On behalf of Valdosta State Universityand our entire offensive staff, DavidDean (offensive coordinator), ShawnBostick (offensive line), and Chris Boden(runningbacks), it is a great pleasure tohave the opportunity to talk football withyou today.

Philosophy

One can describe our offense as a well-coached backyard team. We believe inthrowing the ball short first, long second,and running the ball when the numbers inthe box are favorable. Also, we like to keepthings as simple as possible and put ourplayers in a position to succeed. We neverwant to ask an athlete to do something thathe is unable to do effectively. When estab-lishing your philosophy, it is important toknow what you are going to teach and howyou will implement your plan of attack. Inessence, a coach is a teacher and a moti-vator. You must teach the skills you believein and then find a way to motivate your ath-letes to execute them properly.

If you study the history of football, themost successful teams have always beenvery simple in their approach to the game.Basically, it comes down to talent andpreparation. Our success on offense isgeared towards our quarterbacksstrengths. Since this is the case, whenimplementing our schemes, we alwayskeep in mind that we can only run what heis capable of comprehending.

Because we have a limited package, weget a lot of repetitions on the things that wewill do on Saturdays. During the pre-sea-son practice sessions, we are able to installour offense in three days. We do thisbecause during the course of a gameweek, you have basically three days of on-the-field preparation for your upcomingopponent. If we cannot practice it, we arenot going to run it.

Our offense revolves around two things,playmakers and tempo. First, we want toget the ball in space to people who knowhow to score. Early in the game, it is cru-cial for us to get the ball in the hands of ourbest players so that they can get into theflow of the game. Secondly, we want todictate the games tempo. With all thepressure defenses we see, it is imperativethat we keep them out of rhythm.

The beauty of our system is how simpleit really is. We strive to be a well-coordi-nated unit. Our base offense consists ofsix five-step passes, six three-step passes,

three screens plays and four runs. Webuild off of our base patterns with tags togive us the diversity we need to stay a stepahead in game situations. Also, we arealways in a tight-end right formation. Thisallows for easier play calling, more repeti-tions in practice, and lets our receivers getmore comfortable running their routes fromjust one side.

In summary, our goal on offense eachweek is to score one more point than ouropponent. This concept is probably themost important thing we discuss with ouroffensive unit.

Crossing Patterns

We feel like the best way to get the ballin the hands of our best players is throughcrossing routes. I will discuss two compli-mentary patterns that are the staples of ouroffense.

I. MeshWhen running the Mesh play, it is impor-

tant to have reduced splits by your widereceivers in order for them to get to themesh point quickly. The Y is responsiblefor setting the depth of mesh at six yardspreferably over the center. As he crossesthe center of the ball, he will settle in thefirst available window and square his shoul-ders to the quarterback.

The X is responsible for making themesh happen. He always goes underneaththe Y. Once he meshes with the Y, he toowill settle in the first available window onthe other side of the center. The Z runs aten-yard corner route. As he comes out ofhis break, he will angle the route toward thefront pylon. If the ball is inside the 20-yardline, his angle will take him to the backpylon.

The F runs a swing route and must getas wide as the numbers. The H runs ashoot route that will carry him to a depth ofthree yards once he reaches the numbers.The important coaching point for the tworunningbacks is to get width as fast as pos-

Diagram 1

VV aa ll dd oo ss tt aaSS tt aa tt ee AA ii rr

AA tt tt aa cc kk

sible in order to make the linebackersexpand which will open the windows for theY and X to mesh.

The quarterback always reads high tolow while taking a three-step drop from theshotgun formation(Diagram 1).

Note: If the Yand X read man coveragethey will continue to run after the mesh pointwith a slight bend up field (Diagram 2).

II. Shallow CrossThe complimentary pattern to the mesh

is our shallow cross. The objective of thispattern is to give the mesh look but have ahigh-low read on the linebackers.

The Y runs the crossing route by replac-ing the heels of the defensive linemen. Hemust continue to run no matter the coverage.

The H pushes at the outside number ofthe flat defender and runs a 10-yard digroute. As he runs up the field, we prefer forhim to get over the top of the flat defender.However, if he cannot, he will stem theroute back inside as he continues to hisproper depth.

The F runs a shoot route graduallyworking to three yards once he reaches thenumbers.

The Z will run either a go route or a 15-yard curl while the X runs vertical.

The quarterback reads the cross (Y) #1,dig (H) #2, and the shoot (F) #3 while tak-ing a three-step drop from the shotgun for-mation (Diagram 3).

If the Z runs the curl route, the quarter-back will then read the cross to the curl-flatcombination (Diagram 4).

This pattern can be run different waysby changing the receiver who runs thecrossing route. For example, if Z goes onthe cross, then Y will run vertical. All theother receivers will stay the same. Theonly change for the quarterbacks progres-sion is now Z becomes his first look(Diagram 5).

Implementing the Plan

No matter what offense you run, yourpractice routine is crucial to your successas an offensive coach. Our schemes arevery simple, but we work hard to becomegood at the few things that we do. Ourpractice plan is concise and emphasizesgetting as many repetitions as possible in avery short period of time. Our best practicedrill is called Routes on Air. We do this drilleveryday during preseason practice andtwo times a week during the season. Also,remember that time is one thing that cannotbe replaced.

