Football Game Planning

Creating a football game plan is almost a year-round adventure as coaches must drill, evaluate and motivate their players in the off-season in order to be ready when the whistle blows. They must watch for tendencies and coaching changes in other teams to decipher what plays they may run. And then a coach must actually sit down and figure what his team will run.

  1. Watching Film

    • While most teams will have coaches monitor opponent's plays weeks in advance, all of the coaches will come together the day after their last game to watch film. For example, if you coached Friday night, then by Saturday afternoon, you'll be watching another team's film. This is the first study session to really dissect what a team does. Most coaches will watch game film one time and make notes to themselves during the process. Then they will watch again, but stop the tape on almost every snap to make notes about what the other team is doing. These sessions can last several hours and may span several days depending on how much film has been collected.

    Installing New Plays

    • While a coach has been drilling his team on plays since the previous spring, it's always advised to add a few wrinkles every week. That could mean running a trick play over and over again in practice, or adding a passing play designed to exploit the other team's weakness (that is what all of that film study was for). Most coaches will also spend time during the week running scout versions of the other team's offense against their defense so they can learn that squad's formations and tendencies.

    The Day Before The Game

    • Most coaches will have light drills and go over special teams the day before a game. At the end of the practice, tell the team what they need to know about getting to the next game such as when and where a team meal might be, what time to catch the team bus, or where to get their jerseys. The coach also will talk to several of his starters about key things to remember such as audibles and special plays. Check the weather as well to anticipate wind or rain. That night a coach may want to make notes and practice a pregame and halftime speech. Some coaches will also draw up a list of plays they plan to run to start the game.

    Game Day

    • A coach needs to make sure he has all of his play books, head sets, charts and rosters before heading to the game. Once at the stadium, make sure all players are accounted for; greet the game officials; talk to the other team's coach and get the team ready to play. Remind the team of any special rules they need to know about before the game. Go over coin toss rules with the players who will go to midfield before the game and give the pregame speech.