After taking the necessary steps to organize your offensive break down, then analysis on each area of offense can begin. First down is a logical place to begin. With any kind of statistical break down or quality control work, you should be looking to have some basic questions answered. The answers you find, may not be what you were expecting. But if you begin the process with a purpose, then it allows the data and analysis to have value for you and your staff in the decision making process.

Here are some suggested questions to begin the process of analyzing first downs:

What is our run/pass ratio on first down?

What is our run efficiency on first down (how many runs get 4 yards or better)?

What is our pass efficiency on first down (how many passes get 4 yards or better)?

What plays are most efficient on first down?

What plays are least efficient on first down?

What defensive fronts do we see most on first down?

What coverages do we see most on first down?

How much blitzing do we see on first down?

What plays were explosive on first down (12+ yard run & 16+ yard pass)?

What personnel group is most efficient on first down?

What personnel group is least efficient on first down?

Do we prefer strong side or weak side runs and passes on first down?

Do we prefer field or boundary side runs and passes on first down?

What protections were best on first down?

These questions should also be compiled based upon each respective opponent. The subsets, cataloged based on each opponent, will direct you in developing an initial game plan for that opponent in the future. 

Once these questions have been answered, the data will reveal the strengths and weaknesses of your team. Now you can delve deeper into those questions and search for the ‘why’. For example, the knowledge that four verticals produced eight explosive plays on first down will allow you to specifically examine those plays to understand why they were so successful. You may find that in those situations, the opponents ran a certain coverage. Now you know this play is effective on first down when the opponent utilizes that particular coverage scheme.

I find the most effective method to accumulate this data in an easy to use way, is through ‘the answer sheet’. The ‘answer sheet’ is something I picked up at a clinic while listening to University of Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez. The ‘answer sheet’ neatly catalogs your standard package versus certain defenses, and also against certain opponents. Some of these options may seem obvious and already part of the strategy, but having your answers assembled in one convenient place will provide an effective starting point for game planning the season and each opponent.

If you create an ‘answer sheet’, then you provide yourself with a starting point for your research and development this off season. Specifically, if your results show that you were not as good as you want to be, or there are certain areas you want to improve, now you can data-mine the ‘answer sheet’ for solutions.

The data should turn back into questions that you can try to have answered while you attend clinics or visit with fellow coaches. With a prepared ‘answer sheet’, now when you’re talking ball with another coach you have something specific to focus on and discuss. As a result, you can bring back new and effective ideas to your program that will help you solve the problems or improve your team’s ability to move the ball on first down.

 

Keith Grabowski has been a football coach for 26 years, currently serving as an offensive assistant and technology coordinator at Oberlin College in Ohio. He previously was a head coach at the high school level for eight years and the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Baldwin Wallace University. Grabowski serves as an advisor for several sports technology companies. He is a columnist for American Football Monthly and writes his own blog at thecoachesedge.com/blog. He’s the author of “101+ Pro Style Pistol Offense Plays” and five other books available on thecoachesedge.com and operates Coaches Edge Technologies. Follow him on Twitter @CoachKGrabowski.