I. Routes on AirThis particular drill involves everyone

except our offensive linemen. Ourreceivers and runningbacks line up in abase formation. All five of our quarterbacksline up side by side in a pre-snap position.Across from the line of scrimmage (35 yardline), seven dummies are aligned to repre-sent a particular coverage that we will seein the game that week. The extra receiverswill line up behind their respective positionsand wait for their turn to run the route.

Once everyone is lined up correctly, thecoach will then call a play. All the receiversrun their routes while all five quarterbacks

take their drops. Each quarterback willthrow to one of the five receivers. Eachreceiver will catch the ball; turn straight upthe field and sprint to the end zone.

During this drill, the receivers will workon proper alignment, stance and starts, andrunning good routes. Also by making themsprint to the end zone, the receivers arebeing conditioned. The quarterbacks playis probably one of the most importantaspects of this drill. The quarterbacks willread each route in a certain progression.For example, the quarterback with the firstread will throw his ball once he hits his laststep. The quarterback with the fifth readwill look at the first four receivers before hereleases his ball to that receiver. Inessence, the balls will be released in atypewriter fashion. After this play is com-pleted, then the next group of receivers willline up and replace the receivers who justparticipated. The quarterbacks will rotateand throw to a different receiver. Thisprocess will be repeated five times so thateach quarterback will throw all five routes.If the balls are not being released in theproper order, then we know there is a prob-lem with one of the quarterbacks knowinghis progression of reads.

This is just one example of a drill thathas been very important in developing ourpassing game. In fifteen minutes, we canrun every one of our plays at least fivetimes. Again, this drill allows us a lot of rep-etitions in a very organized short period oftime (Diagram 6).

II. Scramble rulesAt least once a week we work on con-

tingency football. We like to practice situa-tions that crop up during the course of thegame. By doing this, we give our players aplan of action in case a play does notexactly work according to plan. One suchsituation that presents itself at least once agame is the quarterback scramble.Basically, we give everyone on the fieldlandmarks to reach in case a broken playarises.

Our scramble rules tell the deepest

Diagram 2

Diagram 3

Diagram 4

Diagram 5

Diagram 6

receiver to the side the quarterback scram-bles to run to the back corner of the endzone. The deepest receiver away from thescramble side runs to the post. The flatreceiver to the scramble side works up thefield to a depth of five yards and sits downon the sideline. The remaining receiverswork toward the scramble side by trying toget outside the quarterbacks throwing armat different levels. In a scramble situation,we ask our quarterback to read from shortto long. The reasoning behind this pro-gression is to decrease any sack possibili-ties (Diagram 7).

III. Zones of the FieldAfter our drill work and group work is

complete, we finish practice with a fastpaced team period that emphasizes the dif-ferent areas of the field. We break the fieldinto five zones. We script five to sevenplays in each zone each week. Basically,this is our game plan. We practice theseplays on designated days to give our play-ers an idea of what plays we are looking torun in certain areas of the field. By break-ing the field into zones, we ensure that wegive ample practice time to each part of thefield during the weekly course of practice.On Monday, we only work the open fieldscript. On Tuesday, our emphasis is on thecoming off zone, open field, and the orange

zone. Wednesdays practice is dedicatedto the red zone and goal-line areas.Thursday, all the zones of the field arereviewed (Diagram 8).

Conclusion

What I have discussed today is just anoverview of what we try to accomplish on adaily basis at Valdosta State University.We did not invent these ideas, but havebeen very fortunate to have learned fromsome of the best coaches in football. Thebest things that our staff has done are takedifferent philosophies and mold them to fitour style of coaching. Hopefully, a few ofour offensive principles will be helpful toyou and your staff. Finally, I would like tothank Coach Teaff and the AFCAfor allow-ing me to represent the coaches of DivisionII by speaking to this morning.

CC hh rr ii ss HH aa tt cc hh ee rr aa tt aa GG ll aann cc eeExperience: Student Asst., Valdosta State, 1995;Q u a r t e r b a c k s / Tight Ends Coach, Central Flordia, 1996;Graduate Asst., Kentucky, 1997-98; Quarterbacks/Wi d eReceivers Coach, Kentucky, 1999; Head Coach, Va l d o s t aState, 2000-present.

Career Head Coaching Record:4 6 - 6

A F C A Regional Coach of the Year Aw a r d s :2001, 2002

Conference Championships:Gulf South; 2000, 2001 and 2002

N o t e s :Chris Hatcher has won 10 or more games in each of his first four years as a headcoach ... Hatchers winning percentage is .885 in four seasons ... He was named the GulfSouth Conference Coach of the Year from 2000-2002 ... Hatcher also led the Blazers toa school record 14 straight victories in 2002.

Diagram 7

Diagram 8

Adopt Safety-First Coaching TechniquesAccording to legal experts, failure to warn usually is one of the primary accusations made

against those in the coaching profession in litigation which involves catastrophic injury to a player.To help prevent what could result in the destruction of a coaching career, as well as massive

financial loss, adopt safety first coaching techniques:1. Have a clear and complete understanding of the intent and correct application of safety rules.2. Make graphically clear to players the risk of violating these rules and use the available printed

material as a constant authoritative reminder to them of the importance of correct techniques.3. Point out in exact terms the risk of accidental catastrophic injury in athletics before the first

practice begins.