Offensive Game Plan for Week 1 | Football Coaching Podcast S07E19

Week 1 of your season sets the tone, so you need to have your best offensive game plan ready to go. With the 2020/2021 season that doesn’t mean having incredible strategies, either. It means getting the most from your offensive playbook. 

The game plan that wins this year is the one that’s tailored to your players. What they can handle. It’s about keeping it simple so they can play with confidence from the start. No matter what that defensive coordinator throws at you.

Study Game Film

Unlike most seasons, you probably won’t get any scrimmage film this year. You’re going to get a couple weeks of practice, then jump right into that first game of the season.

You need to know all you can about the defense you’re facing before you can develop your offensive game plan. So study last season’s film. Anything you can get your hands on.

“Can I break this defense with formations? Can I break this defense with plays? Where is it not sound? What is it not ready for?”

Identify who they are. Not what you saw last year, but what that defense would look like if they had just a couple weeks to prepare. Because that’s what they’ve got. 

Looking at what their JV team usually runs is a good start. Figure out the base defense. You aren’t looking for tendencies here.

Now it’s about figuring out if you can break their umbrella. Create seams in the defense. Take advantage.

What’s Working in your Offensive Playbook?

Now you need to look at your own team. What you’ve seen in the past, and what you’ve seen in practice so far (if you’ve had that). 

The best plays are the plays that work in practice. They are the plays that your players have the most confidence in running. So make sure in your offensive game plan you expect to call more of those!

“What do you feel like you can call on a 1st & 10 in almost any situation and guarantee that you’ll get 4 yards? You need to have that play in mind.”

You need a couple of calls in that game plan that you feel incredibly confident about. One is a play you can always get 4+ yards on 1st & 10. The other is a way to give your Quarterback some confidence throwing the ball with a simple pass.

Pull Simple Levers in Your Offensive Game Plan

Even in the best of times, game plans don’t win many football games. Its the sad fact of coaching. You do a lot more damage over-coaching with fancy plays that win on a napkin that you’d do under-coaching and letting your players play.

Formations are cheap. Plays are expensive. Don’t over-do it, but as much as possible use base blocking schemes with special formations, shifts and motions to put the defense in a bind.

“Script the first 10 plays, because you have an idea of things you want to see… but go off script in a heartbeat.”

You do want to script your first 10 plays, but you don’t want to be completely controlled by the script. If the first play call carves them up, keep calling it!

Finally, you need a plan for making adjustments throughout the game. The ASKA principle comes into play here, and pulling levers. Make sure you check out the ASKA podcast. It applies to offensive adjustments as much as it does to defense.

Do You Have the Right Offensive Playbook?

You’ve got the details on putting together that call sheet for Week 1 of the season. If you’ve got the right offensive system in place and your coaches are ready to teach the players, you’re in good shape.

Need help getting that offensive system just right? That’s where JDFB Coaching Systems comes in for your team. Clients get access to The Pistol Power Offense System plus all of my other coaching systems, web clinic archives, private message board and more. 

Right now you can get instant access to the entire JDFB Coaching Systems resource library for 7 days for just $1: Click here to get started

Related Episodes

• How to Game Plan Your Offense – Football Coaching Podcast Episode 172.
• Coaching ASKA Principle – Football Coaching Podcast S07E03.
• Levers Principle – Football Coaching Podcast S07E06.
• Learn all about Horizontal and Vertical Seams – Football Coaching Podcast S07E10.
• Study the Umbrella Principle so that you know how to break it.
• Scripting Your First 10 Offensive Plays
• State of Football 2020 and returning to play this year from The Football Coaching Podcast S07E15.
• 5 Day Install Plan to prepare your playbook install plan for a short off-season – Football Coaching Podcast S05E02.