The following concludes a three-part series on the philosophy and strategy of football by Brett Steuerwald. A legendary coach in upstate New York, Coach Steuerwald reflects on 54 years as a coach and 44 as the head coach at Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park, NY. His overall record was 319-88-4. Coach Steuerwald received numerous local, state and national coaching honors and led his team to three state championships. This article is on ‘What Teams Should Do’ – from daily practice sessions to third down efficiency to having the right red zone attitude and streamlining halftime adjustments.
What Teams Should Do
Post Game and Pre Game Film Evaluations – Very few things will impact a team’s game performance more than a careful analysis of both your own performance and a study of your upcoming opponents. To do this properly takes commitment from all concerned. At Shen, we have always had a fairly rigid framework of time for using film to its best advantage. It really began after games in a social setting at my house to review the game and enjoy some pizza and snacks. We replay a little and then, as it gets later, I would say to my coaches, “guys I don’t know where you are going when you leave here but I hope you have a good time and I hope you get there soon.” After home games I would always tell them they should bring their wives or girlfriends – but not both. In any case, after all was quiet, I would make copies of the game for exchange with next week’s opponent and each varsity coach for their personal review.
Early on Saturday I would meet with the next week’s opposing coach and exchange two weeks of film along with a team roster with offensive and defensive starters checked for our upcoming contest. Years ago it was by mutual agreement with some coaches but was ultimately supported by so many that it was made a league rule.
After getting home I would start scripting both our game and my two opponents’ games. Their offense was scripted by each game progression by play number with formation, down and distance, pass or run, and field positions recorded. We used our own terminology in describing each play.
For our own game, I wanted offense and defense separated as well as pass and run and red zone offense and defense. For our upcoming opportunities, I also wanted plays separated by downs adding third and long, third and medium and third and short as well as red zone offense and defense. Once games were scripted, all these variations were done automatically by the Landro film editor which was assigned to one of our coaching staff. He then made copies for me to give to the varsity coaching staff so they could review Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning.
Starting Sunday afternoon around 4 or 4:30, varsity coaches would meet and discuss all phases of game planning. This would include personal evaluations – ours and theirs – with potential changes of our personnel and adjustments to their strengths and weaknesses. Any new offensive changes or additions as well as defensive adjustments to attack their strengths and weaknesses were also discussed.
All players would report to the weight room at 5:00 for a maintenance work out of moderate stress. We would then separate by offensive positions in different classrooms close to the team room for review of our game by their position coaches. Usually this meant linemen, backs, quarterbacks and receivers. Coaches would point out and emphasize both good and bad performance issues to work on during the week. After a half hour we would switch to defensive analysis with down linemen, linebackers, and the defensive secondary. During the next hour the full team would come together for the head coach to discuss the preparation for our upcoming opponent. This would include the key players on both sides of the ball as well as attack schemes and defensive strengths. Then we would review the film of their last game in game sequence to get a feel of the overall challenge.
Finally, on Sunday by 7:30 we would go to the gym and set up our defense and have our scout team walk through our opponent’s basic plays that we have diagramed for their purpose. After no more than a half hour we finish up with a little pep talk and the challenges of the upcoming week.
The next phase of proper use of film is the weekly plan. This plan is affected by our own lack of a two platoon program. This is the norm in New York State. At Shen, it is not a player number problem; rather, it is a coaching staff number issue all of our school’s face. We usually carry mid-forty players with some players designated as offense, some defense, some two way, and many serve in a two way capacity as scout teams and special teams. We want every player to feel they contribute to our overall chance of success. This all leads to our weekly overall plan of film use.
Monday – Offensive Day – Pre-practice - 15 minute look at opponent’s defensive films. Last half hour of practice, the scout offense does a scripted run through of opponent’s best plays against our defense.
Tuesday – Defensive Day – Pre-practice – 15 minute look at opponent’s offensive films. Last half hour of practice, the scout defense will work against any new plays planned or points of emphasis.
Wednesday – Combination Day – Pre-practice - 15 minute look at third down film and red zone offense and defense. After special teams run through, offense has three 10 minute periods of offense.
1st period – 10 each play vs. third and long, third and med, third and short.
2nd period – 2-minute drill. Quarterbacks call plays from minus 40-yard line.
3rd period – Red zone offense.
Defense – Two 15 minute periods.
1st period – Third down scripted plays from scout films.
2nd period – Red zone and goal line defense.
Thursday – Pre Game Day – Uppers only. Offense and defense time equal with emphasis on special teams. All plays are scripted from game film analysis.
Finally, I don’t believe it possible to be competitive in today’s world of high school football without taking advantage of the myriad of technology advances now available for coaches to use to their advantage. Teenagers today are exposed to a new way of life and learning. Remember that knowledge is power – the more you know the better you play.
• Pursuit to the Ball – It is pretty much a given that good offensive performance is exciting and pleasing to the players, the parents, and to the crowd. Coaches know that good offense gets approval but good defense wins championships. A key element in providing that defensive success is consistent and proper team pursuit to the ball on every snap. Since this is a given with our coaching staff, we need to impress upon our players that every film evaluation we do will have a strong emphasis on the level of effort we see in proper pursuit to get to the ball. Here are our basic principals of pursuit:
A. Don’t change speed when you run to the ball. That means you didn’t hustle at full effort to get to the ball carrier.
B. Don’t get passed by players in your position level. That means don’t follow your same colored jersey. The deeper you penetrate, the deeper your angle of pursuit and the slower you are the deeper the angle.
C. Stay off the ground. Treat it like the enemy or as a hot stove. It’s your worst enemy - don’t let them defeat you.
D. Don’t take the path of least resistance. If you go under a block instead of defeating it, you just won’t get there.
E. We want to swarm to the ball like killer bees. Film should show five or six defenders at the ball for the moment of tackling. Once the tackle is secure, other players should try to strip the ball.
