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Keys to Winning Football Games
The Battles Within the Game
Just a couple of ideas and keys to look for the next time you attend a football game…
An important note: I believe that these are universal truths regardless of level of play; however, I also would like to point out that with the high school football game being condensed into only 48 minutes, the importance of each specific key is magnified.
1. Win the turnover/takeaway battle.
In a 48-minute game, every possession counts. Turnovers are deadly for two reasons: you lose possession of the football, and you potentially put your opponent in a favorable field position. You must protect the football. This idea probably does not come as a surprise to those who follow the game.
It is imperative that coaches dedicate time to practice both taking the ball away from opponents and protecting the ball themselves. I remember watching a television special back in 1989 that covered a Philadelphia Eagles practice under then Head Coach Buddy Ryan. Defensive practices under Ryan stressed techniques on forcing fumbles and interceptions.
On the other side of the ball, great offensive coaches understand the importance of protecting the football. As you may expect, they do more than preach it, they also coach it and practice it.
Case in point: Looking at the turnover-takeaway battle, those who went to the North Penn game know it was clearly a tale of two halves for both teams. On the La Salle side of the ball, MattMagarity threw a couple of interceptions in the first half, putting North Pennin position to take 21-10 lead going into halftime. However, in the second half, North Penn had a difficult time holding onto the football, and it was their four turnovers that helpedlead to the Knights’ 44-27 defeat.
P.S. For any coaches or parents who are interested in drills that force takeaways or promote ball security, please feel free to contact me at christopherjfelton@gmail.com, and I would be more than happy to provide you with some drills and/or techniques.
2. Win the down and distance battle (this also could be considered the “Mixed Strategy” battle).
The best offenses are the offenses that keep the defense guessing. Whenever an offense finds itself in a position where it can no longer mix its strategies, the defense now has an advantage. There are numerous reasons why this can occur, but probably the number one variable is down and distance.
If you look at down and distance tendencies over the course of a season, you will start to see an association between down and distance and play calling. Of course, this can depend on the coach as well as other factors such as field position, score, and time left in the game or half.
What I have experienced and observed is when an offense is “on schedule,” they can afford to use a “mixed strategy,” and when an offense is “off schedule,” you can expect pass, screen, and draw.
When an offense finds itself in an “on schedule” or mixed strategy situation, they call their bread and butter plays, play action passes, or try to take more shots down field. In short, they become less predictable. As a result, many defensive coaches find themselves calling defenses that are good at stopping both the run and pass. However, it isn’t a secretthat if there was one defensive scheme that was effective in stopping every offensive play, everyone in the nation would run it, and football would become a boring sport.
When offenses face “off schedule” situations, they are pigeon holed into which plays they can run, and defenses begin to lick their chops. This is seen at every level of the game. Teams that are constantly off schedule give up more sacks and turn the ball over at a higher rate.They also end up losingmore football games.
What are “on schedule” (mixed strategy) and “off schedule” situations?
1st down regardless of distance is normally a mixed strategy situation.
2ndand 10 - mixed strategy (I find that 2nd and 10 is one of those situations that is impacted by the previous 1st and 10 play call.) Often, if a team passes on first down and they have an incompletion, they usually respond with a run in hopes of creating a manageable 3rd down. If the team ran on 1st down and was stuffed, they will come out and throw to loosen up the defense.
3rd and short – four-down territory- mixed strategy
For other situations, use this equation:
Down x Distance = a number that will determine on or off schedule situations
If the answer is less than 16 - this is on schedule and a mixed strategy situation
If the answer is more than 16 -it is off schedule, and defensive coordinators think pass, draw, screen.
With that being said, what are the most common things that offenses must do to stay “on schedule” or help negate “off schedule situations?”
1. Win on first down
2. Avoid sacks or penalties (especially on first down)
3. Practice draw and screen
Speaking of penalties, what is the top penalty that has the closest association to losing football games? If you guessed false start, you were right on the money. And why do great football teams never seem to get called for false start? If you guessed that it is because they practice it, you were right again. The best football teams use some sort of cadence drill variation, a.k.a. the championship drill.
So more important than the number of plays an offense runs is the how many “on schedule” plays an offense runs.
P.S. If you are watching a Philadelphia Eagles game coached by Andy Reid, forget everything that you just read. But the next time you head out to see your favorite high school football team in action, keep asking yourself, are they “on” or “off” schedule?
Case in Point: As I was viewing the North Penn-La Salle game, I couldn’t help but notice in the first half how many times La Salle was ‘off schedule’ and how many times North Penn was beating them on first down, thus forcing La Salle to work with second and long third down situations.
Once again, email me at christopherjfelton@gmail.com if you would like some pass rush drills and offensive drills that are used to help eliminate those pesky false starts.
