I could out coach any coach using one simple rule: do the unexpected. Coaches, as a whole, are too conservative on offense. It’s insulting how predictable they are and, honestly, you could have a computer program coach a better game. It’s that bad. With rare exception, coaches have forgotten that the goal of an offense is to be unpredictable. If I were a coach, I’d get rid of the specialists and go for the athletic specimens. I’d recruit guys with speed who can throw. Get me 11 of them. And place the best three in the backfield. Forget Quarterback, Halfback and Fullback. Make all of them a potential throwing threat and a receiving threat. And a kicking and punting threat, too. When you bring out a specialist to kick, everyone knows what play you’re going to run. When you eliminate certainty, you create opportunity. And for the worst teams in the league, this might just be your best opportunity for a winning season.
Now, when it comes to defense, throw the playbook out the window. All you need to accomplish is this: disruption. Defense is based on one simple tenet: given enough time, a “quarterback” will always find a receiver, even if that “reception” is a handoff to a half- or fullback. The goal, therefore, is to shorten the amount of time a passer has to find a target—both through a combination of pressure from a pass rush and spot-on coverage of their targets. That’s it. Everything else is just overpaid guys trying to justify their salaries.
