HEADCOACH part 1 Typed in by ???, Edited by PARASITE. Section 1 Introduction Welcome to Head Coach. You will have hours of fun as you enjoy coaching simulated professional football teams. Head Coach provides exciting games without requiring you to be a football expert. You can be playing a game within minutes of opening the package, using simplified play-calling capabilities. However, if you are a serious football fan, Head Coach can be played at a level that requires the utmost in concentration, preparation, and skill. History of Head Coach Head Coach began as an experiment in calculating random numbers and using remote computer terminals. That was 1965. The computer was a large, main-frame computer system. For over 20 years, Head Coach has been consistently acclaimed for its realism, ease of use, and level of sophistication. Head Coach has been installed on two large main-frame computers, three minicomputers, and now two microcomputers. It doesn't take long to get your first game started. Read this section, then read Section 2, Getting Started, and then Section 3, Your First Game, will have you calling plays in minutes. Section 4, The Playbook, describes the two playbooks provided -- beginner and standard. You can have lots of fun playing with the beginner playbook. However, most Head Coach players quickly progress to using the full standard playbook. Section 4 also describes how to modify the standard playbook and make your own playbooks. Section 5, Calling the Offense, and Section 6, Calling the Defense, describe how to call offensive and defensive plays the way the professionals do. Head Coach gives you the option of continuing to enjoy games using the standard playbooks, or learning the offensive and defensive systems for very sophisticated play-calling. You are greatly encouraged to read Section 7, Dot Commands. Head Coach has many features that provide a variety of game playing options. Section 8, Computer Teams, Section 9, The Game Plan, and Section 10, Team Files, describe how to play the computer, construct game plans, and build your own teams, real or imaginary. Section 11 League Play, describes the exciting world of league play. Head Coach provides all you need to organize, play, and keep statistics for multiple leagues. Section 12 Modem Play, describes how to play computer football in its most exciting form -- over a modem. Head Coach allows you and your opponent to be playing from different Amiga computers. The computers may be across the room connected with a "null" modem and cable, or across the country connected by modems and telephone lines. Apppendixes are included that summarize the manual. Hardware Requirements Head Coach requires at a minimun an Amiga system with 512k memory and a monitor. However, if you have at least 1 megabyte of memory on your Amiga, many additional features are available. A second floppy disk may also be used to advantage. Technical Support Technical Support questions and comments for future editions of Head Coach should be directed to the MicroSearch Head Coach Technical Support Group. Phone calls will be accepted Monday-Friday between 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM CST. Or write: MicroSearch Inc. 9896 Southwest Freeway Houston, TX., 77074 USA (713) 988-2818 Section 2 Getting Started It is very important to make duplicate copies of your Head Coach master disks prior to their use. The copies can be used for all functions of Head Coach. The master disks should be kept in a safe place. Duplicating Head Coach using one drive 1. Turn on your Amiga. When the Kickstart prompt appears, insert your copy of Kickstart. Note: While Kickstart is loading you should check the Head Coach Master Disks to make sure they are write-protected. If you are looking at the front of a disk there should be a square opening in the upper right-hand corner. If you cannot see through the opening, the disk is not write-protected and could be accidently erased. Slide the write-protection tab to the open position. It should click into place and stay. Your disk is now protected. 2. When the Workbench prompt appears, insert your Head Coach master disk #1 into the internal disk drive (df0:). Your Head Coach master disk #1 may be used whenever the Workbench prompt appears. 3. When the Head Coach master menu appears, type: diskcopy df0: to df0: The diskcopy utility instructs you to insert the disk to be copied in df0: and press the RETURN key. Because the disk you want to copy (Head Coach master disk #1) is in df0:, press RETURN. The disk copy utility begins reading your Head Coach master disk #1. After a portion of the disk has been read, the disk copy utility instructs you to insert the disk that will contain the copy and press RETURN. Remove the Head Coach master disk #1 from df0:, insert the disk to receive the Head Coach copy, and press RETURN. The disk does not have to formatted. The disk copy utility writes the data from the Head Coach master disk to the copy disk. The disk copy utility instructs you to alternate disks in the internal drive df0: until the copy operation is complete. When the disk copy operation completes, the copy of your Head Coach master disk #1 is in drive df0:. Place your Head Coach master disk #1 in a safe place. Reset your Amiga system by simultaneously pressing the "Ctrl"key and the two "A" keys that are on either side of the space bar. Repeat the diskcopy procedure (diskcopy df0: to df0:) for your Head Coach master disk #2. When both master disks have been copied, insert the copy of the Head Coach master disk #1 into df0:. Reset your Amiga system by simultaneously pressing the "Ctrl" key and the two "A" keys that are on either side of the space bar. Duplicating Head Coach using two drives 1. Turn on your Amiga. When the Kickstart prompt appears, insert your copy of Kickstart. Note: While Kickstart is loading you should check the Head Coach Master Disks to make sure they write-protected. If you are looking at the front of a disk there should be a square opening in the upper right-hand corner. If you cannot see through the opening, the disk is not write-protected and could be accidently erased. Slide the write-protection tab to the open position. It should click into place and stay. Your disk is now protected. 2. When the Workbench prompt appears, insert your Head Coach master disk #1 into the internal disk drive (df0:). Your Head Coach master disk #1 may be used whenever the Workbench prompt appears. 3. When the Head Coach master menu appears, type: diskcopy df0: to df1: The diskcopy utility instructs you to insert the disk to be copied in df0:, insert the disk to receive the copy in df1:, and press the RETURN key. Insert the disk to receive the Head Coach copy in df1:. The disk does not have to formatted. Because the disk you want to copy (Head Coach master disk #1) is in df0:, press RETURN. The disk copy utility copies the contents of your Head Coach master disk #1 to the disk in drive df1:. When the disk copy operation completes, the copy of your Head Coach master disk #1 is in drive df1:. Remove your Head Coach master disk #1 from df0: and store in a safe place. Remove the Head Coach master disk #1 copy from df1: and insert into df0:. Reset your Amiga system by simultaneously pressing the "Ctrl" key and the two "A" keys that are on either side of the space bar. Repeat the copy procedure (diskcopy df0: to df1:) for your Head Coach master disk #2. Contents of the Head Coach Master Disks Head Coach comes on two disks. The disks are named Head Coach Master #1 (headcoach1) and Head Coach Master #2 (headcoach2), and contain: Head Coach Master #1 1 Megabyte version of Head Coach 15 Teams 1 Template team to help you make your own teams 4 Playbooks 2 Gameplans All data files required to play a game DOC utility for viewing Head Coach documentation MAKE utility for creating your own Head Coach disks STATS utility for using a telephone to exchange statistics between two Head Coach systems. Head Coach Master #2 512K version of Head Coach Documentation files LO utility for processing league statistics VIEW utility for seeing what files are on a disk Printer drivers Head Coach Master #1 is configured so that you can reset your Amiga with Head Coach Master #1 in df0: and play a game. Reset means simultaneously pressing the "Ctrl" key and the two "A" keys that are on either side of the space bar. If you have a 512K memory Amiga, you can reset your Amiga with Head Coach Master #2 in df0: and play a game. However, before you start a game you must make a backup copy of your master disks -- it's for your own good! Head Coach Master Menu When your Amiga is initialized by inserting your Head Coach master disk #1 at the workbench prompt, the screen displays the Head Coach commands you may enter. This display is the master menu. Head Coach commands allow you to: View the names of files on the disk Copy disks and disk files Create your own Head Coach disk Transfer statistics files to or from another Amiga Browse through the Head Coach documentation Edit disk files Redisplay the master menu Start a game At the end of the master menu display, the following prompt is displayed: Enter 'help' for instructions, or a HeadCoach command: This is the master menu prompt. When the master menu prompt is displayed, you can enter commands to play games and maintain your Head Coach disks. When an operation completes, the master menu prompt is displayed. Following copying the Head Coach master disks, you can play games using the Head Coach master disk #1 copy as your game disk. However, there is not enough room to save games, form leagues, and keep statistics. Therefore, Head Coach 2.0 provides a utility program, "make", which will automatically build Head Coach disks containing only those files you need. The Make Utility The make program will create your own Head Coach disks complete with the teams you want, optional printer drivers, league files, statistics files, etc. In order to run the make program enter the following: make Make displays a brief introduction and instructs you to push the left mouse button to continue. Make then asks you to enter the number of disks you have on your system. If you have at least two floppy disks, be sure to tell make. The disk building procedure is much faster if two disk drives are available. Make then asks if you would like to format a new disk. By formatting a new disk, you create a new Head Coach disk that contains only those files that are required to enjoy the game. After formatting a new disk, make then asks a series of questions about what to copy to the new disk. What files to put on what disks depends upon how you will be using Head Coach. If you are not going to be supporting league play with its' required files, you can put all the files you need on one disk. However, if you intend to support league play, it is suggested that you build a two disk set. Head Coach allows the following three types of files to be on separate disks: * Programs * Game files * Documentation files When building disks, make asks if you would like to copy the various types of files to the disk being built. For a two disk set, you will need to use make twice. On the first disk, format the disk and include only the program and if desired the printer support. On the second disk, format the disk and include only the game files. Most Head Coach players simply use their copy of the Head Coach Master #2 disk for the documentation files. If you tell make you would like to support a printer, you will be instructed to insert the disk containing the printer drivers, normally Head Coach Master #2, into a disk drive. The Head Coach Master #2 disk contains a set of printer drivers. The drivers are stored in the same format as they are stored on the Commodore Amiga Extras Disk. If you like, you can insert the Extras disk. If you have your own drivers, you must have your drivers stored in the same directory structure as does Commodore. That is, the drivers must be in the "devs/printers" directory. Simply follow the instructions and you will have Head Coach disks customized for your use. The Stats Utility For league play, Head Coach maintains a statistics file for each team. When starting a game, current statistics for both teams must be on a disk. If you are playing an opponent using a modem and telephone line (see Section 12, Modem Play), you may need to get the statistics file for your opponent from your opponent. You and your opponent must use the stats utility by typing: stats Pre-arrange which computer will place the call. Follow the instructions and the stats utility will transfer statistics files as required. See also Section 11, League Play, and Section 12, Modem Play. The rest of this section provides information you need to get the most from your Head Coach system. However, if this is the first time you have used Head Coach, you may be eager to start your first game. If so, you may type "hc", press RETURN and turn to the paragraph in this section titled "Playing a Game" for final instructions on getting the game started. If you have a 512K Amiga, reset your Amiga with Head Coach Master #2 in df0: At some time however, take the time to read the rest of this section and the rest of the manual. The information will enable you to get the most from your Head Coach investment. Data Files Information required to simulate games is stored in disk data files. Because the data files are text files that can be processed using any text editor, you have the ability to customize your Head Coach system. There are four types of files you may edit: team files, playbook files, league files, and game plan files. The team files describe teams. The playbook files give easy to learn names to professional plays. The league files describe the makeup of a league. The game plan files specify playbook plays that are to be used in specific game situations. The files are stored on your Head Coach disks. Data File Names On Head Coach disks the files are named as follows: name.type "Name" is the name of the file (team name for example), and "type" specifies the type of file as follows: team Team file pb Playbook file gp Game plan file lf League file sa Saved game file (saved game files cannot be edited) stat Statistics file (statistics files cannot be edited) For example, the standard game plan file is named: standard.gp The team file for the Bulldogs team is: bulldogs.team Editing Data Files To edit the files you must use a text editor ("Ed", for example). Use of the Amiga text editor "Ed" is described in the Amiga DOS Users Manual. A brief description of some of the "Ed" commands is presented in Appendix A, Using Ed. To edit a file, your Head Coach system must be displaying the master menu prompt. Type "Ed " followed by the file name, perform the editing functions, exit from the editor, and the master menu prompt returns to the screen. A convient way to create a new file of a particular type is to copy an existing file of the same type to a file named as you want the new file to be named. Edit the new file as required. For example, to create a new game plan file named "special.gp": 1. Get the Head Coach master menu on the screen. 2. Type: copy standard.gp special.gp 3. Type: ed special.gp 4. Make the appropriate changes in "ed." 5. Exit the "ed" editor. Your Head Coach disk now contains a game plan file named "special.gp" that is a modified "standard.gp" file. Team File Template To simplifiy creating a new team file, Head Coach provides a team file template "template.team." The template contains all the required lines for a team file, with places for data values that you provide. The template also contains comments that explain the values that are required. The values that must be provided are either numbers or alphabetic characters. Numbers that must be provided are indicated in the template file by "xx". To indicate alphabetic characters that must be provided for names, the template uses "nn". For example, the following is a template file line for a player description: xx nn nn xx As described in Section 10, Team Files, the data values are: jersey number, name, position, and ability. Properly edited, the required line might be: 25 "JONES, B" WR 3.6 This indicates player number 25 is a wide receiver (WR) named "JONES, B" with an overall player ability of 3.6. See Section 10, Team Files, for a complete description of the format of team files. To use the team file template to create a new team file named "pintos.team", perform the following steps: 1. Get the Head Coach master menu on the screen. 2. Type: copy template.team pintos.team 3. Type: ed pintos.team 4. Make the changes required. 5. Exit the Ed editor Your Head Coach disk now contains a new team file, "pintos.team." The format of the files are described in the following sections: Team files are described in Section 10, Team Files. Playbook files are described in Section 4, The Playbook. Game plan files are described in Section 9, Game Plan Files. League files are described in Section 11, League Files. Playing a Game To start a game you must have the Head Coach master menu on the screen. If your Amiga is not powered on, turn on your Amiga. When the Kickstart prompt appears, insert your copy of Kickstart. If your Amiga is on, but the Head Coach system is not active, remove any disk that is in the internal drive df0: and reset your Amiga system by simultaneously pressing the "Ctrl" key and the two "A" keys that are on either side of the space bar. How the start a game depends upon if you have a 512K memory Amiga or at least one megabyte of memory. Starting your first game on an Amiga with at least one megabyte of memory. When the Workbench prompt appears, insert your Head Coach Master #1 copy into the internal disk drive (df0:). When the Head Coach master menu appears, you may enter any Head Coach command. To start a game, type: hc After pressing RETURN, Head Coach asks: Are you starting up a remote Amiga game? To initiate a game played on two Amigas connected by modems, click the "Yes" box and refer to Section 12, Modem Play, for instructions on starting a remote Amiga game. To play a game on one Amiga, click the "No" box. Next you will see: Are your documentation files stored on a separate disk? Because the documentaion files are stored on the Head Coach Master #2 disk, click the "Yes" box. Nex you will see: Enter the name of the disk, or the name of the driver (i.e., df0): Enter "headcoach2" and press RETURN. Head Coach next asks: Are your files (teams, playbooks, etc.) stored on a separate disk? If you are using the Head Coach Master #1, click "No" because the game files are on Head Coach Master #1. However, by using the "make" utility, you can create a disk containing only the Head Coach program and printer drivers, and another disk containing all files. If you are using a disk created by the "make" utility, and if you have your files on a separate disk, click the "Yes" box, otherwise click the "No" box. If you click the "Yes" box, Head Coach then displays: Enter the name of the disk, or the name of the drive (e.e., df0): You may enter either the name you gave to the data disk when you formatted the disk, or the drive in which the disk is placed. The remainder of the procedure to start your first game is the same as that for a 512K memory Amiga. Skip to the section entitled "Completing the start of your fisrt game". Starting your first game on an Amiga with 512K of memory When the Workbench prompt appears, insert your Head Coach Master #2 copy into the internal disk drive (df0:). When the Head Coach master menu appears, you may enter any Head Coach command. To start a game, type: hc After pressing RETURN, Head Coach asks: Are you starting up a remote Amiga game? To initiate a game played on two Amigas connected by modems, click the "Yes" box and refer to Section 12, Modem Play, for instructions on starting a remote Amiga game. To play a game on one Amiga, click the "No" box. Next you will see: Are your documentation files stored on a separate disk? Because the documentaion files are stored on the Head Coach Master #2 disk, click the "NO" box. Head Coach next asks: Are your files (teams, playbooks, etc.) stored on a separate disk? If you are using the Head Coach Master #2, click "Yes" because the game files are on Head Coach Master #1. If you are using a disk created by the "make" utility, and if you have your files on a separate disk, click the "Yes" box, otherwise click the "No" box. If you click the "Yes" box, Head Coach then displays: Enter the name of the disk, or the name of the drive (e.e., df0): You may enter either the name you gave to the data disk when you formatted the disk, or the drive in which the disk is placed. Completing the start of your first game. Next you see: Do you want to restore a saved game?: If you want to start a new game, click the "No" box. If you have previously saved a game (see Section 7, Dot Commands, the .SA command) and want to restart the game, click the "Yes" box. Head Coach asks if you would like to see a list of the currently saved games, and for the name of the file that was used to save the game. Head Coach then asks: Do you wish to process league statistics? If you want to either create new statistics files for the teams that will play, or update existing statistics when the game is over, click the "Yes" box. If you do not wish to process any statistical data, click "No". Head Coach then asks: Do you want to automatically start a two computer team game? Head Coach provides a special starting procedure if you want to start a game that will be played between two computer controlled teams. If you click the "Yes" box, Head Coach will ask a few more questions then begin the game. When starting a game in the automatic mode, Head Coach assumes that both teams will use the standard playbooks and game plans. Clicking the "No" box starts up a game with neither team being computer controlled. Head Coach then asks: How do you want to select team files? To type in your team file selections using the keyboard, click the "Keyboard" box. To use the mouse to select the team files, click the "Mouse" box. After the team files have been selected, the playbook and game plan files will be selected by typing on the keyboard. If you have at least 1 megabyte of memory in your Amiga, and you have used the mouse mode to select team files, the game will be played using the mouse for all play calling and decisions. Once the game begins, you can use the ".km" dot command to switch to the keyboard mode. See Section 7, Dot Commands, the .km command. The above dialog enables prepares Head Coach to start a game. To start your first game turn to Section 3, Your First Game, and have fun! Section 3 Your First Game This section describes how to start your first game, using the ability of Head Coach to allow simplified calling of plays. A few introductory comments: Throughout this manual boldface words, such as this, are defined in the attached glossary. If you have an Amiga with 512k of memory, all of your selections will be made by typing on the keyboard. If you have at least 1 meagabyte of memory, you may choose to use the mouse to make choices. When keyboard examples are shown in this manual, your typed response is underlined. All keyboard responses require typing a few characters and then pressing the RETURN key. The RETURN key must always be used. For all keyboard responses, you may type uppercase or lowercase letters. Head Coach can be played: * between two players (player-controlled teams) * between a player and the computer (computer-controlled teams) * both teams can be computer controlled and you can sit back and enjoy the game! To play a game, the participants enter play calls and commands. First the offensive team calls the offense, then the defensive team calls the defense. The probable play results are predicted, the play is executed, and, if desired, the play execution is displayed on the screen. When using one computer to play a game, always have the offensive player at the computer. When two players are playing each other (neither team is a computer-controlled team), experience has shown that the player who is on offense should sit at the computer, and the defensive player call aloud the defensive choices. That is, the offensive player at the computer enters both the offensive and defensive choices and commands. Whenever possession of the ball changes, the two players exchange places. If, however, you are using audibles (see Section 7, Dot Commands, the .AU comand), the defense must enter the defensive call without the offense knowing the call. Whenever the ball is being advanced toward the opponent's goal, the ball movement is from bottom to top on your screen. Starting the Game After following the instructions in the preceding sections, Head Coach displays a series of questions. Your responses direct Head Coach how to start the game. This section presents the responses you must enter to start a two-player game (no computer-controlled teams). If you are playing alone, you must make both offensive and defensive calls. To quickly start your first game, proper responses are shown with brief explanations. Detailed descriptions are found in the appropriate sections. If you are using the mouse for team selections, Head Coach displays the team files available on your disk. Use the mouse to click first the home team, and then the visiting team, as instructed. If you are using the keyboard to make team selections, Head Coach begins by asking if you would like to see a display of all the teams on your game disk. Because there is no need to see the display for your first game, respond by typing an "n" as follows: Would you like to see the current team files displayed (y or n)?: n Head Coach then instructs you to type in the name of the team that is the visiting team for the upcoming game. If your are in the mouse mode, click BULLDOGS. If using the keyboard, type the team name BULLDOGS and press