interactive.
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.
Gives your assistant coaches a specific focus as to what is being run and what they should watch for.
Gives the players, especially the quarterback, an excellent chance to get into a rhythm, since they are able to anticipate the next call.
Allows you to script specific “special” plays and increases your chances of actually getting them run.
If your “openers” are successful, it will give your offense a tremendous amount of confidence.
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

Friday, June 18, 2010

Spacing...The Final Frontier

The topic of 4 man Spacing came up recently, and this is the one cut-up I have of it. The play is Sluggo Space. Sluggo is the frontside route with spacing on the backside. Besides being 4 man instead of 3 man spacing, this play has another variation that the Saints use on occasion as well. Spacing usually has a Swing route from the RB in the backfield. Instead of the Swing route, the RB/WR can be split out wide and run the Hitch route.

The RB in the backfield is running the Shallow stop route. This route and the Mini-Curl route by F give the QB a 2 on 1 vs. the Sam in Cover 2 as I learned from Dan Gonzalez on the Huey board.

The QB is taught to look to the Sluggo vs. 1 Hi and to Spacing vs. 2 Hi. The defense is in Cover 2 here, which tells the QB to look backside, but the Sluggo still works because the safety gets a bit too nosy. Aggressive Cover 2 safeties don't like it when you hit a couple of Slants in front of them. Once set up properly, Sluggo can be a big play vs. Cover 2. Notice the pump fake by the QB to help get the safety to bite. We hit this for a couple of TDs the same way at my old school.

Sluggo Space @ Yahoo! Video

For the Tech Geeks:
The drawing of the play before the video clip is from a powerpoint slide. I stole this idea from Coverdale's video playbook and from others on this board. If you are making a video playbook, the best way to draw that play up so that your players can best visualize the concept is to "grab" a picture just before the snap of the ball from a video clip as a .gif picture file and put it into PowerPoint.

Then right-click on a PowerPoint slide and go to Format Background and click on Picture or texture fill. Next click on the File button and select your .gif file. The whole slide will be a picture of the play right before the ball is snapped.

Then, use the Drawing Tools to make arrows (and I would recommend to use Shape Effects and put a shadow on the line so it stands out and has a better contrast with the football field behind it). You can also use X,Y, Z player labels and 1,2,3 labels for the QB's reads (it looks best with a circle around the letter or number IMO).

You will then need to save the slide with the drawing so you can import it into your video. Click on the Windows icon in the top left corner and go down to Save As and then click on Other Formats. Click on File name and name the slide and then click on Save as type and save as .jpeg. It will ask you to export every slide or the current slide--click on Current Slide only.

Note: It is a good idea to save the play slide as a .gif file the first time and then save it as a .jpeg the 2nd time after you draw the play up. This lets you go back and fix the play if you change anything on the drawing and it's easy to differentiate between the original pic and the drawn-up pic file.

Another idea I got from a fellow Huey member is this: show the pass play drawn up (wide angle, leave the diagram up about 5 seconds), then show the play; again show the play drawn up, and then show the play in 50% speed. Finally, show the play from the tight angle.

It looks nice, but it is time consuming.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Grind (NFL Coaching Schedule)

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