You can help on a block. But you CAN’T give up your gap.

That’s one of our biggest teaching points with Gap Scheme blocking.

GAP - ON - BACKER

Your inside gap ALWAYS takes priority.

Available in the Vault.

GameDaySystems.substack.com

Here’s a look inside the complete install in the GameDay Systems Vault.

Updated our Inside Zone install.

It covers the covered/uncovered rules, OL/RB/QB responsibilities, combo calls, reads vs. 4-2 and 3-4 fronts, common mistakes and fixes, and a three-day install progression.

Here’s a look inside the complete install in the GameDay Systems Vault.

The Vault now has player evaluations, head coach program evaluations, coordinator evaluations, and assistant coach surveys. Pick the tools that fit your program, print them, and use the feedback to plan for next season.

GameDaySystems.substack.com

Another end-of-season tool is in the Vault: the Assistant Coach Questionnaire.

It gives each coach a chance to reflect on the season, their position group, their role, and what they would handle differently next year. This is page 1 of 2. The PDF and editable version are both included.

Offensive Self-Scout
HC Season Evaluation
OC Season Evaluation
DC Season Evaluation (in progress)
Senior - Year review
Underclassman - Year review

All evaluations in the Vault.
Download, print, and use them to wrap up your season.

Download below:

Inside Zone has a whole family- and everybody has a different job.

One reads it. One locks it. One slices across. One shows bluff.

Six ways to keep the defense guessing.

The season isn't over after the last game is played.

Player feedback is important to your program.

Coach feedback is as well.

Download these End-Of-Season evaluation forms as well as the season self-scout so that you can officially close the book on the 2026 season.

Download link below:

Still playing football?

Don’t install a new offense for the playoffs. Add an answer to a run you already trust.

G Fold + Hitches:

5 in the box — run it.
6 in the box — throw it.

Coaches - Looking to add a small wrinkle to your offense this week?

Game Week Wrinkles can be found in Member Exclusives.

Each wrinkle contains
- a diagram of the play
- the problem and answer
- the complete install plan
- video of the play in a game

The goal is to help ent m that will help you win this Friday.

Went back and updated our 6-page DUO COMPLETE INSTALL.

Inside:
• Blocking rules
• Double-team techniques
• RB reads
• 6 defensive fronts
• Common mistakes and fixes
• 3-day install progression

Know what the opponent will do before it happens.

The offensive breakdown system is now available in the Vault.

I also listed it at our Etsy shop. Link in comments.

DUO vs. 6 Different Defensive Fronts.

Over. Under. Even. Okie. Tite. Bear.

Same concept. Six different defensive looks.

Here’s how we block Duo against each one.

Playoff brackets are out.

#1 seed - home field throughout.

Road to the SuperDome.

I'll do a break down of our road in GameDay Diaries. Check it out tonight.

STILL PLAYING FOOTBALL?

The GameDay Systems Film Room has nearly 500 video clips to help you prepare for your next playoff game.

-Find a new wrinkle for your offense.
-Steal a drill to fix a problem.
-Study RPOs, screens, two-point plays, pop-passes and special teams ideas.
wrinkle. Go win a playoff game.

How well do you really know the offense you’re preparing to face?

Just finished building an 8-page Offensive Breakdown System for defensive coaches.

Personnel. Formations. Run/pass tendencies. Protections. RPOs. Situational tendencies. Defensive game planning.

Coming soon to the GameDay Systems Vault.

GameDaySystems.substack.com

Sign up for Free, Monthly, or Yearly. Yearly subs save 37% for the remainder of the season.

Coaches: how are you breaking down your opponents on film?

I’ve been building an 8-page Offensive Breakdown System to help defensive staffs identify formations, run/pass tendencies, protections, RPOs, and situational play calls.

The goal isn’t just to collect information. It’s n into a defensive game plan.

Here’s a preview of two pages.

56-18 good guys.

We will be the #1 seed and have a bye next week.

Best time of the year coming up.

Free Play Log Template

Coaches - looking for an easy way to track plays tonight so that you can keep them organized and easily go through at halftime?

Download this free play log template - print it out - and use it on your clipboard tonight.

Good luck coaches.

Link in comments.

Inside Zone vs. six different fronts.

The track stays the same. The defensive picture changes.

Here’s how we teach it against Over, Under, Even, Okie, Tite, and Bear.

How do you block Inside Zone against a Bear front?

We don’t change our rules.

Covered + backside teammate covered = MAN.

Covered + backside teammate uncovered = COMBO to LB.

Same rules. Different front.

It’s one of the resources in the GameDay Systems Vault: Playoff Push folder, along with tools for opponent prep, practice planning, game-night situations, and postgame evaluation.

The Playoff Week guide shows you where to start. Join the Vault here:

GameDaySystems.substack.com

GAMEDAY SYSTEMS PLAYOFF PUSH

Playoff games can turn on one clock decision.

