Creating Offensive and
Defensive Game Plans
Courtney Meyer
Head Coach
Concordia University
Seward, Nebraska
• Proceedings • 79th AFCA Convention • 2002 •
I t is a great honor for the Concordia
University football coaches and players
to be recognized by being asked to present
a topic at this year’s convention. We are
proud of our affiliation with the NAIA and
especially appreciate all the efforts made
by the AFCA through Grant Teaff’s leader -
ship to recognize the great things happen-
ing in NAIA football.
Concordia, like other NAIA schools has
its roots embedded deep in spiritual soil. As
a football program, we are privileged to
uphold and support the mission of the uni-
versity, which is to prepare servant-leaders
for a life of service to the church and world
by providing a Christ-centered education.
The football program mission statement is
“Sharing Jesus Christ and winning on and
off the field.”
Program Changes/Improvement
I became the head coach at Concordia
in 1990. Our program struggled in the early
90’s in the win-loss column. Although our
staff worked very hard and long hours, our
wins primarily came from our non-confer-
ence games. The Nebraska-Iowa Athletic
Conference, now the Great Plains Athletic
Conference, is a highly competitive one,
and we simply needed to raise the bar in
order to achieve success.
Our president, Orville Walz, also saw
the need to make improvements and he
challenged me in several different areas. It
was also at that time that I recommended
that we hire a consultant to take a good
hard look at our program. After recom-
mending several successful college coach-
es, Dr. Walz decided to hire Dr. Ted
Kessinger, head coach at Bethany College
in Lindsborg, Kansas. Ted currently is the
winningest active NAIA football coach with
over 200 victories and numerous confer-
ence championships and play-off appear-
ances. His doctoral dissertation also
emphasized recruitment efforts at the col-
lege level.
In March of 1997, Dr. Kessinger inter-
viewed 28 players, faculty, coaches,
administrators, parents and boosters. He
submitted a report to our president, which
ultimately impacted our program and, in my
opinion, was the key factor in turning our
program around. Submission of that report
resulted in the following changes.
• An assistant-head coach position was
created and Coach Bill McAllister was
hired.
• As head coach, I was authorized to
visit two other NAIA schools who had suc-
cessful recruitment programs (Bethany
College and Mid-America Nazarene
University in Olathe, KS).
• Our scholarship funding was
increased.
• Our new stadium was being completed.
I am particularly grateful that our presi-
dent acted in a timely way and hired Coach
McAllister at semester and immediately we
had two coaches on the road recruiting and
gearing up for the next season.
Our efforts in recruiting went well but our
first season as a changed staff didn’t go
very well until the end of the year. We won
our last three games and ended up 4-5.
Since that first year we have steadily
improved and this past season went 10-2,
won our conference championship and
made the playoffs for the first time in the
school’s history.
Football Program Expectations
As a head coach, I am blessed with an
outstanding group of coaches. Coach Tim
Preuss has been the key guy in formulating
our vision and value statements. With a
PhD from the University of Nebraska and a
former director of admissions, you can see
that he is extremely qualified in areas out-
side of football as well. With his expertise,
we have carefully articulated on paper who
we are, what we are all about, and what our
expectations are. It has been a team effort
of Coach Mac, Coach Preuss, and myself
to raise the bar for our players in all areas,
not just football.
In the academic area, we require study
hall for all freshmen two nights per week.
Once a person reaches a 2.75 G.P.A. they
are exempt from study hall. We also moni-
tor their attendance in class by having them
submit a grade report signed by each pro-
fessor in each class. We also monitor their
credit hours to ensure completing 12 hours
or more per semester. Our team G.P.A. is
right at 3.00 and we have had 12 Academic
All-Americans the past two seasons.
I will simply say that we also have rigor-
ous expectations in the area of training and
conditioning and will just leave it at that.
Early morning agility workouts, a personal-
ized weight-training program for each play-
er, and nutritional guidelines are also
emphasized.
