Halftime Adjustments: First Half Is Bad. Stand Pat or Adjust?
Why talk about halftime adjustments in the off season? Here’s a little secret you find out about game plans as you get to be an older coach. Sometimes you come up with one that you think is good but on game day…it stinks.
You notice we didn’t say your players stink. There are plenty of times that a talent mismatch comes into play. We have lined up against Alabama and New England enough to know.
However, in this case we mean exactly what we are saying. Your plan stinks on that particular day for that particular game. The good news is you have your halftime adjustments to fix as much as you can.
Why does your game plan stink? Could be one of several reasons. It could be because you have underestimated the talent on the opponent side. It’s not always easy to determine just how good a player is on the other team when you don’t know who they are playing against on tape.
Halftime Adjustments: Here’s The Case For Standing Pat. Don’t Panic…
Another reason this might not be your prize game plan is that the opponent has adjusted what they do that week. Your focus has been on the spread attack that they normally run and suddenly your seeing a fullback on about half the plays.
It could also be the case that the opposing coaches just flat have your number that game. They have a good plan and their players are executing better than yours. If this hasn’t happened to you yet as a coach, just be patient, it’s coming.
Here’s The Case For Making Halftime Adjustments Now. Get it Fixed.
So here’s the situation. You’re heading into the locker room at half and you are down by 16. It’s not a good situation but it’s still two scores and the two point conversions or three scores. You have a whole half to fix it. What is your philosophy on halftime adjustments?
You would like to think it’s the other two phases who are struggling but in our case here it is yours. So let’s cut to the chase. What are you going to do?
Are you going to stand pat or adjust? We will look into that all week here on FirstDown PlayBook. Stay tuned.
