transition from field to the booth

I was on the field for my first 2 years (1982 & 1983) and thought I was pretty good at picking out weaknesses on the opponents defense, that I readily forwarded to the OC/HC who was also on the field. Sometimes I was right and sometimes I was way off!! I have always been a film junkie and did all the film cutups and scouting reports back when you needed a pair of scissors and several rolls of film tape. I went to the booth for my third year when the HC hired an OC and I have only been on the field a handful of times for the past 24 years. I assisted the new OC in the booth and he gave me the best education in the X's and O's of the game that I ever received. I quickly found out that when our teams were equivalent to better than the opponents, that the coach in the box had the most influence on the games outcome. It was an entirely different experience that I have really come to enjoy. It is really amazing how much clearer you can think when you get out of all the emotion that is pouring out when you are on the field. I have coached for quite a few teams since I started and have worked with numerous coaches from the booth. The biggest item when transitioning to the box is to stay busy on the next play or series after the call has been made and not get distracted by being a fan when the ball is snapped. I would say that the large majority of coaches struggle with this issue when they first move up to the booth. I was lucky, in that, the guy I learned from was a very experienced coach that had worked as an OC in DI college ball and we were so busy working the game plan that I did not have a chance to watch the play as a fan and start yelling "GO" "GO" "GO" or any of the other unproductive cheer leading that sometimes happens. I have helped quite a few young coaches in the past few years learn how to work the booth and if they don't stop the cheer leading or shouting out plays to run with no particular reason by the 3rd game, I let them know that the booth is not for them and move them back to the field. I have worked with some great coaches that were just awful from the booth. It was not because they were bad coaches, they just were not able to put away the emotion and get clinical during a game. You really need to be prepared when you work the booth. By that I mean, you need to watch an enormous amount of film on the opponent in order that you can quickly recognize their packages and see when they make a change to something that they haven't shown. There are numerous other aspects to your preparation that are too lengthy to list in this already long post.

So, be prepared! Take away the emotion and get logical! Don't be a fan/cheerleader! Have a reason for any suggested play call and be sure it is something that has been practiced during the week or is part of your base package and be true to yourself about whether or not working the booth is really for you. Best of Luck!

Sidelines 2 years
Last 5 in the box. I actually preferred being in the box, especially as the OC. Gave me a clearer picture of the entire defense. Seperated me from all the chaos on the sidelines and I find it helped me make more clearer decisions. Helped me think more clearly (except for the D-line coach screaming F-ck!!! over and over LOL)
Now to echo dcohio's sentiments, it's my belief that the DC needs to be on the sideline. In my opinion (which is probably not worth a wooden nickel), the DC needs to be in the thick of things, with either the DB coach or D-line coach in the box. Again, just my opinion.