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threefolddead
08-21-2011, 09:13 AM
Hey guys just got done reading this and it has some really great stuff in it. I listen to NFL Radio on Sirius all the time and one of the guys on there wrote it, Pat Kirwan. It goes through all kinds of different areas from personal grouping and what they mean to off season workouts and things like that. I've been following the NFL since I was a kid and didn't know about half the things I read about. I'm sure there are a lot of guys who already know about this but if you want to understand the game a bit more pick it up!
http://www.patkirwan.com/

Tned
08-21-2011, 09:25 AM
Hey guys just got done reading this and it has some really great stuff in it. I listen to NFL Radio on Sirius all the time and one of the guys on there wrote it, Pat Kirwan. It goes through all kinds of different areas from personal grouping and what they mean to off season workouts and things like that. I've been following the NFL since I was a kid and didn't know about half the things I read about. I'm sure there are a lot of guys who already know about this but if you want to understand the game a bit more pick it up!
http://www.patkirwan.com/

I bought the original, not expanded version, when it first came out, but never got around to reading it. I need to find it and read it.

I really enjoy listening to Kirwan on the radio. Tim Ryan irritates me a little at times, but overall Tim and PK are my favorite team on Sirius.

P.S. for those not familiar with the book. It's called take your eye off the ball, and is intended to help people better understand the whole game. Personnel groupings, difference between types of formations (11 group, 12 group, 21 group, etc.), and all the things that happen on the field that lead to wins or losses, beyond just the QB, RB and WR.

CoachChaz
08-21-2011, 10:13 AM
PK always does a good job of informing the general fan. Even for people that have played and coached and researched a lot of this info on their own...his material always has plenty of stuff that most have never read about.

I completely agree with his assessment. When you learn the aspects of the game that you didnt know you didnt know...watching the game is that much better

Tned
08-27-2011, 12:19 AM
Ok, even though I bought the book when it first came out, I hadn't read it and trouble finding it, so I bought it again on my Kindle. I read the forward a couple nights ago, and then just read the first few chapters tonight (about to read more), and I have to say, it's a great book.

Early on in the book, he's focused on explaining not only how to understand the personell groupings 21 (two RBs, one TE), 12 (one RB, two TEs), 00 (no RB or TE), etc., but also spends a chapter explaining in detail, but enjoyable reading, how coaches go from their full playbooks (maybe 1,000 plays) to their pared down playbook based on personnel on their team (100-250 plays), and then walking through how each week that is pared down to the gameplan for a given opponent, and what is done each day by the coaches or players.

It really is a great read so far, and I have no doubt the rest of the book will be just as interesting.

Dzone
08-27-2011, 02:03 AM
Havent read it but looks like it is worth checking out..thanks

Tned
08-27-2011, 02:32 AM
Havent read it but looks like it is worth checking out..thanks

Ok, I can't post much of this for copyright reasons, obviously, but here are three short excerpts from three different sections of the book.

The first is where he's going through the basics of the offensive personnel groups, which if you ever listen to him and Tim Ryan on Sirius, they are always talking about when it comes to teams rosters -- do they play a lot of 21, or are they more of a 11 or 12 team, meaning they don't use a FB.

The second section talks about how the coach takes his full playbook, maybe 1,000 plays, and pares it down for the upcoming season based on what worked last year, and what players will be on his team in the upcoming year (in the book, he then goes through how they teach those plays, and how they are further pared down each weak to form a gameplan).

The final excerpt below is explaining how the call the play from the line. His example is more along the lines of the east coast model, where the west coast offenses tend to call out each route in more detail. In the book, he also explains the various way they call audibles and hot routes, both in terms of the words red 98, red 98, etc., and the tactical aspects of how many audibles are available, what's explained in the huddle before breaking, etc.


On offense, there are five linemen and a quarterback on every play—with the exception of the Wildcat or derivations of it, which we’ll get to later—leaving five interchangeable offensive pieces. Personnel groups are identified by the number of running backs and tight ends on the field on a given play, in that order. If a team sends out two running backs and one tight end, it’s called 21 personnel. If it sends out one back and two tight ends, it’s 12 personnel. In both cases, there will be two receivers on the field. The first indicator a defense looks for is the personnel package the offense is sending out. It should be the first thing you’re looking for, too. That’s because personnel tips off strategy. If the 22 personnel is on the field—two running backs and two tight ends—it means there’s only one receiver out there. Immediately, you can make an educated guess about what play a coach is likely to call—in this case, probably a run. You can make your prediction even before they break the huddle once you’ve noted who’s in the game.

...

A coach’s master playbook can contain about 1,000 plays—pretty much anything he would ever consider calling in a game. Every bomb, blitz, and blocking scheme is in there somewhere, along with every gadget play and goal-line scenario. And every call has its roots somewhere in that all-encompassing bible, which every coach is forever adding to and carrying with him from job to job. The process of paring down that playbook into a single Sunday’s game plan begins pretty much as soon as the previous season ends. Coaching staffs spend most of January (if they’re out of the playoffs) and February going

through some critical self-analysis, evaluating what they did well and what they did poorly during the season that just ended, and starting to decide what they’re going to retain or change for the following year. At the same time, they are preparing for the start of free agency and the upcoming draft. The personnel plan takes shape based on what the coach envisions being able to do in the upcoming season. He’ll want to target players and prospects who will fit what he plans to run. You better believe Brad Childress’ plan for 2009 changed once the possibility of acquiring Brett Favre first became real. Those early decisions are the building blocks of an eventual game plan. As a team’s personnel changes and its personality evolves through free agency and the draft, the overall game plan is steadily refined. Through organized team activities (OTAs) and minicamps, coaches whittle away at their playbook, identifying the plays that best fit the team they’ll have to work with. They try to maximize the strengths they see emerging, eliminate the obvious problem areas, and anticipate the matchups they’ll be facing. Coaching staffs meet after practice every day, debating the pros and cons of every play they can imagine using in a game situation. The accumulation of those plays becomes the playbook for the next season, and by June 15, that actual playbook goes to the printer. A coach is now committed to his philosophy for the year.

...

The receivers get their route information from the play call, too. As you can see on the passing tree diagram—first conceived by legendary Chargers coach Don Coryell—every route is also assigned a number. A quarterback will call his receivers’ routes from left to right across the formation. So, a play called “I Weak Right 819” would have the X receiver running an 8 route (a post), the Y receiver—in this formation, the tight end—running a 1 (a quick out), and the Z running a 9 (a fly). If a running back is going to be added into the pattern, that route will be declared verbally instead of numerically. So, to have the fullback release through the line and work opposite his alignment, the call would be “I Weak Right 819 Fullback Opposite.” Throw in a bootleg by the quarterback, and you have “I Weak Right Boot Right 819 Fullback Opposite,” the play diagrammed on page 36.

Kirwan, Pat (2010). Take Your Eye off the Ball (Kindle Locations 674-681). Triumph Books. Kindle Edition.

Some of you guys may know all of this, especially if you played college ball, but for many of you, you will probably find it as fascinating as me.

PAINTERDAVE
08-28-2011, 10:49 AM
Is there gonna be a test?

Slick
08-28-2011, 01:53 PM
Is there gonna be a test?

I hope not. Reading books isn't cool anymore.

/sarcasm.


Great find guys. Looks interesting.