RETURN as follows: Enter the name of the VISITING team data file: BULLDOGS When the team file is read from the disk, you will be given a scouting report summary of each team. If in the mouse mode, you will be instructed to select both the visiting and home teams. Then you will be asked for the playbook and game plan choices. Playbook and game plan information is gathered first for the visiting team and then for the home team, using the keyboard. The playbook is a disk file that contains the plays that can be called, by name, for the given team. Head Coach comes with two standard playbooks -- standard and beginner. For this first game, tell Head Coach to use the beginner playbook: The standard playbook for the BULLDOGS is "standard43" Enter 'S' for the standard playbook, 'B' for the beginner playbook, or 'E' to enter the playbook name:b Press RETURN. Next, Head Coach asks which game plan you would like to use. A game plan is a computer file that defines the plays that will be called in specific situations. Head Coach provides standard game plans that you can use to get started. Head Coach next displays: The normal game plan for this playbook is "standard" Enter 'N' for the normal game plan, or 'E' to enter the game plan name:n Press RETURN. So far your responses have provided the information Head Coach needs about the visiting team. The same questions are also required to get the home team established: Getting ready for the HOME team... Would you like to see a display of the teams(y or n)?: n Enter the name of the HOME team: LONGHORNS The standard playbook for the LONGHORNS is "standard43" Enter 'S' for the standard playbook, 'B' for the beginner playbook, or 'E' to enter the playbook name:b Press RETURN. The normal game plan for this playbook is "beginner" Enter 'N' for the normal game plan, or 'E' to enter the game plan name:n Press RETURN. You have now instructed Head Coach to start a game between the visiting BULLDOGS team and the home team LONGHORNS. The team file for the LONGHORNS indicates that the LONGHORNS home field is an indoor stadium. Head Coach next asks you if the home field is the location of the game. For this first game it is, so respond as follows: Is the game being played in the LONGHORN STADIUM (y or n)?: Y Because the game is being played in an indoor facility, no weather information is requested. Next Head Coach asks you to enter a number between 1 and 9999. Enter 1 as follows: Enter a number between 1 and 9999:1 It's almost game time now. The winner of the coin toss is displayed. The team winning the coin toss is told the current weather information and given a choice of receiving, kicking off, or defending a particular goal. Because weather is not a factor in the indoor stadium of the LONGHORNS team, the team with the choice (for example, LONGHORNS) will choose to receive as follows: BULLDOGS you have a choice to receive, kick off, or defend a goal Enter 'R' to receive the kick off 'K' to kick off or 'D' to defend a goal: R The LONGHORNS chose to receive the kickoff, so the other team (for example, BULLDOGS) are given the choice of which goal to defend: Enter 'N' to defend the north goal or 'S' to defend the south goal: N From now on, the way to select plays and enter commands depends upon the current selection mode. Earlier you were told that if you have at least one megabyte of memory of your Amiga, you may choose to enter play calls and commands with the mouse. If you have 512K of memory you must use the keyboard. If you have at least one megabyte you may also choose to use the keyboard. When making choices you will be choosing either an offense, defense, or a dot command. A "dot command" is a special kind of input command, beginning with a dot ("."), that specifies some action to be taken. Head Coach provides many game playing options in the form of dot commands. A few are described in this section. Dot commands are described in detail in Section 7, Dot Commands. Next you are instructed to enter a dot command, either ".KO" or ".RPn." If you are in mouse mode, you see a selection box with: Run Pass Play Action Miscellaneous This is the offensive play selection menu. To enter a dot command (.KO in this case), click the "Miscellaneous". You will then see a screen display of all the dot commands. To make a dot command selection, double click the desired command "KO". You must click the KO selection twice. Later when you are ready to make a play selection, click either "Run", "Pass", "Play Action", or "Miscellaneous" as appropriate. For the run, pass, or play action, the screen will show all the playbook plays for that type of offensive play. Following the playbook choices of that type of play is a list of the dot commands. If you are on defense in the mouse mode, you are presented with the following selection box: Man Zone Blitz Miscellaneous By providing the miscellaneous box, you can always enter a dot command. If you would like to switch between keyboard and mouse mode, use the .KM dot command, described in Chapter 7, Dot Commands. If you are in mouse mode, click "Miscellaneous" and then double-click KO. If you are using the keyboard, respond with the kickoff dot command as follows: Enter either .KO or .RPn (playbook mode): .KO You have decided to kick off. There are two types of kickoffs: normal or onside. If you are in mouse mode, click the appropriate box that is presented to you. If in keyboard mode, make your choice with the following response: Press RETURN for a normal kickoff or press 'O' and RETURN for an onside kick: Press RETURN. When you press RETURN, you see the kickoff and the kickoff return. The game is under way! Calling Plays After the runback of the opening kickoff, you are ready to send in your first play. Take a few seconds to study the scoreboard that is displayed at the bottom of your screen. You have time to study the scoreboard because the 45-second delay of game clock is not running. The following are displayed: current score, ball possession, ball position, down, yards to go for a first, and time-outs remaining. The beginning playbook that you requested contains a set of basic football plays to call. Section 4, Playbook Files, describes the two playbooks (beginner and standard) provided in Head Coach. For now, here is a partial list: SWEEPR - Running play wide to the right SWEEPL - Running play wide to the left DIVER - Running play inside to the right DIVEL - Running play inside to the left DRAW - Looks like a pass, but it is a run BOMB - The "BOMB" -- long pass FLOODS - "Flood" type pass to the strong side (right for this formation) FLOODW - "Flood" type pass to the weak side (left for this formation) SCREEN - Looks like a long pass, but is a short pass HBPASS - Looks like a SWEEPR, but the halfback throws a pass Head Coach requests that you enter your offense. If the game is in mouse mode, use the procedure previously described. If in keyboard mode, call the play by typing the name of the play and pressing RETURN. To begin the game, call a SWEEPR: BULLDOGS enter offense (playbook mode):SWEEPR The "(playbook mode)" indicates that you may call the offensive plays by using the playbook name (SWEEPR) directly. This is described in more detail in Section 4, The Playbook. Now you must make a defensive call. Here are a few defensive calls to try: REGL - Normal, "safe" defense with no particular gamble RUSH - Extra good against the rush, but weaker against the long pass ZONE3 - Good pass defense with 3 players protecting deep ZONE4 - Good pass defense with 4 players protecting deep RDWS - "Red Dog" (rush) the weakside and strongside linebackers DBLW - Double cover wide receivers -- good pass defense against wide receivers GOAL - Strong running defense normally used when the offense is about to score, or when very short yards are needed for a first You now see the request for a defense. For your first call, start with a REGL defense as follows: LONGHORNS enter defense (playbook mode):REGL With the offensive and defensive plays called, the play will be executed (complete with quarterback calls) and displayed on the screen. When the play has been executed, the result of the play is displayed. The cycle of calling offensive and defensive plays continues. Dot Commands Before you begin to call plays on your own, a few of the dot commands need to be explained for you. All commands are preceded by a dot "." -- so they are called "dot commands." All of your responses to offensive and defensive plays will be either a play call, which does not begin with a dot, or a dot command. Some of the more common dot commands are: .CT - Enable or disable a team to be computer controlled .FG - Field goal attempt .PA - Point after touchdown attempt .FK - Free kick following a safety .KO - Kick off .RP - Instant replay .TO - Call time out Refer to Section 7, Dot Commands, for a detailed description of each dot command. Penalties A penalty will probably be called in your first game. When a penalty is called, and the play is over, Head Coach displays the penalty and the team that committed the foul. The team with the choice must then indicate whether the penalty will be accepted or declined. The team with the choice must enter either "A" to accept the penalty or "D" to decline, and press RETURN as follows: LONGHORNS: Enter "A" to accept or "D" to decline: A If you are is mouse mode, penalty choices are made by using simple boxes. In this example, the LONGHORNS team has decided to accept the penalty. The penalty yards are marked off against the opposing team, and the down remains the same. If the LONGHORNS had decided to decline the penalty and have the play results marked off, you would have entered "D". You have called one offense and defense and seen the play result. You are now on your own. Call some offenses and defenses -- have fun! Section 4 Playbook Files A playbook is a computer file that assigns playbook names to a detailed calls (detailed calls are explained in Sections 5, Calling the Offense, and 6, Calling the Defense). By using the playbook, commonly used plays are given simple names, thereby making them easy to remember and to call. Further, if you use detailed calls and discover a detailed call that works well, you can add it to your playbook (while you are playing the game) with the dot command .PM. Adding to your playbook is covered in Section 7, Dot Commands, .PM command. Head Coach provides two playbooks for your use, the beginner playbook and the more sophisticated standard playbook. Each playbook comes in two versions. Both versions use the same offensive calls. Only the defense is different. Currently, professional football teams use a defensive alignment that is normally either a "43" (four linemen and three linebackers) or a "34" (three linemen and four linebackers). Both playbook versions provide the same offense, but one uses a "43" defense and the other uses a "34". The names of the playbooks and their versions are: beginner34.pb beginner43.pb standard34.pb standard43.pb Note: the ending ".pb" is a file type. You do not have to enter the ".pb" when you start a game. The type of defense that the team normally uses is stored with each team file, described in section 10, Team Files. Storing the normal defense for the team enables Head Coach to suggest which standard playbook to use when starting a game. Play Calling Modes When Head Coach begins, both teams are in the playbook mode. In this mode, you call plays by entering the playbook name of the plays. To call an offense or a defense, enter the name of the play, as described in Section 3, Your First Game. As you gain more playing experience, either team may enter the detailed mode, which allows complete professional-styled play calling. While in the playbook mode, each playbook call is converted into a detailed call. If you would like to see the detailed call that is programmed, use the .DP command. See section 7, Dot Commands, for a description of the .DP command. The Beginner Playbook The beginner playbook contains basic plays for offensive and defensive calls. The beginning offenses are: SWEEPR - Running play wide to the right SWEEPL - Running play wide to the left DIVER - Running play inside to the right DIVEL - Running play inside to the left DRAW - Looks like a pass, but it is a run BOMB - The "BOMB" -- long pass FLOODR - "Flood" type pass to the right FLOODL - "Flood" type pass to the left POP - Quick pass which attempts to open a back "popping" out of the backfield SCREEN - Looks like a long pass, but is a short pass HBPASS - Looks like a SWEEPR, but the halfback throws a pass SNEAK - Quarterback carries ball over the offensive center OBPASS - Quarterback throws a pass out of bounds, to stop the game clock KNEE - Quarterback drops to a knee, to keep the clock running ROLLR - Roll-out pass to the right ROLLL - Roll-out pass to the left REVL - Reverse run to the left REVR - Reverse run to the right The beginning defenses are: ZONE - Zone passing defense B1 - Blitz one linebacker B2 - Blitz