Play Calling

There are several factors involved in play calling.

• Personal
• Space 
• Defensive Structure 
• What is working
• Preparedness 

Personal this is determined by several factors your personal should be getting better right now until August rolls around.  This is off-season workouts, 7 on 7, Spring Ball (if you are allowed to do it), summer workouts, and finally having to steal for Urban Meyer high GSF.  My philosophy of personal is that you cannot control what level of athleticism that they came to you at but your job is to guide them to get as close as you can to that genetic ceiling as possible.  Remember Michael Jordan was cut as a high school freshman from the basketball team and through inhuman determination with practicing for the sport he loved became the greatest basketball player ever! You ever wonder what Mike Leach is writing down on that little index card during games? It was a hit chart that he counted how many times each of his receivers got the ball he was looking for even distribution.  The problem is that I don't live in that world I can only on campus recruit.  This coming up year I will have a couple of really good high school football players.  I am going to make sure that each one of those of guys touch the ball at least 20-25 times a game and then after that I am going to equally distribute the ball to the rest of the offensive skill guys.    

Space we are going to attack space.  In the run game look for bubbles and in the pass game look for grass.  With our offensive scheme the defense is going to have to defend 53 and a 1/3 yards wide and 18 yards from the line of scrimmage.  Also we are going to throw the post against outside leverage Un Capped and throw the go or the corner route against inside leverage Un Capped.

Defensive structure it's a mathematical equation:

2 Safeties= run the ball

1 Safety=utilize the option

0 Safeties=Throw the ball and Screens

Now of course we will run the ball, throw screens, and throw the ball against all defensive structures but as a general rule to attack the defense it is simple why try to run a play against the teeth of a defense when your hims are the same or not as good as his hims.

Do what is working try not to out smart your-self. Against one team this year we ran Counter 31 times for 260 yards for an 8.3 yards per play. Both of Bill Snyder's stints at Kansas State if his offense would find a play that worked he world run it over and over again until the defense stopped it then he would go to the next read or complement to it.

I am going to go back to my Copperas Cove days and since we run only two basic run schemes a Gap and Zone.  I am going to talk to our Offensive line coach and see what he thinks about just working Gap one day and Zone the other day.  The way we conduct practice offensive line gets a minimum of 10 5 minutes segments of individual.  That way all of his individual run blocking drills can be focused on that scheme for that day and tie in our screen game and passing game into it.  

Zone Day:

• Zone Running Stretch, Inside Zone, Speed Option and Speed Sweeps
• Sprint Out Passing Game
• Solid Screens
• Fast Screens
• 3 Step Passing Game

Gap Day

• Gap Running Game Counter and Power
• 5 Step Passing Game
• Counter Screens
• Jail Break Screens
• 3 Step Passing Game

Time and Reps last year we averaged 1 rep every 30 seconds during Group and Team.  This year our goal is going to run 1 play every 20 seconds if an athlete continually makes mistakes then his coach will pull him out put in a back up in and coach him up. We are going to have to coach off of film and coach on the run.    

Ohio State Urban Meyer Year 2

Philosophy and Culture of Ohio State

• Don't blame losses on the players its the coaches fault. 
• Not spending enough time with the players.
• Take the time to genuinely care the players.
• Brutally honesty, Demanding, Truly care for players

The Signing Class in the Big Ten

• One out of the three kids not make it to year three even with having the best weight coaches, and academic support available
• One out of the three kids are on academic probation and if they do get a degree it is not a very good degree. 
• And the other guy makes it!
• We cannot let them disappear kids need us as coaches to keep them from disappearing

What three things keeps you awake at night?

• If those three things keep you awake up at night then devote your time to that.

• Why was Ohio State not the most fundamental team in America?
• How do you handle being undefeated that won alot of close blue collar games.
• Was told they were the best team in America during Christmas Break

Why does a young man fail?

