Take a look inside LC’s scheming
What I saw overwhelmed me by the simplicity.
I spent 3 1/2 hours Sunday evening being a fly on the wall at Lake City High School while its football coaching staff got together to game plan for a 5A state semifinal matchup Friday.
What struck me initially is these coaches have been there and done that. Sure, there was the excitement and understanding that their Timberwolves are one win away from playing for another state title. But this is the sixth semifinal in nine straight years of playoff appearances for LC. So there wasn’t a hint of nerves.
The offensive coaches met in one room and the defensive coaches met in another. There was a definite line of scrimmage separating the two. Each room had a state-of-the-art digital video projector system that allowed the coaches to call up video from any of their nine previous games. They had already broken down plays by formation and down and distance for two of Meridian’s games.
At LC, the VCR is an outdated function these days, going the way of the typewriter. At the punch of a finger on a computer board of the new system, a coach can call up a team’s counter or trap runs or screen passes, for example.
Gone are the days of having to rewind or fast forward a videotape. The time savings is incredible. The ability to teach has gone to a new level.
That’s why LC videotaped many of its practices this year and catalogued the video to go back and correct mistakes. But I digress.
The progress LC has made since its third game – a 41-14 loss to Meridian, the T-Wolves’ opponent Friday – to the second week in November is measurable. So what the coaches were identifying Sunday was how to use that improvement to their advantage in the rematch.
Improvement, obviously, simplifies things. Take LC’s offense, for example. The T-Wolves, in recent weeks, have begun their Sunday night meetings starting with the six or so plays of their staple option offense. Then they add a play here or a wrinkle there that they believe will be difficult for that opponent that week to defend.
The plan isn’t to have an offensive playbook as thick as “War and Peace.” On the contrary, a simple list of plays that, because of repetition they execute well, coupled with other wrinkles they think will pick up positive yards are all that’s needed.
On defense, LC has made more personnel changes than scheme modifications. Since losing to Meridian, the T-Wolves have tinkered with different combinations of players, and they’ve seen quantifiable results the last half of October. LC doesn’t have to blitz or stunt to stop teams. They believe that if they have their players lined up in their proper positions and schooled to do their assignments, the results will follow.
A couple of times the coaches got distracted talking about plays or defensive calls that either worked or blew up in their faces against previous opponents. Head coach Van Troxel gently brought their focus back to the task at hand – finding a way to beat Meridian.
“That game is over, is history,” Troxel said a couple of times. “Let’s concentrate on Meridian.”
The coaches began to script their game plans. They planned to practice those plays and situations frequently Monday through Wednesday, with their final practice today focusing more on special teams and a final walk-through. It’s doubtful the coaches will add more to their plans. In fact, through the course of practice they’ll likely trim more from their plans.
Then when the coaches board the charter bus early Friday morning for the 8-hour drive to Boise, they’ll collaborate some more – more than anything as an exercise to make sure they’re all on the same page and to occupy the ride time.
When they left the school Sunday evening, they were sure of their plan. Come Friday evening, they’ll find out if that plan and the execution thereof means LC will advance to a fourth state title game.
Something tells me they’ll like the result of their plan.