two linebackers B3 - Blitz three linebackers REGL - Regular (normal) defense DOUBLE - Double cover wide receivers GOAL - Goal line defense RUSH - Rushing defense PREVENT- Prevent the long pass The Standard Playbook Standard Offense The standard offense provides a complete offense with which you may attack any weakness in the defense. The offense provides a variety of formations, runs, passes, reverses, and even provides plays with a player in motion before the snap. When you have called an offense, the formation has already been chosen when the playbook was designed. For a description of the Head Coach offensive formations available, see Section 5, Calling the Offense. Runs Running plays are plays whose name begins with an "R". When you specify a run, at least two things must be provided: 1: Who is carrying the ball 2: Where to carry the ball The ball is carried by one of the following backs: HB - HalfBack FB - FullBack The place where the ball will be carried is called the point of attack, or hole. As shown in Figure 4-1, the holes are in the gaps between the offensive linemen. The holes are numbered with the even-numbered holes to the right of the offense, and odd-numbered holes to the left of the offense. Therefore, the holes to the right are the 2, 4, 6, and 8 holes. The holes to the left are the 1, 3, 5, and 7 holes. The zero (0) hole is directly over the offensive center. When you advance to detailed play-calling, you can specify the hole to be directly at an offensive lineman, or even outside the 7 or 8 holes; see section 5, Calling the Offense. The names for the standard playbook running offenses begins with an "R" for run, followed by the ball carrier of either "HB" or "FB", and specifies the hole by a digit from 0 to 8. For example: RHB8 - Run, HalfBack, 8 hole RFB3 - Run, FullBack, 3 hole RFB0 - Run, FullBack, 0 hole This provides 18 running plays: two backs, nine holes each. For each of the ball carrier-hole combinations, the standard playbook has selected a formation and type of blocking to use. In addition to the basic 18 running plays, you can place an "M" at the end of the name and the play will include a player in motion before the snap of the ball. For example: RHB8M - Run, Halfback, 8 hole, a player in motion RFB6M - Run, Fullback, 6 hole, a player in motion So far 36 basic running plays have been described. All of the 36 basic running plays use formations that have the quarterback immediately behind the center. For a running play executed from the "shotgun" formation, the play name begins with "GR" (gun run). Following the "GR" is the ball carrier -- either QB or FB. Following QB or FB is the hole, 0 through 8. For example: GRQB4 - Gun run, quarterback, 4 hole GRFB8 - Gun run, fullback, 8 hole GRFB7 - Gun run, fullback 7 hole There are no shotgun running plays with a player in motion. Therefore there are 18 shotgun running plays: two backs, nine holes each. The final type of running plays provided in the standard playbook is the reverse run. In a reverse, the QB hands the ball to a running back who then hands the ball to a second running back who "reverses" the flow of the play. The reverse run play names begin with "RR". Following the "RR" is the final ball carrier -- either "FL", "SE", or "HB". Last specified is the hole which is either a "7" or an "8". This provides a total of six reverse runs: RRFL7 - Reverse run, flanker, 7 hole RRFL8 - Reverse run, flanker, 8 hole RRSE7 - Reverse run, split end, 7 hole RRSE8 - Reverse run, split end, 8 hole RRHB7 - Reverse run, halfback, 7 hole RRHB8 - Reverse run, halfback, 8 hole One final run: "RQB0". The ball carrier on this run is the QB, carring the ball over the offensive center -- the famous "quarterback sneak". The above describes the running plays in the standard playbook. Note that the standard playbook includes 60 runs: 36 basic runs, 18 shotgun runs, 6 reverses, and the QB sneak. Passes Passing plays are plays whose name begins with an "P". Following the "P" is a basic pass type. Four of the basic pass types are designed to attack either the strong ("S") or weak ("W") side of the offensive formation. These four are: R - Rollout - Quarterback "rolls" out F - Flood - A number of receivers "flood" a side S - Screen - A pass compelted in the backfield, with a blocking "screen" in front U - Under - A number of receivers clear out an area, and another receiver attempts to become open "under". To specify one of these passes, the "P" is followed by either an "R", "F", "S", or "U". Next must be specified if the attack is toward the strong side ("S") or the weak ("W") side. Next is the side of the field, left ("L") or right ("R"). For example: PFWR - Pass, flood, weak, right PRSL - Pass, rollout, strong, left PUWL - Pass, under, weak, left PSSR - Pass, screen, strong, right This gives 16 basic passes. For passing deep, two pass types are provided. One places four receivers deep ("4D") and the other places three receivers deep ("3D"). Also, these passes can be thrown with a man in motion before the snap. The playbook names for the "3D" and "4D" passes are: P3D - Pass, 3 receivers deep P3DM - Pass, 3 receivers deep, man in motion P4D - Pass, 4 receivers deep P4DM - Pass, 4 receivers deep, man in motion The last pass type is executed from formations which place three offensive receivers on the same side of the formation. This type of formation is call a "triple" formation. The "triple" passes are specified either to the right ("R") or left ("L"), and with or without motion, as follows: PTR - Pass, triple, right PTRM - Pass, triple, right, man in motion PTL - Pass, triple, left PTLM - Pass, triple, left, man in motion The passes described so far (24 passes) are all run out of formations with the quarterback under the offensive center. The standard playbook also provides a set of passes from the shotgun formation. The passes run from a shotgun formation are called "gun passes". The gun pass names are the same as the previously described 24 passes except they begin with "GP" instead of simply "P". For example: GPFWR - Gun pass, flood, weak, right GPRSL - Gun pass, rollout, strong, left GPUWL - Gun pass, under, weak, left GPSSR - Gun pass, screen, strong, right GPTR - Gun pass, triple, right GPTRM - Gun pass, triple, right, man in motion GPTL - Gun pass, triple, left GPTLM - Gun pass, triple, left, man in motion This provides the same number of gun passes as there are non-shotgun passes - 24. There are also two halfback passes. PHBR and PHBL have the halfback running either right (R) or left (L) and then throwing a pass. This completes the description of the standard playbook passing offense. With the basic passes (16 passes), the deep passes (4 passes), and the triple passes (4 passes), and the same number of shotgun passes, plus two halfback passes, the standard playbook provides 50 passes. Controlling the Clock The standard playbook also includes two plays that allow the offense to manipulate the clock. To stop the clock, at the expense of a down, the OBPASS play throws an incomplete pass. To keep the clock running, the KNEE play is used. In the KNEE play, the QB takes the snap from the CR and drops to a knee. This stops the play, but keeps the clock running. This completes the description of the standard playbook offense. The standard playbook offense provides 61 runs, 50 passes, and 2 clock manipulation plays for a total of 113 offensive calls. Standard Defense The defenses provided in the standard playbook provide defensive calls to meet any situation. Before describing these defensive calls specifically, pass coverage, run coverage, and blitzing are described. Pass Coverage There are two ways to protect against a pass: Man coverages Zone coverages In man (also called man-to-man) coverages, defenders are assigned an offensive receiver. The defender follows the receiver, regardless of the path the receiver takes. Man coverages always have each receiver covered, except in cases of mistakes, but they are vulnerable wherever a defender is assigned to cover a receiver of better ability. These "mismatches" are particularly vulnerable deep (long pass). Zone defenses assign each defender a zone (area) to cover rather than a receiver. The defender covers any receiver that comes into the area. Zone defenses protect against the deep pass better than man coverages, but they become vulnerable when more than one receiver approaches an area. Placing multiple receivers in an area is known as flooding a zone. When a defender is assigned a zone, there are actually four types of zones that may be assigned: Pick Zone -- Area to cover is a circle around the defender. Side Zone -- Area to cover is a circle extended to the sideline. Deep Zone -- Area to cover is a circle extended down the field. Corner Zone -- Area to cover is the outside corner of the field. Often pass defenses are combination defenses, including both man and zone converages. Pass defenses are also improved when the defensive linemen ignore the possibility of a run and rush the passer. This pressure applied to the passer can do as much to stop a pass as superior pass defenders. Run Coverage Protecting against the run involves line play that ensures defensive presence at each hole and assigns defenders to each potential ball carrier. Added strength against the run is accomplished by assigning more than one defender to potential ball carriers. Blitzing "Blitzing" occurs when defenders that do not normally penetrate the offensive line or backfield attempt to do so. The defenders assigned to blitz will attempt to put additional pressure on the ball carrier or passer, at the expense of fewer defenders to protect against a pass. Blitzing is almost always done in a man pass coverage to ensure that all receivers are covered. The Defenses The defenses in the standard playbook begin with a letter that describes the basic nature of the defense, as follows: Z - Zone coverage defense M - Man coverage defense D - Double coverage defense R - Run defense B - Blitzing defense G - Goal line defense Zone Defenses The zone defenses begin with a "Z". Next is specified the number of "deep" zones that the defense uses. The number of deep zones is either 2, 3, 4, or 5. Therefore the basic zone defenses are: Z2 - Zone with 2 deep zones Z3 - Zone with 3 deep zones Z4 - Zone with 4 deep zones Z5 - Zone with 5 deep zones This provides four zone coverages. Additionally, you may follow the basic zone defense with one of the following: D - Defenders play deeper than normal S - Defenders pplay shorter than normal This allows a strengthening of the zone defense either deep ("D") or short ("S"). For example: Z3S - Zone, 3 deep zones, short Z5D - Zone, 5 deep zones, deep Z4S - Zone, 4 deep zones, short This makes a total of 12 zone defenses. Man Coverage Defenses The man coverage defenses assign man pass coverages. These coverages work well if the defensive player abilities match up well with the defenders. Also, the man coverages work better against runs than do the zone coverages. The man coverages begin with an "M". The next thing that must be specified is what defenders are going to cover the interior receivers (receivers that are not wide receivers). To have the linebackers cover the interior receivers, use an "L". To have defensive backs cover the interior receivers, us a "B". For example: MB - Man cover, defensive back interior ML - Man cover, linebacker interior Man coverage allows you to provide some additional calls for alignment of defensive linemen. To make the additional call, append an additional letter as follows: G - Defensive linemen play in gaps, rather than directly over the offensive linemen. O - Defensive linemen shift to the offensive strong side -- this is called an "Overshift". U - Defensive linemen shif the the offensive weak side -- this is called an "Undershift". For example: MBG - Man cover, defensive back interior, linemen gapped MLU - Man cover, linebacker interior, linemen undershifted MBO - Man cover, defensive back interior, linemen overshifted Man coverage also allows the use of the deep ("D") and short ("S") letter as was described for the zone coverage. The "D" and "S" move the defensive backs and linebacker alignment for more effective coverage deep and short, respectively. If you would like to specify both linemen assignments and deep or short assignment, use both letters with the linemen assignment first. For example: MLD - Man cover, linebacker interior, linebackers and backs deep MBUD - Man cover, defensive back interior, linemen undershifted, linebackers and backs deep MBS - Man cover, defensive back interior, linebackers and backs short MLGD - Man cover, linebacker interior, linemen gapped, linebackers and backs deep The above man coverage play calling results in a total of 24 man coverage defenses. Double Coverage Defenses When the defense is confronted with an offensive receiver of better ability than the defender covering the receiver, double coverage may be required. Double