As an OC why cant I call plays on 4th Down

[Catamount53]

It seems a little ridiculous to me that the OC cant decide the play on 4th.

I was in a game down 14 with under 3 minutes to go, but couldn't control the team on 4th.

[labballin24]

Seems to be a head coach's privilege. Actually sounds like a good idea to me. Makes it a bigger deal to be a head coach.

[Pogo27]

Because in real life, the head coach calls the play on 4th down.

Or rather, he'll make the decision.

Head coaches who have OC/DC who call the plays on offense and defense make the 4th down and extra point/2point decisions. They also are in charge of the timeouts.

So, on 4th and whatever, the head coach assesses score, time left, time outs left, field position, distance for a first, etc. etc. etc. and will decide to punt, field goal, fake punt, fake field goal, or give it to his offensive coordinator (or just call a 4th down conversion play he likes himself).

[BaylorBearBryant]

Most head coaches decide whether or not to go for it on 4th down.

[Catamount53]

Yes in real life head coaches decide to go for it on 4th down, but also in real life head coaches go for it on the other teams 30 down 2 TDs with just over 2 minutes left in the game.

[Catamount53]

The thing that gets me is that if it is 4th and 2 or shorter you can call the play, but if it is anything longer you lose control.

Also there have been multiple times when the CPU head coach decides to go for it on our side of the field only to come up short and give up a TD.

The CPU does not make good decisions which makes it very hard to win.

[Pogo27]

Which begs the question:
How many games have you played?
How many times, as the OC, have you been in a situation which you feel like your team should be going for it on 4th down?
Also, on the simulated play with your specific example, did your team kick a field goal or did they go for it? (And also, what was the distance for a first down?)


Scientific method people, c'mon.
(Don't think I didn't notice that "under 3 minutes" just turned into "just over 2 minutes" either.)

If the game NEVER gives you control on 4th down and ALWAYS makes your team do a special teams play, regardless of the situation, it sounds like an issue that needs to be fixed.

If the game never gives you control on 4th down, but will occasionally go for it, it sounds like the head coach is calling the play, and I'm fine with it.

If you've only been in one situation where you felt like you should've had control on 4th but didn't, then we really don't have enough evidence to make a reasonable determination on how the game is handling it, do we?

[Pogo27]

Quote: Originally Posted by labballin24

Seems to be a head coach's privilege. Actually sounds like a good idea to me. Makes it a bigger deal to be a head coach.

Quote: Originally Posted by Catamount53

The thing that gets me is that if it is 4th and 2 or shorter you can call the play, but if it is anything longer you lose control. Also there have been multiple times when the CPU head coach decides to go for it on our side of the field only to come up short and give up a TD. The CPU does not make good decisions which makes it very hard to win.

A lot of coordinators are better coaches than their head coach.

I'll provide the example of Les Miles, who is certainly a worse coach than anyone he ever hires as his coordinators (plus, wasn't Bo Pellini a Les Miles coordinator? or was he a Nick Saban coordinator? Either way, he's doing great at Nebraska these days).

I'll also provide the example of Gus Malzahn, Auburn's OC. If he weren't so young and inexperienced, he'd already have a head coaching job at a major program. He's got the mind for it. He's the best coach Auburn has right now, and he's not the head coach.