We really feel that being at a Christian
university we have a great opportunity to
have a young deal with the most important
question if life, “Is there a God and is Jesus
Christ who He says He is?” As a coaching
staff, we are on a united front in sharing our
faith and challenging our athletes to per-
sonalize their relationship to their Lord. We
have weekly devotions on Fridays, often
inviting guest speakers. We require chapel
attendance at least once a week and
encourage players to read the scriptures
and spend time in prayer. Coach Mac also
leads a Bible study, which is available to all
players. I personally believe this is the most
important aspect of our program and gives
us all a purpose beyond winning and losing
on the field.
Yearly Theme/Goals
Each year we reevaluate our goals and
prepare a theme for the year based on a
verse in the scripture. We have a weekly
meeting in the off-season to dedicate our-
selves to one another, the team values,
and the commitments necessary to begin a
new season. Losing 20 seniors this year
will definitely allow new leadership to
emerge during those sessions.
Staff Roles
Although we have a staff of eight posi-
tion coaches and two graduate assistants,
the bulk of the responsibility of our staff
rests with myself as the head coach, Coach
McAllister and Coach Preuss, the two coor-
dinators. I assume a lot of administrative
duties and P.R. type duties, as well as,
serving as kicking game coordinator.
Coach McAllister serves as recruiting coor-
dinator and offensive coordinator. Coach
Preuss is the defensive coordinator and
also monitors our academic progress.
I have the utmost confidence in Coach
Preuss and Coach McAllister in preparing
game plans and calling the game on
Saturdays. Because of their thoroughness
and competence, I am really proud to have
them share with your our approach in cre-
ative game-planning. Iím sure you will gain
some insights from their presentation and
hopefully will be able to incorporate some
each call was over the course of the year.
We also use the computer to help us iden-
tify any formations that gave us trouble.
Our video analysis involves breaking down
all of our game film by defensive coverage
call. We review each coverage tape to
determine what strengths we can build on
and what needs to be corrected in terms of
scheme or technique.
We use the information from the self-
scouts, along with anticipated schemes,
formations and personnel groupings for the
next fall to plan our spring football prac-
tices. Spring football also shifts our focus to
the returning personnel and gives us a
chance to evaluate their strengths and lim-
itations.
After spring football, we complete a
comprehensive review of our playbook. We
ask, “why do we need this in our package?”
of each scheme, technique and coverage.
We don’t want to waste any time teaching
and installing things that won’t help us on
Saturday! The evaluations of key personnel
in spring ball may also factor into the antic -
ipated character of our defense for the fall.
For example, three of the starting DBs from
our Nickel package graduate this spring.
Some of our coverage planning for next fall
will depend on what we see out of the
young players we have, particularly the cor-
ner position. We used almost exclusively,
man pressures this fall. Next year we may
have more zone pressures in the mix.
Commitments to Our Players
In addition to self-scout and personnel
issues, we also keep several commitments
to our players in mind as we plan. We
Digram 1
10
Calls By Doubles
Trey
Personnel Near Open
Far Open
& Field
Zone
promise our players that our plan will be
simple so that they can be aggressive and
attack the offense. We expect our players
to “play smart.” But it is easy to overload
players with too many adjustments. We
must be especially cautious about this
because of our limited meeting time with
our players. We meet for 20 minutes on
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before
practice. I am the only defensive coach that
is on staff at CU, so our defensive meetings
are all full team. Since we also view our
practice tape during this time, we have to
keep things simple! The second commit-
ment we make to our players is that we will
prepare them with a proper scheme and
sound technique for everything that they
will see on the field. This year we saw it all,
from Empty Sets to Maryland I Tight! The
final commitment we make to our players is
that we will put them is a position to be suc-
cessful. We do this is a number of ways,
such as outnumbering the offense in the
box, creating good matchups for pass-rush
coverage, and over-matching the tight end.
With the self-scout, personnel informa-
tion and commitments to our players in
mind, we proceed to our Calls by
Personnel and Field Zone matrix (see
Diagram 1). This is an idea that I got from
Craig Bohl and the University of Nebraska.
