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AFM Magazine


Carmel High School’s Game Week Preparation Model

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By John Hebert, Assistant Coach, Carmel High School (IN)

The Carmel defensive system currently in place has many influences. Through external benchmarking visits, (2005-Colerain High School in Cincinnati; 2008- Air Force Academy; 2010- Naval Academy; and 2012 Grand Valley State) we have become committed to a one gap 3-4 scheme based on personnel that is undersized, assignment-oriented, and gritty. Over the last several years our formula has remained the same at its core but is constantly being re-evaluated and revised. Since adopting this system, we have reached the state finals in Indiana’s largest class six out of last eight years. 

One of the greatest assets we possess is our belief in the “process”. With six assistants on the defensive side and a two-platoon system, we strive to be the better prepared team on the field each week. Much of how we conduct business could not be possible without having a staff with strong camaraderie and work ethic. There is no doubt that any of the six individuals could be the defensive coordinator: Sid Swartzendruber and Aaron Hahn (DL), Justin Quick (safeties), Tyrone Dixson (corners), Brent Ayers (OLBs), and myself, (DC and ILBs). 

CORE VALUES:

In Indiana, on-the-field skill development begins in June. From that time until the start of the season we focus on developing the core values of our defense. We want to be as fundamentally sound as we can be at each position. In our one gap system, we constantly preach each player’s responsibility to the unit. We develop a common priority of getting and communicating run/pass reads so that we are all on the same page for every play.  Attacking players with leverage, getting off of blocks, and having 11 players to the ball at full speed comprise our most sacred beliefs.

When we hear players communicating those values and holding each other accountable for them, we know that our squad is capable of playing above its talent level. However, the direction from the defensive coaches is still overwhelmingly geared toward emphasizing and improving “Carmel things” all the way up to our last practice in November. Preparing for our opponent is secondary to reinforcing who we are and in what we believe.

Nonetheless, the weekly preparation schedule is vital to maximizing those opportunities to simultaneously improve our fundamentals and position ourselves for victory on game day.


SATURDAY:

The coaches meet early together to watch the game film from the night before so we have all seen it before the players arrive at 9 a.m. We feel it is important for all six assistant coaches to be present during the team film session so the conversations are more focused by position while still allowing team-wide concepts to be stressed. This might be our most valuable bonding time as the guard of everyone has to be down and egos set aside in order for the unit to progress, something that is stressed every week.

After the film session, the coaches meet to watch our new opponent’s film from the night before to get a feel for what we are all looking for individually. Each coach is assigned a game to breakdown in HUDL. The typical categories entered include down and distance, hash, formation, strength, direction, play type, and play. When facing an opponent with clear personnel groupings, a personnel category is determined. Our Saturday nights consist of 6-way texts to one another with observations, suggested play numbers to watch, and questions about formations. This constant communication allows the staff to grow closer by giving each coach the freedom to give input in an open environment. 

SUNDAY:

By the time we meet on Sunday, most of the data from our opponent’s film has been entered and is nearly ready to sort for tendencies. Through discussions on the white board, we determine which formations can be grouped together and divided among the staff. We feel it is valuable for each coach to be responsible for one or more of our opponent’s top ten formations.  Each coach then creates his own script for the week with four to five rounds of plays in sets of five for the first unit and two for the second unit. This allows each coach to be an expert regarding their assigned formations. Between the six of us, this results in 24 or more subscripts for the week complete with printed cards assembled for our defensive notebook. In following this format, there can be quite a bit of overlap, which we feel gives us the advantage of not leaving out anything important. By the time we leave for home on Sunday, the week’s schedules and scripts are mostly completed.

MONDAY

Like most programs, players are introduced to the game plan on Monday via a digital scouting report. While in top pads, we stress our individual pursuit fundamentals and conduct a tackling and turnover circuit. Both of those drills allow coaches to influence players from all positions.  This is usually the day that 7-on-7 versus the first offensive unit is practiced to benefit from the best-on-best reps. 

Defensively, our approach is to break down the pieces of our opponent’s scheme into smaller reads by position. Individually, each group will start by giving those basic reads that pose conflict. Our “group” focus shifts for two to three periods to combining positions and adding to those reads. For instance, if we are facing a traditional 21 personnel, power-running scheme, we group the inside and outside linebackers so the fit of the wrong arm and scrape is correct.  We might then have the safety added to a drill so the scrape serves to spill to the force player who has to gauge the amount of width needed as he approaches his run fit. Team period on Monday is a “first run through” with our base calls against their core plays, usually a script from four of the six coaches.

TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY

Each day begins with a short film session by position. Linebackers and safeties usually go together while the defensive line and corners each have their own viewing stations. The film we watch on Wednesday is a practice cut-up from the day before. Tuesday and Wednesday are our heavy work days in full pads. We continue the process of deconstructing the parts of the whole to provide individuals and groups with the essential reads.

During our first two periods, each position is going through run/pass reads and reactions with a partner or two. This is done without the coaches’ interference and is aimed at getting a lot of realistic visual reps. Emphasis is placed on coaching the look the partner is giving and not on the physical reaction by the defensive player. When we combine positions during group periods, the intent is to pool our coaching resources and provide a number of reps. If the DL and ILBs are working run fits or a blitz period, one coach can take half of the ILBs and DL and the other coach can take the other half. Again, we strive for continuity among positions and having players being coached by other position coaches helps achieve an understanding of the whole defense.

Tuesday and Wednesday are heavy script days. Each defensive coach can expect to go through all four rounds of their scripts in the course of these two days. Tuesday, we begin to work in some of our run stunts and pass pressures but primarily focus on getting solid work with our base calls. 

We generally believe that victory or defeat lies in our ability to play our base calls against an opponents’ best plays. That means a sound, angling front with either cover 2 or cover 3 behind it.  Keeping all eyes going in the same direction improves communication and allows us to use the techniques we emphasize the most during the week. However, the need always arises to have an answer or make a swing in momentum with a specific call. We install the majority of such calls in the summer so by the time the season is underway, we are adapting them to the scheme we are seeing. We are big believers in exposing our calls in practice to the offensive call that can hurt it the most. 

Tuesday and Wednesday are the times to make mistakes, not Thursday. Practice film of those mistakes is very valuable for our preparation. We send it out to players or even have them find the mistakes and make comments about them on the clips. Late in Wednesday’s practice, we will have a period comprised solely of situational blitzing. We also use the time late in practice to review our goal line package.

THURSDAY:

Our last practice of the week is a dress rehearsal for Friday night’s game. After an extensive special teams review with almost all of our defensive players very active on special teams, we complete a brief team period for the defense. Usually 16 to 20 plays long, we simulate drives with down/distance and field position-based scenarios. Offensive and defensive calls reflect our opponents’ tendencies and our game plan for the next night. 

We want our players to know what to expect going into the game. We stress knowing our opponents’ tendencies as well as the type of calls we will make in certain situations and the logic behind them. Brief interruptions to the script are sometimes made to have a random player verbalize why we are making a certain call or where we are most vulnerable. These are valuable exercises that are meant to improve our overall defensive IQ. Countless times, the dividend of such an approach is a big play by a player who anticipated a remote occurrence as if he was a coach on the field fully engaged in the strategic side of the contest. We feel our players are intelligent enough to understand why we are doing what we are because we have ingrained our system and process in them.

FRIDAY/ GAME DAY:

The work is done for the most part by the time we have our defensive meeting during pregame. We review what we have done throughout the week and our objectives for the game. Our biggest concern for in-game adjustments is determining if they are actually attacking us in the ways we predicted.

Each game has a different flow to it but we try to enter each one with answers in the form of calls that can turn momentum in our favor. Sometimes, our predictions never materialize and we end up playing calls that weren’t our top priority throughout the week. If so, we should at least have a solid foundation to run any of our calls because we practiced reps with them at least during one or two of the days of preparation. Perhaps our greatest strength lies in the fact that each assistant coach has a stake in the game plan and has communicated and executed that throughout the week. Our players feed off of this division of labor and incorporate the same approach to themselves and their own accountability. It is not uncommon for a defensive lineman to communicate an adjustment to the rest of the defense that is mostly affecting the secondary. Adapting to the ups and downs of the game is a much less daunting task with a team that truly communicates and has a common sense of purpose.

CONCLUSION:

We believe that preparation is the key to success. Each one of our coaches has input in the game plan and practice schedule for the week. We are stronger with six leaders than with one. Each of our players is required to communicate and fully know our calls and game plan which brings our unit closer together.  The result has been a defensive team that plays fast and with confidence. 


About the Author:

John Hebert is the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach at Carmel High School (IN). In Indiana’s largest school classification, Carmel has made the state finals in six of the last eight years. In 2013, Coach Hebert served as the defensive coordinator for the American Football Worldwide Elite team that defeated  the U19 French National Team in an exhibition in Paris.






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