Developing the Coaches Manual (Offense)

By Anonymous - Sunday, June 15, 2014 - No Comments

The coaching of your assistant coaches is arguably, just as important as coaching your players. Competing priorities, as well as a general lack of resources plague all of us. If you are in a situation where your staff remains with you year after year, count your blessings. Most of us, do not have that luxury.

As part of my Season Plan, I complete a 'coaches manual' (Template available by request). The Coaches Manual is the document that defines the mechanics of the system. This the document at can be handed to a coach to familiarize him or her self with the system.

In High school, they refer to this as the playbook. I can assure you, there is very little benefit to handing this document to a group of 10yr olds. Instead, focus on preparing the coaches.

In the scope of Organizing a Season Plan, this document captures the data from the Offseason phase: System Development.

Structure:

Offensive Goals & Objectives
Huddle procedures
Alignment of Back & Receivers

OL Splits

Cadence

Normal
Attack
Freeze

Numbering System and Play Calling

Hole Numbering
Position Numbering
Play Calling
Run Blocking Rules
Pass Blocking Rules
Route Packages

Flood
Vert
Scramble Rules

Surfaces

Left / Right
Left Spread / Right Spread
Left Strong / Right Strong
Left Over / Right Over
Left Trips / Right Trips
Bull / Bull Wing
Beast Left / Right

Run Concepts

Zone
Power
Iso

Pass Concepts

Flood
Vert
Swing

Two Minute Offense

Img 1: Cover

"It's about the Process...not the Results"

Img 2: Huddle Procedures

Img 3: Alignments & Cadence

Table 1: Hole & Position Numbering

Hole Numbering System

Holes are numbered over the offensive linemen. They are used as a directional tool only for run plays and to determine right or left.
All plays ending in even numbers go to the right side
All plays ending in odd numbers go to the left side

Position Numbering

Quarterback = 1
H back = 2
S back = 3

Table 2: Play calling

Our play calls are structured in the following format:

Surface / Backfield / Play / Blocking

Ex. Left 31 Zone, Left Spread 31 Zone, Left Over 31 Zone
*** If a Backfield is not called, we are in our Base pistol alignment

Table 3: Route packages & Scramble Rules

Route Packages

Package	X	Y	Z	H	S
Flood	Corner		Dig		Swing
Vert	Hitch/Go	Corner	Hitch/Go	Post

Scramble Rules

Receiver on sideline towards scrambling quarterback - work deep or find a dead spot on the sideline
Intermediate routes - run parallel with quarterback
Backside sideline receiver - work to get in quarterback’s vision

Reference 1: Surfaces

Detailed information regarding our Surfaces can be found here: Being Multiple on Offense

Table 4: Two Minute Offense

Know the Game situation

Do we want to score a touchdown?
Do we want to run out the clock?

Clock administration

The game clock stops:

When timeout is called
Incomplete pass
Ball carrier goes out of bounds
During administration of penalty
While chain gang measures for first down
When either team makes a first down
Change of possession
Injury timeout

The game clock starts:

When the ball is legally touched on kickoff
With snap of ball
With the referee’s whistle indication ball is ready for play

After measurement for first down
After administration of penalty
After chains are advanced and set for first down

Coaching Points (When tied or behind)

Saving Time

Hustle at all times but keep poise
Always use quick count (Attack) with clock running
Request measurement if the spot is close
Hustle to nearest official when calling timeout
Hustle to line of scrimmage after previous play is over
No huddle
Call play that will allow runner or receiver to get out of bounds
Ball carriers and receivers get as much yardage as possible, then get out of bounds
Only use ‘clock’ play when absolutely necessary
Team must be lined up and set on ball when referee signals ball ready to play and starts clock
Down rolling punts quickly
Punt out of bounds or over goal line
No penalties
Have ball carriers get up as quickly as possible after being tackled
Have center locate ball placement as quickly as possible
No motions or shifts with formations
Move QB to sideline as much as possible
Never take a sack! Throw the ball away...out of bounds
Keep your poise - be positive - Never give up!

When we want to score a touchdown

Four down zone all over the field
No turnovers on first, second or third downs
On fourth down, throw the ball up and give us a chance when desperate

Coaching Points (When we want to run the clock out)

Use as much of the play clock as possible

Always Huddle up
Keep the ball away from the sidelines
Warn runners to stay in bounds
No penalties
Run wide but stay in bounds
High percentage passes, if any
Never call a timeout
Fourth down is not an automatic kicking down
Know the number of timeouts your opponent has
Know how much time we can run off the clock

If our opponent has no timeouts left, an average of 40 seconds will elapse. If we have a first down and our opponent has no timeouts left, we should be able to run two minutes and 25 seconds off the clock. Example

20 seconds before the first snap
40 seconds for the play and the 25 second count
40 seconds for the second down play
40 seconds for the third down play
5 seconds for the fourth down play
Total = 145 seconds to two minutes and 25 seconds

If our opponent has (1) time out and we have just made a first down, we can run (1) minute and 50 seconds off the clock

20 seconds before the first snap
5 seconds for the first down play
0 seconds between first and second down (time out)
40 seconds for the next play and next 25 second period
40 seconds for the next
5 seconds for the fourth down play
Total = 110 seconds or 1:50 minutes

If the clock is stopped before the first down the the opponent has no timeouts left because the ball changed hands, the total is two minutes and five seconds (2:05)
If the opponent has three timeouts left and the clock is running on first down...the total is 45 seconds
If the clock is stopped on first down...the total is 20 seconds