3. Focus on winning the explosive play battle first, and be less concerned with time of possession.
It is a common misconception that time of possession is a tell-all statistic (more on possession later).Contrary to this belief, it’s actually the number of BIG plays that each team executesthat is more important in determining the outcome of the game.
Explosive plays are the great equalizers to all other keys of the game. On offense, any play over 20 yards could be considered an “explosive play” and on special teams, any play over 40 yards can be considered explosive.
The most successful coaches understand this, and therefore, it is coached and practiced. Think of it like this…you may play an inferior team in every aspect of the game, but if they have one player who can go coast to coast on any given play, all it may take is four plays before they easily rack up 28 points.
This does not mean that a successful coach plans on throwing a Hail Mary every play. Unless of course, they think their QB and receiver will connect on 4 out 40 HM attempts in a game. Of course, I am joking, but at the same time, it does illustrate a point about the impact of a big play.
More realistically, teams practice making big plays and defending big plays all of the time. For example, successful teams coach, practice, and excel at downfield blocking. The best teams demand it. Downfield blocking is hustle, and hustle makes things happen.
On the defensive side, there are two ways to prevent big plays. First, play levels on defense. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket trying to load up the line of scrimmage, leaving no safety net behind you.The secondis great team pursuit on defense. Pursuing at proper angles is key. I have played and coached at various levels, and have studied countless other programs. Pursuit drills vary greatly depending on the level and program. Regardless, every quality program practices proper pursuit.
In terms of time of possession – time of possession is a key only when it becomes a priority to the offense. In other words, if a coach feels that in order to win,his team must keep the ball out of the hands of the opponent, then it becomes a factor. This is a common strategy when a team lacks explosive players, and their opponent is loaded with them. Also, this becomes more meaningful when the offense is trying to run out the clock.
Case in Point: I attended the Abington-Central Bucks East game on Friday night, and for the most part, I saw some positives for both defenses. CB East has a young defense with great potential. They have hard-working players and quality coaching. They did some good things; however, Abington was able to have scores of 52, 34, 43 and 33 yards – four scores combined for a total of 162 yards. Those four plays represented 46% of the Abington offense. It is my understanding that Souderton played excellent defense for the vast majority of its game against Neshaminy, except for three plays of 69, 29 and 87 yards – those plays were the difference in the game.Unbelievably, those three plays accounted for 81% of the Neshaminy offense! Reading about other games, I got the sense that teams are playing fairly good defense with the exception of three or four big plays, whichspelled the difference in the win/loss column.
Disclaimer: This is in no way an attempt to criticize defensive coordinators around the league (defenses under my direction have given up plenty of big plays).My goal is to simply point out that by eliminating three or four big plays, some of Friday night’s end results could have been different.
For those interested in some pursuit drills and downfield blocking drills please email me at christopherjfelton@gmail.com
4. Have productive and meaningful possessions.
To me, a productive or meaningful possession accomplishes one of three things:
1st goal: Score touchdowns
2nd goal: Kick field goals
(In the absence of scoring points), the 3rd goal should be to pin the opponent inside their own 20.
Going for it on fourth down is not a bad strategy, so long as the coach feels that the reward and probability of moving the chains outweighs the risk of forfeiting field position.
You have to win in the kicking game.
Understand that there is a direct correlation to starting field position and scoring.
Momentum + starting field position= points
5. Win in the red zone or at least force a “draw.”
The red zone makes the game smaller (in terms of area). It becomes an entirely different game.
Teams must practice red zone offense and defense on a weekly basis.
Players must be prepared and know their opponent’s tendencies.
Never underestimate the value of the kicker.
Absolutely no sacks and no penalties!!!!
A visit to the red zone that results in a touchdown is a victory for the offense.
A visit to the red zone that results in zero points for the offense is a victory for the defense.
A visit to the red zone that results in a field goal is a draw for both teams.
6. You must win in the last two minutes of the half and game.
The last possessions of the game or half make the game smaller (in terms of time). It becomes an entirely different game.
These situations must be practiced.
Time management
Maintain leads or taking leads
Momentum changes
Different tempo
NO Sacks!!!!
Case in point: I was extremely impressed with how well North Penn orchestrated a touchdown drive within the last two minutes of the first half. Dan Morehouse and I both agreed that although that touchdown was only worth six points, it had a much higher value in terms of momentum. Even though North Penn wasn’t able to sustain it – or perhaps more accurately, La Salle was able to come back and put things together, I’m pretty sure that if North Penn had won that game, many people would have gone back and said the difference was that touchdown at the end of the half.
7. The battle of personnel (Jimmy’s and Joe’s) and the numbers battle (X’s and O’s).
In most situations in high school, the coach cannot control who is on the team. They need to have systems in place that are adaptable year in and year out.