coverage means that more than one defender is assigned to cover a particular receiver. Double coverage play names begin with a "D". Following the "D" must be the type of defender that will be used to provide the extra defender. The "D" is followed by either: B - Double cover with a defensive back or L - Double cover with a linebacker Finally the play name must specify the offensive receiver that will be double covered, as follows: F - Flanker S - Split end T - Tight end H - Halfback For example: DLT - Double cover with linebacker, tight end DBF - Double cover with defensive back, flanker In order to double cover more than one receiver, one of the following must be used: FS -Flaner and split end TS - Tight end and split end TF - PTight end and flanker TFS- Tight end, flanker, and split end For example: DLFS - Double cover with linebacker, flanker and split end DBTF - Double cover with defensive back, tight end and flanker The standard playbook provides 16 double coverage defenses. Rush Defenses The following defenses are designed to be particularly effective against the rush, or run. All use man defenses with extra defenders covering potential ball carriers. The basic rush defenses are: R1 R2 R3 Each level provides additional keying to stop the run. The R3 defense is much stronger against the run the R1. As you would expect, however, as the defenses get stronger against the run from R1 to R2 to R3, the defenses get increasingly weaker against the pass. The rush defenses also support making special assignments for the defensive linemen, linebackers, and defensive backs. The use of "G", "O", "U", "D", and "S" have the same meaning as described above for the man defenses. A few examples: R1G - Rush 1, gapped linemen R2OS - Rush 2, linemen overshifted, linebackers and backs short R1UD - Rush 1, linemen undershifted, linebackers and backs deep R2U - Rush 2, linemen undershifted R3GS - Rush 3, gapped linemen, linebackers and backs short R1D - Rush 1, linebackers and backs deep This provides a total of 36 rushing defenses. Blitz Defenses As previously explained, blitzing is an attempt to put extra pressure on the offense by "blitzing", or rushing, players who do not normally do so. The standard playbook provides four blitzes: B1 - Blitz one linebacker B2 - Blitz two linebackers B3 - Blitz three linebackers BB - Blitz at least one linebacker and one defensive back Goal Line Defenses Goal line defenses begin with a "G". Following the "G" is an optional specifier for defensive linemen alignment as follows: G - Goal line, no defensive alignment adjustment GG - Goal line, linemen gapped GO - Goal line, linemen overshifted GU - Goal line, linemen undershifted The above four are the basic goal line defenses. You may choose to append an optional specifier for double coverage, as follows: DT - Goal line, double cover tight end DW - Goal line, double cover both wide receivers For example: GDT - Goal line, double cover tight ent GDW - Goal line, double cover both wide receivers GGDW - Goal line, linemen gapped, double cover both wide receivers GODT - Goal line, linemen overshifted, double cover tight end The standard defense provides a total of 12 goal line defenses. This completes the description of the standard playbook defenses. The standard playbook provides: 12 Zones 24 Man coverages 16 Double coverages 36 Rushing defenses 4 Blitzes 12 Goal lEine defenses This a total of 104 standard playbook defenses. Making Your Own Playbook There are several reasons why you might want to alter the standard playbook: You have started making your own detailed calls and want to include some favorite calls in your playbook. You have started making your own detailed calls and wish to use formations other than the ones in the standard playbook. You may wish to give another name to an existing playbook play. Having scouted an upcoming opponent, you may want to add special plays you feel will be effective against that opponent. The playbook is a text file that can be processed like any other text file within your Amiga system. You may: Copy Rename Delete (be careful!) Type Print Edit etc. Playbook File Names The playbook files provided with Head Coach are named "beginner34.pb", "beginner43.pb", "standard43.pb", and "standard34.pb". As you learned in section 3, Your First Game, Head Coach makes it easy to use these playbook names. However, you may use any file name you like when building your own playbook files. The ".pb" at the end of the name is used to specify the file type ("pb" means playbook), but it is optional. To use your own playbook file of any name, respond to the Head Coach playbook file name request as follows: The standard playbook for the (team name) is "standardxx" Enter 'S' for the standard playbook, 'B' for the beginner playbook, or 'E' to enter the playbook name:e Enter and "e" (or "E") and press RETURN. Head Coach then requests: Enter the name of the playbook file: file This instructs Head Coach to retrieve a playbook file named "file.pb". Head Coach assumes that playbook file names will end in ".pb". If you do not type a period in the file name, Head Coach assumes that ".pb" is part of the name. However, if you would like to use a period with something other than "pb", Head Coach will not assume the end ".pb". For example: Enter the name of the playbook file: whatever.something This example will cause Head Coach to retrieve a playbook file named "whatever.something". Because you provided a period and a file type, Head Coach does not assume an ending ".pb". Any time you are entering the name of a file, you may preceed the filename with the disk drive containing the file, as: df1:whatever.something Modifying Playbook Files There are two ways to alter your playbook. During a game, you may add or delete plays, and write the playbook back to the disk. When you are not playing a game, you may use any text editor (ED, for example) to modify the playbook. See the PM command description in Section 7, Dot Commands, for instructions for modifying your playbook during a game. To use a text editor, you must first understand the format of a playbook file. The playbook file consists of a series of one-line entries, each of which defines a play. The play definition consists of two parts -- play name and play contents. Here is an entry from the standard playbook: "SWEEPR"OR.HB8PF.FBL The name of the play, SWEEPR, is enclosed in quotes ("). Following the play name are the play contents, which can be either a detailed play call (as above) or another play name. In the SWEEPR example above, the name (SWEEPR) has been followed by a detailed play call (OR.HB8PF.FBL), which defines the SWEEPR play. You might like to add the ability to call a play by another name. For example, some Head Coach players prefer to use numbers for play calls rather than letters. To assign another name to an existing play, follow this example: "1"'SWEEPR' This playbook entry defines a play named "1". Enclosing SWEEPR in apostrophes tells Head Coach that SWEEPR is the name of another play in the playbook. SWEEPR will be used to define the play named "1". During a game, the contents of the play will be acquired from the playbook play "SWEEPR" whenever the player enters "1" as a play call. In this manner you may assign multiple names to existing plays. DO NOT REMOVE the existing play from the file. It is used to provide the detailed call. To remove a play from your playbook using a text editor, delete the line that defines the play. Building your own playbook is easily accomplished by using a text editor to add new play calls, delete old ones, or add new names to existing calls. Enter each playbook entry (play) on a separate line. Section 5 Calling the Offense In Section 3, Your First Game, you were guided through getting a game started. You called defenses and offenses using the playbook mode, which allows simplified names to be attached to detailed professional style play calling. To make your own detailed calls, switch to the detailed mode by entering the following dot command: .PB Head Coach places your team in the detailed mode. Entering another ".PB" returns your team to the playbook mode. The mode of calling is set for each team individually. One team could be in playbook mode, and the other in detailed mode. If your team is in playbook mode, you have used the .DP command to enable the displaying of playbook contents, you are using the standard playbook, and you enter a SWEEPR offensive call, the following characters are displayed: OR.HB8PF.FBL These characters are the actual detailed call for the SWEEPR play as recorded in the playbook. The detailed call consists of a series of letters and numbers, separated by dots ".". When entering characters, you may use either uppercase or lowercase, and blanks are ignored. Enter blanks wherever you like to make the calls easier to read. Each character means something specific, is easy to learn, and provides the flexibility of real professional play calling. A complete offensive play call consists of the following parts, some of which are required and some of which are optional: Formation Required Basic Play Required Pass Patterns Optional Play Action Optional Formations In order to describe the formations to be used, the following names are used: Linemen: Left Tackle (LT) Right Tackle (RT) Center (CR) Right Guard (RG) Left Guard (LG) Basic 3 Receivers: Tight End (TE) Split End (SE) Flanker (FL) Backs: Halfback (HB) Fullback (FB) Quarterback (QB) The linemen (LT, RT, CR, RG, LG) are always aligned as shown in Figure 5-1; no variations are possible. The Basic 3 Receivers are positioned by specifying the strength of the formation. The strength, which is either Right (R) or Left (L), is the side that contains the Tight End (TE) and the Flanker (FL). Figure 5-2 shows a strong right formation, and Figure 5-3 shows a strong left formation (without the backs). Once the formation strength has been specified, the strong side of a formation is the side toward the TE and FL, and the weak Side of a formation is the side away from the TE and FL (the side toward the SE). The Backs are positioned by specifying one of the following back alignment types (note that in some cases, one or more of the basic 3 receivers are reassigned): O -- "Open" -- QB behind CR, FB behind strong side tackle, HB behind weak side tackle. I -- "I" -- QB behind CR, FB behind QB, HB behind FB. N -- "NEAR" -- QB behind CR, FB behind QB, HB behind strong side (near) tackle. F -- "FAR" -- QB behind CR, FB behind QB, HB behind weak side (far) tackle. 1 -- "One Back" -- QB behind CR, FB behind QB, HB outside weak side tackle. G -- "ShotGun" -- QB away from CR, HB between weak side tackle and SE, FB beside QB, TE split (set wide) to the strong side, FL between strong side tackle and TE ("in the slot"). 4 -- "4 Receivers" -- QB behind CR, FB behind QB, TE split (set wide) to the strong side, FL between strong side tackle and TE ("in the slot"), HB between weak side tackle and SE ("in the slot"). 5 -- "5 Receivers" -- QB behind CR, TE split (set wide) to the strong side, FB outside strong side tackle, FL between strong side tackle and TE ("in the slot"), HB between weak side tackle and SE ("in the slot"). W -- "Wishbone" -- QB behind CR, FB behind QB, nearer than other formations HB behind weakside tackle. FL behind strongside tackle. D -- "Double TE" -- QB behind CR, FB behind QB, FL alongside weakside tackle ("tight weak") HB outside weak side tackle ("wing weak"). Figures 5-4 through 5-23 show all formations possible with the specifiers defined so far. With the specifiers you know so far, twenty formations are possible -- ten back alignments with two strengths for each. These twenty offer quite a few choices, but not enough to simulate a professional team. More options are needed to position your offensive players (not linemen, however) in the most advantageous spots. All offensive formations begin with the back alignment and strength. Following the back alignment and strength, you may optionally specify that you would like either the HB and FB or the SE and FL to exchange positions. To exchange the HB and FB you use an "X". To exchange the FL and SE, use a "Y". You can use one or both in any order. Place the exchange character or characters immediately following the back alignment and strength as follows: IRX -- specifies an I Right, with the HB behind QB and the FB behind the HB. The HB and FB have exchanged their normal positions for an I formation. OLY -- specifies an O Right, with the FL playing as a SE on the weak side (right), and the SE playing as a FL on the strong side (left). 