Coach -

Quick question, don't overthink it.

What's third and short?

You said 1 to 3. Maybe 1 to 2. Whatever it was, you didn't have to think about it - it's on a laminated sheet somewhere, it got written in August, and it'll still be there in November.

That's the problem.

Blake Harrell's point is that the number isn't yours to pick. Pull up a coordinator who's 100% run on third and 1 - and running it on tempo, so you can't sub. Same guy, same week, third and 2? Fifty-fifty. Third and 3 he might throw it every snap.

One yard apart, and you're looking at two different offenses.

Next week the bucket might be right. The next OC runs it on 1, 2 and 3 and doesn't care where he is on the field.

So East Carolina doesn't define third and short. They let the film define it, every Sunday. The breakpoint isn't a rule. It's part of the scouting report.

And this isn't only a call sheet problem.

Harrell says the number one thing his players want from him all week is a number: coach, when can we turn it loose up front? They want the down and distance where they stop reading and start rushing.

Every defense gives its ends a number. Not every defense earns it that week.

Same question in the screen game. Is third and 9 a screen down for this guy, or does he not touch it until third and 15? Your whole rush plan hangs on that, and the answer changes with the opponent.

Harrell walks through the whole process - how the breakpoints get set on Sunday, and how they end up on the call sheet by Thursday.

Watch: how ECU sets its breakpoints:

Always be growing,

Coaches Clinic

P.S. In a few weeks you'll write down-and-distance buckets on a whiteboard and live with them for a season. Worth deciding whether they're yours or the opponent's.