What is a System?
Why fewer offenses actually have one.
Quick note before we get into it: I’ve been quieter here than usual. I’ve been building and reworking some bigger things behind the scenes, but the regular breakdowns are back. We’re back to normal rhythm from here.
The word system gets thrown around a lot in football.
“What system do you run?”
“He’s a system guy.”
Air Raid. Wing-T. Flexbone.
But what do we actually mean when we say system?
And more importantly, do most offenses really have one?
Before we can build our own, we have to be clear on what a system actually is.
What a System Really Is
By definition, a system is a group of parts that work together as one connected whole.
For football coaches, that can mean a lot of things:
Your offense
Your defense
Special teams
Even your strength and conditioning program
All of those are systems inside a bigger program.
On this channel, I focus on offensive systems.
Someday I might branch out.
But for now, this is my hill.
More offenses now than ever are broken, but not because of effort or creativity.
They’re broken because they aren’t systems.
How We Got Here
I grew up a coach’s kid. I’ve been around football for over 30 years.
When I was young, learning an offense meant:
Visiting other schools
Working under coaches who had been in one system for years
Books or clinics
Information was harder to get.
But what you got usually fit together.
Fast forward to today.
We have more access than ever.
Cut-ups. Virtual Clinics. Social media. Playbooks everywhere.
And yet, on Friday nights, I see fewer true systems than ever before.
The Play-Collecting Problem
Most offenses today aren’t systems.
They’re collections.
A little of this run.
A trendy RPO.
A cool pass concept from Instagram.
Something they saw on a YouTube breakdown.
There’s no clear foundation.
Just a pile of “good plays” with no real connection.
The Copycat Trap
The other extreme is copying someone else’s system exactly.
There are plenty of places where you can buy a full offense and install it word for word.
That can be a great way to learn. I’ve spent tons of money over the past 15 years doing the exact same thing as a study tool. The key is to learn the formula, not copy the exact system.
Most high school coaches aren’t recruiting to a system like colleges do. Your talent changes every year. Your strengths change. Your problems change.
Systems that last know how to adjust without starting over. You don’t learn that from copying someone else play for play. You need to know the why.
So How Do We Fix It?
Just so we’re clear:
Studying trends is good.
Learning new ideas is good.
Growing as a coach is necessary.
But it only works if you have a foundation first.
You have to understand:
What your offense is built on
Why each piece exists
How everything connects
You need one clear core.
One play.
One idea.
One identity.
Everything else grows from that.
What Real System Building Looks Like
Once you have a core, the rest is problem solving.
Ask simple questions:
How will defenses try to stop my best play?
What happens if they load the box?
What happens if they overplay this formation?
What happens if they sell out to take it away?
Each answer becomes part of the system.
You don’t add because it’s popular, but because it solves a specific problem.
Bringing It All Together
You don’t build a great offense by copying or collecting plays.
You build it by:
Creating a clear foundation
Blocking out the online noise
Solving real defensive problems
Defenses don’t care how cool your play is.
They care about structure, leverage, and numbers.
When you understand those non-negotiables, everything gets simpler.
And once you understand the formula, you can build anything you want.