Title: Strategic considerations in the coaching of North American football

Authors: Jack Brimberg, William Hurley

Addresses: Department of Business Administration, Royal Military College of Canada. ' Department of Business Administration, Royal Military College of Canada

Abstract: This paper documents statistically what good football coaches have known for some time. Championships are won based on the ability of a team to run the football and, equivalently, to defend the opponent|s run offence. While turnovers are important, we do not view them as causal, but rather as a by-product of a team|s success or failure at running the football. Wise general managers and coaches ought to build teams and game plans with a view to being able to run and defend the run. Choosing a pass-dominated offence is, at best, a strategy that begs failure.

Keywords: football; North American football; strategy; coaching; statistics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMM.2006.008122

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2006 Vol.1 No.3, pp.279 - 287

Published online: 17 Nov 2005 *

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