college football - weekly scheduling

[PBH]

It looks like BYU just got scheduled to play Coastal Carolina on Saturday.

Last week Utah was scheduled to play Washington on short notice after game cancellations with Arizona State and Washington State. This got me thinking...


Typically, teams have a full week, actually more because the schedules are set in place long before the games are played, to prepare for their opponent. Schemes are set in place based on the opponents strengths and weaknesses. Games plans are drawn up, plays are rehearsed, and personnel are adjusted -- all based upon the opponent.

With a quick schedule change with an opponent, and only a couple days worth of time to prepare -- game plans are tossed out the window! How does this affect a teams preparations?


I LOVE THIS! This is how football should be scheduled! Don't let the teams know who they are playing until the Thursday prior to the Saturday game! This. Is. Awesome!

Planning some trickery based on a 4-4 defense? Surprise! you're now playing a 4-3! Setting your defense to defend a spread offense? Surprise! You're now playing a power run game!

This is how football should be played.

[Critter]

I believe that if a team prepares to play every Saturday then with a couple of days practice and films they can be pretty prepared for a game on short notice.

I think that most teams don't move very far away from their normal game plan from week to week. There are certain players that they may have to pay more attention to on the opposing team or how the other team plays the game such as a passing team vs a running team.

On the Y I think that they have adapted every week to the team that they are playing even after practicing for that team. Usually the first drive the opposing team has been able to do just what they want to do and go down the field, then the Y's defense takes a look at what they are doing wrong and then adjust how they are playing.

But it has to be rough in only having a couple days to actually prepare for a new team. But this is something that both teams have to do if they want to play on short notice.

[Vanilla]

Originally Posted by PBH

Planning some trickery based on a 4-4 defense? Surprise! you're now playing a 4-3! Setting your defense to defend a spread offense? Surprise! You're now playing a power run game!

This is how football should be played.

A 4-4 defense? Dude, this is 2020 for crap sake! Oklahoma isn't running the wishbone anymore.

And as long as everyone is on the same playing field for preparation, I think it's fine. But if you think 1 day of practice and a day of film is enough to really be prepared then you don't know how much time and effort goes into these things. But again, if everyone is on a level playing field there, it's fine. BYU had a large advantage because as of two days ago they got to start on CC, just in case. Coastal Carolina on the other hand, until this morning, was to be playing Liberty.

I see BYU jumping out to an early lead and CC not able to catch up.

As to the OP, I disagree. I don't like watching slop fest football. (or any sport, for that matter) I like seeing two well prepared teams execute and have a quality product on the field.

[PBH]

Originally Posted by Vanilla

As to the OP, I disagree. I don't like watching slop fest football. (or any sport, for that matter) I like seeing two well prepared teams execute and have a quality product on the field.

This ^^

A good team wouldn't need to be "well prepared". A good team would rely on their own strengths and make the opponent make adjustments.

An inferior team would rely heavily on preparation, which would certainly elevate their game.


I just like the unknown factor. Who do we play this week? Wait until Thursday (Friday? Saturday!) to find out...


March Madness tournament style!

[Vanilla]

Sorry PBH, but if you really believe that “if you’re a good team” BS, you don’t get sports. At all.

In fact, preparation is a principle across the board outside of sports too. The 7 Ps, you need to implement that principle in your posts.

[wyoming2utah]

I believe the best coaches teach philosophies...those philosophies dictate technique, fundamentals, and individual performance. Those philosophies will also allow coaches to prepare their players for any particular situation they may encounter within a game. For example, the best football coaches I worked under would do defensive alignment drills daily where the defensive play was called and the scout team would come to the line of scrimmage in a particular offensive formation--power I, wing T, trips, spread, whatever. The defensive team would then have to know how to adjust according to the specific formation and how that formation affected the play call. What I believe this allowed these coaches to do was to prepare their players for almost any situation in any game.

On the same note, these coaches prepared their players on a weekly basis to learn their opponent's tendencies and weaknesses. By keying on tendencies and weaknesses, these coaches hoped to not only give their teams the best chance to win but also often beat more talented teams.

I guess what I am trying to say is that well-coached teams can adapt to almost anything thrown at them because they have been well-prepared within their daily practice routines and the philosophies and fundamentals and techniques they have been taught.

I don't think that having a game scheduled at the last minute eliminates much of that preparation...what it does is forces coaches to prepare their players better by understanding their individual techniques better and then executing those techniques better. I think what PBH is getting at is that eliminating the "we-know-your-plays" aspect is not a bad thing.

I remember one year when I was coaching football we played Enterprise early in the season and lost big--like 40-0. We then were scheduled to play them again in the playoffs that year. The funny thing is that Enterprise would call their offensive plays at the line of scrimmage with a number shown to the team by a coach on the sideline. The players then would look at their wristbands and then know what to run. During the course of that season, Enterprise never changed those numbers and with some extensive film room effort, we were able to have almost their whole playbook numbered. In other words, we knew their offensive plays as soon as they were called and our defensive coach could then put our players in a better position to defend them. We ended up beating them in the playoffs by a score of 6-0. I don't think we were the better team; I don't think we were even the better coached team. But, by a bad decision on their part not to change up their play numbers and wristbands, and a gimmicky effort on ours, we won the game.

I think PBH is talking about eliminating these kinds of gimmicky games and ways of winning...

[PBH]

Originally Posted by wyoming2utah

I think what PBH is getting at is that eliminating the "we-know-your-plays" aspect is not a bad thing.


I think PBH is talking about eliminating these kinds of gimmicky games and ways of winning...

bingo.

Vanilla -- like W2U mentioned, I'm not saying that teams are not well coached and "prepared" for any situation. That's what makes a good team! I'm saying, as W2U said, remove the specific team and play calling aspect from that preparation. Make the teams be ready to adapt to any specific situation on the fly.



Come on man -- you gotta love this fluid scheduling situation these teams are currently in with corona. The "who's next" aspect is fun.

[Vanilla]

Originally Posted by PBH

Come on man -- you gotta love this fluid scheduling situation these teams are currently in with corona. The "who's next" aspect is fun.

I don't mind what you are saying, as long as everyone is on a level playing field. But to suggest this would not create execution problems and more sloppy play as part of what you're proposing is simply wrong. You cite the NCAA tournament. It isn't exactly the beacon of execution and clean play. It's still exciting and fun to watch, but it can get pretty sloppy, even with the best teams.

And there is a reason there are so many upsets there...some might call it a gimmick?

[wyoming2utah]

I disagree Vanilla...I think the best teams usually come out on top in the NCAA. They are only called upsets because of a ranking system and selection committee. I think the cream rises to the top in that tournament and those so-called "upsets" are simply a case where an over-rated team gets beat by a superior team or at least by a team that simply played better.

I still think "execution" is more of a result of good practice scheduling and not game planning!

[Vanilla]

PBH will be glued to the tv next week with the entire PAC-12 getting a game scheduled only after this week concludes.

USA Today had an article discussing this. They acknowledge that doing it on a weekly basis is not feasible or sustainable, but propose that every program
In the country has an open week on the same Saturday in November, and games are assigned across conferences the Sunday prior.

Could be a fun practice going forward. Would draw a lot of eye balls for the selection show.