Hi. I have been an owner for 30 seasons. I have had moderate success as I climbed up the scale to get to D1.

I am curious if there are any additional advice or suggestions to help my squad take the next step. I recruit pretty well and I understand that the Sun Belt is not a strong conference. But, I get killed (I mean killed) when I play humans.

I am looking for some direction on how to go from "Good to Great".
Do I need to recruit better?
Is a certain system better then others?
Do I need to go to better school?
Is 30 seasons not enough time?

Any ideas or suggestions would be helpful.
Thanks,
WM

Once you get up to D1, formation IQ and game planning make a huge difference when you are playing against other humans. I think you have enough good athletes to compete, although your shortage of DLs probably hurt you a bit this season.

I would spend some time learning how to put together good custom formations and playbooks. Then play around with game planning during the exhibition games and into the non-conference games next season.

Hey there. I noticed this was your first post, so welcome to the forum community! Here are my thoughts:

Going from good to great is fairly easy. I recommend the following steps:

a. Create custom offense and defensive playbooks. You need to control your gameplan.
b. Create custom formations so that you have the players you want, playing at the time you need them to play.
c. Schedule correctly. Your goal should be every year to make the playoffs (below D1) and if in D1, your goal should be to play in the CC and keep your job. The main point here is that you want to play more games than your competitors so that your players train more than your competitors. This will give you an advantage.
d. Learn how to practice. FIQ is really...I mean really important. You need to balance that importance with also growing your players in the attributes you deem most important for your style of play.

If you can be competent in the above areas, then you will be "great" and be a "hard out" in any game.

Now, going from great to elite....whoa, that is freaking hard IMO.

Good luck.

nitros (James)

Looking at your history at Army your best recruiting class was your most recent one but your Full roster rank has never been above 35th best in the nation. Now, I don't think that is necessarily your fault, it is harder to recruit from the Sun Belt. I know now that you have built Army up to a solid program you are probably going to be very loyal to them but moving to a Power 5 job might be the answer. You have been at Army for quite a few seasons now. Looks like you are a good coach, might be just be the school and conference that is your biggest road block to becoming great.

I think stamina has an impact on the success of a given play. On offense, why would you play your first string QB if you're going to run the ball? There's a slight decrease in the overall fiq of the players on the field but now your first string QB will be fresher for an additional play later in the drive. This could very well be an important third down.

I don't typically recruit a QB every year so there's a sizable drop in the passing effectiveness of my starter vs my backup, but I can get my backup QB 30-40% of the snaps and keep my starter fresh just by running the ball 1/3 of the time.

On defense it's not as easy to dictate these matchups but it's definitely possible and I think that's an area the best coaches excel at taking advantage of. I'm still learning and experimenting with what might work.

What are you plugging in when you create custom formations?
Don't you want your best players at their position on the field as much as possible? You can do that with the formations you are given.

The short answer is that I want my best players on the field for that particular play.

For example, if I am running the ball on an inside run, then I know the computer simulation is my OL (modified by FB) vs. DL/ILB. In this situation, I care about the following players:

1. My best inside RB.
2. My best running OL (STR being the prime attribute here).
3. My best blocking FB (that is a bit of an oxymoron, I know).
4. My best block TE.

I do not care about any other players, therefore I can toss in my backups at WR and QB.

Hopefully that makes sense.

nitros (James)

I'd love to get a look at an old playbook you no longer use.

Or anyone's who does this.

Creating custom formations and playbooks was the single biggest factor that helped me really grasp the game. Once I understood how I want to build offenses and defenses I was able to improve my recruiting to fit my game plans and formations.

I have designed my depth charts so that every available player gets playing time and rest when their skills aren't being maximized. I do this by assigning them the top spot on a specific depth chart setting:

For example: On my depth charts here are my personal settings ---
QB = my passing QB that is typically at least a Jr* or Sr*
QB Rush = my QB on rushing downs that is typically underclassman that doesn't have the formation IQ yet to throw a pass
QB U1 = specialty QB for some scrambling plays in various playbooks

RB Pwr = my rushing RB that is my best RB and typically a Jr* or Sr*
RB Spd = my best receiving RB that isn't my RB Pwr typically a Jr* or Sr*
RB Poss= my second best receiving RB typically an underclassman
RB U1 = my best deep threat RB for specialty formations
FB = my underclassmen usually start here at Fr* and So* by blocking on rushing plays only

WR Dp = my best WR typically at Jr* or Sr*
WR Poss = my second best WR
WR U1 = my third best WR
WR U2 = my two youngest WRs are U2 and play only on rushing plays

TE Poss = my best receiving TE
TE Blk = my second best TE and usually an underclassman

OL U1 = Rushing Line
OL U2= Passing Line
OL Tackle/Guard = Short yardage rushing/best 5 offensive linemen


So by having this set system I can create new formations and edit playbooks to make sure I am maximizing my offensive talents.
All of my rushing plays use my rushing QB, my RB Pwr and FB, my TE Blk, WR2 x 2 and OL U1 x 5
My standard passing plays use QB, RB Spd and RB Poss, TE Poss, WR Dp and WR Poss and OL U2 x 5.
Using these settings I can control playing time and starts for underclassmen while still maximizing my team's talent

I have several specialty formations that I can easily build because of this depth chart system.

