Use these steps to evaluate and improve your offensive system

By Keith Grabowski | Posted 12/2/2015

Those first few weeks of the offseason are great. Rest. Relax. Clear your mind. No rush to develop a practice plan for the week.

Soon, though, the bug will start biting and the calendar will move on as begin researching and making plans to evolve their offensive systems. While the process is usually fun – for those of us who live for this anyway – here is a checklist to help focus efforts and maximize productivity.

Evolving an system should begin with a general inventory of what the offense is doing right now along with the stats on each concept, formation, procedure and personnel group from the 2015 season. Here is a list of questions to consider.

General offensive inventory

  • What is our offensive philosophy?
  • What is our philosophy in each of these categories: procedures, personnel, formations, running game, passing game?
  • List all of the terminology that is used throughout the structure of offense.
  • How many words are used in each of the categories: procedures, personnel, formations, running game, passing game?
  • Are there opportunities for confusion in our structure? For example, do we label a pass play in with an NFL team name but also use an NFL team name for a formation?
  • Did we create a structure that is clear and concise with its use of words or numbers?

Procedures

  • What procedures exist in our offense?
  • Are there advantages we are not thinking about in varying our tempo or having the ability to use cadence as a weapon?
  • If we were to utilize no-huddle, how will we communicate and is our system set up for communication in a no-huddle procedure?

Personnel

  • Are we fully utilizing the personnel we have?
  • What skills does each of our players have that we can build around?
  • Do we have a system of substituting personnel packages into a game?
  • Is it flexible enough to have the answers we need from year to year?
  • Is it simple enough for the players and coaches to use?

Formations                

  • How many words make up our formation system?
  • What do they mean?
  • Are there terms that cause confusion?
  • Can we align quickly and without error?
  • Is our system flexible and multiple enough to move our offense along the spectrum of a compressed multiple back offense to spread shotgun if we choose to move in either direction?

Running game

  • Do we number our plays or name our plays?
  • What is the specific structure we use to communicate who is carrying the ball, direction of the run and blocking scheme?
  • How many plays or schemes do we utilize? Can we combine or delete different plays to become more efficient?
  • How many reps are available to practice all of these plays?

Passing game

  • Do we use numbers or names or both for our passing plays? If we use both, is there a consistent reason for using both numbers and words?
  • Do we memorize a play or utilize concepts in which we teach a rule based on alignment? Which is best for our system?
  • Are passes tied directly to formation, or do we have ways to call the pass from multiple formations or personnel groupings?
  • How many plays or routes do we utilize? Can we combine or delete different plays to become more efficient?
  • How many practice reps are available to practice all of these plays?

Next, list some of the ideas you have or concepts you are interested in, then find resources from a variety of places, such as visiting other college or high school teams, coaching clinics (though you may not get the depth you need from a clinic), DVDs, books and online sites.

After obtaining all the information you need, evaluate how it will fit. Andrew Coverdale, the offensive coordinator at Trinity High School in Louisville, Ky., describes that process with four major questions:

  • Does it fit our philosophy?
  • Does it fit our kids?
  • Can we coach it and fix the problems?
  • Does it help us beat the key teams on our schedule?

This is a sound thought process when considering additions and selections to any offense.

Learning football is always fun, but the great ideas uncovered during the offseason must translate to success on the field. If you can answer “yes” to all of those questions, then maybe it should become part of your offense.

Remember though, when something goes in, usually it means something should be cut in order to remain efficient in how the entire system is practiced.

Keith Grabowski has been a football coach for 26 years, currently serving as an offensive assistant and technology coordinator at Oberlin College in Ohio. He previously was a head coach at the high school level for eight years and the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Baldwin Wallace University. Grabowski serves as an advisor for several sports technology companies. He is a columnist for American Football Monthly and writes his own blog at thecoachesedge.com/blog. He's the author of "101+ Pro Style Pistol Offense Plays" and five other books available on thecoachedge.comand operates Coaches Edge Technologies. Follow him on Twitter @CoachKGrabowski.

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