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Coach Tom Bass

To have success on game day, it is necessary to prepare every player on the team through organized practices. Just as we prepare our players to be ready when the games begin, it is also important that we, as a staff, prepare for our roles and responsibilities during the game.

One of the keys to good coaching, is having the ability to transfer the experience and organizational skills you have developed to your game day preparation. These skills include but are not limited to:

• Putting your coaching staff and team together.
• Establishing good lines of communication.
• Structuring and conducting your practices.
• Teaching safe and correct skills and techniques.
• Coaching your offense, defense, and special team schemes.

The coach's individual responsibilities on game day are one of the least practiced yet most important aspects of the sport. How can we improve in this area and be as well prepared as our players? The greater responsibility you have as a coach, the more clearly defined your role is during a game. If you serve as a head coach or as an offensive, defensive, or special teams coordinator, you have a fair idea as to how your time will be spent during the course of the game. It is the remaining members of the coaching staff who can truly help the team win if their responsibilities are clearly set and their talents are used to the fullest.

In preparing for Game Day, there are seven major areas that you may want to address:

1. Pre-Game Day Organization
2. Pre-Game Warm-up
3. Play Calling
4. Recording and Compiling Information as the Game Proceeds
5. Substitution and Sideline Procedure
6. Half-Time Organization
7. Post-Game Talk

Defining Responsibility and Preparing Needed Charts
Prior to the first game, you need to meet as a staff and decide the responsibilities that each member of the staff will assume during the game. Charts need to be designed and developed that:

• List the offensive plays.
• List the defenses to be used.
• Organize the depth charts for offense, defense, and special teams.
• Outline the method of substitution to ensure everyone plays.
• Provide for the recording of plays, defenses, and the opponent's scheme.
• Can be printed on heavy card stock and fit into a clear plastic bag for protection.

The head coach, offensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator should decide which offensive and defensive plays will be used in advance and practice them during the week. The two charts should include the best plays and defenses for the various down and distance situations. Each chart might be broken down into:

1 and 10 - 2 & 7+ - 2 & 6- - 3 & 10+ - 3 & 4 - 9 - 3 & 3- - Goal line

Under each down and distance situation, you would list your favorite calls for that situation in the order that you would consider calling the play or defense. The coaches on the staff responsible for making the offensive and defensive calls should keep their respective charts with them during the game.

The coach responsible for special teams during the game, often the head coach, should have a chart with all the kicking options on one side and the special teams substitutions on the back. This chart would include and have listed:

1. All kickoff and punt returns.
2. Various punt and kickoff coverages.
3. Point-after-touchdown (PAT) plays and field goal set-up.
4. Any fake punt or field goal plays or special trick plays.

One coach needs to be responsible for preparing a substitution chart and keeping track of all the substitution needs during the game. This is one of the most important jobs during the contest, as he must make certain that there are always 11 players on the field, regardless of what is taking place.

If and when an injury occurs taking a player out of the game, it will be his job to notify the next player on the chart that he has to move up and be ready to go out on the field. He will also be in charge of arranging and keeping track of needed substitution for all players if you are in a league that requires that all players play a set number of plays.

Pre-Game Procedure
Players need to be as comfortable as possible, especially prior to the first game. They need to feel that you are in charge and that the coaches are organized and prepared. This is one of the best reasons for taking time during your early practice schedule to walk through everything the team will experience prior to kickoff. This may include:

• Weigh-in procedure if needed.
• Entering the field.
• Pre-game stretching and lineup.
• Separating to designated areas of the field to continue warm-up drills.
• Practicing each drill that is to be used.
• Sideline organization prior to kickoff.

Once the game begins, the offensive and defensive coordinators should be prepared to make the necessary calls in a timely fashion so that the players have as much time as possible to mentally review their assignments.

Try to keep in mind as you make your call:

• The down and distance situation.
• Where the ball is located on the field.
• How much time there is remaining.
• The score of the game.