For instance I have a decent scrambling play that I will use QB U1, RB Pwr and FB, TE Blk, WR Dp and WR Poss. I will have the FB and TE pass block and send RB Pwr, WR Dp, and WR Poss on long/deep routes and if they aren't open my scrambling QB can get great rushing yards sometimes.

On the next play I might have similar personnel but actually it could be a unique formation utilizing specific players skill sets trying to achieve something else. I might run a pass play where I want my best RB to be the primary receiver and the TE to be the secondary receiver. I will fill out the skill set players in the formation to best help the team. I might give WR Dp a rest and assign WR Poss and WR U1 as the wide receivers if I find that my WR Dp (best WR) needs more rest than only resting on running plays.

I have a few formations that I have designed where I am trying to isolate a specific receiver vs a specific defender. I can easily add or delete these formations from my current playbook without having to mess with my depth charts. If I look at an opponent's FS or SS and think they can be taken advantage of - I already have a few specific formations where I am trying to isolate my best receiver at a certain depth vs the opponent's worst defender.

I do something very similar on defense with my depth charts but it is a little more complex - but same principle: everyone gets playing time while my defense's talents are maximized.

Posted by nitros on 8/30/2017 6:16:00 PM (view original):

What are you plugging in when you create custom formations?
Don't you want your best players at their position on the field as much as possible? You can do that with the formations you are given.

The short answer is that I want my best players on the field for that particular play.

For example, if I am running the ball on an inside run, then I know the computer simulation is my OL (modified by FB) vs. DL/ILB. In this situation, I care about the following players:

1. My best inside RB.
2. My best running OL (STR being the prime attribute here).
3. My best blocking FB (that is a bit of an oxymoron, I know).
4. My best block TE.

I do not care about any other players, therefore I can toss in my backups at WR and QB.

Hopefully that makes sense.

nitros (James)

An important point that Nitros makes here implicitly is that if you want to play so that your run/pass split is 50/50, you should run two separate formations where one runs 100% of the time and one passes 100% of the time. That way you can maximize your talent for running and passing.

GREAT explanation blitziscomin!

Posted by blitziscomin on 8/30/2017 7:37:00 PM (view original):
Creating custom formations and playbooks was the single biggest factor that helped me really grasp the game. Once I understood how I want to build offenses and defenses I was able to improve my recruiting to fit my game plans and formations.

I have designed my depth charts so that every available player gets playing time and rest when their skills aren't being maximized. I do this by assigning them the top spot on a specific depth chart setting:

For example: On my depth charts here are my personal settings ---
QB = my passing QB that is typically at least a Jr* or Sr*
QB Rush = my QB on rushing downs that is typically underclassman that doesn't have the formation IQ yet to throw a pass
QB U1 = specialty QB for some scrambling plays in various playbooks

RB Pwr = my rushing RB that is my best RB and typically a Jr* or Sr*
RB Spd = my best receiving RB that isn't my RB Pwr typically a Jr* or Sr*
RB Poss= my second best receiving RB typically an underclassman
RB U1 = my best deep threat RB for specialty formations
FB = my underclassmen usually start here at Fr* and So* by blocking on rushing plays only

WR Dp = my best WR typically at Jr* or Sr*
WR Poss = my second best WR
WR U1 = my third best WR
WR U2 = my two youngest WRs are U2 and play only on rushing plays

TE Poss = my best receiving TE
TE Blk = my second best TE and usually an underclassman

OL U1 = Rushing Line
OL U2= Passing Line
OL Tackle/Guard = Short yardage rushing/best 5 offensive linemen


So by having this set system I can create new formations and edit playbooks to make sure I am maximizing my offensive talents.
All of my rushing plays use my rushing QB, my RB Pwr and FB, my TE Blk, WR2 x 2 and OL U1 x 5
My standard passing plays use QB, RB Spd and RB Poss, TE Poss, WR Dp and WR Poss and OL U2 x 5.
Using these settings I can control playing time and starts for underclassmen while still maximizing my team's talent

I have several specialty formations that I can easily build because of this depth chart system.

For instance I have a decent scrambling play that I will use QB U1, RB Pwr and FB, TE Blk, WR Dp and WR Poss. I will have the FB and TE pass block and send RB Pwr, WR Dp, and WR Poss on long/deep routes and if they aren't open my scrambling QB can get great rushing yards sometimes.

On the next play I might have similar personnel but actually it could be a unique formation utilizing specific players skill sets trying to achieve something else. I might run a pass play where I want my best RB to be the primary receiver and the TE to be the secondary receiver. I will fill out the skill set players in the formation to best help the team. I might give WR Dp a rest and assign WR Poss and WR U1 as the wide receivers if I find that my WR Dp (best WR) needs more rest than only resting on running plays.

I have a few formations that I have designed where I am trying to isolate a specific receiver vs a specific defender. I can easily add or delete these formations from my current playbook without having to mess with my depth charts. If I look at an opponent's FS or SS and think they can be taken advantage of - I already have a few specific formations where I am trying to isolate my best receiver at a certain depth vs the opponent's worst defender.

I do something very similar on defense with my depth charts but it is a little more complex - but same principle: everyone gets playing time while my defense's talents are maximized.

This ^^. Great advice.

I agree. Thanks, BlitzisComin.

Thank you everyone! I really appreciate all the advice!

WM