How the Texans gameplan every week

[Superman]

This is a pretty informative article about how the Texans put together a gameplan. I would assume that a lot of teams follow a similar routine.

 

http://www.si.com/nfl/2016/01/06/houston-texans-game-plan-nfl-playoffs

 

One thing that stood out to me is that gameplanning is a collaborative effort between the entire offensive staff. In O'Brien's case, he's an offensive guy, so he gets in on it as well. But pretty much everyone in the building has significant input. 

 

Quote

Receivers coach Stan Hixon and offensive assistant Pat O'Hara come up with red-zone plays. Running backs coach Charles London is in charge of identifying Jacksonville's blitz tendencies and plotting the two-minute drill. Tight ends coach John Perry handles certain game situations—third downs, four minutes (that is, running out the clock) and being pinned deep.

 

Offensive-line coach Mike Devlin handles the running game and draws up the protections on chosen pass plays. Tim Kelly, the offensive quality-control coach, speeds the process by breaking down film in advance, which includes labeling Jacksonville's plays in Texans-speak for each assistant (the same grunt job O’Brien and Godsey held in their infancy in New England).

 

They will all come up with calls they think will work, along with clips of the Jaguars' various defensive schemes in different situations. Each coach adds comments into the team's XOS Digital film system to alert others to plays that Houston should run or avoid, then discusses them directly with Godsey. Over the course of the week, he and Devlin will go to the offensive coaches' meeting room and present each package in the game plan to O’Brien for his approval.

 

[chad72]

How much of this did Peyton do when he was with the Colts? I thought it might be a valid question to ask :).

 

The point I am trying to make is how much is the QB involved with all of this when your head coach is not the offensive minded kind?

[Superman]

12 minutes ago, chad72 said:

How much of this did Peyton do when he was with the Colts? I thought it might be a valid question to ask :).

 

The point I am trying to make is how much is the QB involved with all of this when your head coach is not the offensive minded kind?

 

I would think that when the head coach is a defensive guy, he gives general direction about what he wants the gameplan to look like this week, and then the buck stops with the OC as far as what to put in and how to attack the other team's defense. That's why I think it's so important to have a strong OC when you have a defensive-minded head coach, especially when he's a new head coach.

 

As for Peyton's Colts, I don't think they worked the same way. The Manning/Moore playbook was reportedly smaller than usual, with fewer formations, not a lot of motion, not a lot of misdirection... but everything in the playbook was in the gameplan every week. That's something Reggie Wayne said on TV yesterday, it could be something you practiced earlier in the year or even a previous season, and if Manning wanted to, he'd call it on the field.

[21isSuperman]

Excellent article, thanks for posting!  I love this kind of stuff.  This is what people talk about when they refer to the chess match in a football game.  I love how detail-oriented these coaches have to be.

 

On another note, I can appreciate how the author wants to make it seem very business-like and how it's all work and no fun, but let's not forget these guys have fun while they do it.  Hard Knocks constantly shows players and coaches goofing around and joking and having fun.  Being an NFL coach is extremely difficult, but I don't think it's as extreme as the author is making it seem.

 

I would love to see how things are done at other franchises, particularly the ones who have been so successful for so long.  How do the Pats gameplan?  How do the Packers gameplan?  Maybe those teams can afford to do put less time towards it because they have such experienced and talented QBs (though the story about a 3 hour meeting to set up 1 play in New England suggests otherwise)?  I'd love to see how things work behind the scenes.