- Jan 28, 2010
- 310
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- AFL Club
- Gold Coast
One of the great things about gridiron is the strategy and tactical aspect of the game. I thought I'd make this a thread that encompasses all aspects relating to strategy such as playbooks, schemes, formations, tactics, systems, coaching, philosophy etc. whatever floats your boat. I'm old school and still like to flick through the pages of a book so as a starter I’d like to share some old strategy books I‘ve still got in my possession and recommend to anyone interested in this kind of thing. Hopefully others can do the same whether it's books or through other sources. Of course there’s a load more info on the net.
This is by no means the be-all-and-end-all post on such strategy topics, so anything to do with the strategy side of the game is welcome, as I've found there's little on the forum. Though it’s probably best to leave the beginner, youth, newbie etc. stuff for the Football 101 thread. There is actually a brief section in 101 with links to various playbooks though these are very much youth orientated. While the internet provides plenty of info, anyone can google and come up with something. Need to sort the trash from the treasure. Likewise, if recommending books it's probably best to have actually read and witnessed first hand instead of just listing any random book that seems appealing since they aren’t free. Quality vs quantity. Anyway here are some great books that I recommend. I’ll give a quick guide below
Amazon.com has all these books (plus many more) and allows you to view the contents, first few pages, covers etc. (except for Football Offenses and Plays which is only a recent publication. I can scan any pages and post it if anybody's interested). Some of these are also covered on Google Books which mostly gives a preview of the ‘guts’ of the books, which complements the Amazon preview nicely. Most are about $15 to purchase. Click on the title for a link to the corresponding Amazon site.
General-
Football Coaching Strategies - good all-round book covering offense, defense, special teams, philosophy
Offense-
Football's Best Offensive Playbook - simple book focussing only on offensive plays with limited discussion. Not strictly a playbook but more of a complimentary playbook. Also has a special plays section (reverses, throwbacks, trick etc.)
Offensive Football Strategies – very thorough covering a large range of topics
Football Offenses and Plays – similar to OFS. Not nearly as many topics but is more in depth in what it does cover, see google books for contents
Defense-
Defensive Football Strategies - very similar to its offensive equivalent but focuses solely on defense, plus has a larger philosophy section
While coaches would get the most out of these books, there's still plenty of appeal for anyone interested in the strategy side of the game. But since they are aimed at coaches they're not really suited for beginners and will better suit more advanced fans who already have an understanding of how plays/offenses work. Although the more advanced may yearn for more modern playbooks eg. west coast (not covered at all – see later), spread offenses (very minimal) etc. Sections including coach-specific elements like position drills, weight training, coaching management etc. are at a minimum however.
All are produced by the AFCA (American Football Coaches Association) except for “Football’s Best Offensive Playbook”, meaning they have credibility and a vast range of authors all of whom have coached successfully in mostly the college ranks, but also NFL. Basically every chapter of every book is written by a different coach which makes for interesting reading since you get a range of different writing styles, perspectives, ideas, etc.
It should be noted that although the defensive football strategies book has a recent publication it still only covers older systems. It’s quite hard to find modern defensive books. People in the know (coaches) are perhaps just too busy and secretive at this point in time. Also I’d say defensive strategies aren’t considered as sexy as the offensive side.
But I still think the ‘old’ systems and plays are still relevant and will continue to be so, for (a) casual fans or students of the game who might become enlightened on the old play styles which were more run orientated, conservative etc. Not to mention the timeless fundamentals and philosophies. And (b) though it’d be more beneficial to employ or at least become familiar with systems such as the WC, spread, wildcat etc, any potential coaches may still benefit from either installing or using as wrinkles in existing newer systems to act as weapons of surprise.
Just finally, here are some more that look interesting which I don’t have so can't exactly recommend (though I recommend further investigation):
Offense-
Coaching the Multiple West Coast Offense
By Ron Jenkins
Many very good reviews, modern
Defense-
Coaching Football's 46 Defense
By Rex Ryan and Jeff Walker
Many good reviews, co-written by Rex Ryan. ‘nuff said
Developing a Defensive Game Plan
By Kenny Ratledge
Quite new, no reviews, 350 pages but large part strictly for coaching purposes (judging by contents)
General-
Coaching Football
By Tom Flores and Bob O'Connor
Fairly new, hard to judge who it’s aimed at since it states from ‘youth to pro’ but reviews tend to lean to the former. Perhaps an all-round book in both topic and audience, I'm not sure.