• Lack of truth in his life!
• Why do football teams fail they don't trust their coaches.
• Winning is fradge 

Evaluation

• Do not lose a kid!
• Only bad people leave the program
• Take two weeks to self-evaluate
• Strength continue to improve and enhance it
• Weakness develop a plan to bring that weakness up "The Chase"
• What kind of teammate are you? 
• Selfless and Heart
• Academics "how important is it to you?"
• Off-season commitment Attitude and Effort 
• Football Commitment
• Are you satisfied?  

Teach Accountability

• Draft 
• Divide it into captions 1st round draft pick
• Hard working
• High GSF Give a Shit Factor 
• 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, Round 
• You need to be told to change. 

  Real life Wednesdays

• Graduate back in the day you can get a Job
• Nowadays they cannot get a Job
• Get a Degree
• Understand the Alumni base
• Educate on Finances and Real Life
• Goal is to have 4 job opportunities when they graduate.
• Action Plan
• Build Resume
• Finational Breakdown
• Interests
• What does a job entail?
• Difference between a high school diploma and a college degree
• Teach them how to put on a shirt and tie and have a conversation about life after football.       

Mickey "Coach Mick" Marotti speaking to Ohio High School Football Coaches in 2012

I was listing to "Through My Eyes" and Tim Tebow was describing some of the things that Coach Marotti put him through at Florida when he came in the spring after his high school senior fall. Here is a presentation of  Mickey "Coach Mick" Marotti speaking to Ohio High School Football Coaches in 2012. 

WE WILL GET WHAT WE EMPHASIZE 

• Work Toughness/Discipline

• Maximizing Genetic Potential: Improving

• EFFORT and DISCIPLINE: To Work on Hard Things

• Winning

WE ARE WHAT WE TOLERATE 

K.I.S.S. Principle

• Make it Easy
• Simple Things
• Use Common Sense
• Make them GO HARD
• Compete
• Progress
• If it Looks bad, IT IS
• Make FUN
• Have ENERGY GIVERS around the Program 

IT IS NOW WHAT YOU DO
BUT RATHER HOW YOU DO IT 

PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING 

Incorporate a comprehensive strength/conditioning program. Based on a precise, periodic year round plan of training. Ultimate goal is to train to be the best football player possible.  All training phases are based on the progressive overload principal.

Specific Program Goals

• Improve as a Football Player
• Maximize physical potential and physical/mental readiness
• Increase physical capacity
• Speed/Power/Strength/Flexibility/Conditioning/Body Comp   
• Help minimize injuries, decrease rehab time
• Develop confidence and unity
• Develop mental toughness and work toughness 

Action Required

• Organized, Disciplined, Precise Plan
• Create Intense Competitive Environment
• Develop Overall Toughness
• Demand Discipline. Accountability
• Sports Specific
• Coach Extremely Hard
• High "JUICE" Meter  
• Enthusiasm breeds Energy
• Energy breeds Effort
• Effort breeds Excellence

Weigh Room / Strength

Focus on ground based. multi-joint movements

Make program hard with proper progression

Use different rep/sets/exercise

4 Day Program/ 3 Day Program

Highly competitive

Begin movement and plyometric progression 

Conditioning / Speed

2-3 days per week

Focus on Mechanics

Focus on football speed (ACCELERATION/starts/agilities) 

General to Specific conditioning, energy system, interval training

Highly competitive speed and agility program 

Nutrition

• Provide recovery drinks post exercise, Nutritional beverages for weight gain and weight maintenance
• Education / Provide information
• Pre practice / lift Fueling Stations
• Breakfast Club: pinpoint High need athletes (wt gain, fat loss, wt loss, incoming freshmen) 
• Monday-Friday 6:00-7:30 am
• mandatory training table 5:000-7:00 Monday-Thursday
• 1-2 Nutritionist present
• Body composition bod pod/skin calipers
• Goal to build lean muscle mass 

Based on ATTITUDE, ACCOUNTABILITY, RELENTLESS EFFORT, TOUGHNESS and PERFORMANCE

Highly Competitive 

Marotti employing Motivational Techniques

Marotti employing Motivational Techniques

Teaching 101

As a teacher and a coach this is message we have to hear at least once a month.  Urban Meyer is a Coach who hails from both the Lou Holtz and Woody Hayes coaching tree.  After watching this video I self-reflected several things:

• Coaches are ultimately responsible for their players performance.
• That the X's and O's are not that important. 
• All players learn differently (Chris Leak example).

