6 Determinates for Maximizing Post-Season Self-Scout Protocols

Dec 10, 2017 | Program Development, Self-Scout

By Justin Iske
Offensive Line Coach / Co-Offensive Coordinator
SW Oklahoma State University
Twitter: @justiniske

 

Editor’s Note: Coach Justin Iske is considered one of the top offensive line coaches in the country. He is also one of the most read authors in X&O Labs history. Coach Iske has published a brand-new book through X&O Labs called, The Iske Offensive Line Manual. The book is available here.

 

Introduction

Scouting our own offense is an invaluable resource. It is a great way to determine what our best offensive plays are and what formations those plays are best out of. Self-scouting can also show an offensive coordinator what play calling tendencies we have developed based on personnel, formation, down and distance or field zone. The focus of this article is not on play calling, but on how to use the raw data from the self-scout to help make our plays (and players) better.

Organizing Plays/Determining Efficiency

The first step in the process is how to determine what makes a play efficient. Simply adding up the number of yards gained on a particular play and dividing by the number of times the play was ran can be deceiving. For instance, big plays can make the average for a play look good, but that doesn’t mean that a play was efficient.

We split our run game up into four categories (Inside Zone, Outside Zone, Gap and Man Schemes). If your offense uses run/pass options or give/keep reads as part of your offense, those categories can be added as well. For us, an efficient run is a gain of four yards or more on first or second down, and a first down gain on third or fourth down. Our goal is to be efficient on 55% or more of our called runs.