Want to play faster, offensively? Creating one-word calls is the most efficient way to get to your favorite plays while playing fast!

The word “tempo” gets thrown around in the football community. You name the clinic and there will be a coach or multiple coaches talking about playing uptempo. In my opinion, the change of tempo is more effective than playing fast all of the time. Having the ability to huddle and go quickly at the line of scrimmage will keep a defense on their heels.

I have found that it is easier to establish a faster tempo and then slow it down versus being a slow, huddling team that tries to go quickly at times. I believe this is due to the mindset of your players whenever you create a fast tempo. Just like all things this cannot just be board talk, it must be repped daily!

Regardless of how you start your tempo as an offense, creating one-word calls is the most effective way to speed up your tempo! Being able to make one signal or have one keyword representing a cadence, formation, motion and play is easy and efficient! Some coaches use these calls as purely a tempo changer, while I have found that your most “complicated” call as one-word can be just as effective.

With all that being said, give us some examples of your one-word calls? How do you catogorize them? What is your favorite?