Coodinator's Playcalling

[joshie]

I have the Washington Redskins. I am in my second year. Greg Blache is my defensive coordinator. He has Level 5 playcalling but I cant tell. His playcalling doesnt generate sacke or ints. I have also playcalled based on the ask coach function and he literally probably suggests the same 5 or 6 plays when he has a playbook that has numerous plays in it. My offensive coodinator calls the game a lot more diverse. Any thoughts on this?

[DocBean]

I've noticed this too with my Coordinators.

Here's what I think it is.
With defense it doesn't matter how much you mix up your plays as long as you're not running the same play over and over again. It's actually better if your defense's play knowledge is really high. So you can be a top 10 defense just by running your 5-6 best plays only.

On Offense I had to learn the hard way. My first season (not counting the actual first season where I purposefully dumped the season) I ran a handful of my own created plays and went 18-1 winning the superbowl. In the next year I tried the same plays and had interceptions all over the field.

If you run the same plays too much the defenses shut you down. So on offense you have to mix it up a lot.

The trick is not to run any play more then 2-3% of the time. If you start to get to 8-10% those plays that were amazing for you and always worked will get you picked off, or tackled for losses. I've coached games where I just knew an unlearned play wasn't going to work on 3rd and long, but ran it anyway because I didn't want to run the same old stuff, and I'd get a first down. It's really hard for me not to fall back on the bread and butter of my offense, but I noticed I started blowing teams out when I didn't use them at all, and I'd win in overtime or late in the game when I relied on my best stuff.

[DocBean]

P.S. I try not to let my DC run my defense. I don't like running the same plays, and he usually runs man coverage plays which aren't workng for my team. I've been running 75% blitzing zone plays instead, but I mix them up heavily.

I've noticed if you're playing Tom Brady or Payton Manning you have to show blitz, but drop most people back into zone coverage. In man coverage, or by blitzing too many players they just pick you apart every time.

With a lot of zones disguised as blitzes you can get a lot of picks.

[Mike3207]

I haven't yet seen my coordinator run one of my created or downloaded plays. It's beginning to look like I'll have to call the plays myself if I want them called.

[kcarr]

on defense unless I am blitzing a lot (which I try not to unless running a 3-4) I really only call 3 or 4 plays from my based set, 3 or 4 from nickel, and 3 or 4 from dime. Running a 4 man front I expect my talent to get sacks, not my playcalling, and I expect my pass rush to cause the ints, once again, not my playcalling.

[TheDMG]

Quote: Originally Posted by DocBean

I've noticed this too with my Coordinators. Here's what I think it is. With defense it doesn't matter how much you mix up your plays as long as you're not running the same play over and over again. It's actually better if your defense's play knowledge is really high. So you can be a top 10 defense just by running your 5-6 best plays only.

I'm not sure if I agree with this. I've found that often times when I call a defensive play late in a game that I haven't called yet I frequently get a big play (sacks, picks), even if the play isn't as effective in more frequent usage. And even your best defensive plays can begin to fail if you call them to frequently. I also find that, besides usage of individual plays, varying what types of plays you call in various situations can be quite beneficial. In my current franchise I don't get a ton of sacks, but I frequently get sacks on the first few possessions just by varying my 3rd down playcalling between conservative man coverage, heavy blitzes, conservative zones and zone blitzes. I would probably be even more successful if I paid closer attention to my playcalling tendency in other situations, but mixing up third and long strategies is one area I've found great success with.

You are right about the play knowledge being a big factor, but defensive playbooks aren't that big - it's pretty easy to have your entire defensive playbook mastered if you devote attention to it.