Along the top we list all the personnel
groupings that we anticipate for the coming
year. The first digit indicates the number of
backs in the group, the second digit indi-
cates the number of Tight Ends in the
group. Below the personnel group we list
the formations that we anticipate from that
personnel grouping. Along the left side we
11 12 20 21
Trips Ace I Open I Twins
Spread Pro Trps Tt Split Open Spl Twins
Near Pro
Far Pro
Near Tight
Far Tight
I Pro
Spl Pro
Near Twin
Far Twin
Pro Trips

of the ideas for your program. Bubble 80 Bubble 80 Raider 1Q Open OB 8

Base Over 9 SW 9 Husker OS 9
Fronts & OS 9 Over O4
Tim Preuss, Defensive Coordinator Coverages Down 9 Under w/ Dwn 9, 9H
SStab9 0,4,9 of 11
Defensive Game Planning
(Off-Season)
Our defensive game planning begins in
the off-season. Immediately after the sea- Man Blitz Bubble Bubble Raider 1Q O Bubble O Bubble
son we compile[pile our self-scout informa- Blitzes Sub Sub Sting
tion. We do this in two ways. One is a com- Sub Blitz S,D, Triple Whack Whack
Aggie Aggie Sting Sub
puter analysis that tells us how successful

• Proceedings • 79th AFCA Convention • 2002 •

list the elements of our package: our base
fronts and coverages, our man-free blitzes,
our Cover 0 blitzes, our Zone Blitzes, our
short yardage defenses and our goal line
package. Once this grid is set, we go
through each part of our package versus all
the personnel groupings and identify our
best calls. This is a lot of work the first time
you do it, but it is work that pays big divi-
dends, especially if you involve your whole
staff in the process. Once this is done we
have the foundation laid for our in-season
game planning.
Defensive Game Planning
(In-Season)
As we begin game-week preparation for
an opponent, we are mindful of the follow-
ing four goals. We begin our planning with
the idea that we must prevent you from run-
ning the football for more than three yards
per carry. For us this means outnumbering
the offense in the box on virtually every
call, especially on run downs. Our second
goal is to limit you to a passing efficiency of
less than 100. The point of this goal is mak-
ing you complete the hard throws. We are
going to try to outnumber you on the core
receivers with Robber concepts, on the
perimeter with quarters concepts, or pres-
sure you with man and zone blitzes. These
same principles apply in trying to win 70
percent of the conversion downs. A key ele-
ment for us in winning conversion downs is
trying to fool your quarterback. We sell our
kids on the concept of fooling alignments
and then give them the freedom to come up
with their own fool alignments. We want to
run straight zone, straight man, show blitz
while playing zone and show zone while
actually blitzing.
We also want to win 70 percent of the
time in the Red Zone. For us, this means
denying the touchdown 70 percentof the
time inside the 20-yard line. Keys for us
here are examining your tendencies from
the 0-5, the 6-10 and the 11-20 and then
replicating this in practice both in team time
and 7-on-7 pass. We practice some from of
Red Zone or goal line everyday.
The NAIA stats include only the regular
season. I am pleased to say that we met all
four of these goals for the season, and
each was a key in our leading the GPAC in
scoring defense at 9.4 points per game.
Scouting
With our goals clearly in mind, we begin
the preparation for each opponent by
• Proceedings • 79th AFCA Convention • 2002 •
breaking down three game films. We will
also look at the previous years film, espe-
cially if a lot of the skill position players are
back. We do our computer breakdown
using the Digital Scout product and then
downloading the information into a laptop.
All of our coaches are involved in film
breakdown. Coach Sirek, our secondary
coach, charts the opponents pass routes,
especially noting break depths and any
variations from our route tree. Coach Sean
Martens, our defensive ends coach, charts
our opponents run-blocking schemes.
Coach Harold Pester, our defensive line
coach, analyzes and evaluates your pass
protection schemes and quarterback
escape routes. Finally, Coach McLean, our
Scout Offense Coach also watches the film
with us. Together we translate our oppo-
nents schemes into our terminology, being
careful to note differences in technique,
stance, splits, etc. By using a script with our
own offenses terminology, we eliminate
cards for the scout team and get the maxi-
mum number of reps in during our practices.
