3 Reasons FirstDown PlayBook Has Succeeded Where Others Have Failed
In January 2026, FirstDown PlayBook will celebrate 15 years of serving football coaches. As we near that landmark, I keep getting the same popular question: How?
How has FirstDown PlayBook excelled where so many others have not over the past 15 years?
Sometimes the question comes from someone interviewing us. Other times it comes from a newer startup looking for a roadmap to replicate what we’ve built with FirstDown PlayBook, and now FastBreak PlayBook.
The first two answers I give them that are obvious to some degree. Hire people who are more talented than you and secondly, stay true to the mission of “For Coaches. By Coaches.” That’s when I get that look of: Charlie, tell me something I haven’t heard before. I can read that anywhere.
Their point is legit. A lot of people say those things these days. So instead, I’m going to take a new approach and point out the 3 core things we do for football coaches better than anyone else. It is why FirstDown PlayBook is different… better than the rest.
It ain’t bragging if it’s true.
1. FirstDown PlayBook Offers 40,000 Plays Drawn By Proven Football Coaches
There are a lot of “Football Companies” out there that are missing a very important thing once you peel back the layers… football coaches. Seems strange doesn’t it? Most of these companies have a football person as the face of the company or who are funding the company. The other thing you will find are tech geeks who love football who have created a product, but have little to no knowledge of the game itself.
I own FirstDown PlayBook. Period. I only take advice from myself, football coaches or our staff who consists of current and former coaches. All of our content is drawn by someone with years of coaching experience. That real-world experience allows us to provide the best football plays, defenses and special teams schemes available. That includes NFL, college, high school, youth and flag football.
2. You Can Edit Every Play To Fit Your Team & Fit Your Scheme
Full disclosure, we learned this the hard way. Regardless of how many plays we drew and how good they were, coaches want to edit them to fit their needs. That makes sense when you think about it. This is the light bulb moment when coaches understand that they can edit any and all of these 40,000 plays or draw their own plays from scratch with our tools.
I drew plays in the NFL for nine years. I tortured myself using engineering tools that were designed to draw blueprints for building skyscrapers. After my 30 year NFL and college football career, I had had enough. FirstDown PlayBook not only offers you thousands of football plays, but you can edit all of them or draw yours from scratch. We keep it simple at FirstDown PlayBook.
3. FirstDown PlayBook Allows You To Organize Your Team & Your Career
Football coaches who repeat work are paying for it somewhere. When a coach draws the same scout team card on Thursday that they did on Tuesday, that 5 minutes could have been put to better use. If a football staff finds themselves wondering how they blocked a play the week, the month or the year before, this is bad practice. All of this is at your fingertips with FirstDown PlayBook.
You will see in the video below where FirstDown PlayBook allows a coach to organize your scout team cards, installations and game week books just like the NFL coaches do. We just allow you to do it faster and without complex technology. These benefits show up regardless of whether you are trying to establish vertical alignment with your football program or begin your own personal coaching portfolio.
So there you have it. These are the 3 reasons why FirstDown PlayBook has succeeded where others have failed. FirstDown PlayBook had an idea in 2010 that turned into what you see today. Word to the wise… It’s still early for FirstDown PlayBook. There is a lot of growing to do in the next 15 years. Come grow with us.
