Well Coached vs Superior Athletes

Their HC is named Deion Sanders...

I kid, I kid.

how do YOU?
How do you evaluate any football? FUNDAMENTALS
You can grade ANY football team whether you know what scheme they run or not. stance,start,steps,effort,hustle,leverage,tackling/blocking
Consistency is the major tell - are they EXECUTING (not performing) fundamentals every down or are they misfiring routinely?

I run an annual clinic and unfortunately we will get WAY MORE coaches roll into the clinic to see a guy who went 12-1 who had 5 or 6 division 1 athletes than will come see a guy who went 4-6 with absolutely no talent and literally had to coach his @ss off to get to 4 wins with the lack of talent they have. There are guys going 1-9 or 2-8 that should be coach of the year over some guys who go 9-1 or 10-0 every year. Don't know how to fix it on a large-scale, but I like meeting with guys who I know have coached up a team and almost upset a team they had no business playing against over guys who could have rolled the ball out and took a nap and their team would have won by 5 TDs anyway.

It's really all about the film... if you are watching a team you play try to run power against an inferior team and the inferior team squeezes it, spills it, and has a defender there to make the tackle, but the RB for the really good team is just a lot better than the unblocked defender and breaks that tackle and runs for 20, that is a well-coached team on defense, but the kid on offense is just better than the kids trying to tackle him.

There's so much more than W/L, points per game, points allowed per game, and things like that. Amazing how when NFL coaches have top-5 players at most key positions they are "geniuses", but if they have the bottom-5 plyers at a lot of spots, they are "dumb" and fired and looking for work. 

Lions HC getting a lot of crap for going on 4th down this week... they didn't convert, so everyone gonna look at outcome and determine he's an idiot. If they convert either of the 2, they probably hold on and win. The result isn't always giving you accurate info that it was done right. I could close my eyes and it a 3... doesn't mean I should shoot with my eyes closed.

Dude, It is because of Taylor Swift. I thought we settled that already.

Consistent, precise, enthusiastic execution of fundamentals = Well Coached...it makes no difference: Offense, Defense or Special Teams.

If it is your team...Coach it, Grade it. Often referred to as AAR's (After Action Reviews) Game film and Practice film.

It is all about the details.

I know we all have athletic limits and natural baseline athletic abilities. But I've always felt part of being a good coach was developing better athletes.

Quality strength and speed programs are imperative, as is teaching proper change of direction and body movement. I cant tell you how many coaches I have seen never taught their athletes the right ways to run, move in space, change directions, etc.

Penalties, turnovers, busted plays, eyeball test etc and they still win = superior athletes. 

Preciseness, pad level, execution, etc. & they still win OR over achieve = well coached in my mind. 

This is some great feedback, thank you. One of the things I've looked for, and maybe you all can check me on this (and it's admittedly mainly about offense), is how many of their plays are successfully executed as drawn up?

So: is the QB going through a progression to find someone, or are they winging it, either by running around until someone is open or just taking off on their own. I mean, scramble drill is a thing, of course. But how often are they relying on that vs how the play is supposed to go. Same idea in the run game, is the back going to where they're supposed to go within the parameters of the play.

My thought is that if the plays are largely being executed as intended, then looking for the finer details and fundamentals makes sense.

Defensively, are they aligned in a way that makes sense based on the offensive formation. That, in high school at least, seems to be a huge tell. I don't know how often I watch film and see a team align and say to our staff "they can't/won't align like that against us, right?" Friday rolls around and sure enough, they're misaligned.

But yes, I agree with the points about doing the small things well and few penalties, etc. are good indicators as well.

I mention this as clinic season rolls around, and I saw this on another thread, the number of speakers that are there because they win with superior talent. I want to hear from the guys that overachieve, even (or maybe even especially) with a bad record, and how they do that.

Sometimes you can look at scheme. The well coached team might be doing the right things but the knife isn't cutting it in the gun fight. THe team full of superior athletes might be doing something that you look at and think how to they get away with that? Then you see their Jimmys and Joes. I think there are quite a few teams in my part of the country that get away with that.

On a zoomed in level I think that well coached teams line up right on defense and run to the ball, don't committ dumb penalties on offense, and play hard. YOu can tell on film and in person they work on special teams. Well coached teams no matter what the talent level are not beating themselves.

This was hit on earlier but I will also reiterate it. Proper technique.

I could say something like DL using hands. Which I feel is important. But there are several teams I would consider well coached on defense I have seen who don't realy use hands. They slant like crazy and avoid. This would be good techqnique for their scheme.

The first thing I look for is do they run upfield on defense. It doesnt matter if you spill or box, to me you shouldnt run upfield vs run blocks. If you do, you are probably not well coached.

All of the above. But I've said it on this site (different thread?) that the guys who win with less talent, as opposed to the guys with great talent who win, are the coaches I have admired most in this profession. A number of them are the very guys who post on this site.

I have said it before, and I'll post it again:

The best coaches don't always win.

A coach I know was something like 3-24, 11-34 in his first two head coaching jobs.

Several years later he was promoted to HC at a "good football school" where he had been assistant.

He has won nine or more games every year, been to the state championship game twice, has won (I think) nine conference championships in a row, and hasn't lost a conference game in I don't know how many years.

Couple of quick tells:
Defensively:

1) How many kids get to the ball on defense. If you are seeing a bunch of solo tackle, it's probably good athletes. If every tackle has 3+ hats around, that means they are reading keys, beating blocks and pursuing.

2) Do the DB's fit the edge right. IE, do their corners and safeties dive inside on perimeter plays, or do they understand winning outside their blocker to make a wall.

3) Stances and precision in alignment. Is a 3-tech always a 3 tech, or is he sometimes a 2, sometimes a 4i. Sometimes he is on the ball, others he is flexed. If they sub in a different kid, does he align in the same way... or does his alignment different. Are some corners playing man alignment, while the other kid is half-turned playing zone. (And you know when it's because they are literally playing different techniques vs just being different).

Offensively:
1) OL Timing - Do all of the lineman move at the same time, or do they have a stagger.

2) RB's path on run plays.Does he have good, precise footwork to attack the play, or is he just moving in a general direction.

3) QB's footwork compared with the pass concept. Is he shuffling his feet all around to throw a screen (not popping and throwing). Is he taking a drop that times up with the routes, or is it too deep or not deep enough. Big one is dropping way to deep too fast (impossible to pass pro or throw on rhythm) and not being able to get a screen or three step throw off without doing a 4 step tap dance.

4) Receiver splits matching the route and the route depth matching the route. IE, are they running a "1 step hitch" on smash and just standing around. Or a 9 yard "slant" on a slant arrow that is closer to a post then a slant.

I once got a weird compliment from a parent like that. Had a dad who was super critical of me and would send me an email every week with his criticisms from last Friday's game which I had never responded to. Near the end of my first year (we weren't good), he sent an email wherein he told me he had concluded I was a bad coach. He did however add that I was a fine young man (only like 23 at the time) and that he would be happy if his daughter brought home a guy like me.

For the first time ever I responded, "what's her number?"