What Do You Call This?
#TXHSFBCHAT May 24, 2023
I have said before and I will say it again, system terminology from program to program is one of my favorite rabbit holes to dive head first into and learn more about this game.
Football has a universal language that coaches all speak, but each program has it’s own twist on the names of each formation and play. I believe this evolved due to a desire for more efficient communication and as a way of disguising the play call from the opponent.
Very few teams still huddle up and receive the play from a player sent in from the sideline by the coach. The strong majority of teams use a signaler and then the QB communicates the blocking scheme to the OL. If the defense does hear the QB they would only hear a word like “RIVER” instead of RIGHT INSIDE ZONE.
The diagram above was the first question in last week’s #TXHSFBCHAT and received eight completely different replies. There were colors, numbers, animals, states, and other terms used to signify concept and formation. But if I were to be talking to a coach and use the name XO Clinics used, Empty 4 Verts, it would most likely be totally understood.
The other six plays presented also produced a variety of terminology to describe what each diagram contained.
Terminology tells me so much about you identify the plays within your system, but also how you teach your players. Most coaches are of the same mind, using less verbiage to help their players remember what play to perform.
The specific words being used are not important, but rather the words that increase player learning are of ultra importance.
Side note: Apparently Twitter and Wakelet (the archiving tool I use to collect tweets from the chat) are not playing well with each other right now. I had to use a browser extension to capture last week’s tweets. Click on each tweet to read through the replies.