Scouting
When the computer breakdown is avail-
able, we focus on analyzing your most fre-
quent running plays. We look at the passing
attack by field zones. We then go back and
analyze both running and passing attacks by
the formations you are using. We pay spe-
cial attention to numeric strength vs. our
calls. This means that we need to consider
all your shifts, motions, trades, etc., making
sure that the rules and adjustments built into
our system are holding up.
Next we seek to create favorable per-
sonnel match-ups. For example, we will
attempt to isolate our best rusher on your
weakest protector. We use several strate-
gies to try to eliminate the tight end side run
and play action (reducing on that side and
rolling the secondary strong, playing a wide
nine while pressing the tight end are two of
our favorites). If you have a stud receiver,
we will develop several ways to double
cover him (two deep-man under, double
with the hole player from Robber, Double
from Quarters are some examples).
The bottom line is that we want to take
away your best stuff and make you try to
beat us with your other schemes and other
players.
Practice Planning
For me, Practice Planning and develop-
ing the call sheet (which becomes our
game plan) are a simultaneous process
that continues during the week. On
Sunday, we break down the film and print
out the computer reports.
On Monday, we hand out our scouting
reports and do a walk through of your basic
attack. If we anticipate using any new
adjustments or schemes we introduce
them here, so the players are ready to go
with it for Tuesday’s practice. We include
an inside run, outside run, pass rush vs.
pass pro, 7-on-7 and team time on
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. With
our top priority of stopping the run, the
inside run period is the most productive
portion of our practice day in and day out.
We scrimmage everything we plan to use
against your base running game. On
Tuesday we look at our base fronts and line
stunts. On Wednesday, we use the same
script against our Man-Free blitzes. On
Thursday we look at your run game vs. our
Cover 0 and Zone blitzes. We also get in at
least 10 more snaps of base defense on
Thursday.
We get a maximum of 75 reps in during
this period during the week. This limits what
we can do, because we promise our play-
ers we won’t run things we haven’t prepped
in practice (this is my defense when my
coaches come back from clinics with 27
new ideas-“That looks good, what are we
going to take out?”).
Developing the Call Sheet
(Process)
We started the week with the fronts,
stunts, blitzes and adjustment off of our
Calls by Personnel matrix shown earlier,
plus any new adjustments due to changes
in your scheme or personnel. A f t e r
Tuesday’s practice tape is evaluated, I
start to put together the call sheet. We
eliminate any calls that didn’t look good in
practice. We add in the down and distance
tendencies that you have including, run
percent, favorite plays and formations in
the middle of the field. In the Red Zone
and at the goal line, we also look at your
favorite plays and formations and include
that on the call sheet. One of the keys for
us is to make sure that we are playing
against the opponent’s quarterback and
not their offensive coordinator. To do this
we strive for a good mix of coverages,
fools, base calls and blitzes. If we can cre-
ate confusion in the mind of the opposing
players we can destroy the aggressive-
ness and execution.
 Developing the Call Sheet Diagram 2
(Principles) CU Defensive Call Sheet Opponenet:
Additional considerations in developing
the call sheet include giving our players a Favorite Favorite Base In-Line
chance to use their strengths frequently. I D+D Run and Pass Sets Defenses Stunts Blitzes
rely on my position coaches to evaluate 1&10 52-53 Get (18) Spread (13) HStack4 HStackPwr4F SBSw1, OBMBr1, OMB1F
this aspect. (“Coach, Robbie’s nine-tech is R%60 700 Pass (16) Twins (10) 93 4 HStab9F Sting 11S, SubBl11S,