Recording your Calls
During the game, as an offensive or defensive play is called, it should be recorded on a chart so the coaching staff knows what has been called and what the result was of the call. The coach or individual serving as the recorder should stand next to the coach making the call with a clipboard or notebook ready to list to the call.

A separate page or sheet should be used to record each offensive and defensive series. Usually 10 offensive plays or defensive calls can easily be recorded on each play. When a series contains more than ten plays, the next page can be added by starting at play 11 (rather than play 1) and continue until the series ends. Hopefully this will happen a great deal when you are on offense and seldomly when you are on defense.

A sample sheet could be designed and prepared to include the following information:

SAMPLE PAGE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_____________________vs_______________________

Series #-----------   Quarter---------           Score-------- to--------              pg-----

play   down    field   	     formation             play	           result
  #   distance pos.                                                  
1___l_______l_____l__________________________l______________________l____
defense__________________________________________________________________

2.___l_______l_____l__________________________l_____________________l____
defense__________________________________________________________________

Your team can gain a tremendous advantage when you have a member of the staff who has the ability to watch and see what the opposition is doing against you. If you have a coach who is not occupied when the offense or defense is on the field, he can record what he observes on a sheet, like the one above, and then you can add his information to the recorder's sheet when there is a break in play.

The marvelous ability to see a play once and recognize it immediately is becoming a lost art, or at least greatly diminished by the use of video that can be run back and forth numerous times. But it is just this ability that is needed by the coach who has the responsibility to grasp what the opposition is trying to do.

Substitution and Off the Field Procedure
The next area that you can practice a few minutes every week is the method of substitution, the placement of players, and the procedure the players should follow when there is a change of possession.

1. When the offense or defense is on the field, all the immediate substitutes should be directly behind the offensive or defensive coordinator. The coach can call out for a substitute player who should run the field and the appropriate player would come off.
2. You can then call out change of possession and all of the players on the field should come off and go directly to a specific area of the bench and sit as a group.
3. The coordinator can then have them all together and any adjustments or comments concerning their play would be communicated to the entire team at this time.
4. With this procedure, you never have to search for anyone, and you always know that all the players are aware of any changes you may need to make during the game.

This type of practice is not tiring. It can often be done in a few minutes when the team is out in shorts, but it is worth the time and energy getting it started properly because it will pay tremendous dividends during the heat of the game.

Halftime Organization
Once your players have become comfortable with your pre-game procedure, your method of substitution, and the way you will convey changes to them, it is a good time to explain the exact procedure that the team will follow during halftime.

Because halftime is limited, it is good if every minute is put to good use. When the first half ends, the coaches should meet and discuss any information that needs to be presented to the players. This is the player's free time to take care of their personal needs.

The team should practice each week how they will be seated during halftime based on the facilities available at the field. Often this may be on the grass at one end of the field. Regardless, it is good to have the players understand that the offensive players sit on the right facing the coaches and the defensive players sit on the left with any player going both ways in the center. If you have a number of players playing both ways, then only one coach should speak at a time.

During the halftime presentation:

• Try to limit the information being given to the players
• Provide ample time for the head coach to speak to the team at the end
• Be positive with your communication to the team.

End of the Game
Following the end of the game, it is important to bring the team together and for the head coach to speak to the team, giving closure to the game. It is great if you can have the parents come down on the field and hear what is being said to the team at this time.

Regardless of the outcome of the game, all the players and their parents need to be assured that:

1. The coaching staff is proud of the team.
2. Coaches are with them all the way and are eager to help them improve.
3. Everyone is looking forward to a fun, productive week of practice.
4. Everyone connected with the team should have a reason for wanting to come back the following week.

Depending on the size of your coaching staff, you may find that you will need to recruit some non-coaches to serve as recorders during the game. Make certain that you can spend some time prior to the game practicing what you want them to do.

No coach is born with the knowledge of what to do during Game Day. Just like the players, coaches need to practice and prepare too. Being prepared, organized, and having practiced game-day procedure can make the team more effective, allowing the coaches to make better game day adjustments which can ultimately put the team in a better position to have success on the field.