1RXY-- specifies a 1 back offense Right, with the HB and FB exchanged and the SE and FL exchanged. If you have used a "Y" exchange the names of the FL and SE have been exchanged for the duration of that play. For exampale, you have called an ORY formation. The FL is now playing SE on the offensive left side of the formation, and SE is now playing FL on the offensive right side. If you want to assign a pass pattern (described later) to the FL playing as a SE on this play, you have to refer to that player as SE. Figures 5-24 through 5-26 show these example formations that specify an exchange. Now you can specify 80 formations, but still more are needed to provide full professional simulation. Following the back alignment, strength, and optional exchange, you may place specific players in specific spots. For each formation there are fourteen "spots" designated, seven to the strong side and seven to the weak (shown in Figure 5-24). The seven on the strong side and the seven on the weak side consist of three spots on the line of scrimmage and four in the backfield. The spots on the line of scrimmage are: T -- "Tight" -- 2 yards outside the tackle L -- "Loose" -- 4 yards outside the tackle O -- "Out" -- 14 yards outside the tackle The spots in the backfield are: W -- "Wing" -- 1 yard outside the tackle S -- "Slot" -- 6 yards outside the tackle F -- "Flank" -- 14 yards outside the tackle R -- "Running back " -- Behind the offensive tackle When calling these position modifiers, specify the player and the spot that is to be occupied. The player is specified by either the offensive position being played (TE, FL, etc.) or by the player jersey number (81, 26, etc.). The formation spot for the player is indicated by the spot name (T, W, etc.) and the side. Specify the side by entering one of the following: R -- "Right" L -- "Left" W -- "Weak" S -- "Strong" For example: ORFLWL -- Open Right, FLanker Wing Left ILXSETW -- I Left, Exchange, SE Tight Weak 1RFBWS -- 1 back Right, FullBack Wing Strong Figures 5-28 through 5-30 show formations that include position modifiers. The formation portion of the play call ends with a period. Therefore, in the SWEEPR playbook example that began this section (OR.HB8PF.FBL), the formation is an Open back strong Right (OR). The period after the OR tells Head Coach that the formation call is complete. Strategy of Formation Selection Head Coach offers many formation possibilities so that you can gain an advantage for a particular play call by knowing your offense and the defense you are attacking. The alignment for the linebackers, corners, and deep backs depends upon the offensive formation. For example, the cornerbacks (RC and LC) always align, and usually cover, the widest receiver to their side. In a straight OR formation for example, the widest receiver to the offense's left (defense's right) is the SE. If the following formation is called: ORSETWFLFW The SE has been moved tight weak (left) and the FL has been moved flank (wide, in the backfield) weak (left). This makes FL the widest receiver to the defense's right, and the RC that against the OR formation aligns on SE is now aligned on FL. This has forced coverage RC to FL, which may be more favorable to the offense. Use of the "Y" exchange allows you to have either your SE or FL always play on the same side of the field, regardless of the offensive strength. For example, if the defensive LC, who normally plays on the widest receiver to the offensive right side, is rather weak compared to the offensive FL, using a strong left formation would place the FL on the offensive left side. By using a strong left formation with a "Y" exchange, the FL is still on the offensive right side, playing against the weaker defensive LC. The ".MU" dot command (Section 7, Dot Commands) establishes the matchup mode and provides the ability to call plays against your opponent and see the matchups that result. The matchup mode is very useful for evaluating the effect of various formations against your opponent. Basic Play After you call the formation (as indicated by the period), you must specify whether the play is a run or a pass. If the two characters following the period specify a pass type, the play is a pass. If the two characters do not specify a pass type, they must specify a ball carrier. The play is a run. The pass types are: PK - Pocket pass RR - Roll right RL - Roll left RS - Roll strong RW - Roll weak SR - Screen right SL - Screen left SS - Screen strong SW - Screen weak For example, in the SWEEPR playbook call (OR.HB8PF.FBL) the formation is Open backs strong Right, with the HalfBack (HB) carrying the ball. Since a ball carrier followed the formation specification, the play is a run. The PWEAKR playbook call (IL.PK SED HBP FBW TEA FLA) specifies an I Left formation, followed by a PK pass type. The two letters following the formation specify a pass type (PK), so the play is a pass. Passing Plays If a pass has been called, the pass type specified the blocking for the interior linemen and the movement of the QB, as shown in Figure 5-31. Figure 5-31 shows movement, with "R" or "L" as the direction. For the RW, RS, SS, and SW pass types, the "W" means to the weak side, and the "S" means to the strong side. For example: RW -- If in a strong Right formation, RW means Roll Left. SS -- If in a strong Left formation, SS means Screen Left. What you must enter following the pass type specifier depends upon if you have called a screen pass or not. The screen pass input is different from the others. Screen Passes Unlike the other pass types, the screen pass has only one receiver. If you have called a screen pass, the screen pass specifier must be followed by the receiver that will be thrown the ball. Following the screen pass receiver you may press RETURN or type a dot ("."). If you do not enter a dot, the remaining backs and receivers will not move. If you do type a dot, the dot is followed by additional pass receivers and pass routes they will run (assigning receivers and routes is discussed in the following paragraphs). The passer (QB) will not throw to these secondary receivers, but they influence the movement of pass defenders. For example: OR.SWHB.SEP TEO FLH This example calls for an Open Right formation, with a screen pass to the weak side (SW). Because the offense is in a strong right formation, the weak side is to the left of the offense. The pass will be thrown to the HB, with the SE running a Post route, the TE an Out, and the FL a Hook. Non-Screen Passes If you are not calling a screen pass, follow the pass type with a list of receivers and the pass routes that the receivers will run. A pass route is defined by two items: * Where the player will end up relative to his formation position ( the end point) * The path taken to arrive at the end point The end point is defined by two items: * The yards downfield from the formation position * The lateral movement in yards from the formation position The lateral direction of the lateral movement yards is either: Minus yards - Move toward the center of the field. Positive yards - Move toward the sideline. The path names are diagrammed in Figure 5-32. The path names indicate the shape of the route. A "T" route, for example, means that the receiver will travel the full distance downfield and then make a 90-degree turn either inside or outside. The "I" path means that the receiver moves straight toward the end point with no turns. Specifying a Pass Route by Name You may specify a pass route by its name. Head Coach defines a series of route names and their definitions (path, downfield distance, lateral movement). Table 5-1, Pass Route Table, presents the pass routes available. For example, Table 5-1 lists a Post (P) pass as being a "Y" shape path, 30 yards deep, and 10 yards to the inside. A receiver running an Out (O) route will travel 12 yards downfield,9 yards toward the sideline, using a "T" path. A commonly used presentation of pass routes available is the "passing tree". Figure 5-33 shows the named pass routes displayed on a receiver aligned to the right of the offensive CR. If the receiver were aligned to the left of the CR, lateral movements would be reversed. For example, the "In" pass route (I) always moves toward the center of the field. Using the pass route names, the PWEAKR playbook call: IL.PK SED HBP FBW TEA FLA specifies the following pass receivers and routes: SE - Deep hook - (SED) HB - Post - (HBP) FB - Wide cross - (FBW) TE - Angle - (TEA) FL - Angle - (FBA) Specifying a Detailed Pass Route You may also specify a pass route by making a detail pass route call beginning with the slash character "/", followed by the path shape, the downfield yards, the lateral movement, and ending with a final slash character. All fields are separated by commas: /Y,28,-15/ This example specifies a "Y" shape route that takes the receiver 28 yards downfield and 15 yards toward the inside (middle) of the field. To send a receiver on a "U" path 9 yards downfield and 10 yards to the outside, specify: /U,9,10/ The PMIDR playbook call is: OL.PK SEF FLA FBA TEA HB/U,12,15/ This calls an Open Left formation, PK pass with the following pass routes: SEF - SE Fly FLA - FL Angle FBA - FB Angle TEA - TE Angle HB - HB "U" path, 12 yards downfield, 15 yards to the outside Running Plays If a run has been called, you must specify the spot where the ball carrier will carry the ball. The place where the ball will be carried is called the point of attack, or hole. As shown in Figure 5-34, the holes are in the spaces between the offensive linemen. The holes are numbered with the even-numbered holes to the offense's right, and odd-numbered holes to the offense's left. The zero (0) hole is directly over the offensive center. Therefore, in the SWEEPR playbook example (OR.HB8PF.FBL), the ball carrier is the HB (HalfBack), and the point of attack is the 8 hole. If you follow the hole specifier with a plus sign ("+") the hole is moved one-half a hole position to the outside of the specified hole. Using a minus ("-") moves the point of attack one-half a hole position to the inside of the specified hole. For example: 1R.FB4- Normally the FB would run to the 4 hole, between the offensive right tackle and right guard. Specifying the "4-" hole places the point of attack directly over the offensive right guard. If you use either a "-" or a "+", you may follow the character with a number of yards you would like the hole moved either inside or outside, respectively. For example: OR.HB8+12P This calls an open right formation, with the HB carrying the ball 12 yards outside the 8 hole. The "+" or "-" MUST be placed immediately after the hole. If you also specify yards, the yards must be immediately after the "+" or "-" So far you have specified the formation, ball carrier, and point of attack. Two more items can still be specified: blocking and assignments for the remaining backs and pass receivers. If a blocking assignment is not called, all linemen (LT, LG, CR, RG, RT) will block defenders in their area. This is called zone blocking. If a special type of blocking is desired, a series of single character blocking assignments can be included in the play call after the point of attack. Table 5-2 lists the blocking assignments that can be called. In the SWEEPR example (OR.HB8PF.FBL), the first blocking type specified is the "P", or power block. Table 5-2 describes power blocking as both offensive guards pulling to the point of attack and blocking. The "F" or far block indicates that the offside offensive tackle also pulls to the point of attack. Table 5-2 defines the blocking assignments you may make; two need special explanation. The "G" or go block is used to make the defense think that the offense is running to a hole that is wide (7 or 8 hole). The guard who is on the side of the point of attack (onside guard) pulls to the widest hole on that side. When the "G" block is used, the actual hole is the place the guard just vacated. The "G" block is used to defeat the guard keying that the defense may use (described in Section 6, Calling the Defense). In guard keying, the defensive tackles key the guards and go where the guards go. With "G" blocking, the defensive tackle follows the guard away from the hole. However, if you call "G" blocking and the defense is not guard keying, you have no blocker at the point of attack. The letter "Q", which means quick toss, does not actually specify a block. With a "Q" call, the quarterback quickly toses the ball to the ball carrier. You now know how to set your formation, call the ball carrier and the hole for a run, and specify the blocking. These calls make assignments to all offensive players except the backs who are not carrying the ball and the two ends. If you do not specify an assignment for the backs who are not carrying the ball, the backs will stay in their formation spot and will serve as zone blockers to any defender that comes into the area. If the tight end (TE) or split end (SE) is in a tight position (not "loose" or "out"), and the hole is to their formation side, the end will zone block. If the hole is to the opposite side of the formation spot, or if the end is in either a "loose" or "out" spot, the end will run a corner pass route. Table 5-1 lists an additional assignment that can be made for the off backs and ends, the "L" assignment. This