Playcalling Over rated?

I think playcalling is over-rated. It is the execution of the play and the players executing the play that matters. I can scheme all day and if the players can't execute then it isn't going to work.

That's my opinion, though

Wing

play calling is over rated. Anyone can call the plays, but it takes time and patience to set up the script and gameplan. If you ever see coaches starting to panic, then you know they do not know how to gameplan. A good gameplanning coach plans for the good, a great one plans for the good and the bad. b/c they both happen in a game

MRFR i am in the same boat as you...only gonna be my second year. We lost three games this year. Which I feel was my fault as the OC and QB coach. I didn't gameplan for the bad which is soemthing I need to work on this year. Any ideas or pointers would be greatly appreciated.

I think that playcalling is a little bit overrated. Most "great playcalls" are just calling a play that is already in, at the right moment in the game. Last year, we were playing a team that was bringing the OLB & DE hard to the TE side when we went trips the opposite way. after we rolled to the left and flooded the zone on the trips side a few times, I told my HC that we should run our YE screen to the weak side, which we ran all the time, but hadn't yet that game. We got a 60 yard TD on it, just by recognizing an adjustment the defense made, and going to a play to take advantage of it. But if the kids didn't execute the play, then the playcall would have been worthless. It's all about getting the kids to KNOW what they are supposed to do, and have the ability to do it.

Try to keep the number of plays installed to a minimum. I have been guilty of putting in too much too soon a few times before. A well designed installation plan is a necessary. I believe that good gameplanning cannot be achieved without first being able to execute your base offense.

Making adjustments during the game is really what the coaching is all about.

I a small voice in the crowd but as a dw coach i think play calling is huge. if my kids know who to block and do a good job of sustaining the blocks i think it comes down to calling the right play and executing it well. too many times ill see film and think "what was i thinking?"

Play Calling is somewhat over ratedGameplanning is important no matter what offense

phantom .... haha ... i bet each of us could tell countless stories like that.

good book, mav. great suggestion. i have used much of the guidelines layed out by billick in that book.

While I agree with most on here that gameplanning is obviously more important than playcalling, I still feel that there's a subtle art to "going off the chart" and picking a particular play for an exact moment. Sometimes it's brilliant and sometimes it blows up on you, but if you feel it, you should call it. In my humble opinion anyway.

I agree blb! Playcalling is probably overrated by most coaches who don't call the plays. Plus, to me "gameplanning" is "playcalling", you just are doing it early. I love coaching against script guys....you know for sure they won't come back to the same play on the next play. Plus, isn't calling a screen when a blitz is coming good. How do you gameplan a blitz? If you playcall you can "feel it" and "time it" I think. Plus with a no-huddle you prep your QB to "look over" to get out of a bad call. I don't think it's overrated, plus if it is, it takes alot of the fun away from doing it. I'd rather play chess than watch someone else play!

This is why I like plays like bunch mesh or zone run game that is good against anything in theory.

I have a question. Who rated it high anyway? I really think it is what it is. If any coach thinks it wins or loses games..............he is probably wrong. If any coach thinks it doesn't make much difference.........I'd like to schedule them. Probably the higher the level of play, the more checks you have, the less chance the "original" playcall will be run. We all know the more talent we have the "eaiser" it is to playcall!

I'm not saying that playcalling isn't important and I don't think anybody else is either. I just think that it is somewhat overrated as a direct cause of wining a game. I think that I'd rate the factors that lead to winning as 1. Technique (execution); 2. Morale; 3. Gameplanning; 4. Game-day playcalling.
Now, you mention bad playcalling and I agree that that's a different story. Bad playcalling can trump all of the other stuff and get you beat.
In my opinion, many coaches who are consistently bad playcallers are bad because they overrate the importance of their game-day playcalling. They're not satisfied to win because they have good players playing good football. It's an ego thing with them and they want to win because they outsmarted the other guy (let me make it absolutely clear that I'm not talking about anybody in this discussion. I'm making an observation about guys I've coached or scouted against). They do things like using their stud player as a decoy, getting away from things that are working, and drawing plays up in the dirt.
I'd sum up my opinion like this: as a positive factor-winning because of great game-day playcalling- I believe that playcalling is overrated; as a negative factor-losing because of poor playcalling- I believe that playcalling is critical. Don't outcoach yourself.