Football is a sport that is constantly changing. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are just a few of the athletes these days that use film to gain an advantage. Whether you play for the New Orleans Saints or a small high school film breakdown is part of your weekly preparation. Today coaches and players will study two or three angles of the same play, watch film on computers and sort data to gain an advantage. Most coaches will agree that the game is won on the practice field. However, if you were to ask the Bill Belechick's and Sean Peyton's of the world they would say the game is won in the film room. The coaches office is the place to not only study your oppenent, but correct your mistakes as well. The primary goal of studying game film is to allow your staff and players the ability to prepare an effective game plan. Knowing your opponent and strategies they will use against your team is extremely powerful. With all this in mind, it is often overwhelming for coaches to begin breaking down and analyzing film. When looking at a team's defensive strategy to begin preparing an offensive game plan follow these beginning steps.
First, what is the identity of the team you are playing? Coaches at the youth and high school level do not have the time to develop in-depth blitzes, coverages and fronts. Also, most of the athletes at these levels are unable to execute multiple defenses. Because of this fact, coaches should focus on the basic defense that the team uses.
When breaking down game film focus on these simple steps. Identify the defensive front in a "normal down" situation, with the ball between the two twenty yardlines. Defensive coaches will typically remain in a 4-3, 3-4 or 3-3. Knowing this you can begin understanding where your running holes will be and where your opponent will blitz from. For example, in a 3-4 or 3-3 defense, the team will 99% of the time bring a fourth blitzer in a normal down situation. Odd defensive fronts are also dominated by the outside linebacker, which will force the offense to plan their pass protection around this outside blitzer.
Once you know the front in a "normal down" situation identify how the defense will play teams against the pass. Do not be concerned, at first, if the coverage changes based on the offense's formation. Look for similarities in front and coverage against basic offensive formations. With these two easy steps a coach will have a good start at developing a strategy to attack your opponent. Other situations will no doubt come up through the course of a game, however, since most of the game will be played between the twenties, this gives coaches a great starting spot.
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