Individual improv on the football field often proves costly to the team

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This article was published 20/07/2015 (4095 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The line between “Coaching up” an athlete too much and smothering their creativity and uniqueness as a player, or giving them too much discretion on the field, is a difficult act to balance.

Coach them too stringently and they become robotic and don’t trust their instincts and abilities when an unscripted scenario presents itself.

Don’t coach them enough and they will freelance and play so far outside of your system and boundaries that it ends up hurting you in critical moments.

When the management of any athlete trends too heavily to one side of this equation, it can often cost you a football game. More than one player appeared to go above and beyond what the situation called for on Saturday night, contributing to the Bombers 26-25 loss to the Calgary Stampeders.

If there is a single directive that every professional football coach would like his players to follow, it would be to execute the exact technique and scheme that you are taught in practice with the utmost degree of precision. For most every possible scenario that can unfold on a football field, someone, at sometime, has written out a technique on how to handle it, defeat it, and take advantage of it. The only exception to this singular directive, of course, is when by doing something different than what you have practised, you can benefit the team to an even greater degree than following your teachings. In those select few instances — they are very rare indeed — you throw the first directive out the window, and follow rule No. 2, which by definition means it’s improv theater time: you think on your feet, and you “overcome your coaching.”

The reason players occasionally have to “overcome their coaching,” is because things can break down and go wrong in a hurry on a professional football field. When strategy A confronts scheme B, outcome C may be the standard result, but sometimes, the rarely discussed, “everything went to hell,” anarchy-reigning Plan F rears its ugly head, and you have a complete new set of circumstances to deal with that you haven’t gone over in meetings.

For a player who has developed the instinct of self-preservation in pro football, it is always wise to err on the side of your techniques and fundamentals, unless you have a greater than 90 per cent probability of success from going “rogue.” The best example I can give you of going “rogue,” from a defensive line perspective, is the temptation that has toyed with the hearts and desires of defensive ends since the inception of football — the inside pass rush move.

Unless it is drawn up, and the responsibility is handed off to an outside linebacker, a looping interior player, or a blitzing player from the secondary, keeping “contain” of the quarterback inside the pocket is usually one of the primary responsibilities of the defensive end. For the most part they are taught to keep outside leverage, and to fall back, and retrace their rush if the QB steps up, but to never, ever, allow the quarterback to escape containment. Yet defensive ends, who can be some of the most athletic and versatile players on a football team, like to vary their pass rushes and change up the looks they throw at opposing offensive tackles, and get bored of rushing outside and upfield all game. So on occasion, without warning, after setting it up, and most likely against the wishes of their defensive line coach, rush ends will sometimes throw caution to the wind and make an inside pass rush move, in a gamble that they can get to the QB before he escapes out on the edge.

One of three things always happens as a result, and only one of them keeps you from being yanked off the field and benched, or verbally abused by your position coach. The ideal outcome when you shirk your responsibility and go inside, is to get a sack. Your coach might wink at you and wave his finger at you, with an “Oh you!” but all is forgiven with a hit, knock down, pressure, forced fumble or sack. The second possibility is that you don’t make a play but nothing of negative consequence happens. The QB rolls out the other way, or makes a quick throw, and you live to fight another day. Yet if you aren’t seasoned enough to know when to pick your moments in a game, if you aren’t veteran enough to understand the dire circumstances and the percentages of a critical moment, or can’t recognize that you are being set up and invited inside, and the quarterback escapes and extends the play and throws a touchdown, then you have gambled as an individual and lost, and most importantly, cost your team dearly with your poor decision making.

Much of what makes good football players great in this game, is knowing when and how often to roll the dice, how to anticipate certain scenarios, and whether or not it is the right moment and time to believe in your abilities at the potential expense of your team. Until you have played long enough to recognize and understand those scenarios, and the consequences of trying to play outside of your responsibilities, it’s usually best to just follow the simple instructions that have been provided to you.

Doug Brown, once a hard-hitting defensive lineman and frequently a hard-hitting columnist, appears Tuesdays in the Free Press.

Twitter: @DougBrown97