F. When ball flow is away from you, bend and pursue and don’t penetrate deeper than the depth of the ball. Second and third level players must know who is responsible for cutback, reverse or quarterback escape on a pass.
G. Triangulation is essential for good team defense. Since many big players occur on the perimeter, you must define who has primary force, who has ultimate contain, who has alley fill and who has back up or pursuit to escape.
H. Line and second level defenders must know proper alignment, assignment, and gap responsibility. They must adjust to moving gaps, stunt changes, and know a two back set creates an extra gap. You must also adjust to a blocker and ball carrier out of sync or when to come under a block to make a tackle.
I. Pass rush should go through the blocker and while reading the quarterback. If his front hand comes off the ball, come under control and raise your left arm if the quarterback is right handed or right arm if he is left handed. If he pumps, don’t leave your feet and allow an escape. If you over-penetrate, come from behind and go over the top on the passing arm to jar the ball lose.
To play great team defense you don’t have to do the extraordinary. Just do the ordinary better than anyone else. Ability is God-given and allows you to be good. Attitude is self- giving and allows you to be great. Do your job – defense is about assignment and responsibility.
• Third Down Proficiency - There are a lot of phases of a football game that demand the focus of both coaches and players. Nothing is more impacting than third down proficiency on both sides of the ball. On offense you can extend drives and scoring opportunities and on defense it means forcing change of possessions and another chance for you to score. Team focus must be at its best in all critical third down challenges:
A. Our third down preparation – We will practice third down situations at least two times per week, usually on Wednesday and Thursday. On each occasion we script third and short (1 – 3 yards), third and medium (4 – 6), and third and long (7 – 10 yards). We look at our recent games third down history for our best and worst performances and evaluate our opponents third down personnel for strengths and vulnerable points of attack. We sometimes practice by scripting the three situations and then also mix them up to adjust to personnel changes, field position, or game time and circumstances. We really want to create a third down mentality of urgency as well as confidence in our ability to maintain possession.
B. Our opponents third down plays – Players and coaches alike will understand that when we look back at season’s end, third downs may be the greatest mitigating factor between overall success and failure. As a result, we spend as much or more time on defensive third down preparations and adjustments as we do for our offense. Film preparation is again invaluable for review and practice and we separate this by the three categories as well as game sequence. We script their plays by category and game sequence. The sequence means we may need personnel changes, varied stunt calls, or unexpected emergency adjustments.
In the final analysis, time spent in all phases of preparation should result in confidence, aggressiveness, and should throw the balance of third down results in your team’s favor.
• Red Zone Attitude – As impacting as third down plays can be, red zone offense and defense is even more dramatic in terms of success and failure. It needs a consistent season-long commitment in both planning and practice time so your team treats it like a special opportunity to show they deserve to be of championship consideration. If there is ever a time they want to be at their best, it is now. We treat red zone situations in three categories both on offense and defense. They are 20-yard line and in, 10-yard line and in, and 5-yard line and in. Here is our red zone strategy:
A. Offense: 20-yard line and in – The first objective should be to get a first down or better inside the 10. Personnel changes should not be necessary except for personnel groups by formation. Intense focus by all is expected to eliminate penalties and assignment mistakes. Scripted plays from each of our offensive categories are selected to include Power I, Ace and Tiger (tight double wing). Each has runs, play-action passes and options. Plays are selected by the coaches based on evaluating the opponent’s defense and our confidence from previous performances of our team.
B. Offense: 10-yard line and in – We now should expect more stunting, heavier fronts and more man defense this close to the goal line. Careful analysis of the opponent’s prior red zone defense from scout film and previous year’s games are essential to prepare a script for the upcoming game. The script should be the best from each phase of your offensive playbook. It should be diversified and take advantage of your best players attacking their most vulnerable positions. Game time remaining and current score can also affect decision making. Scoring is not an option - it is imperative.
C. Offense: 5-yard line and in – Mental focus must now be at its best. Mistakes here are magnified to a game-changing level. Coaches must pick the best to do their best. All gaps will be covered and filled by submarine charges or blitzes. Wide outs will be jarred and covered by men usually with inside leverage. Limit your script to your best short yardage plays. Have some play-action or bootlegs available. Have some pass plays from run action also available. Defenses are vulnerable to double cuts and backs delayed routes or combinations with wide outs. Take great pride that no one stops you from there.
D. Defense: 20-yard line and in – What they have done in previous games is a great indicator of what they will do to us. We script and diagram those plays for our scout offense. We also add in some of their best overall plays. Our mental set is to get them off par (three yards or less) to try and limit play selection.
E. Defense: 10-yard line and in – One of our defensive units we call “Heavy” which is basically our goal line look. At 10 yards out, we want size in the defensive line but still have a lot of field to defend so our second and third levels have to be mobile to handle pass and option threats. We will put extra emphases on perimeter contain, jam their best receivers, and have an aggressive stunt package. We will combo and switch on double wide outs on trips mentally being aware of who and where their best players are and what their best players have done in the red zone.
F. Defense: 5-yard line and in – The traditional short yardage goal line defense was an 8-3 gap with full penetration, squeezing the ends and a man defense. Modern offenses with multiple wide outs, and quarterbacks in the gun or pistol changes the equation and demands more versatile two-level looks. It is imperative to recognize that two or more backs in the backfield create an extra gap to defend and must be read by the second level players. The perimeter attack must be aggressive and forced immediately. Tackling well is more critical here than any place on the field. Nothing can be more frustrating to an opponent than to be stopped inside their five-yard line preventing a score.