One of the greatest aspects of the Run & Shoot and its history is the way teams practice. I am a firm believer that your philosophy and culture must be seen and felt in your practice environment and communication. The greatest aspect of the Run & Shoot is the fun it creates for the players. I have seen teams having difficult seasons and players still find joy in the process and in the way they are coached. The coaches do a wonderful job with culture and communication. The most overlooked aspect of the Run & Shoot Offense is the amount of football players naturally learn and the empowerment they feel.
There are many ways to get your players to do what you want them to do and every coach has their style of play. However, if you want to have a Run & Shoot Offense, it would be very wise to not take a general/”nose to the grindstone” approach to coaching… At the very least on the offensive side of the ball in this system. Why? Players need to hang loose, be trusted, see the field, build confidence, and play fear free. They already know they messed up and are probably used to beating themselves up about it mentally. This does not mean there is no discipline. Make no mistake, they must study very hard in this system and practice with great intention because in this offense, the game is in their hands. They must communicate with coaches and with each other constantly to learn and grow. The more relaxed a player feels, the more comfortable they are communicating. The better they communicate, the better adjustments they make. The better adjustments they make, the better the execution, etc. etc. All of this builds to playing with speed, precision, and confidence.
How does this look and feel? For one, coaches are not screaming and yelling at players. They are observing and communicating calmly and with precision. No player feels attacked or degraded. Coaches focus 100% on attacking problems, not players. This helps foster trust and belief. No one can play at full speed and focus on making the right adjustments being concerned about making a mistake and being yelled at for it. We coach with love, not fear. You should see and feel great energy and enthusiasm in practice. Celebrate the “small” wins, high five, laugh, thumbs up, positive remarks, etc. When correction is happening; you will see calm communication, eye contact, nodding of understanding, and likely even an arm around the player while helping them. Also, body language of coaches remaining confident even when mistakes happen. They’ll get the next one. The present moment is all that matters. I call it the “Hakuna Matata” approach and that phrase is actually used. It’s always important to remember, players will always practice more than they play. The environment and how you treat them matters a great deal.
This system also grows the accountability players must have towards each other. Unlike a lot of philosophies, talking in practice is encouraged as long as it is about the system. There are few things better than a player waving a coach off to indicate to him that he can tell his teammate what adjustment he should’ve made. The coaches and players trust each other and the communication/language is the same. There are times where a player corrects a coach… and it’s awesome! Now, if players do not understand how much they have to study in this system, that is going to create problems. They cannot mistake the environment for the habits. The study habits will show in practice. Studying in this system requires a great deal of discipline for all positions.
Make no mistake (and don’t forget) the R&S in it’s purest form was in the National Football League. Teams in the NFL use the system’s concepts to this day. When players are taught the R&S, they are being taught professional level football knowledge. This often serves them heading into college as well at all positions.
In the end, football is a game and the Run & Shoot’s foundation was build on playing the game with freedom. The Offense was quite literally inspired by kids Tiger Ellison saw on a playground playing pick-up football in 1958. The best part of the offense is that it should remind you that the game is fun. It should remind you to let the players play. It should remind you that it’s true nature matches the soul of all of us who first fell in love with the game.
Hang Loose. Have Fun. Play as Ohana.
– Marcus A. Mayo
Below are some slides I’ve had for many years from SMU that hit on some of the points of practice culture, discipline, and environment.
