From the beginning of training camp in August through the national signing date in early February, coaching is a 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week job. Most fans assume that after the signing date, coaches have time to relax and simply enjoy themselves until the start of spring practice. While there is a lot of time until next August and the start of the actual season, there is simply no time to waste.

Let's face it -- recruiting is not an easy job. It's demanding, especially at a university like Nebraska, which recruits all over the country. National recruiting -- with the travel and distance involved -- is physically taxing. It's even tougher when you're coming off a long and disappointing season. But the day after the signing date, on Feb. 5, Huskers coach Frank Solich and his staff were not on vacation, they were back in the office starting the process of evaluating last season and moving forward. Nebraska, like many other coaching staffs, had several staff personnel changes, which makes time management even more critical.

For fans at places like Nebraska, the process of evaluating last season is simple -- what's on the scoreboard at the end of each game. Winning and losing is the bottom line and the only evaluation that really matters. But to improve, you must look deeper into all statistical areas and the factors that led to the overall result. You must have a systematic way to evaluate your performance and find ways to improve.

There is no time to waste.

Step-by-step
The first step in the process is to evaluate last year's statistics and results.

Teams keep running totals during the season in regards to statistics and results of specific plays and defenses. Self-scouting is an ongoing process and the results are immediately available with digital video, computer printouts, statistics and tapes and they are grouped for easy evaluation. Coaches will begin by evaluating statistics from last season and determining what was successful on a consistent basis. This process starts during recruiting and can be done even while coaches are out on the road.

At Nebraska, for example, it considers a running play successful if it gains four yards 40 percent of the time the play was run. While some Nebraska fans, disappointed with the 7-7 season, complain about the old-school option offense, the statistics show its efficiency. The Cornhuskers averaged 6.98 yards every time they ran an option play. These results speak for themselves. Even with a new offensive coordinator, you can count on the fact that option football will continue to be a big part of Nebraska offense.

Numbers never lie
Statistical evaluation also shows you deficiencies and areas in which you need to improve. If you look closely at Nebraska's self scout, you can see they struggled in 3rd down completion percentage throwing the football. This is uncommon for great running teams because normally when they do throw it, their completion percentage is extremely high. In the past years, Nebraska's completion percentage has been well above 55 percent. Obviously, this will be an area of emphasis this spring.

Nebraska's 3rd Down Season Summary

A look at how the Huskers' fared on third down, looking
at the number of attempts with the number of times
converted and the percentage.


3rd & 1-2   3rd & 3-6   3rd & 7-10   3rd & 11+   Total

32-20-63%   69-27-39%   67-22-33%   37-7-19%   173-56-32%

Statistical evaluation is also related to your personnel, which obviously can change from year to year. At Iowa, for example, they found that Brad Banks, their senior QB, was involved in 70 rushing plays for the season. He ran 28 options and 42 QB draws and runs. With 6-foot-7 Nathan Chandler taking over at QB for Iowa, that productivity phase of their offense will obviously have to be redirected. That will be an area of emphasis as Iowa gets ready for spring practice.

Watching the film
After the statistical evaluation is done, the next phase of evaluation will take place with the staff watching cutups of specific plays and techniques. They will determine what actually caused a play to be successful or break down. They will grade every single play from the previous season and create a file. This process is critical not only to evaluate the scheme, but also the individual technique that makes a play successful.

It was during this study that Ken O'Keefe, the offensive coordinator at Iowa, realized their two tailbacks - Fred Russell and Jermelle Lewis -- should line up at different depths from the line of scrimmage. While most backs normally line up 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage, Fred Russell -- the faster and less patient of the two -- actually lined up 9 yards behind the line of scrimmage. It was determined Lewis, however, should line up at 7½ yards from the line of scrimmage. This proved to be critical in the timing of Iowa's zone plays. During this evaluation phase, you also evaluate how teams matchup and defend you over the course of a season.

After you research yourself and determine what was successful and why it was successful, the next step is to research and develop new ideas and ways to improve. Coaching staffs utilize many tools to research and improve.

Swapping ideas with other coaches
It may seem strange to fans, but there is a great amount of exchanging of ideas between coaching staffs. Normally, it is done with programs that don't play each other. Spring is a great time to visit other campuses and evaluate other programs. You can count on the fact that whatever team had the most recent success will have many visitors call and ask about visiting their campus.

Over the last five years, no concept has had a bigger affect on the game than the spread no-huddle offense created by Rich Rodriguez. Rodriguez, now the head coach at West Virginia, has had staffs from all over the country -- including Nebraska, Florida State and Northwestern -- come visit him over the years. Northwestern took Rich Rodriguez's concept and introduced it to the entire Big Ten. Just about every school in the country now runs some form of the spread offense.

Obviously, there are some downsides to sharing info with potential competitors, but Rodriguez has a great philosophy. "There are no patents on schemes," he says. Rodriguez also says he gets just as many new ideas from coaches visiting him as they get from him. Even though it is highly competitive profession, exchanging ideas is a part of it. Rodriguez realizes the more people that run and understand your scheme, the easier it will be for people to defend it. You must stay one step ahead and constantly add to your scheme. West Virginia has added more formation variety to their offense becoming much more multiple while maintaining the same basic philosophy.

Every head coach has different philosophies on staffs visiting his campus. It can be complicated by changes on his coaching staff. Every staff, though, takes advantage of these opportunities. For example, last year's national champs, Ohio State, sent defensive coaches to visit Oklahoma while the offensive staff went to spend time with the Indianapolis Colts.

Meeting your bowl opponent -- again
Another great way to research yourself is to get together with your bowl opponent after you have played. This is highly effective because they obviously have evaluated your team over the entire season in preparation for the bowl game. When I was coaching at Texas A&M, we got together with the entire staff from Pittsburgh after we played in the Sun Bowl. It was a tremendous opportunity to see how a team prepares for you and determines some tendencies you may have acquired during season.

Staff projects
Most head coaches will assign each staff member a different project to research on his own prior to spring practice. It may deal with anything from specific Xs and Os to off the field issues. At the conclusion of the process, the staff member presents the concept to the entire staff and its evaluation for consideration. Research is now so much easier with access to video and many times these projects can be done without leaving campus. By simply utilizing video tape of other pro and college teams, you can research on everything from goalline offense to field goal and extra point protection schemes. The possibilities are nearly limitless what you can research these days thanks to the new technology.

Researching each other
Last year's nation champions Ohio State did a tremendous job of playing as a total team. They realized early on that their strengths were on defense and in the kicking game. Part of that may have come from head coach Jim Tressel's concept of the entire staff analyzing the team after the season. Most staffs tend to divide up offense and defense, but at Ohio State they evaluate last year's games as an entire staff. This gives both the offensive and defensive coaches a great understanding of each other's strengths, weaknesses and personnel. It also allows them to see a unique perspective of how offenses attack the other defense and vice versa.

Staff evaluations
It is just as important to have systematic way to evaluate your productivity as a staff. A head coach must have a tangible way of evaluating each assistant coach and his productivity. Coaches are individually evaluated on recruiting, player development, contributions on and off field and overall efficiency. Performance reviews can be a very positive tool in communication and raising the level of each staff member. Goals and expectation should be clearly defined for each member of the staff.

Staff development
Staff development is essential in creating an efficient operation. Continuity in the coaching staff is very important to programs, but the reality is you're going to have turnover on your staff. It is important to get everyone working together as quickly as possible and have all understand the philosophy and expectation of your programs. With four new coaches at Nebraska, Solich decided to take his staff on a retreat so they could spend some time away from campus together. There they discussed leadership qualities, mission statement and overall philosophies of the program.

Team development
Spring is also great time to coordinate team functions that involve the team in things other than football. A lot of programs set up various ways to get their teams together such as bowling tournaments, golf tournaments, softball and other things. At West Virginia, every Wednesday they have a special competition amongst the team using coaches as captains. Events include swimming and diving, 3-point basketball shooting and soccer. This is a great time for coaches and players to be together. There is one rule, however -- no football or academic issues can be discussed

As you can see, the time prior to spring football is not vacation time for coaching staffs. Team evaluations and research and development are critical before heading into spring practice. You must have a plan.

Editor's note: As architect of top defenses at Texas A&M and Notre Dame, Bob Davie is recognized as a top X's and O's coach. His Football 101 broke down offensive and defensive schemes last year on ESPN.com. This spring, this will go inside spring football each week explaining how teams use the spring to prepare for the fall.