Managing Your Program: Creating the Installation Schedule for Fall Camp

Recently, the three-day installation has become a popular topic. It seems the challenge is to see how fast you can install your offense, and the process is repeated with deeper levels of understanding being developed in each repetition of the installation. This is something Dana Holgersen made popular at West Virginia. While I have implemented the three-day initial install, I extended the total install out to seven days with a layered approach. Each subsequent day adds layers to the initial installation of concepts that were done in days one through three (See Chart).

Whether you take three days or seven days, the most important thing is player understanding. After the initial install, which is accomplished in three days, we added the situational element to our install with the situational application of our offense. We are able to put in more shifts and motions, and apply our concepts across multiple formations and personnel groupings. Furthermore, we have a checklist of special situations which we want to expose our offense to and prepare for. One of my core philosophies in all of the sports I have coached is that I cannot expect a player to perform a certain technique, concept or a specific situation if he has never done it in practice. There will be years in which some of those situations never come up, but if they do, we want our players prepared.

Our offense included many facets in our attack. We utilized multiple tempos within our offense, and we included those in our installation plan as well. Special plays were also addressed. Like having a checklist of certain situations, we began repping our specials in camp and continued practicing them until they were used in a game. We determined then if we would use it again or dress it up a different way.

The installation schedule drives the practice plan. Each position coach has a list of skills and drills for his players. He inserts them into the individual and group periods in order to achieve proper execution of technique.

There is attention paid to what is installed. From a structural standpoint, gap responsibility drives both our run game and pass protections. We install our zone scheme on day one as every other part of our run game is built off of that teaching. We then install our four vertical (takeoff) package on day one as well. Field spacing and releasing defenders are skills that are important to every portion of our offense, so installing takeoff exposes our receivers and quarterbacks to other skills that carry over to other concepts. In addition, we install what we feel are our most basic formations and personnel groups. Everything else has somewhat of a special application based on those formations and personnel groupings. Quick game and our zone naked are also installed, and the bubble, which is also part of our uncovered principle, are also easy day one additions.

Day two builds off of day-one learning. Spacing is taught off the stems and releases of our takeoff package. The gap scheme combos are carryovers of the zone scheme combos and techniques, and the naked package  is run off of the power scheme with nothing being different for receivers. We now add a screen which is basically just a screen between the receivers. Slip adds linemen to the receiver screen.

Day three completes our initial installation with the remainder of our pass concepts being installed. There are similarities in the components and characteristics of the pass concepts, so installing the three together makes sense. The same line blocking we use in slip is now applied to a screen with the back in our outside and swing screens. The run and play-action game focuses on our sweep package. By day three, we have in all nine plays that make up our two-minute package, and we will, at minimum, execute our two-minute drill on air.

From this point on, we add personnel groups, specialty tempos, and applications of previous learning to situational offense. Our “action” component of the play-action game gives us drop back play-action to which we marry a run with a 5-step concept. We change the focus of each day so that concepts that would be mostly used with the run actions or in third down situations become the focus of the day. While we are repeating what we did in the first days, the order changes and now players are mentally challenged to apply their learning to actual game situations.

Day four includes a focus on zone runs, the quick game, spacing, takeoff and our three-level package. We are working in medium yardage situations where the quick game is effective, and seeing a fire zone (3 under, 3 deep) or cover 3 is more typical. Our takeoff and spacing packages have major applications for us here. In addition, the zone bluff action is typically paired with our 3 package, so it is a focus as well. The formations and personnel groupings we use are conducive to running these concepts.

Day five focuses on gap scheme runs (power and counter) as well as play-action off of them. We put ourselves in third and long, and some of our favorite plays come from our takeoff package as well as our drive package. Those passes give us routes that are intermediate level routes that can go the distance with a catch. In addition, we have deep shot components from our under package and we build that in as well when we are faced with second and short.

Day six puts us in the scoring zone. We put in our goal line applications of previously learned concepts. We like our empty package in this area for five different plays, and we install the empty versions of our concepts.

The final day of our installation is day seven. We now work on the beginning of the game and end of game scenarios. We put in our final plays of the game when we need a score, our four-minute kill the clock offense, and our procedure for running our openers at a very fast pace. Our four-minute offense is typically what we will use coming out of the end zone from our own goal line to the minus 10.

An aid to our installation has been the use of what is referred to by classroom teachers as “flipped learning.” What we do is make the installation videos and presentations available to the players. They are assigned to watch their coaches installation video explaining the concepts that will be utilized in the next practice. We supplement all of this with either game video with the coach’s voiceover in a screencast,  or video from spring practice for new concepts or adjustments to concepts we have used before.  We also teach them about the defense that they will see in the next practice and give them hints about indicators and how they should apply their thought process to what they will be seeing.

While we won’t necessarily see all of the defense’s we will see during the season because we are working against mostly our own defense in camp, we do try to give the players exposure to other defenses. This is for the purpose of showing specific applications of our offense which we may progress to later in the season. We certainly are looking to hone their skills and perfect our execution, but again, we want to expose them to the situations or variations they may face throughout the season.

The initial installation is done in three days, but we don’t merely repeat that three day install. We get very specific about how those concepts are used in different situations. The install becomes layered with situational application of the concepts taught generically in the first three days. We focus first on the application of concepts that are favorites in each situation. In subsequent practice, until we decide to run against the scout team of our first opponent, we layer in more details and other concepts we like in the situations we are faced with. The changes from this point become variations on what was installed in the first seven practices. In this way, we build a deeper understanding of our players. We rely on them to get it done on game day, and the better we can teach them about when, what, how, and why we are attacking, the better they will be.