Best Practice (5b): Always Be Prepared

Rarely are those who can foresee on-coming events. The secret is reading and recognizing the circumstance, then adjust to it without a glitch.


Bill Walsh the former coach of the SF Forty-Niners (1981-82, 1984-1985 and 1988-98 Super Bowl Champions) and the grand architect of the West Coast Offense was one of the rare few whose preparation allow him to anticipate all circumstances and use the circumstance to his advantage.


Walsh had two stages to his preparation process:
1. Deciding on the focus of the game preparation (the whats); and
2. Deciding on the approach for each aspect of the game (the hows).


Some of the "apex" trademarks of Bill Walsh's preparation process are: the 25 starter plays list and his comphensive, but extensive gameplan.


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25 Starter Plays List


The focus of the 25 starter plays list approach are:
1. See how the defense respond to certain formation, shifts and motion based on down and distance;
2. See what are their defense tendencies;
3. Gives the QB and the offense a purposeful sense of what to do and what to expect;
4. Present the opposition that there is no tendencies from any of the previous 12 games; and
5. Set up the oppostion for certain events later in the game.

Not only does proper preparation, 25 starting plays list and extensive gameplan enhances the chance of the gameplayers to win their game, it gives the team a sense of a "possible winning" mission.

It has been rumored in the Jan 1985 Super Bowl game, that every play called from Walsh's 25 Plays list was incrementally implemented for a positive gain of yards. There was no deviation of play-calling from that list.

Trivia: For internal reasons, some of the Niners plays nicknamed Walsh's 25 plays list as "25 Lies".

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Before heading off to a "A1-priority" meeting, Walsh has been known to prepared a list of 5-7 questions that he would ask the other person, with a list of "follow-through" questions based on anticipated answers.

Walsh's strategic way of organization has been emulated and copied by many coaches.

More on Walsh's preparation approach later.

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Tactical Play calling in football
There're different ways to call an offensive play, my favorite is ["where the QB is given a set of 3 different plays for each tactical situation"] based on the anticipated defensive response.

If it's a pass situation, the QB is given two pass plays and one run play.
One pass play is based on non-blitz response, the next pass is based on blitz response. The run play is designed for both non-blitz and blitz response, allowing the runner different options to run to.

If it's a run situation, the QB is given two run plays and one pass play.
The run play is based on the non-blitz response, the next run play is based on the blitz response. The pass play is designed for both non-blitz and blitz response allowing the QB an assortment of different options to pass to.

The QB has to call the right play based on his ability to read and recognize the defensive response.

This approach is designed for the experienced QBs who enjoys the up tempo, no-huddle attack and want more control on play selection and calling. It also prevents the opposition from slowing down the game and substitute more specialized defensive players in certain tactical situations.

More on this matter later.


Remember, ["Preparation Precedes Performance"].