From Deseret News archives:
The art of play calling
Coaches say it's part playing odds, part inspiration
It's all of the above, according to BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall.
It is both statistics and heart; some strokes of inspiration and raw data.
For years, Mendenhall, 38, has been calling defensive plays as a coordinator. His offensive coordinator at BYU, Robert Anae, is just breaking in as a play caller this season after working as the offensive line coach at Texas Tech.
Calling plays.
Not everybody is a Norm Chow. But even the Tennessee Titan offensive coordinator, fresh off two years with national champion Southern Cal, had his days where fans made him a goat in Provo for play calls.
"If I give you my personal interpretation of it, it's both art and science," Mendenhall said.
Early in his career, Mendenhall based his play-calling script on statistics and percentages. He can tell you the numbers from heart. If a defense holds somebody to a particular score, they usually win. If an offense scores 40, the team wins nine games. It goes on and on and on.
"I tried to memorize those statistics, the down and distance, the calls, and it almost became overwhelming to the point it would paralyze the way I was able to think. But through experience, gaining experience and continuing experience, it's shaped game by game and year by year to where now all preparation work is done during the week.
"Eventually, during the course of the game, there are a lot of calls used in a different context than what I originally intended. There are things that weren't emphasized during the week that now become very apparent. There are mismatches I thought were in our favor that weren't, and you try and self-correct in a game."
Mendenhall said he has gone from statistics, preparation, percentages and tendencies during the week to game day where it is mostly feel. "The only time you see me look at the sheet is if things aren't going well and I'm looking for anything. Mostly it is by feel by that point, and it is intuitive."
On offense, coordinators spend a lot of time studying their own tendencies — so they can mix it up and not be predictable. Graduate assistant coaches and assistant coaches break down every play, use a computer data base and can tell you what they — or an opponent — tend to do in any given situation on the field.
"Offenses may come up with a 20- or 25-play script to start a game," Mendenhall said. "They add specific formations to see a defense react to it and use a specific motion to see what you are ready for. Really, those first 20 or 25 scripted plays may not have anything to do with down and distance. So, it is more reactive in a sense on offense, to see what the reaction will be."
