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Post by Defcord on Aug 6, 2011 19:49:32 GMT -6
This is my first year at the school I am at. We will be scrimmaging next Friday and playing our first game the following Friday. The team we play against first week is State Runner-Ups and have won 36 straight conference games. I don't care I want to kick their butts.
My question to you guys is what do we show at our scrimmage this coming Friday. I am split on my thinking. First I would like to just go out and do what we do and make sure we are fine tuned against a quality opponent (our scrimmage opponent is pretty good). But part of my also wants to not show our cards since we are new in the conference so that our first week opponent will be playing the guessing game.
How would all of you guys handle this situation, especially with our offense?
Thanks!!!
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Post by hamerhead on Aug 6, 2011 20:26:34 GMT -6
Our plan usually is to run our base stuff as well as possible in order to get our kids playing fast and confident, but we don't show all of our compliments or "constraint" plays. We will show a lot of different formations, give the next weeks dc plenty to draw up.  We normally do not run a lot of playaction. |
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GregH
Freshmen Member
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Post by GregH on Aug 6, 2011 20:39:31 GMT -6
I fully expect a lot of coaches to tell you not to worry about your opponent scouting you. I've heard the "just do what you do well" philosophy many times. I strongly disagree. You have an advantage that you'll only have once. I, like most coach's, hate playing an opponent with which I'm totally unfamiliar. You're that guy right now.
Run one or two phases of your offense that will allow you to evaluate your players. Do not show your favorite play action passes off of these plays. Leave your opponent guessing as to what you really like doing offensively.
Defensively you have to run your base defense, but if you run more than one front, just show one.
Make sure your players know what you are doing so they are less disappointed when they can't do something you do well. Then work hard to resist running that one play that you really want to run against the scrimmage opponent. An exception would be it your scrimmage opponent gives you something you're certain your first game opponent won't.
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Post by coachbdud on Aug 6, 2011 20:59:18 GMT -6
I understand wanting the element of surprise... but at this point you probably havent gone full go against an opponent all Summer... never really repped your plays live... so what if that lack of preparation comes back to bite you in the butt because in 2 weeks you cant run your bread and butter plays because you didnt rep them at the scrimmage...
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Post by td4tc on Aug 7, 2011 7:15:55 GMT -6
keep it vanilla.but one thing i always used to regret was we'd get caught up trying to "win" the scrimmage..great time to assess your kids and play backups a lot..they will love you for it and you might get a few nice surprises along the way.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2011 8:21:31 GMT -6
Word spreads fast in the coaching community. If you've done any 7 on 7 or scrimmging at camps this summer, the first opponent you play probably has at least an idea of what to expect from you anyway.
I would keep things "vanilla" as suggested above, but still get quality live reps on your essential base schemes.
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Post by coachguy83 on Aug 7, 2011 10:40:04 GMT -6
Run you base stuff and give your guys a chance to get really good at it against someone in a different color jersey. I would also throw in a couple of BS plays or formations that you will probably never use just to give your week 1 opponent something to think about.
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Post by blb on Aug 7, 2011 11:21:27 GMT -6
Tough to balance "not wanting to show too much" vs. doing enough for kids to come out of scrimmage with some confidence.
Biggest advantage of outside scrimmage is kids getting used to "game speed."
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Post by wingtol on Aug 7, 2011 11:22:35 GMT -6
Not sure of the format of your scrimmage, our first one we do about 20 plays of 1 v 1's, but I don't know how you can go out and not do what you do in a scrimmage? Are you going to put in a totally new offense in for the scrimmage not to show your cards? Why waste good reps in a new system?
We are looking to evaluate players full speed vs other good players in our scrimmages since we go from A's to Z's and that makes our scout team butt. I am gonna guess if your week one opponent was state runner up and won 36 games in a row they have good players and good coaches who can probably make adjustments to whatever you do if they have not seen it from your previous.
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Post by Coach Huey on Aug 7, 2011 11:26:14 GMT -6
we will be facing a few teams that have new coaches this year.
guess what... we already know what they run. how? because the coaching profession is a network... a network in which someone on our staff can call someone that knows someone that knows and we can all find out about each other.
so, i'll go out on a limb and say that your week 1 opponent has already made some calls - heck, may have even gotten some film of your last school - and they are aware of your schemes.
