Practicing Situations: The Trojan Period
By Brad Burchfield
Centerburg High School
Head Football Coach
It goes without saying that the purpose of every practice is to prepare our teams to be successful on the playing field, to the best of our abilities. We are always looking for the most efficient way to structure and run Centerburg Trojan practices. We practice both offense and defense every day, so it is probably a natural tendency for us to have a little longer practice than many of those that practice offense one day, defense another, etc.
We have done away with the traditional “TEAM Offense” and “TEAM Defense” Periods in which the offense or defense would run from a simple script. We have learned that it is much more effective if we structure our “TEAM” time around game situations. For example, during our “TEAM Offense” time on Mondays, we will practice our 1st Down plays. Our Tuesday “TEAM offense” period will focus on 2nd and 3rd and long plays, and on Wednesday we will focus on short yardage and goal line plays. On defense, we practice in the same way. On Monday we will see and defend their best plays form their most frequent formations. This is often an emphasis of the oppositions ‘starters’ and 1st Down plays. On Tuesday, we will focus on the opposing offense’s 3rd Down plays as well as Goal Line situations. On Wednesday, we play a “Simulated Game” on Defense, in which our defensive staff scripts our opponent’s first four series, and our defense must defend against those. During the simulated game, we see every situation, 1st and 10, 2nd and Medium (4-6), 3rd and Short, 2nd and Long, 3rd and Medium, 3rd and Long, 2nd and Short, penalty situations, etc. We have found that this has helped our young men in identifying the opposition by not only formation, but also the situation that they are in on the field.
We truly believe that practicing situations rather than plays maximizes our preparation time. Our kids feel more confident as well as prepared on the field. We have the yard markers on the field and use them every single day. Our coaches use the headsets during our offensive situation periods. We do everything in power to create as much of a game situation as possible.
In developing and learning to improve upon our philosophy of practicing situations, we found many things that we did not cover. For example, when do you practice substitutions in a game situation? Everyone practices goal line offense and defense, but when do we practice coming out on the –2 yard line in a game like situation? Many coaches practice two-minute offense when you need a score to tie or win, but when do you practice four-minute offense when you have a lead and need to control the clock? Or, what about four-minute defense when the opposition is trying to milk the clock and you need to have a stop? When do you practice taking a safety in a game situation? When do you practice special team situations, as well as getting those players on and off of the field efficiently? In addition, what I believe is of optimal importance, when does your playcaller practice in a game situation? I believe that this is often overlooked, and too often assumed. These are just a few of the many, many different situations that decide who will win and lose a game.
We developed what we call THE TROJAN PERIOD in order to practice every imaginable situation, and practice it in a game environment. We include the Trojan Period every day in our practice schedule during our Trojan Days (Two-a-Days) and at least twice a week during the season. During Trojan Days, we focus on a different situation every day. During the season, often we will take a situation that we have not been performing well, or one that we anticipate seeing the upcoming week.
We practice both offense and defense daily, so often the Trojan Period will fall after TEAM Offense, and before our special teams period, which is directly before tackling stations, the first period of defense. The Trojan Period usually falls about an hour and a half into practice, although there have been several times in which it was the last thing we did for that day in practice.
The head coach will blow the whistle and everyone, all player and coaches, will be on the sideline, which is the ‘home’ sideline. The head coach will then relay the situation to the entire team. While he is doing this, the appropriate people are getting prepared (getting the chains ready, the coaches are adjusting their headsets properly, etc). The head coach will relay the entire situation to the team, and it is essential that EVERY member of the team be aware of every important situation (the sideline really gets into cheering and often time, the sideline will help organize players, especially at a small school such as ours). For example, he may say:
“Centerburg 14 Danville 17 Danville has the ball on the –35 yard line. There are three minutes and forty-seven seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Both teams have two time outs”
We play the entire game from that point, as close as possible to a game situation. If someone is hurt, we play it exactly as it would be in a game. If a timeout is called, we go though it exactly as it would be in the game. You get the idea.
One coach must serve as an official, and he will keep the time on a stopwatch. From that point, we play the game. Our first team defense (in this situation) will take the field against our best remaining players serving as the opposition’s offense (I might imagine that at a larger school, it may be easier to have ‘the best available players’ make up an offense, especially those that two platoons their offense and defense. Keep in mind that we are a Division VI school, and we are able to find very competent players to serve as the opposition). The opposition’s offense is called by our offensive coordinator, and vice versa. He runs their plays based on what they would run, according to film study. If the defense holds them, they will be forced to punt (or whatever coaching decision the OC makes). At this point, we are able to work on game time substitutions and special teams. Our punt return will take the field, and the coaches are forced with the game situation decision to rush or return the punt. After the change of possession, the offense will take the field against the best possible defense, and the defensive coordinator will run the opposition’s defense. We are a no huddle offense, so our offense staff will coordinate every situation as if it is a game situation. We will signal our calls, audible and check, etc.
As you can imagine, we practice every conceivable situation during the Trojan Period. We are able to simulate 1st and 10 from the –2 yard line, and in effect work on punting out of our endzone. We are able to practice live goal line situations, kickoff after a safety, recovering or kicking an onside kick, etc. Every day the Trojan Period will cover a different situation.
Our players look forward to this period of practice. I believe that they feel that it can take away some of the redundancy of the practice session. It also helps them to develop a competitive nature, something that we have been endlessly trying to create with our program. Finally, and most importantly, it enables all of us, coaches and players, to be able to practice game situations, and in turn be as prepared as possible for whatever the opponent and the game will present us.
I hope that you are able to take something away from this article. If there is ever anything that myself or any member of my program can do for you or for your program, please do not hesitate to contact me. Best of luck.
Brad
Burchfield
Head Football Coach
Centerburg High School
School
740-625-6055
Burchfield_b@treca.org