Coach ,

How fast can you go?

That answer for Keith Barefield while offensive coordinator at Quincy University was “Faster than anyone else.”

The Hawks were the #1 team in NCAA D2 in tempo, running a play every 18.9 seconds. In the process, the pace at which they played accomplished the following on offense:

• Broke 14 School records
• Points per game: +14.6 points per game over 2018, #30 nationally, a 121 spot jump nationally
• Passing yards +152 ypg over 2018, 9th nationally, +132 spot jump 
• Total yards 445ypg, +128 ypg 23rd nationally, +100 spot jump

Coach explains their accomplishments:

In his only year at Quincy, he is now an analyst for #25 Louisiana Lafayette, he took Quincy from the bottom of their conference in offense, to the top with a team recruited to play in a 21/12 personnel power running game offense.

Coach pointed to the passing game and the decision to eliminate the bulk of progression reads and make the decision “either-or” off of a defender. He didn’t want to burden their mental process with a full progression read to check down.

The component that made the simplified passing game so effective was the decision to be a team that was high tempo as default. They could snap it as quickly as 8.5 seconds after the previous play ended.

Why did Coach decide to be high tempo?

• Didn't have guys recruited for the system
• On offense they were operating at bottom of conference and needed to find advantage and compete
• Lining up and playing power football wasn't working
• New way to make it our game and make them play our game
• Run 90-100 plays per game when the average is 65-75
• That 30% extra - add a fifth quarter when you play us. We are used to it and have prepared for it.
• We can hang early and get advantage late

He explains it in this video: 

Many teams talk about being high tempo, but for the Hawks it was a lifestyle. The biggest reason it was so effective was the way in which it was taught and installed.

#1 mistake coaches make when installing tempo is “Do the same thing but faster.”

They stand on the sidelines in practice and the game and yell “tempo” to remind the team to go as fast as they can. To Barefield that isn't coaching. He has a rule of thumb for whether something is a coaching point or not.

“If my mom can make the same point from the stands, then it’s not a coaching point.”

Pretty simple. Examples that we all have heard, maybe said:

“Catch the ball”

“Hit him”

“Tackle”

“He’s Open”

“Go faster”

The point is, a coaching point needs to be tangible and measurable as well. “See it through the catch.” “Track the near hip.” “Near Shoulder-Near Foot.” etc.

Coach explains the measurables for going fast with tempo:

What does this look like in a game? Coach illustrates it with game film:

What Barefield did in a single season by using tempo shows how focus and attention to detail in even a single area can help improve a team drastically.

Keith Barefield’s clinic “Turnaround an Offense with Tempo” teaches how to go as fast as you can operationally.  Barefield covers all of the specifics in his clinic talk explaining the procedures they use to attack a defense and illustrating it on game film.

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowski