10 Reasons to Script Your First 10 Plays

To script, or not to script. That is the question.

And it’s a good question. Should you plan out your first few snaps on offense each week? Or play it by ear?

Of course no one is going to completely play it by ear. You need to have a game plan. But do you need to have a script?

Some coaches script nothing. Others script as many as the first 20 snaps of a game. It all depends on the play caller.

And it’s OK to go off-script. In fact, you should be ready to go off-script if the play call is not right for the situation.

But here’s a little fuel for the fire for the “To Script or Not to Script” debate. These are 10 reasons you should script your first 10 plays.

1. Confirm that the defense you saw on film, is the defense you will see tonight.
2. Find out where the best players are going to be lined up.
3. Locate the worst defenders, or the guys playing the most both ways.
4. A script can help your players get over butterflies. “I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.” — Rosa Parks
5. Use motion to see how the defense reacts to motion. This can identify man or zone coverage, too.
6. Introduce a new formation to see how the defense will align to it (try to expose a scheme weakness).
7. Change personnel to see if the defense is prepared for your personnel groupings.
8. Set up a Play Action Pass or Trick Play with your script.
9. Identify the force players and their alignment. See if this opens up anything for your offense.
10. How many defenders are in the box? How many are aligned to the strength? To the field? What does this tell you about what the defense is most concerned about.

10 plays is an arbitrary number, by the way. You might want to do 5 plays or a dozen, or 20. Our play caller likes to script the first play only.

10 reasons is also arbitrary. I had to stop somewhere. There are plenty more reasons you might want to script your opening play calls.

There are also just as many reasons not to script. And knowing when to go off the script, like Red Zone situations – is also just as important!