In game situations, coaches need to make sure they have the correct match-ups. Defensive coaches should call man-to-man defenses only if the feel that they have equal or better personnel or that they will get to the quarterback before the quarterback can get the ball to the identified mismatch.
In terms of schemes, it will always be a game with 11 people on defense and 11 on offense, but both offensive and defensive coaches have always tried to increase their productivity within the 11.
On offense, it is always about maximizing your threats, and different schemes accomplish this in various ways. They say option teams create an additional one half of a player when they run the option and an additional player when they run the triple option. How good has Council Rock South been in the last three or four years? By this point, Coach Bedesem has a system in place, and the players run it well year in and year out.Wing T teams attempt to put defenders in a conflict with their series-based attack (making them feel like they need to be in two places at once), “Is that trap, buck sweep, or waggle?” If you have any questions about the Wing T, contact Souderton head coach Ed Gallagher - nobody knows it better. Power teams like North Penn and Neshaminyare about out-manning their opponents at the point of attack with pulls and formations. Currently, there is the spread offense at CB South that maximizes spacing concepts in the passing and running games, and, of course, there is the zone read at Abington. It’s neat you can find all of these offenses throughout the Suburban One League. CB East and Quakertown both have double, no, make that triple, threat quarterbacks. Just as importantly, both coaches know how to use those special players. This being said, for my money, one of the best offensive play callers, who truly maximizes his resources on offense, is Chris Cleland at CB West.
With so many threats and so many different offenses, what is the best defense? In my opinion you have to run multiple defenses. Sure you have your base, but you need to coach techniques and then mix and match according to your opponent. Tailor make your defense - there is no one size fits all.
Defensively, the new trend is the zone blitz and other match-up zone defenses (man concepts within zone coverage). Additionally, in this area, you are seeing less of cover three and more cover two and cover four variations. The league is adapting- it has to.
A few ideas to help maximize resources:
1. Create the right matchup and recognize it.
2. Hold the chalk last (have a simple “check with me” or audible system in place).
3. NO WASTED PLAYS!!!! Don’t be outmanned –call a timeout!!!!
4. Halftime adjustments are key!
8. Win the resiliency, character, and sudden change battle.
Things will not always be perfect.
How does the team react when they are losing? Do they drop their heads or do they come out counter punching?
How does the team react when they are winning? Do they take the foot off the gas or do they look for knockout punches?
How does your team react to sudden change or sudden shifts in momentum? Are they saying, “I’m tired put someone else in,”or are they excited for the opportunity to be the one to close the door on the opponent?
Winning teams are focused. What does the sideline look like? What does the team look like in pregame? What are they like during the week? The summer? Lifting in January?
Are they focused or do they worry about things that they cannot control?
Remember W.I.N.- What’s Important Now
Winning on sudden change situations is huge, and should be preached in every program.Sudden change- change of possession- turnovers or sudden change of momentum – turnovers, big hits, stopped on fourth down, missed extra point, and special teams breakdowns. Again, good teams are prepared for sudden change situations – this is practiced and coached!!!
Resiliency may be the one key of the game that has already been determined before the first kickoff.
Case in Point: I couldn’t have been more impressed with Matt Magarity of La Salle and La Salle in general. On Saturday night, they personified the word resiliency. Perhaps North Penn ran out of gas at the end, but there was a period from the first quarter through the third quarter that both teams were like two heavyweight champs in the middle of the ring going toe-to-toe, trading blows and not flinching. That’s the game of football right there – the ups and downs, the ebbs and flows, and both teams were able to respond to one another’s attempt to steal momentum. That’s a credit to both the players and the coaches.
In another game this weekend, Hatboro-Horsham was trailing 26-0, yet dug deep to respond with 27 unanswered points. They went on to win – what an impressive effort by those athletes. Down the road, Council Rock North was down two scores early and came back to beat Haverford 20-19.
Wissahickon, under first-year head coach Jeff Cappa, was up 3-0 the majority of the game and then gave up a fourth quarter touchdown to trail 7-3. The players made a commitment to each other to come back and score a late touchdown to win 10-7.
Hatboro-Horsham, Council Rock North and Wissahickon are three programs that did not have successful years last year, three programs that it would have been easy for the kids to say ‘ho hum, here we go again,’ but they did not allow themselves to think that way. It’s examples like that throughout the first week - and that I guarantee will continue throughout the entire season – that makes high school football so great.
Maybe of all the keys to winning, number 8 is the most important. At the end of the day,or perhaps the end of the season, a fumble or a missed fourth down attempt will eventually be forgotten.The lessons of resiliency, character and how to respond when things are going right or, in some cases not going right, are lessons those kids will take for the rest of their lives. At some point in the future, these playersmay be – metaphorically speaking – down 26-0 in their jobs or their relationships. They just can’t quit. They must try and come back, some way, somehow.The lessons learned on the field are bound to carry over into the lives of these student athletes.