Keeping Drives Alive: Effective Third Down Game Planning

At Western Michigan University, we utilize a multi-faceted approach when it comes time to game plan third down. It is a cooperative effort, involving all of the members of the offensive staff and the head coach. Before any meaningful discussion on third downs takes place, you must develop the down and distance parameters that will guide you through your game planning. We have two general categories, run situation and pass situation. We’ll game plan two run situations for third down: 3rd/1 and 3rd/2-3. Our third down pass situation game plan has the following: 3rd/4-6, 3rd/7-10, 3rd 11-15, and 3rd 16+. One of the ways that Gary Darnell, WMU’s Head Coach, requires our staff to measure 3rd down effectiveness is through the use of quality control (QC). Quality Control is a detailed list of criteria that has a corresponding performance objective. These objectives are Reasonable,