This is by no means the be-all-and-end-all post on such strategy topics, so anything to do with the strategy side of the game is welcome, as I've found there's little on the forum. Though it’s probably best to leave the beginner, youth, newbie etc. stuff for the Football 101 thread. There is actually a brief section in 101 with links to various playbooks though these are very much youth orientated. While the internet provides plenty of info, anyone can google and come up with something. Need to sort the trash from the treasure. Likewise, if recommending books it's probably best to have actually read and witnessed first hand instead of just listing any random book that seems appealing since they aren’t free. Quality vs quantity. Anyway here are some great books that I recommend. I’ll give a quick guide below
Amazon.com has all these books (plus many more) and allows you to view the contents, first few pages, covers etc. (except for Football Offenses and Plays which is only a recent publication. I can scan any pages and post it if anybody's interested). Some of these are also covered on Google Books which mostly gives a preview of the ‘guts’ of the books, which complements the Amazon preview nicely. Most are about $15 to purchase. Click on the title for a link to the corresponding Amazon site.
General-
Football Coaching Strategies - good all-round book covering offense, defense, special teams, philosophy
Offense-
Football's Best Offensive Playbook - simple book focussing only on offensive plays with limited discussion. Not strictly a playbook but more of a complimentary playbook. Also has a special plays section (reverses, throwbacks, trick etc.)
Offensive Football Strategies – very thorough covering a large range of topics
Football Offenses and Plays – similar to OFS. Not nearly as many topics but is more in depth in what it does cover, see google books for contents
Defense-
Defensive Football Strategies - very similar to its offensive equivalent but focuses solely on defense, plus has a larger philosophy section
While coaches would get the most out of these books, there's still plenty of appeal for anyone interested in the strategy side of the game. But since they are aimed at coaches they're not really suited for beginners and will better suit more advanced fans who already have an understanding of how plays/offenses work. Although the more advanced may yearn for more modern playbooks eg. west coast (not covered at all – see later), spread offenses (very minimal) etc. Sections including coach-specific elements like position drills, weight training, coaching management etc. are at a minimum however.
All are produced by the AFCA (American Football Coaches Association) except for “Football’s Best Offensive Playbook”, meaning they have credibility and a vast range of authors all of whom have coached successfully in mostly the college ranks, but also NFL. Basically every chapter of every book is written by a different coach which makes for interesting reading since you get a range of different writing styles, perspectives, ideas, etc.
It should be noted that although the defensive football strategies book has a recent publication it still only covers older systems. It’s quite hard to find modern defensive books. People in the know (coaches) are perhaps just too busy and secretive at this point in time. Also I’d say defensive strategies aren’t considered as sexy as the offensive side.
But I still think the ‘old’ systems and plays are still relevant and will continue to be so, for (a) casual fans or students of the game who might become enlightened on the old play styles which were more run orientated, conservative etc. Not to mention the timeless fundamentals and philosophies. And (b) though it’d be more beneficial to employ or at least become familiar with systems such as the WC, spread, wildcat etc, any potential coaches may still benefit from either installing or using as wrinkles in existing newer systems to act as weapons of surprise.
Just finally, here are some more that look interesting which I don’t have so can't exactly recommend (though I recommend further investigation):
Offense-
Coaching the Multiple West Coast Offense
By Ron Jenkins
Many very good reviews, modern
Defense-
Coaching Football's 46 Defense
By Rex Ryan and Jeff Walker
Many good reviews, co-written by Rex Ryan. ‘nuff said
Developing a Defensive Game Plan
By Kenny Ratledge
Quite new, no reviews, 350 pages but large part strictly for coaching purposes (judging by contents)
General-
Coaching Football
By Tom Flores and Bob O'Connor
Fairly new, hard to judge who it’s aimed at since it states from ‘youth to pro’ but reviews tend to lean to the former. Perhaps an all-round book in both topic and audience, I'm not sure.