improving and he sure gets a better rush Play Action (7) Race (8) UD4/8 SWGoScrew9F Whack 11W,
50-51 CtBack (6) Pro (5) UStack HPwr9F WB2F, 50Sub11S
that way. Let’s use that some more on
medium distance calls.”) 2&S 58-59OZone (3) Pro(4) H9F SScrew9H MBW2SpF
(0-3) Waggle (2) Tight (2) Whack11W
The way that we get everyone on the
R%75 24-25FBPwr (2) Sprd, Trps (1) SubB11SubF
same page, literally, is that I distribute a
draft of the call sheet to the coaches on 2&M 50-51 CtBack (3) Spread (3) S9 HPwr9F MBCross2Sp
(4-6) 24 Pwr (1) Trips (1) 50 4F 50 Tex 4F TB1F
Wednesday. They let me know of any R%88 58 Ozone (4) Tight (1) UD4/8 SWGoScrew9F SubJet11Sub, SubB11S
changes they would like to see and we
2&L Waggle (9) Spread (13) H9F 50Jet4, S Tkl9F MBMW2SpF
review the final copy with our players on
(7+)N 700/900 (7) Pro (9) 50 4F HSwap9, S Pwr9 SubJet11Sub, Sub B11S
Thursday at our pre-practice meetings. R%40 59 Ozone (4) Trips (4) S11F SStab9F OBMBr1, OMBStab1F
Diagram 2 is an example of the Call
3&S 12 Sneak (3) Mrylnd I (4) D9H DPinch9H TB1F
Sheet that we use defensively. The top por- (0-3) 58 Ozone (1) Tight (3) BallisticMWF
tion of the sheet is devoted to defending R%100 53 Get (2) Twins (1) MBMW2SpF
plays outside the Red Zone. The first col-
3&M 900 (1) Spread (13) S9F HDetroit9F Whack11W
umn contains the down and distance and (4-6)N 18 Sprint (1) Race Gun (1) 50 Dime HSwap9 TB1F, DB1, SubB11S
run percentage on that down. The next col- R%33 700 (1) Pro (1) H9Man HTkl9ManF WB2, MBTl2Sp
umn lists your favorite runs and passes for 3&L 700 (18) Race Gun (8) S9F HDetroit9F WB (Twist, Black)2F
that down and distance while the third col- (7+)N Play Action (7) Race (3) 50 Dime HSwap9ManF Ballistic F
umn has your favorite sets. We use this R%13 Draw/Scm (4) Twn/Tite (3) S 11Match SStab9F Whack11W, DBSw1
information as a condensed version of our H9Man MBMW2SpF, Sub11SF
scouting report that our players can use to 4&S 12 Sneak (1) Mrylnd I (2) D9H DPinch9H MBMW2SpF
relate their scouting report to our play call- (0-3) 22 Wedge (1) Gap Six
R%100
ing. The base defenses, coverages, line
stunts and blitzes are selected because 4-2-5 defense this past year since we used line we switch to the next segment of the
they are good against the plays and sets our Nickel package over 65 percent of the call sheet (see Diagram 3) that includes the
you have shown on that particular down time. With this format, each player affected play calls for the Red Zone and goal line.
and distance. by a Nickel substitution can see what This section in Red is the top plays from the
Any time your run percentage is 50 per- downs we plan to use the Nickel or Dime five on in. In orange are the plays run from
cent or less, we will consider that down a on and be alert for those substitutions. the six to the 10 and in gold are the ones
potential Nickel down. We were actually a Once the ball penetrates the 20-yard run from the 11 to the 20. Again, the next
column contains the sets used to run those
Diagram 3 plays. Again, we select our calls based on
what we expect to see. We try to have a
Goal Line: 9 = Panther from 15 in. In Ballistic Rv has pitch, complete goal line package with a mini-
FS play Raider 1Q - take QB each way mum of calls. We have four calls that are
the core of our goal line defense that we
1&5 13 Veer (1) Mrylnd I (2) D9P D Pwr 9P Ballistic, MBMW2Sp
rep every week. We pick one or two other
R%100 19 Keep (1) Tight (1) WBB2
2&S 53 Get (1) Pro (1) D9P 3=DPwr9P Ballistic calls if there is a reason to do so based on
(0-3) 22 Wedge (1) <3=DPinch9P MB2Sp your attack and add them to this sheet.
Keeping it simple works! Our kids knew
2&M 6 to 10 D9P D Pwr 9P Ballistic, MBMW2Sp
what we were going to run, they believed in
(4-6) Wedge (2) Mrylnd I (2) WBB2
2&L 58-59 Ozone (2) Tight (1) S9P SPwr9P Ballistic, MB2Sp it and made it work. We only gave up four
(7+)N 12Vr Z Rev (1) Pro (1) WBB2 rushing touchdowns in a 10-game regular
season. Preparation and planning really
3&S 11 to 20 Gap Six 3=DPwr9P Ballistic
pay off in this area!
