During conference and regional play, schemes and ways of attacking offenses and defenses tend to stay the same. In the playoffs, when the number of possible opponents drastically increases, this won’t always be the case.

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On the Coach and Coordinator podcast, USA Football Senior Manager in Education and Training Andy Ryland teamed up with host Keith Grabowski to discuss practicing during the playoffs as well as different schemes coaches and teams may run into in the postseason.

“There definitely tends to be in various locations kind of regional aspects of how the game is played,” begins Ryland. “So, while a lot of the people in your conference or your local area may play a similar style, you may get out somewhere else where they do play a different style, where this is the predominant defense for the teams from that other league. So, what’s their story? Who are they? How have they been successful? Are there special techniques or things you need to address?”

Maybe the team you are set up to face plays something you have seen before. But this team may also have the capabilities of expanding upon that. Maybe it’s been weeks or months since you’ve faced it. The preparation for this is quite simple according to Ryland. “So, it’s refreshing those guys and making sure they’re still sharp on that,” says the former Penn State linebacker. “What [the opposing team] is best at is obviously what we want to gear up to stop. Their best pressures, their best blitzes, what they like to do on offense.”

Previously in blogs and on the Coach and Coordinator podcast, self-scouting has been emphasized. Ryland affirms being aware of who your team is and what your tendencies were during the regular season can aid in knowing what to expect in the upcoming contest. “Envisioning that [your opponent] has a quality staff, what are the things that they would try to attack us with?” starts Ryland. “[This can be] based on maybe some of the tough performances we’ve had or the losses we’ve had where people have been able to do well against us. Do we think that could be a part of their package in addition to their core, key plays?”

All those points of advice summarize Ryland’s thoughts on preparing for a mostly unknown opponent. “I think that just gives you a great sense of [the fact that] our guys are prepared for both what we would consider the known, what are the most likely unknowns and then what are the key techniques we have to be prepared for and what are the adjustments we expect to make,” says the former USA Men’s National Rugby Team member. “Expected adjustments or expected tweaks or the if/then situations we prepare our guys for make those sideline changes a whole lot easier, especially under the pressure of a playoff game where we can try to tell our guys it’s just one more game and all those things. But then we know the win-or-go-home mentality takes on something significant. For our seniors, it could very well be their last game and we want them as calm, as comfortable and as prepared to not have any of those emotions creep in when change needs to be made.”