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Post by coachbdud on Aug 7, 2011 12:33:05 GMT -6
we will be facing a few teams that have new coaches this year. guess what... we already know what they run. how? because the coaching profession is a network... a network in which someone on our staff can call someone that knows someone that knows and we can all find out about each other. so, i'll go out on a limb and say that your week 1 opponent has already made some calls - heck, may have even gotten some film of your last school - and they are aware of your schemes. Good Point... I am our staff's private investigator when it comes to things like this... we have a small league and play 5 non league games per year, sometimes we travel farther away. I have built up a pretty good network of coaches/friends so I am always able to not just get info on teams, but get film on them as well. I have film on every non league team we will see in 2011 It is also amazing the things you can find out about schools from their football/school website |
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Post by sandstorm on Aug 7, 2011 12:42:17 GMT -6
It's chess, not checkers. Use this time to perfect your base stuff, and get after it. Scrimmages don't advance you to the playoffs. Like I said, use some strategy and patience to set your team up for the best chance at success for the long run. Any team that does not evolve, based around their scheme, is easy to "find out" about. Teams will "know" from networking what you "might" run, or from tape that you have run. However, that is what the winter and spring months are for...evolution of your playbook. Let them hang their hats on "networking" and come out and hit them where they don't expect it. Every year, I believe it is a necessity to add or tweak the offensive playbook and defensive front/coverage/pressures. Coach Huey is right...the great thing about our fraternity is that coaches share. However, the bad thing about our profession is that coaches share.
Remember that when you get a chance to speak at a clinic:)
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Post by coachwoodall on Aug 7, 2011 13:42:44 GMT -6
we will be facing a few teams that have new coaches this year. guess what... we already know what they run. how? because the coaching profession is a network... a network in which someone on our staff can call someone that knows someone that knows and we can all find out about each other. so, i'll go out on a limb and say that your week 1 opponent has already made some calls - heck, may have even gotten some film of your last school - and they are aware of your schemes. I agree, we had a couple of open weeks this year and had many interested teams, some from out of state. All of the teams we considered we either had film or a pretty strong scouting report before we even signed the contract. |
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Post by Defcord on Aug 7, 2011 14:07:57 GMT -6
Thanks guys. I think we are probably going to go out and run our main stuff. Like many of you said we may hold back some of our wrinkles but is probably best to let our kids get quality reps in game speed.
Thanks!
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Post by hamerhead on Aug 7, 2011 22:01:59 GMT -6
One thing I've always found beneficial, when applicable, is to spend some time watching the JV kids of an opponent if they're also playing at a scrimmage. You can get a decent idea of what a team considerations their bread and butter that way, as well as maybe a few wrinkles the varsity won't be willing to show. If you think a team may be showing you some BS, that's one route to go.
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Post by airman on Aug 8, 2011 18:09:16 GMT -6
when I was a head coach I used to give opposing coaches my playbook if they wanted it at a clinic. it is a whole 7 pages. formations not plays create advantages
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Post by k on Aug 8, 2011 18:56:18 GMT -6
In our state there is no scouting scrimmages or practices.
A few years ago our first week opponent hired a new coach from out of state. Had no idea what they would ran. They had no scrimmages to even ask another coach.
But.. A news article on where he coached last turned into watching their entire previous couple years on you tube...
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Post by coachbdud on Aug 8, 2011 21:44:52 GMT -6
In our state there is no scouting scrimmages or practices. A few years ago our first week opponent hired a new coach from out of state. Had no idea what they would ran. They had no scrimmages to even ask another coach. But.. A news article on where he coached last turned into watching their entire previous couple years on you tube... that's great PI work coach |
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Post by lionhart on Aug 8, 2011 22:01:32 GMT -6
we knew an opponent would be scouting us in a late scrimmage last year... so i decided to work exclusively on our pass game that day. we ran 20 plays with our 1's. 18 passes and 2 runs. when we played our week 1 game... our opponent came out in a dime package, 5 in the box, and we ran up and down the field. that being said, those coaches were some of the worst, most unqualified guys to ever roam a sideline. but i think i accomplished my mission.
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Post by fballcoachg on Aug 9, 2011 5:15:26 GMT -6
We use the first to evaluate talent and keep it simple so we can go as fast as possible. Then we see what we need work on, what we want/need to see live, and how many formations we can get on film in the next 2. It may or may not give the DC fits but it eases my mind a bit throwing formations out there and hoping that the DC is wasting time drawing them all up and trying to figure out tendencies.
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Post by runnshootcoach on Aug 18, 2011 13:36:20 GMT -6
This is a great question! I think you experiment with some stuff you are thinking of using but you never show your best stuff because you know there are people there scouting.
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Post by planck on Aug 18, 2011 19:54:44 GMT -6
People worry too much about showing too much in a scrimmage. Remember, a scrimmage is about figuring out your 2's and 3's, not putting up 63 imaginary points in a "game" that doesn't count. Run your base stuff and don't worry about anything too exotic or any constraint stuff (unless you're so blessed that your 2's and 3's are real studs who can handle it).
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We normally do not run a lot of playaction. 
