WITH THE PLAYOFFS now in sight, it’s constantly gut-check time on the sidelines and up in the coaching booths. Prior to every snap, a coach is making a decision that, at any time, can instantly change the course of the season.
Adjustments and surprises are part of the game, but many programs’ approaches are intentionally transparent to the staff, players and even opponents. Some coaches are so strongly principled in certain things that they vow never to deviate from them. These are the things a coach is willing to stake his program’s success on — the things a team is willing to live and die by.
This brings to mind a recent clinic talk by University of Kentucky’s Paul Dunn on goal-line offense. The run-game coordinator and offensive line coach (previously of the highly successful offense at Kansas State), remarked that once UK hits the 6-yard-line, it’s not kicking. “That’s four-down territory,” he says. “When that close to the end zone, our players know they’re going to buckle their chin straps and pound it in.”
Another of his principles is that passing is not an option that close to the goal. In fact, only six running plays can be called. Everyone knows what’s coming, and that’s fine by Dunn. This aggressive attitude has even been known to bring about a feeling of defeat by the defense — even before the goal-line is crossed. “Our success is about passion, commitment and devotion to the goal-line offense,” he says.
As you enter your season’s crunch time, reflect on your coaching cornerstones. What defines your program on and off the field? What things are responsible for your program’s success, and should never be veered from? What aspect of your game do you stand up and “dare your opponent to stop?”
History continues to crown championships to coaches that stay true to themselves and the mission and plans they set in motion months earlier. Are you ready?
Read Dunn’s philosophy and plays from 59 coaches in the “Best-Of-The-Best Goal-Line Plays” Coaching Report.