assignment, like the blocking assignments, is a single-letter assignment character that follows the name of the player being assigned. For example, in the SWEEPR playbook call (OR.HB8PF.FBL), the FullBack (FB) has been given an "L" assignment. As shown in Table 5-1, that means the FB "leads" the ball carrrier at the point of attack. If you had called: OR.HB8PF.FBLFLL You would have told both the FB and the Flanker (FL) to lead at the point of attack. Following the ball carrier, hole, and blocking, you may place another period and specify pass route assignments, or a lead, or you may specify a back to go to a particular hole. These assignments are made by specifying the player position or jersey number and the single character route specified in Table 5-1. Figure 5-35 shows a final running play example: IR X SELW.FB5TQ.SEL HB8 FLO TEC This calls for an I Right formation with HB,FB exchange; SE Loose Weak. The FB carries the ball through the 5 hole, with trap blocking (RG pulls to the 5 hole), and the QB makes a quick toss to the FB. The SE leads the play (block at the 5 hole), the HB decoys by running to the 8 hole, the FL runs an Out route, and the TE runs a Corner route. Play Action Plays Another class of offensive plays that will add excitement to your games are the play action plays. A play action tries to make the defense expect a certain play, which suddenly turns into something else. For example, the standard playbook includes a run called the "DRAW". A draw is a play that starts out by trying to make the defense think a pass play is being executed. The ball is then handed to a ball carrier, and the play turns into a run. Head Coach provides a simple method of calling one play and then turning the play into something else. Start by calling the play that you want the defense to think you are running. For example, assume you want the defense to think you are running the HB through the 8 hole with trap blocking. Begin by making your detailed call as follows (do not press RETURN yet): OR.HB8T.FBO SEP TEC FLO So far, the play call is normal: Open Right formation, HB ball carrier through the 8 hole with Trap blocking. In anticipation of actually running a pass play, the example above includes pass routes for the FB, SE, TE, and FL. Enter a semi-colon (";") and a pass type as follows: OR.HB8T.FBO SEP TEC FLO;RR The ending ";RR" indicates that all players are to do whatever has been assigned, but the ball is NOT handed off on a run. The QB rolls out to the right and throws a pass. This example is shown in Figure 5-36. There are three types of play action plays: * Runs that turn into passes * Passes that turn into runs * Runs that the ball carrier hands the ball to a second ball carrier -- this is called a "reverse" When calling a run that turns into a pass, the following pass types are valid: PK - Pocket pass position RR - Roll right RL - Roll left RS - Roll strong RW - Roll weak BC - Ball carrier will throw the ball The BC pass type means that the QB hands the ball to the ball carrier, who runs a few steps and then throws the ball. In a BC pass, the QB may actually go out as a receiver. When calling a pass that turns into a run, call the pass as normal, enter ";", and then specify a ball carrier and a hole. Head Coach moves the players so that a reasonable handoff can take place. To call a reverse, simply make the call for the original hand-off. Following the run, place a ";" followed by the second ball carrier and the new point of attack. For example: IRFLSW.HB7Q.FB7;FL8 This calls an I Right formation with the FL slotted weak. The HB will carry the ball to the 7 hole, with the quarterback making a quick toss. The FB leads at the 7 hole. The ";FL8" means that the FB who received the ball from the quarterback hands the ball to the FL running toward the eight hole. Head Coach will examine the path taken by both ball carriers and will make the handoff at the closest point. Important: if the ball carriers do not get within two yards of each other, a fumble will result (after the tackle)! So calling reverses does take practice. Combining Playbook and Detailed Calls Playbooks are very handy. Many times while in detailed mode you would like to call a play just like it is in the playbook. To call a playbook play while in detailed mode, use the playbook name enclosed in apostrophes: 'SWEEPR' Any time an apostrophe (') appears, while in detailed mode, Head Coach assumes you are specifying a playbook name. Head Coach searches your playbook looking for the specified playbook name. When the playbook name is located, the contents of the playbook entry are substituted for the name enclosed by the apostrophes. In the SWEEPR example, entering 'SWEEPR' is treated just as if you had typed: OR.HB8PF.FBL Head Coach has replaced the apostrophes and the playbook name with the playbook contents. If you have modified the playbook contents of the SWEEPR entry, your modified SWEEPR play will be used. This substitution can be used to quickly call a play action play. For example: 'SWEEPR';RR Because Head Coach will replace the apostrophes and everything in between with the playbook contents for the play SWEEPR, the line above is treated as if you had typed: OR.HB8PF.FBL;RR This is a play action pass off of a SWEEPR play. Anything you type after the second apostrophe (";RR" in the example) is still present in your line, after the contents of the playbook name have been substituted. Using this substitution, you can create special formations as playbook names. If, for example, you have a formation that gives favorable matchups, you can place the formation into your playbook (see Section 4, The Playbook, Making Your Own Playbook) and give it a name. For example, if you have created a playbook entry as follows: "SPFORM"ORSETWFLSW Entering the following: 'SPFORM'.FB4W.HB7 Produces: ORSETWFLSW.FB4W.HB7 If you want to use a playbook play while in detailed mode, you can omit the ending apostrophe (') as follows: 'SWEEPR This is treated just like: 'SWEEPR' In this manner, the playbook can be used to hold substitution calls as well. Any command that is entered on one line can be placed into the playbook, given a name, and called up at any time. Section 6 Calling the Defense described in Section 5, Calling the Offense, placing your team in detailed mode allows you to make offensive and defensive play calls in a manner consistent with professional football. A defensive call consists of these parts: Formation Required Formation Shifts Optional Coverage Optional Stunts Optional Special Assignments Optional Blitzes Optional Individual Man Optional Coverages Only the defensive formation is required. However, if nothing else is called, the players won't do anything. To make a defensive call, you must enter a formation. You may also enter a series of blocks, each of which specifies some aspect of the defense to be used. The following paragraphs describe each of the defensive blocks. Formation The defensive formation consists of two digits followed by an optional shift character. The first digit specifies the number of defensive linemen, and the second digit specifies the number of linebackers. The number of defensive linemen must be either 3 or 4. The number of linebackers must be either 2, 3, or 4. These are the legal defensive formations: 32 33 34 42 43 44 Because there are eleven players on a team,the defensive formations specify from three to six players other than linemen or linebackers. The players that are not either linemen or linebackers are divided between: Corner Backs Safeties Backs There are always two corner backs. The number of safeties and backs depends upon the formation. The defensive positions are named as follows: Linemen: Right End -- RE Left End -- LE Right Tackle -- RT Left Tackle -- LT Nose Tackle -- NT Linebackers: Weak Outside -- WO Strong Outside -- SO Weak Inside -- WI Strong Inside -- SI Middle Inside -- MI Cornerbacks: Right Corner -- RC Left Corner -- LC Deep Backs: Strong Safety -- SS Weak Safety -- WS Strong Back -- SB Weak Back -- WB Middle Back -- MB Right and left refer to the defense's right and left. Figures 6-1 through 6-6 show the alignment of the six basic defensive formations. The normal defensive alignment of linemen and linebackers generally follows that shown in Figures 6-1 through 6-6. The alignment of the corner backs is on the widest offensive receiver to each side. The alignment of the remaining deep backs (safeties and backs) is evenly distributed between the corner backs. The normal defensive alignment for the linebackers and deep backs can be affected by the type of coverage that is called. If zone coverage is called, the alignment is not changed from the normal defensive alignment. However, if man coverage is called, the defenders may shift to align with the receivers they are assigned to cover. If the normal defensive alignment positions the defender close enough to cover the receiver, no shift is performed. However, if the distance to the man to be covered is excessive, the alignment of the defender is shifted closer to the receiver. Before describing the optional shift character, the definition of the offensive strength must be reexamined. As described in Section 5, Calling the Offense, the offensive play call includes a strength -- right or left. However, the offensive play call may specify receivers shifted from the normal offensive strength position. As far as the defense is concerned, the offensive strength is the side which contains the most receivers. This is not necessarily the strength that was specified when the formation was called. When the defensive alignment is being determined, Head Coach evaluates the number of receivers to the right and left of the offensive formation and sets the strength accordingly. After specifying the basic alignment (34, 43, etc.) you may specify an optional shift character. The shift character specifies a shift of the defensive linemen in one direction, with a corresponding compensating shift of the linebackers in the opposite direction. The shift characters are: O -- Over, toward offensive strong side S -- Strong, toward offensive strong side U -- Under, toward offensive weak side W -- Weak, toward offensive weak side L -- Left, toward defensive left side R -- Right, toward defensive right side For example, a "43O" (43 with "O" or Over shift) means a 43 alignment with the linemen shifted to the offensive strong side, and the linebacks compensating to the weak side. Figure 6-7 shows a "43O" applied to an "OL" offensive formation. Figure 6-8 illustrates the offensive formation of ORHBWL (Open Right, HalfBack Wing Left), defensive formation of 34R. The "R" instructs the linemen to shift to the defense's Right and the linebackers to compensate by a shift Left. The O, U, L, or R can be applied to any defensive formation. Following the basic alignment and the optional shift, you may specify a "G" to have the defensive linemen play in the "gaps" between the offensive linemen. The linemen will choose a gap, either further inside or outside. You cannot control which gaps will be played. For example: 34G -- 34 alignment with linemen in gaps 43SG -- 43 alignment, shifted to strong side, with linemen in gaps Pass Coverage After you specify the defensive formation, there is a series of optional assignments called blocks, each preceded by a period. The first block that you must call is the pass coverage block. This ensures that you have specified an assignment for all defensive players. As explained in Section 4, The Playbook, there are two basic types of coverage: man (or man-for-man) and zone. The block specifying man coverage begins with ".M", and the block specifying zone coverage begins with ".Z". Many coverages are combination defenses that include both man and zone coverages. When a defender has been assigned a zone, the zone is usually a circle, with possible extensions, either deep or toward the sideline. The size of the circle and the width of the extensions depend upon the ability of the defender. The better the defender, the bigger the area that can be covered. With extensions, the defender is responsible for receivers within the circle, as well as a rectangle that extends to the sideline or down the field deep. The zone is centered about a point known as the zone drop. When the ball is snapped, the defender moves to the zone drop to establish the zone. Head Coach provides four types of zones: Pick Zone -- Area to cover is a circle around the defender. Side Zone -- Area to cover is a circle extended to the sideline. Deep Zone -- Area to cover is a circle extended down the field. Corner Zone -- Area to cover is the outside corner of the field. These zone types are shown in Figure 6-9. Man Coverages A man coverage specifies one defender for each offensive receiver. Normally the cornerbacks (CB) cover the receivers that are the widest to each side, leaving three receivers. You may choose how to cover the remaining three receivers. These choices