The big process for me during the winter is to collect data from the past season, make any updates where needed, and then to look at cutups (not just myself, but my clients, and the rest of the football world in general). I look at defensive trends across college football, knowing it will be something my clients will need to be ready for. As my clients know, I am constantly sending updates. Ultimately, I look to see if our HIT LISTS need updating, then clean up our playbook and ready lists, and then go about creating our spring wristband so that the things done in the spring lead to execution in the fall.
To illustrate, here is a screen shot for a clinic presentation I am doing for Glazier in Dallas:
To illustrate, here is a screen shot for a clinic presentation I am doing for Glazier in Dallas:
In the process of creating Ready Lists, one can also closely examine the nuance in which certain teams will play their coverage variations. In other words, many teams have Cover 4, but the adjustments within the coverage are more multiple than ever before. The ability to create brackets is more complex than ever, and so we must be able to emphasize certain elements in the offense, and include that in our strategic thinking (our wristband flows into our game plan and practice scripts, further saving time. Keith Grabowski has an excellent tool for this).
For example, the "Cover 4" on 3rd Down we get might be different than in the Scoring Zone (my other Glazier clinic topic). Thus, it is SO important to be able to vary the offense, not necessarily from a pattern perspective, but from how the coach uses Navigation Tags to give the QB direction. (By the way, the Navigation Tags and certain structures might have evolved as well, as a system is a living, evolving thing).
As an illustration, one thing that evolved for us last spring was how we employed the TRAIL route. In order to better take advantage of the brackets defenses were trying to build, we sped up the rhythm of the pattern, combining it with a SLANT to get open or clear, followed by the trail:
For example, the "Cover 4" on 3rd Down we get might be different than in the Scoring Zone (my other Glazier clinic topic). Thus, it is SO important to be able to vary the offense, not necessarily from a pattern perspective, but from how the coach uses Navigation Tags to give the QB direction. (By the way, the Navigation Tags and certain structures might have evolved as well, as a system is a living, evolving thing).
As an illustration, one thing that evolved for us last spring was how we employed the TRAIL route. In order to better take advantage of the brackets defenses were trying to build, we sped up the rhythm of the pattern, combining it with a SLANT to get open or clear, followed by the trail:
As noted, these advancements come about as soon as the season is over, and are repped in the spring. This is where I depart from the thinking of many coaches that Spring is the time for "vanilla". If you play this way in the Fall, then this is fine. However, especially when you are trying to build the identity of your squad, it is my opinion that you need to challenge young players to show how they can process information.
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