The postseason provides time to review and identify both areas of success and areas needing improvement. Focusing attention on the run game, analysis should uncover information that will be helpful in preparing for next season.

Modern video editing systems allow coaches to generate reports and video cutups so the process is made easier. Being able to analyze three key numbers can help identify areas needing improvement for the next season.

Run efficiency

We chart an efficient run as one gaining four or more yards. A first down in a short yardage situation is counted as efficient as well.

Take the total number of efficient runs and divide it by the total runs to get our percentage. Ideally, we want this number to be 55 percent or better.

Explosive plays

For the running game, we consider any run more than 12 yards to be an explosive play. We have a goal of having 13 or more explosive plays per game. When translating this to analyzing a certain run, we look at the percent of explosive plays within that call. What this may tell us, for example, is that a run may be efficient but not very explosive.

We will analyze other factors as well, such as blocking assignments and technique on secondary players who may be making the tackle. Or we may have a play that had a decent amount of explosive plays but wasn’t efficient. We also will identify what is causing the lack of consistency in gaining yards on a regular basis.

Lost yardage or hits behind the line of scrimmage

Finally, we chart plays where the runner is brought down or contacted on our side of the line. We want to identify the assignment error or scheme problem causing this.

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After we have numbers for each of our runs, we can further break them down by each of the following categories.

Formation and personnel groups

Classifying runs this way helps us understand what runs work best from the groupings and formations we use. Knowing what runs work best from each formation allows us to be more efficient developing future game plans. We also can tie this in with the next two categories.

Front

We do find correlation between run efficiency against different fronts. We may find that we block a certain scheme better against an even front. If there is a discrepancy, or a run isn’t efficient against certain fronts, we know we will want dig deeper into this number.

We want to analyze the scheme and technique to see if we need to teach something differently or avoid or limit a scheme against certain fronts.

Stunts and blitzes

Charting stunts and blitzes can help identify movements that consistently give us problems. This allows us to develop adjustments, or more than likely, develop drills and techniques that help account for the movement causing a problem. We may also find that a play has success against certain movements. We will note this as well. We then have an answer for a blitz or a stunt if we can predict in game planning or in game tendencies when it is being used.

Looking at these key factors can help identify areas that need further analysis. Numbers never tell the entire story, but they give a coaching staff feedback on what areas to look at. 

Keith Grabowski has been a football coach for more than 25 years, currently serving as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Baldwin-Wallace University in Berea, Ohio. He previously was a head coach at the high school level for eight years. Grabowski is a columnist for American Football Monthly and writes his own blog at coachgrabowski.wordpress.com. He's the author of "101+ Pro Style Pistol Offense Plays," available on Apple's iBookstore and operates Coaches Edge Technologies. Follow him on Twitter @CoachKeithGrabowski.