Midseason Offensive Changes
“Every Coach has certain tendencies…”
“All of them except Ed Henry.”
“The only time we’d be seeing Ed Henry is at the state championship.”
You may remember those lines from the movie “Remember the Titans.” Those words were true then and even truer now. Other coaches are studying your tendencies. At this point of the season, opponents have multiple games and scouts on you and your team and will have strong tendency data on Play by Formation, Play by Down & Distance, Play by Personnel and Play by Field Position and may have discovered vulnerabilities in your reaction to certain circumstances.
How do we counter such a data advantage?
We counter our opponent’s expectations by “scripting out of tendency.”
Do a self-scout of your offense to see what you are calling in those situations and create a 10-15 play “out of tendency” script. For example, if you have a strong tendency to pass in your 3×1 open set, script a run. If you have a strong run tendency in a down & distance situation, script a play action pass the first time you are in that situation.
The other change you may wish to consider is a change of your signals, if you are a No Huddle team. Coaches may be able to see you signaling from the sideline on video. They most likely have also live scouted you giving signals and may even have videotaped you giving the signal then the play that follows. You also may be preparing for playoffs and very likely may be playing a team for a second time.
To hear more about scripting out of tendency, no huddle signals and other topics that pertain to preparing for gameday, you can listen to USA Football’s Coach and Coordinator Podcast hosted by Keith Grabowski by clicking GAMEDAY PREP or the clipboard below.
Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss team building, coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for your time!”
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