allow for desirable or undesirable matchups, or present different coverages to the offense. Head Coach provides four man coverages that can be used for each of the six basic defensive alignments. The basic difference between the four coverages is which defenders cover the interior receivers. The four types of man coverages are: O -- Outside LB cover interior two receivers. I -- Inside defenders cover interior two receivers. L -- All receivers are covered by linebackers. B -- All receivers are covered by backs. All defenses have more than five pass defenders. With the five offensive receivers covered, some defenders still need an assignment. The standard O, I, L, and B coverages assign zones to those pass defenders that do not have a receiver to cover man-for-man. Because some defenders do not have a specific receiver to cover, special assignments can be made to those defenders, removing the zone. For example, a defender in a man coverage defense that is assigned a zone may be reassigned to blitz without leaving a receiver uncovered. A zone man within a man coverage also may be instructed to double cover a receiver ( be assigned to a receiver covered by another player). To determine which defenders will be covering which receivers with the multiple offensive formations possible, Appendix C, Defense, presents charts for all combinations of defense and pass coverage. For each defense and pass coverage, the pass defenders are shown assigned to the pass receivers as the receivers line up in an offensive "OR" formation. The assignments are made to provide effective coverage, regardless of the type of offensive formation used. Figure 6-10 shows two of the man coverages from Appendix C. As shown in Figure 6-10, the coverages are really specified by assigning a defender to a receiver based upon the receiver's relative position on the field. "#1L" means to cover the receiver that is the first receiver in from the sideline on the defense's Left. "#3S" means to cover the third receiver in from the sideline on the Strong side. "#2W" means to cover the second receiver in from the sideline on the Weak side. For example, you have called the following defense: 43.MO This calls a "43" basic defensive alignment (four linemen, three linebackers) with Man Outside coverage (".MO"). If the offense has called a "1L" formation, the resulting coverage is shown in Figure 6-11. The coverages are determined as follows: Player Figure 6-10 Figure 6-11 RC #1R FL (1st receiver in on defense's right) WS Deep Zone Deep Zone SS #2S TE (2nd receiver in on strong side) LC #1L SE (1st receiver in on defense's left) WO #2W HB (2nd receiver in on weak side) MI Pick Zone Pick Zone SO #3S FB (3rd receiver in on strong side) You can now specify 24 different combinations of formations and man coverages, each with specific assignments of receiver coverages. Zone Coverages There are four zone coverages that may be specified for each of the six basic defensive alignments. Each of the four is identified by how many deep and corner zones are used. A "5 deep" zone, for example, means five defenders are playing deep (deep zones or corner zones), and the remaining pass defenders are playing short zones. Head Coach provides the following four zone coverage blocks: .Z5 -- 5 deep zones .Z4 -- 4 deep zones .Z3 -- 3 deep zones .Z2 -- 2 deep zones The number of short zones used depends on the number of defenders available for pass coverage, which depends on the basic defensive alignment called. In a 43 defense, there are three linebackers and four deep backs for pass coverage, a total of seven pass defenders. In a "43.Z5" defensive call, the 5 means five deep zones, leaving two short zones. A "32.Z3" uses three deep zones and five short zones, because there are 8 pass defenders. In a zone coverage block, all pass defenders have a zone to cover. Reassigning a pass defender to something else with a subsequent block results in an undefended zone. Appendix C, Defense, diagrams all zone coverages. There are four zone coverages for each of the six basic defensive alignments, resulting in 24 zone coverages. Shift Block The shift block allows you to specify shifts of formation position of defensive players. In a long yardage situation, for example, you might want to shift all pass defenders back 5 yards. This would shift all zones 5 yards deeper and thus make man coverages more effective against the deep pass. The shift block begins: .S The ".S" indicates a shift block. Next, you must call the player or players to be shifted. One of these must follow the ".S": LB -- Shift linebackers. CB -- Shift cornerbacks. DB -- Shift deep backs. AL -- Shift all: linebackers, cornerbacks, and deep backs. player position -- Shift the player specified (ex: RE or MI). jersey number -- Shift the player whose jersey number is specified. Following the ".S" and the specification of player or players to be shifted, you must specify the shift itself. The shift may be either: L -- Left R -- Right S -- Strong (toward offensive strong side) W -- Weak (toward offensive weak side) U -- Up (toward line of scrimmage) B -- Back (away from line of scrimmage) Yards from the line of scrimmage If a direction (L, R, S, W, U, or B) is specified, the amount of the shift in yards must be specified. To place the defender or defenders a certain distance from the line of scrimmage, specify the distance in yards. For example: 43.Z5.SALB5 This calls a basic defensive alignment of "43", 5 deep zone pass coverage, with all pass defenders shifted Back 5 yards. This causes the pass defense zones to be 5 yards deeper than normal, providing extra pass defense deep. Next: 34.MO.SCB0 This specifies a "34" defense, Man Outside coverage, with the cornerbacks shifting up to the line of scrimmage. You can use more than one shift block in a defensive call: 34.MI.SWOU1.SSOW1 This takes a basic 34 with Man Inside coverage and moves WO Up 1 yard, and moves SO one yard to the Weak side. A final example: 43.MB.S2410 This calls a "43", Man Back coverage, with player number 24 10 yards off the line of scrimmage. If a player to be shifted has a jersey number less than ten (a single digit), the digit must be preceded by a "0" as follows: 33.Z5.S06B5 This calls a 33 defense, Zone 5 coverage, with defender number 6 shifting Back 5 yards. Assign Block With the assign block, you can make special assignments to defensive linemen and linebackers. The assign block begins with: .A The ".A" is followed by one or more one-letter assignment specifiers. The assignment specifiers are: I -- Linemen stunt inside O -- Linemen stunt outside P -- Linemen pass rush G -- Guard keying F -- Linebacker force Linemen stunt inside The "I" assignment instructs the linemen to charge to the inside of the formation when the ball is snapped. This is called when the defense anticipates a run inside, typically the 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 hole. For example: 43.MO.AI This calls a "43" defense, Man Outside pass coverage, assigning an inside charge to the linemen. See Figure 6-12. Linemen stunt outside The "O" assignment instructs the linemen to charge to the outside of the formation when the ball is snapped. This is called when the defense anticipates a run outside, typically the 5, 6, 7, or 8 hole. For example: 34.MB.AO This calls a "34" defense, Man Back pass coverage, assigning an outside charge to the linemen. See Figure 6-13. Linemen pass rush The "P" assignment is used when the defense expects the offense to pass. In the lineman pass rush assignment, the defensive linemen charge the QB. The "P" assignment is very effective in reducing the chance of completing a pass, but if the offense has called a run, the effectiveness of the defense against the run is greatly reduced. Figure 6-14 shows the following call: 33.Z5.AP Guard keying To improve the offense's rushing performance, the offense can choose to have linemen that are not at the point of attack pull and block at the point of attack. The blocking assignments used by the offense for this type of trap blocking are: T, P, N, F, and O blocking (see Section 5, Calling the Offense). If an offense traps a lot, the defense may specify the "G" or guard keying assignments. The guard keying assigns two defensive linemen to key the two offensive guards. When a guard pulls to block at the point of attack, a defensive linemen will follow the guard to the hole. This "G" assignment is an effective defense for an offense that does a lot of trapping in their running offense. The offense has a blocking assignment specifically designed to combat the defense that does a lot of guard keying -- the "G" block (see Section 5, Calling the Offense). For example: 43.MI.AG This calls for a "43" defense, with Man Inside pass coverage and the defensive tackles keying on the offensive guards. See Figure 6-15. Linebacker force The final assignment is the "F" or linebacker force. In the linebacker force, the linebackers ignore the pass and step up to the line of scrimmage at the snap of the ball. This helps stop an offensive run. For example: 44.MB.AF This calls for a "44" defense, with Man Back coverage and all linebackers force. Beware -- this leaves the offensive HB and FB unassigned as shown in Figure 6-16, but it puts eight players on the line of scrimmage. Blitz A blitz occurs when defenders that do not usually penetrate the offensive line or backfield attempt to do so. The defenders assigned to blitz try to put additional pressure on the ball carrier or passer, at the expense of fewer defenders to protect against a pass. Blitzing is usually done in a man pass coverage to ensure all receivers are covered. Blitzes are very effective in passing situations to put pressure on the passer. Against runs, luck is involved. If the blitzing players are on the side of the point of attack, the run is very effectively defended. However, if the offense runs away from a blitz, the offense usually has the advantage. To specify defenders to blitz, enter the blitz block as follows: .B The ".B" is followed by one or more players that will blitz. For example: 34.MB.B WO WI 55 This calls for a "34" basic defensive alignment with Man Back pass coverage and that WO, WI, and player number 55 blitz the QB. See Figure 6-17. In designing a blitz, you must first decide which basic defensive alignment to use. As previously stated, blitzing is normally called from man coverage. In Figure 6-17, a "34.MB" covers all receivers and assigns zone coverages for WO, WI, and SO. Therefore, WO, WI, and SO could be blitzed and still have all receivers covered. Blitzes can be called from zone coverages as well. Because zone coverages do not overlap zones to a great extent, the blitzing player leaves a "hole" in the zone where no coverage is assigned. For example: 34.Z3.BSI This calls a "34" basic defensive alignment, with three-deep Zone coverage and SI blitzing. The "34.Z3" SI assignment is a pick zone in the middle of the field. However, because of the blitz a "hole" in the zone coverage is created in the middle of the field. See Figure 6-18. To call a "safety blitz", which is a blitz involving a deep back, the recommended approach is to call a man coverage that has the deep backs not assigned to particular receivers: 43.ML.BWS SS This calls a "43" basic defensive alignment, with Man Linebacker pass coverage, and a blitz by SS and WS. In this "43", SS and WS do not have specific receivers to cover, only corner zones. Therefore, SS and WS can be blitzed and still have pass coverage on all receivers. See Figure 6-19. Special Man Covers Sometimes the defensive coach needs to assign a defender to cover a particular receiver man-for-man that a standard defense and man coverage does not provide. The most common need to specifically assign a defender to a receiver occurs when double coverage is desired. Double coverage means having two defenders cover a receiver man-for-man. To use double coverages, call a basic defensive alignment and pass coverage that leaves some pass defenders free for additional assignments. Then specify the Cover block: .C The ".C" is followed by one or more cover assignments consisting of a defender and the receiver to cover. For example: 33.MO.CWS SE This calls a "33" basic defensive alignment with Man Outside coverage, and WS covers SE man-for-man. This call has placed two defenders, RC and WS, on the SE, thereby double covering SE. See Figure 6-20. Another example: 33.MI.CSOFL MBTE WOSE This calls a "33", Man Inside coverage, with double coverages on FL (LC and SO), TE (SS and MB), and SE (RC and WO). See Figure 6-21. Combining blocks More than one block can be specified for the defensive calls. Consider this final example: 43U.MO.SWS3.AG.CMITE.BWS This specifies "43U" ("43" with Under shift, or shift to weak side), Man Outside coverage, WS to shift to 3 yards off the line of scrimmage, guard keying, MI to cover TE man-for-man (creating double coverage on TE), and a WS blitz. See Figure 6-22. NOW LOAD PART 2.......