Going on the offensive

A good software programcan help an offensive coach find his team\\\'s - and his opponent\\\'s - weakspots
by: Joe Hollingsworth
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The old days of calling the game from the "seat of the pants" are quickly fading into the past. To become more effective, offensive coaches must know their team's tendencies and start looking at the tendencies of their opponent's defense.

The first step is for offensive coaches to begin seriously scouting their own offense by using a good scouting software program. The next step is to start scouting the opponent's defense and then to use the information to modify their offensive game plan.

The reason scouting software is so important to offensive coaches is obvious. These days, when a defense attacks, it is based on a sophisticated analysis of the opponent's offense. Today's defensive coach prepares his players for what they are going to see on game day and teaches them what adjustments and calls need to be made out on the field.

For a defensive coach to get to this level, requires a lot of hard work. But it is even harder for the offensive coaches. There's a simply reason for this.

When a defensive coach analyzes a play run by the offense, he can get a lot of good information about the offense just by focusing on the situation - down and distance, field zone, type of formation used, type of play used, type of blocking used, etc. However, when an offensive coach analyzes a defense he must take into account the offensive formation that the defense lined up against. Since the defense molds itself to the offense, it doesn't make sense to look at the defense in isolation. Therefore, the offensive coach not only has to analyze what the defense is doing, he has to analyze the offense, too. And that's where a good software program comes in.

Know thyself

Scouting the other team's defense, and developing a play-calling strategy based on the defense's tendencies should be the long-term goal of any offensive coach. In the short term, an offensive coach should learn his own tendencies and put himself in the other man's shoes by performing a self-scout. It isn\'t easy to do a self-scout. But it will be easier than trying to scout the other team's defense.

Offensive coaches give various reasons for not doing a self-scout. Many say it takes too much time. They will say, "I know we have tendencies, but they are not that bad." Convincing yourself that your tendencies "are not that bad" is one of the worst things a coach can do.

You need to break down every play by looking at down, distance, hash, vertical field position, formation used, motion used and blocks used. For runs, you need to look at the ball carrier, the hole hit and the play. For passes, analyze the receiver, the route run, the area of the field where route was run, the routes run by other receivers and what the QB did (i.e., drop back, roll out). Finally, look at the result of the play. Was there a gain, loss or incomplete pass? Then, analyze the data thoroughly. For example, look at by down and distance, formation, field zone (ie. in the red zone), by series, etc. It can be done by hand, but using good scouting software makes the process a lot easier, and much more effective.

Using software effectively

So you say you don't have enough time? Then do the self-scout during the off-season. Get together with the defensive coordinator and break down some or all of your games from the previous season. Put the data into the scouting software and start looking at your tendencies.

It is important to include the defensive coordinator in the process because it's his job to analyze offenses. He has been doing it for a long time. Further, he can offer valuable insight into what he would do to stop your offense.

Once you know your tendencies, and you know what a defensive coordinator would do to stop your offense, you can go back and look at last year's games and see if your opponents did what your defensive coordinator said he would do to stop your offense. Take particular note of games where the other team played you hard. Nine times out of 10, you will see that they were sitting on some of your tendencies.

Many defensive coaches that use scouting software say, \"We sat on their tendencies clear into the fourth quarter before they started to change their play-calling." If you know your tendencies, and you know how they might sit on them, then you will be better prepared to change your game plan when required. And, you won't have to wait until the fourth quarter to do so.

How to Scout Defenses

After breaking down each play and analyzing what the offense did, rewind the video and break down the defense. You want to look at the base defensive front, including the linebackers, and the secondary coverage. You also need to record front adjustments, any line blitzes (stunts) and linebacker and secondary blitzes (and if they showed their blitzes). Finally, you need to take note of how the defense disguised their coverage.

Again, if you think you don't have time, do it during the off-season. Break down video from each of your commonly played opponents.

There are certain things you should look for. For beginners, look for blitz tendencies by down and distance, by field zone, and by personnel on the field. These tend to be fairly constant against a variety of different offenses. Also analyze defensive front strengths and weakness according to the different defensive fronts. Look where they gave up yards by creating a hole hit chart. This means that for each hole hit by the offense look at average yard/run gained.

Identify their standard secondary coverages and determine against which offensive formations they run them. Know how they disguise their coverages.

With that information, you can come up with a plan to teach your offensive players how to respond on game day. Once practice begins, work with your offense to teach them how handle their opponents' blitzes. The quarterback must be able to get you out of a bad play when they show blitz. The linemen must be able to adjust the blocking at the point of attack when a blitz is coming.

Modify your play-calling to take advantage of weak areas in their defensive front. More than likely you will want to test their strength, but obviously you don\'t want to run all your plays to their strength. Run where they are weak!

Work with your QB and receivers to prepare them for the secondary coverages they are going to see. Design some pass plays that take advantage of a weak corner, or a seam that they leave unprotected. Make sure your personnel know how they disguise their coverages.

Buying software

Software must be able to produce reports based on various situations, such as down and distance, hash mark, and field zones. The offensive reports must include extensive formation-based reports that analyze the running and passing play, quarterback action on passes, motion, etc.

The reports on the defense must include extensive blitz reports, including breakdowns on down and distance, field zone, by defense, and personnel involved. Also, defensive front reports need to show where they do and don't give up yards.

The software must permit you to make adjustments to these reports. For example, you should be able to adjust the distance for a long situation. For example, for one team third and long might be seven or more yards, while for another it might be five or more. The reports must be easy to read and shouldn't contain clutter.

The software should be easy to use. It should be easy to enter play data. Typing is out, point and click with the mouse is in.

The software should come to you, rather than force you to come to it. For example, you think in terms of X's and O's, so a good software package will understand formations and defenses and know how to diagram them and know the personnel involved in that formation, whether it be a flanker, tight end or split end.

If cost is a consideration, the software should run on a general purpose desktop computer and not require extra, specialized (expensive) hardware. s

Joe Hollingsworth (Dr. Holly) is a WHAT UNIVERSITY? university computer science professor and has been working with scouting software since 1992. He regularly gives talks at clinics around the country. He can be reached at sports@hollysoftware.com, www.hollysoftware.com, or at 800-347-3880.

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