Still digging

Question
Hi Coach,
Thank you very much for answering me.I try to read as much on the Internet as I can, watch game films "as a player and not as a fan" like you said in one of your answers,play madden (it seems silly but I believe it is useful). In don't have any books, the shipping to France is very costly and there aren't any books about football over there.
I'm trying my best to understand the basics of an offense, one of my friends is doing the same for defense and we will put the two together. Till now we've been playing without any specific calls, before each plays I explained my players the look and the purpose of the play (each time it took me like 1min to explain it, way too long).I know the basic formations, but there are so many plays and formations available, well as many as your imagination goes. So i wanted to ask you what you feel is the best to start with. I don't want to do a huge playbook for now, but I don't know what to choose. On this site I read the teams were using a "system". What is it exactly? A set of play with a common purpose? I really don't know what play i should add to my playbook.
Another point is playcalling. For runningbacks it's ok, but if i have 4 receivers on the field, each time i have to tell them what route to go. should i call the routes with a number or with a word.The same with audibles: if every has a specific name, there isn't a logic for audibles calling ( like Green 72,Green 72 meaning the HB is diving and fire protection). There will be so many audibles to learn and no logic to remind them. I know there are a lot of questions, maybe too many ( I apologize , I'm overwhelming you with my questions) but I'm really starting out from scratch.I need some general guidelines on how i should build my playbook.
Thanks for taking time to answer me!!
Regards
Edvard
P.S: i checked, NFL Europe is 11 vs 11, but we play 9 vs 9 because we met this guy once, who plays in a french team and told us that is the way it was played.  

Answer
Ed -

I am glad that you got the start, and its moving along.  Yes, that is a long question and I am not sure I am permitted enough space to get it all in, but I will do what I can for you here.  OK to start off, choosing plays for a playbook is very important.  Now please realize, most playbooks (as you get into more advanced football) are very large.  The reason is because there are so many options on defense, a team has to have enough to cover each of them.  But rarely if ever does a team practice and install each play on a weekly basis.  SO at the beginning of each week, we look at the defense we are playing.  What will work the best? What wont work well at all?  AS we sort that out, we chose plays to work on that week against that defense.  The next week's choices may be completely different.  All depends on the team we are playing. So when putting a book together, its a good idea to have everything you can in it, to enable you to have options and choices come game week. AS you prepare for each game, make a weekly game plan that includes ONLY the plays you will run that particular week.

"System" means different things to different people.  But basically, it is a philosophy to the game, and the schemes you will use to attain your goals.  In your case, the first thing to chose is the base blocking scheme for running plays.  You can use a base-man, or a base-zone scheme.  I am a big believer in the zone scheme, but considering you are just getting started, man scheme might be your best choice. Its a little easier to teach, understand, and run. The zone scheme relies on experience and the ability of linemen to "read" defenses like a QB. All depends on your linemen. Once you have decided that, look at your running backs, QB, and WRs.  What are their strengths and weaknesses?  Start with between 3-5 BASIC running plays (to each side).  So an example from my book would be 34/35 zone, 35/36 counter, and 38/39 toss.  Those are 3 very basic plays.  SO that is pretty easy.  But the KEY to remember here is that football is played defensively on READS.  So as an offensive coach, you need to keep in mind that everything you do is being studied by the other team.  IF every time your left guard blocks down you run left, they will pick up on that.  SO you MUST have what I call "sister" plays or play progressions to cause hesitation.  An example of that would be a play action pass off of each of those running plays.  So a 34 zone woud also have a 34 play action pass (What I call a "134").  The blocking will appear to be the same, but the skilled positions will fake the run and go out into patterns. Obviously it is much more complicated than that, but you get the idea. Start putting together "packages" that run off of one another. This will get your offense going.

For playcalling, my best advice is to keep it simple.  Coaches, especially when they first get started, have the tendency to try and overcomplicate things.  They see the NFL and think an offense must have 300 plays to work.  THIS IS NOT THE CASE.  Look at the most successful high school coaches - the "old school" coaches at any level.. In most cases, they run VERY SIMPLE, maybe 25 plays total, offenses.  SO you being new to this, thats my suggestion.  Pick out 10-12 run plays, 6 play action plays, 2 screens, and 6 drop back passes.  Thats it.  Get as good as possible at these plays.  It is ALWAYS better to be able to perform a few plays perfectly, rather than a bunch of plays that arent performed correctly.  The rest will come to you over time and with experience.

If I could say one thing for you to remember it would be to just be patient, start with the simple basics, and master those few things.  Dont overcomplicate anything, and dont overprepare.  Stick to what you know and like, and things will be just fine.

I know you said that books are too expensive to ship over, that is fine.  But use the internet.  You obviously have that.  There is a wealth of football knowledge on the net, and you can learn alot from it.  Look up "zone blocking scheme", "Man blocking scheme", 3 step drop, 5 step drop, pass routes for football, basic run plays for football,  etc.  Also look for things like "coaching offensive football", "football playbooks", "drills for coaching football".   Its all in there somehwere or another.

Take your time, dont try and become an expert overnight, and have fun.  That is the reason for playing in the first place, right?

Best wishes

Coach Perl