When do you use a timeout? Do you kick, go for two, or leave time for the other team? Those decisions need to be worked out before Friday night.

The clock management sheet helps coaches organize the plan.

Your best play is already on film.

What’s your answer when they take it away?

Playoff prep means finding the counter before Friday.

The Film Room has 400+ videos, including two-point ideas, RPOs, screens, and run-game variations.

Open below

Playoff prep can get scattered fast.

Give your players a clear early picture of the opponent.

This simple personnel board puts the key players, tendencies, strengths, and game plan in one place. Post it in the locker room or hand it out so your team knows who to watch and what

Your opponent is going to take something away Friday.

What’s your answer?

Need a two-point call? A way to punish pressure? A wrinkle off your best run? A drill to fix what showed up on film?

Before the playoffs, I’m working through our 8-page Offensive Coordinator Audit.

The goal: get past “we need to execute better” and find what’s ACTUALLY costing us drives. What showed up on the stat sheet? What did the film reveal? Which problems kept repeating? Which concepts cted, be reduced, or come out?

Make the playoff game plan from evidence - not frustration after one bad rep.

Know your playoff opponents.

Here a few tips for scouting an opponent you may not be familiar with. 👇

Defenses squeezing Split Zone and adding the Nickel to the box?

Make both defenders wrong.

• DE sits: Give it
• DE squeezes: Pull it
• Nickel plays QB: Throw the slide
• Nickel widens: Run it

Game Week Wrinkle #10 - complete install plan and game film now in the Vault.

Getting ready for the playoffs?

Here a few tips for scouting an opponent you may not be familiar with? 👇

Draw an unfamiliar playoff opponent?

Don’t start by trying to memorize every play.

Start with the people: who the key players are, how they line up, how they move, and what they do against the run and pass.

I broke down my process for scouting a team I’ve never seen.

Read it free below:

Season over with? We have you covered. Everything you need to evaluate your team and have a plan for next season.

Preparing for the playoffs? The Vault has you covered. Check out the Playoff Push folder.

Still preparing for a game - or already reviewing your season?

I added a new starting point in the GameDay Systems Vault to help you get straight to opponent prep, game-night tools, Film Room resources, season evaluations, and offseason planning.

The links are clickable inside Start Here folder.

You don’t have to pay to get something useful from GameDay Systems.

Free subscribers get most of my articles and occasional coaching tools. Paid members get full access to the Vault.

Start with a free subscription

Week 10 has arrived in Louisiana.

Some teams are getting ready to take up equipment.

Some are gearing up for the playoffs.

End-Of-Season surveys should be ready to go this time of the year. Details 👇.

One for head coaches and the overall program
One for offensive coordinators and the offense

Each one is designed to help you review the season in detail and leave with a clear plan for the offseason.

Both are in the Vault.

GameDaySystems.substack.com

Head coaches and offensive coordinators: the season isn’t over when the last game ends.

This is the time to take an honest look at the year: what worked, where you fell short, and what needs to change before next season.

I built two complete 8-page evaluations to help you do that:

End Of Year Player Surveys.

Yesterday I posted page 1 of the senior player survey.

This is the underclassman survey - page 1. Now inside the Vault.

He's came a long way.

Cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of Lance .

I had the pleasure of coaching him for 2 years in high school. He had played DL all of his life up until then.

There were a few growing pains, but he is an absolute stud player and person and figured it out quick.

Fun to he very top and anxious to see what the next level holds for him.

Love you @lanceheard2 and will always be behind you rooting you on.

Your seniors can tell you what it actually felt like to be in your program.

I just finished a 2-page Senior Season Review for head coaches. It asks seniors to evaluate communication, expectations, trust, practice preparation and player development - and share what the program of.

Page 1 of 2.

Page 2.

Playoff football is no time to figure out your clock plan on the sideline.

If you’re heading into high-stakes games next month, get your sideline communication and clock decisions settled now. This is a complete clock-management sheet to have ready on game night.

Once inside - look in "New This Week" for parts 1 and 2.

Office Hour: Inside Zone Clinic - Part 2 -Our 3 Basic Zone Steps has no been posted. Inside the Vault now.

Don't forget in the Vault tonight.

Inside Zone clinic series part 2.

In part 1, we went over basic rules.

Tonight we break down steps and combos.

Get both + access to over 600 videos below.

gamedaysystems.substack.com/p/get-answers-…

Getting ready for the playoffs? Then there’s still games to prepare for.

Break down what your next opponent shows. Use your opening script to test those rules and get answers early.

I wrote a quick late-season prep guide for the games still in front of you 👇

Game Week Wrinkles #9: Zone Insert + Glance

The weak safety adds an extra hat to the run fit. Make him wrong.

Run the same zone insert, read the weak safety, and replace him with the glance if he triggers downhill.

