A good scouting report can be the difference between winning and losing. It can give you an easy victory, or at least the chance for a tough fight before defeat. Either way, it's a part of being a good coach. 

I don't care if this offends anyone out there, but if you're coaching a football team and you're not scouting the teams you play, then you're not giving your players 100%. Scouting is, bar none, the single most important thing you can do to help make your team successful.

Scouting the other team's offense is a simple matter of taking a prewritten form to one of their games and simply filling in the backfield, running paths, numbers of the ball carriers, and other pertinent information. Scouting an offense is a snap. 

Defense, on the other hand, is as difficult to scout as it is necessary. Being able to give your players a sneak preview of the upcoming alignments and talent roster of the opposing team can make all the difference in the world on game day.

To begin with, you need a rough approximation of the defensive alignment. When I'm scouting, I generally carry three forms, each with a basic defensive alignment written on it. These three alignments are: a 4-4, a 6-2, and a 5-3. I use these forms because these are the most common defenses in use in my league. If I were in a league that used predominately 6-1 fronts or a 4-3, then I would be sure to include those forms as well.

Here's  a sample of the form that I use:

Figure 1: Sample defensive front scouting form.

Note the boxes next to each position initial. In these boxes I will write the numbers of the defensive players. Pay careful attention to substitutions made in the first few minutes of play. Some coaches will begin using their minimum-play players immediately, and some others will move their best athletes around within their defense to keep weak spots from appearing twice in the same location.

Also pay particular attention to the specific techniques used by the defensive players. a "Technique" refers to the positioning of the player relative to his offensive counterpart. Here's the technique chart that I use:

Figure 2: Alignment techniques.

I prefer this chart to the one developed by Bum Phillips because it is much more intuitive. 

Also on the defensive scouting form will be a list of my impressions of each player, such as "#73, left tackle, aggressive, easily trapped," and "#54, left outside linebacker, stays home on flow away. Don't counter towards him." 

Try to get a feel for how the defense plays. If you have a good grasp of defensive theory and an understanding of each defensive front, you'll find it easier to notice anomalies. For example, in the scouting report I've attached to this page, note that I found it odd that Albany High School chose not to stunt from their 4-4 split alignment. I found this peculiar, and it was something we could take advantage of on game day.

It's a good idea to bring several copies of each form, and take notes on such things as the types and attack points of the blitzes they choose to run, and which personnel blitz. Its not uncommon for a defensive coordinator to make certain calls only when specific personnel are in the game. By spotting these keys, you can tell your offense, "Watch for the corner blitz when #38 is on the field," or whatever.

As soon as the game ends, take a few minutes and write down everything you can think of from the game. Include overall impressions, things you noticed, and things you suspect. Leave nothing out, even if it doesn't seem to be important. 

Here's a sample defensive scouting report I put together for our game against Albany High School: 

On defense, Albany uses a 4-4 split, but the linebackers align to a six-technique against two tight end formations. Defensive ends play head up on tight ends, and six-technique (outside shade) to offensive tackles if the end is split. They seem less comfortable with stunts and multiple fronts, and prefer to stay in this base 4-4 formation. #45 at inside linebacker seems to be their best athlete on the defense. #33 possesses blazing speed, and shares time at right corner with # 40, who seems to be a better cover man, although much slower than #33. Pass defense is zone based, with the corners playing as much as twelve yards off the split receivers. Free safety #6 tends to bite early on play action. Corner #24 is solid, although not especially fast. He is disciplined, and remains in coverage until the ball crosses the line of scrimmage.

Outside contain seems to be the responsibility of the outside linebackers, #44 and #76. Straight dives and blasts are well defended and generally ineffective, although pitchouts and off tackle runs did a great deal of damage. Defensive tackle #78 is solid, but slow from the line, and unable to handle double teams. His counterpart, #54 is aggressive, and susceptible to traps. Inside linebacker #49 does not stay home and may be fooled with misdirection.

Opening the third quarter, Healdsburg began using a no-huddle system that Albany was unable to cope with and drove for an immediate score. Periodically throughout the remainder of the game, Healdsburg would go back to the quick pace, particularly when they needed yardage for a first down, such as 2nd and long and 3rd and intermediate. Albany never adjusted, and was caught several times with linebackers trying to determine formation strength and align.

The defense is well disciplined, and failed to jump offsides with a long count.

Once you have put together the scouting report, make a play list of your offensive plays that you think will be successful against this front. You should have at least a rudimentary idea of how each of your plays will block this defense, and what you need to do to make each play successful, but obviously certain plays will be less effective against some fronts. 

After you have completed the offensive scouting report, give it to your players for at least one practice before you face this team. Align a scout team in the formation used as a base defense by your opposition, and discuss with your players the types of things you've noticed. Give them an idea what plays you will be concentrating on, and what you'll need to do to be successful on every down. For example, in our game against Albany, we knew that our offensive production was going to hinge on our ability to block #45 on every down, and attack #49 with misdirection. As a result, our offensive line knew that they were going to have to look for #45 every play, and our running backs understood that their fakes were going to be crucial to our success.

Albany's well prepared and coached team gave us a difficult fight before we finally took the lead 23-22 with less than a minute left. Our understanding of how they played their defense gave us a chance to attack them at their weakest points on our final drive, and ultimately led to a victory.

Most youth coaches scout just the opposing offense. Scouting the defense can be very frustrating, because youth players rarely seem to sit still for longer than a tenth of a second. If you can collect the information, however, it can make a huge difference in the outcome of your games. We needed every possible advantage to beat an Albany team ranked two classifications higher than us and loaded with talent and outstanding coaching. Thanks to our careful scouting and preparation time, we had the advantage on game day.

I hope this helps you gather some of those same advantages.

Good luck.

~D.