You ether coach it or allow it!

TEACHING 101

Objective – To get the student to:

• Retain information/skill
• Use information/skill
• Increase production because of information/skill

Style:

• Clear: Organized & clear objectives
• What are you asking that kid to do?
• Is he getting it done?
• Must be an objective to what you are asking him to do, or don’t do it.
• Clean: Use of tools, tip sheets, video, etc.
• Concise: Broken down to the smallest detail necessary – get to the point
• Direct: Student engaged in discussion – ability to teach
• Create an environment that puts students on alert – promote stimulation to the brain.
• The difference between a teacher and a presenter is that a presenter presents information and fails the student if they don’t get it.  The teacher is creative and uses all resources at hand to help students learn.

Atmosphere:

• Clean organized environment
• Desk with notebook and pencil (no pen)
• Both feet on the ground; no hoods/hats; no cell phones
• Engaged – teacher moves around the room
• Students are on edge

Every action is either taught or allowed, good and bad.

Presenters present information and hope it works out.

Teachers present information and find a way to make it work out:

• As a coach, when you evaluate your players on film and what you see is not what you are teaching, you have to blow the whole thing up; don’t wait – something’s not right.
• This is when a coach has to take the ego and put it aside and say, “Wait a minute, this is not working.”  It’s NOT the kid!  You never want to hear, “That damn kid didn’t do this or that.”
• As a coach, it is your job to get that kid to do this or that, because you are a teacher, not a presenter.
• Your job depends on your ability to help your kids figure out how to do things the right way.

Content is 20% of what a student learns.  How you get that [20% - content] into someone’s mind is more important; it’s the delivery, the passion, moving around using teaching tools.  It’s the ability to, after 15 minutes, get them up, stretch, and tell a joke, whatever stimulates that teaching environment.

It’s not just the content that is important in the teaching.  If it was the content, everybody would do the same stuff.   It’s the delivery, the passion, the way that a coach moves around the teaching environment that counts.

Become a head coach because of the passion with which you teach.

Competitive Excellence – the basis of who we are; developing players toward competitive excellence:

At the end of the day, when that number is called, are you ready?

1. Game reps vs. mental reps

• 16 reps in team/skelly/scout; how to get the most out of those?

2. Teaching progression

• Before a kid is ready to make a play it has been:
• Installed in a meeting room, checkers, video, etc.
• Direct teaching – it has been rehearsed back
• Walk through – teach proper details; spacing, alignments, etc.; body learning
• Individuals – developing the specifics
• Developers – what are the fundamental skills of each position group to be developed every day
• Specifics – job descriptions, put player in position to do exactly what we expect him to do, i.e. double team, kick-out, turnover circuit; you get what you emphasize
• Group Work – QBs/WRs, RB/OL, etc.; scheme specific skills
• Scout Work – teach tempo
• Game Rep – preparing them for the main arena by creating a mini arena based in competitive excellence, O vs. D – backups get mental reps with unit coach
• Showtime – “Rip the chains off and go play as hard as you can, you’ve trained your entire life for this moment, and you are officially at competitive excellence. You are ready . . . make all the mistakes you can, point A to point B as fast as you can go – 4-6 seconds of relentless effort and go play!  Get there in a hurry and be a little pissed…”
• In the end, it’s all about building confidence so that players are ready to step in and compete at the highest levels possible.

“If you practice the way you play, there shouldn’t be any difference, that’s why I practice so hard.  Anything was possible once the game started . . . everything we did at practice became competitive.  I took pride in the way I practiced.” – Michael Jordan

Reminders:

Every phase of teaching for competitive excellence includes 1) a clear objective (meeting room; cone signifying finish in drill, etc.), 2) a clear expectation by the teacher and 3) concise planning and execution (broken down to the smallest point; what is your step angle; what is your hand placement, etc.).