So you just got the job you always dreamed of! Or you need to answer some critical question about your current offense!

Photo by Keith Allison (flikr.com)

Are these questions are swirling in your mind?

  • How many plays should you have?
  • How many blocking schemes?
  • How many passing concepts?
  • Should you run the ball more or pass it more?
  • What formations should you use?
  • Can you use personnel groupings?
  • How will you help your team make adjustments to all the different defenses they will see this season?
  • What about teams that blitz a lot?
  • Where should you put your best athletes?
  • What drills should you spend your practice time on?
  • Can your assistants coach it well?

Click Here to get our free guide to help you find the offense you should run.

 Let me speak from experience that it's not necessarily the offense that you run, it's the critical factors you must consider before you pick your offense and all the plays you will be running. What do I mean by that? Let's say you decide to run the Double Wing Offense. It could be great or terrible depending on some key factors. One of them is the plays that you have chosen. If you pick plays that your players cannot execute then you will not be successful. Or if you pick running plays without play action passing that complements them, you won't have an answer for defenses that cheat or overload. But how do we know which plays will work and which ones won't? One way to determine this is the "Is it Sound?" question.

A good offense, regardless of the type, must have sound principles that it is run on. It should be easy to understand how the offense is attacking the defense and why. Is it counting numbers in the box, identifying overhang players, or looking to exploit mismatches? Do the blocking schemes cover all contingencies and have adjustments for blitzes and stunts? Don't fall into the trap of saying that you can always audible if the defense adjusts. That assumes a lot about the ability of yourself and your quarterback…and a lot can go wrong! Are there logical adjustments that allow you to run a play no matter what the defense shows?

My first season ever as an offensive coordinator I decided to build my offense all by myself. So I searched the internet for the perfect offense. I found a lot of free playbooks. Eventually, I settled on an offensive style I really liked. I created the perfect playbook and on day one started installing it. Everything was great for a couple of days…then it all started to fall apart. By the second game of the season I had completely changed all the plays and was installing new plays the day before the game. I knew it was a disaster but it was too late. I was lucky I had an amazing head coach who helped me through the mess.

I don't want any coach to have to experience what I did that season. So to help you out, I've created a free guide to figuring out the offense you should run. Make sure you get it here.

Click Here to get the free Checklist

Then do the following:

Step 1: Read the Checklist.

Step 2: Write your offensive priorities in a list.

Step 3: Write your offensive mission statement. It should answer the what, why, and how for anyone who asks about your offense.

Step 4: Share your priorities or mission statement below in the comments or in the Pro Style Spread Offense facebook group to show that you are committed to your words and we as coaches can hold you to it!