If you’ve ever watched an NFL game you’ve undoubtedly noticed some color commentator talking about “scripting.” It’s a common practice in football at any level to script anywhere between the first 5 and 25 plays.

As a video coach you’ve likely never thought about scripting your plays, but it could be a powerful tool to make sure you start the game with a nice diverse playbook as well as a helpful tool for sticking to a game plan.

Scripting offers many benefits to your offense. First and foremost it makes you develop a sound game plan. If you're like me you may have a game plan, but get away from it somewhat early -- a script makes you think about it.

I also use my script to setup play action and counter plays. I script my generic base plays to show them and make sure I have my counter action available whenever I’m ready to use it. Often times in a game I will forget to setup my counter or play action  and when I go to use it, nobody is fooled.

While scripting, it's important to remember not to put yourself into too many bad situations. It is certainly advantageous to be aggressive on offense, but its also important to not screw yourself. When scripting I tend to be a bit run heavy so I don’t get into too many 3rd and longs and I also try and make sure my passing plays have an easy short throw if I need it. This doesn’t mean I won’t have a few deep throws mixed into my script, more that I don’t script too many intermediate or deep passing plays back to back.   

In the event of an online game, keeping a few repeatable general scripts available can be handy (it's not like anybody is studying your game tape). Just make a generic script for common online teams (Patriots, Colts, West Virginia, Ohio State, Florida or just a generic 4-3/3-4 script) and keep them next to your system.

If you do choose to script, it's important to remember you can go off script if need be. It might be 3rd and inches and my script may call for a medium or deep throw when I can easily run a quick dive for the first. Likewise, if it's 3rd and 12 and I have an inside running play call I’ll likely go off script for a play and get back on script the next. There is no need to be super strict with it.

I’ve also gone back to the script if my offense is sputtering. If I get myself into a play calling rut and have a few 3 & outs, I’ve gone back to the start of the script and ran threw it again until I can find a rhythm again. Likewise, if I’m driving down the field and my script ends I will often times go right back to play 1 and repeat it until the drive ends. Why mess with success?

Scripting for video games is a geeky practice, but I’ve had a lot of success doing it. It ensures my offense starts out diverse, gives me something to look back on if I begin to sputter and ensures I stick to a game plan.

It also ensures I have all my counter and play action looks setup as well as making sure my offense sets the tempo that I want to set at the beginning of the game. In football, organization is key, and a script keeps my offense very organized.