Watch the video, look over the install schedule,decide where nd add it to your game plan.

These are two pages from the full system in the Vault.

GameDaySystems.substack.com

Good film study is more than charting what happened.

In Steps 7 and 8 of our 10-Step Coach’s Film Study System, coaches look for the plays that change games, then study the pre-snap clues that help explain what’s coming.

Find the patterns. Turn them into an answer. Decide what them.

Does your OL identify the front before the snap?

These are six looks we teach our guys to recognize. Keep the ID simple: find the down linemen then find the linebackers.

We use it vs teams who run multiple fronts.

Office Hour - INSIDE ZONE CLINIC PART 2 drops Tuesday night.

Quick update.

My quarterly reminder to color those Google Drive folders.

When your drive is packed with folders, a little color makes if much easier to scan and find what you need.

Join the vault today! Annual subs save 37% for the remainder of the season.

Download the complete 13 page system and BE PREPARED when the game changes from "normal"

gamedaysystems.etsy.com/listing/460244…

Do your players know Situational Football?

Do you practice it weekly or just rely on the coaches to handle it all when it happens?

It WILL come up in November/December and the teams that are prepared will be at an advantage.

Do you practice situational football?

Most coaches talk about it.

But have your players actually rehearsed the score, clock, substitutions and decision-making together?

I put together the exact system we use to choose, script and practice the situations that decide close games.

Have a Plan at Halftime Tonight.

Print out these two FREE Halftime Adjustment plans and use to organize your thoughts tonight.

Link below.

Good night for the Tigers.

On to district round 3.

On Inside Zone, we use simple covered/uncovered rules that carry over against multiple defensive fronts.

No need to make it more complicated than it has to be.

Part 1 of our Inside Zone clinic is in the Vault. Part 2 will be out next week.

I started GameDay Systems because I wanted to share football coaching resources.

Somehow, it turned into a publication with 4,000+ subscribers.

I’ve learned a lot along the way. Some lessons came from success. Others came from mistakes.

Wrote about 9 things I’ve learned on Substack.

gamedaysystems.substack.com/p/i-came-to-su…

How do you teach Inside Zone?

We're starting a 4 part Inside Zone clinic in our weekly Office Hour series.

Part 1 is now in the GameDay Systems Vault.

I break down our covered/uncovered rules, how we identify blocking responsibilities, and examples against even and odd fronts.
nd footwork against different fronts.

Just real coaching. How we teach it.

Your offensive call sheet is only one part of the game-day plan.

I’ve put all three tools into one editable Google workbook:

• Offensive Call Sheet
• Opening Script
• Game Adjustments

Organize your menu, track what the defense is showing, and plan your answers as the game w 👇

The goal isn’t just to evaluate the season. It’s to build a plan for the next one.

Now available in the GameDay Systems Vault. GameDaySystems.substack.com

Every football program should evaluate more than its win-loss record.

What worked? What didn’t? Where did we improve? What needs to change before next season?

I put together an 8-page Head Coach End-of-Season Evaluation covering everything from offensive and defensive structure, player development, and program culture.

If one leaves, another is coming.

That’s what we teach our OL when defending DL stunts.

Eyes up. Head on a swivel. Stay square.

Work with your hands, but NEVER abandon your gap.

Communicate it. Pass it off.

How We Teach It #23: Passing Off DL Stunts

The Film Opponent Evaluation 2.0 helps players turn film study into a Friday night plan - from winning the release at WR to reading the block and choosing a pass rush move on the DL.

Hold your players accountable for what they see - and what they plan to do with it.

As the playoffs begin, “I watched the film” isn’t enough.

Give each player a job: identify the opponent’s habits, find the matchup, and write down how he plans to win.

Last night's 49ers/Commanders game reminded me why communication jobs need to be assigned. Someone must own the down and distance. Everyone has a responsibility.

An older one from the Gameday Painkillers series.

Communication shouldn't be random and inconsistent. It’s assigned, .

Before adding another play, ask:

Can we build an answer into something we already run?

Eight Game Week Wrinkles are now in the Vault - each with a diagram, defensive problem, QB read, install plan and game video.

The latest: Stick + Draw.

Good offensive line play starts with understanding how to block individually.

Great offensive line play happens when five guys learn to work together.

HOW WE TEACH TWO-MAN RUN BLOCKS.

GET ORGANIZED & READY FOR THE PLAYOFF RUN

SAVE 37% on the VAULT until the end of the season.

100% RECOMMENDED BY VAULT MEMBERS!

Film study. Game planning. Practice tools. Complete coaching systems. Everything you need for the stretch run.

The place for in-season coaches lookthe competition.

Take a look at what’s inside.

GameDaySystems.substack.com

Delaware

My "Between Series" perch on game night. Love it. Love my guys. Keep going!