(0-3) Wedge (2) Pro (2) <3=DPinch9P MB2Sp
3&M Play Action (2) Race (3) D9P D Pwr 9P Ballistic There a number of other important con-
(4-6)N 700 (4) Race Gun (3) WB2 siderations that we include in the last sec-
tion of our call sheet. Punt Safe (see
3&L S9P SPwr9P Ballistic, MB2Sp
Diagram 4) refers to the call we will use if
(7+)N WBB2
we anticipate a fake punt. Prevent is our
4&S Gap Six 3=DPwr9P Ballistic prevent defense, we only use this if we can
(0-3) <3=DPinch9P MB2Sp give up 10 yards for every six seconds left.

• Proceedings • 79th AFCA Convention • 2002 •

Diagram 4 egories. We group the blitzes into two
Punt Safe PAT/FG Blocks Formation Checks Personnel groups: inside and outside. (See Diagram 7
Strong 4 HR; HL; NR; NL 50 4 Bump with motion GL: Hiner in for Sam on page 81)
Prevent Middle (into wind, MOF, long kick) Play all Blitzes 50: Same as 43 this
week Formations
S9Prevent PAT Default call: D9P MIT=93 9 in MOF (play it at GL) Nickel: Albert to Rv The next area is going to be to evaluate
Last Play Two Minute Hash Mark Trips = 9 Special Troy to Sam a team’s defenses vs. different formations.
Last Play S9; S9F; Aggie HSlant9 50 4 checks to H9 vs One Back Dime: Chuck=W, T out We end with an overview of their blitz pack-
age and overall coverages.
Last play is the call we intend to use for the games we have reached them all. We feel This information is included in their
last play of a game or half. if we can be close in all categories we will scouting report, distributed on Mondays
PAT and FG blocks are my responsibili- win the game. The last goal (Knock downs) along with a quiz that must be completed
ty. Each week we list the blocks that we may be the most important, as it gives us a and turned in by Thursday to be able to
have prepared. Our PAT default call is a measuring stick as to our effort. When we play on Saturday. We will also give a test
call to use if we get surprised by someone measure Knock downs we want to have on Fridays after our team devotions (see
going for two. We also have sections for more knockdowns than offensive plays. Diagram 8 on page 81).
our two-minute drill calls, hash mark Our best is 124 in one game. The information that is on the tendency
defense of the week, formation checks and Diagram 5: Offensive Goals charts is then placed on our game plan
personnel changes we anticipate. This call which is put on a folder. Down the left hand
sheet is reviewed with the players on column is the down and distance. Right
Thursday and then they are tested over it Win + 1 Turnovers under it is our opponent’s top-two defenses
after our team meeting and devotion on 5 Big Plays 35% 3rd down on that particular down and distance. The
Friday. 24 pts. 385 Yds. next column to the right is our opponent’s
5 yds. per carry 50% 4th down blitz tendencies followed in the next column
Some final thoughts on planning Time of Poss. 20 – 1st Downs by their coverage tendencies.
Game planning is a lot of work, but it is 55% pass eff. Knock downs The numbers in the fourth column cor-
work that has a big payoff. In closing, I relate to our quarterback wristbands. We
would like to share two of my favorite CU Tendencies then have a run column, followed by a
quotes on the value of planning. First, from The following information (see Diagram pass column. If the numbers that corre-
Proverbs 16.4: “Commit your plans to the 6 on page 81) is given to our players on late to the wristband are highlighted, it is
Lord, and you will succeed.” And secondly, Mondays before our walk-through practice. a tendency we need to break. The last
from President Dwight D. Eisenhower: This is followed by the game plan on column is any special plays followed by
“Plans are nothing, planning is everything!” Wednesdays. We start by looking at our our opening series. Within this game plan
It has been said that one must “plan own tendencies. The major areas we are all our shifts and motions that we
your work and then work your plan.” As you examine are; our formations, down and dis- think can give us a numerical advantage
do this, remember that your plans are noth- tance, field zones, to and away from tight (see Diagram 9 on page 81).
