Football teams spend a full week to get ready for a particular opponent. At the high school, college and professional levels, coaches will put in a game plan at the start of the week, practice the plays in that game plan during the week and then hold a walk-through session the night before the game. The walk-through does not involve contact.
Walk-Through Practice
The walk-through practice gives coaches a chance to see if players truly understand the plays they are about to run the next day. The walk-through is especially important to any team that runs a significant amount of plays that present options to the quarterback, running backs and receivers. As the walk-through of a particular play proceeds, the coach may ask players questions on what they will do if a linebacker takes a particular tackling angle. Once the player gives the correct answer, the coach presents a different scenario and the player must continue to come up with the correct answers. Coaches also can see if the players are in the correct positions or have to be moved. The idea is to give the players and coaches more confidence before the game.
Walk-Through Schedule
In the National Football League, walk-through day is Saturday for Sunday games. The walk-through may occur at the stadium or in a hotel meeting room. Coaches like to do the walk-through in the evening because players remember the strategies better the next day. NFL walk-throughs may concentrate on new plays. The idea is to make sure the player knows his role on a particular play -- such as a running back pass -- and that fine-tuning corrections can be made immediately to eliminate mistakes.
Learning About a New Stadium
A visiting team may hold the walk-through at the game stadium if the team has never played there before. New stadiums can be quirky, and teams want to become familiar with the turf and the wind patterns. The same holds true for a visiting team in a playoff or championship game. An opponent may have played in a cold-weather city earlier in the season, but once the weather turns, a smart coach will want his players to be familiar with the environment even if they have played there before. NFL rules stipulate that visiting teams have the right to hold a walk-through in the stadium if they ask. The day before the 1967 NFL championship game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Cowboy head coach Tom Landry asked Packer head coach Vince Lombardi to let his team practice on the field. Lombardi refused, so Landry called NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle to inform him of Lombardi's refusal to let his team practice on the Packers' home field. Rozelle ordered Lombardi to let the Cowboys hold their walk-through. The next day, the Packers edged the Cowboys 21-17 in a game that became known as the Ice Bowl.
Famous Walk-Through
Before Super Bowl XX in 1986 between the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots, the Bears held a final walk-through in the New Orleans hotel in which they were staying. Chicago defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan was the architect behind the Bears' famous defense, and as his players were going through their paces, Ryan could see they knew exactly what they were doing and were as well-prepared as possible. He put his hands up and called a stop to the walk-through. Knowing that he would be leaving the team after the game to become a head coach for another team, he looked over his players with affection. "You guys will always be my heroes," he said. After a few seconds of silence, the players exploded with a passionate roar. They fulfilled their coach's dream by registering a 46-10 victory over the Patriots the next day.
References
- "The Chicago Bears and Super Bowl XX"; John Mullin; 2005
- "Offensive Football Strategies"; Bob Devaney; 2000
- "When Pride Still Mattered"; David Maraniss; 2000
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