ing, but the young men you have been end, total pass to run ratio and passing The columns are consistent across the
entrusted with are worth everything. Enjoy zones of the field. We will also look at our sheet. The new areas or game situations
the journey with them and have a positive tendencies whenever we are shifting or are Red Zone and Goal line. Down the
impact on them. Thanks again for this using motion. Each area is evaluated right column are the game situations;
opportunity and God bless. based on running and passing along, with coming out of our end zone, last three
running to the strength or weakness of the plays when we are behind, last four plays
Bill McAllister, Offensive Coordinator
formation. It is our desire to be unpre- when wevahead (clock plays). The bot-
Offensive Game Planning dictable, and balanced in our approach. tom of this sheet includes our top play
First I want to acknowledge the rest of During our quarterback meetings on action, our rocket offense (hurry up) and
our staff that helps with our offensive game Wednesdays I am able to use these graphs screens (see Diagram 10 on page 82).
plan. and percentages to paint a clear picture for Inside the folder on the right side is
Coach Thies writes profiles on defen- the QB as to where are the best percent- our running game. Each play is followed
sive backs. Coach Zhart breaks down our age passes. by the different formations that we can
film by formations, field zones, and blitzes. run the play from. Key plays and forma-
I then confer with Coach Preuss, as to how Front Blitz Coverage tions are then highlighted. Plays run to
time management is best going to fit our The next phase is very common and I the left are in blue and plays to the right
game., i.e. do we need to reduce the num- am sure most all programs do this. We are in red. This sheet is more of a per-
ber of plays by both teams or is it going to break down three or more films of our sonnel sheet. We want to highlight the
be a game that we need 35 points to win. opponents, and our previous year’s game. personnel match-ups that we feel are in
We start the season with team goals We break the film down in the following cat- our best interest (see Diagram 11 on
that will enable us to reach our ultimate egories: Overall Fronts, Coverage’s, and page 82).
goal of winning all of our games. These Blitzes. Then we proceed to down and dis- On the left hand side of the folder is
goals are very attainable and in some tance information based on the above cat- our passing game. The layout is the

• Proceedings • 79th AFCA Convention • 2002 •

same as the running game. Each pass is
followed by the different formations that
the play can be run from (see Diagram 12
on page 82).
The play-action passing game is fol-
lowed by our drop back passing game (see
Diagram 13 on page 82).
On the back of the folder are our Keys
to the Game. These are reminders, as to
what we need to do to be successful.
Followed are diagrams of our base forma-
tions, with the anticipated defense lightly
shaded in. The last thing on the game
plan is my pregame talk, I say the same
thing every game, (I got this from the
coach at Midland Lee HS in Texas) get off
Diagram 6
Diagram 8
• Proceedings • 79th AFCA Convention • 2002 •
the ball, low man wins, squeeze the
apple, speed wins the game, the best
team does not always win and remember
we have an audience of One (AO1). This
leads us into our practice schedule. The
importance of practicing well lead to play-
ing well. Our AO1 is Jesus Christ, as he is
with us everyday, and we don’t rely on a
big crowd to play hard (see Diagram 14
on page 82).
To close this up, the game plan is com-
pleted on Tuesday night and the next three
days we will work different aspects of our
game plan. Including Red Zone, Goal Line,
Third & Long, Blitz Pickup, Coming Out,
Two-point plays etc. We believe that prac-
ticing the situation is a key for our success
(see Diagram 15 on page 82).
Conclusion
It has been a great honor for our staff to
share a few ideas with you today. I want to
thank our coaches for their key role in this
presentation and especially thank you,
coaches, for giving us your time and atten-
tion this morning. I hope that all of you have
the opportunity to work with the type of
young men that we do at Concordia.
Coaching football with a special group of
coaches and players is a rare privilege that
we enjoy at Concordia. Best wishes to
each of you!
Diagram 7
Diagram 9
Diagram 10 Diagram 11

Diagram 12 Diagram 13

Diagram 14 Diagram 15

• Proceedings • 79th AFCA Convention • 2002 •