This weekend was my cousin Amy’s baby shower. It was the first time that I was going to see that part of my family in over a decade, and the first time many of them were going to meet my three daughters. My wife and I were so excited to head down to Corning and see them. But then, as it often does, life happened.
My youngest daughter, Davie Joy, ended up getting sick with rhinovirus mixed with a bad asthma attack, and was almost going to be hospitalized. Paula and I knew she would t be able to go, but should we all stay home, too? We decided, instead, that she would stay home and I would bring my other two girls with me. We adjusted the plan.
As I was driving the two hours away, I decided on my topic this week. Because much like parenting and life, there’s a moment in every JV game where you find out exactly what you’re working with.
It’s not during warmups. It’s not during the first scripted drive when everything looks clean and organized. It’s when something goes wrong. A look you didn’t expect. A front that’s giving you problems. A coverage your quarterback isn’t seeing clearly. That’s when the game shifts from execution to adaptation.
That’s when coaching really starts.
And at the JV level, making in-game adjustments isn’t as simple as drawing something new on a whiteboard. You’re not dealing with seasoned players who can absorb a brand-new concept in 30 seconds and execute it at full speed. You’re working with kids who are still learning how to play the game, still learning how to process information, and still learning how to handle pressure.
So when something breaks down, the way you respond matters just as much as what you call next.
The Reality of Adjustments at the JV Level
At the varsity level, adjustments can get surgical. You’re tweaking protections, changing coverage shells, tagging route concepts based on leverage and tendency. Your players can process it. They’ve seen it. They’ve repped it.
At JV?
You’re working with players who are still trying to remember the snap count.
That’s not a knock—it’s just reality.
So when something goes wrong in a game, your first instinct might be to fix it with something new. A new call. A new front. A new concept that “answers” what the defense is doing.
And more often than not, that’s the wrong move.
Because the issue usually isn’t that your system doesn’t have an answer.
It’s that your players can’t execute the answer you’re trying to give them.
Adjustment Doesn’t Always Mean Adding
One of the biggest misconceptions in coaching is that adjustments mean doing more.
At the JV level, adjustments often mean doing less.
It means stripping things down to what your kids can actually handle in the moment.
If your offense is struggling to block a certain front, the answer isn’t always a brand-new play. Sometimes it’s going back to your most basic concept and running it again—just cleaner, just faster, just with better technique.
If your quarterback is struggling to read a coverage, the answer isn’t giving him a more complex progression. It’s simplifying the read so he can play with confidence instead of hesitation.
We talk all the time about having a plan going into a game. But at this level, you also need to have a plan for when that plan doesn’t work.
And that plan should always start with this question:
“What do our kids do best right now?”
Because that’s where you go.
The Challenge of Adjusting a Simplified System
Now here’s where it gets tricky.
Ideally, you’ve already simplified your system before you ever stepped onto the field. You’ve got your core runs, your base pass concepts, your foundational defensive looks.
So what happens when that simplified plan starts to break down?
That’s where a lot of JV coaches get stuck.
Because you don’t have a giant playbook to pull from. You don’t have 15 adjustments built into every concept. You’ve already trimmed the fat.
So now you’re trying to adjust… without adding confusion.
And that’s the balancing act.
You can’t overload your players with new information mid-game. They’re not going to process it fast enough, and even if they do, they’re not going to execute it cleanly.
So instead of thinking, “What can we add?” you shift to:
“What can we emphasize?”
“What can we tweak?”
“What can we call more often?”
It might be as simple as running your base play to the other side, changing the tempo, adjusting splits or alignments slightly, or re-emphasizing a rule you’ve already taught.
For us this past season, in our big 32 point triple overtime comeback game, we made one simple adjustment that saved our bacon; flip the slot receiver. Wherever we called the formation to, we flipped the slot to the opposite side. In essence it seems like nothing, but in reality it took their two best defensemen (their Sam and Strong Safety) out of the equation.
It wasn’t a flashy adjustment.
But at this level, it’s effective.
The Power of a Base
This is why having a true base—on both sides of the ball—isn’t just important. It’s essential.
Offensively, you need a concept you can rally around when things get messy.
That one play where everyone knows their job. Where the rules are clear. Where the confidence is built through repetition.
It might be Power. It might be Inside Zone. It might be a quick game concept like Hitch.
Whatever it is, it needs to be something your players can execute without thinking.
Because when the game starts to spiral, you don’t need creativity, you need stability.
You need something you can call and say, “We’re going to line up and run this, and we’re going to do it better than them.” For us a couple years ago, down 3 TD’s at half, it was inside zone. We had installed a flashy couple new formations and plays to rep against a team that I really thought would work, but because we hadn’t repped them we were floundering. So at half, I said screw it, we’re going to our base. It was something our kids were confident in. Something I knew they could run. And by God they did, right back to a 27 point comeback win.
Defensively, it’s the same idea.
You need a base front, a base coverage, something your kids can line up in without hesitation.
Because when confusion creeps in—and it will—the worst thing you can do is pile more on top of it.
Instead, you bring them back to what they know.
“Line up in this.”
“Play this technique.”
“Trust your rules.”
That’s how you settle a game down.
Seeing What You Can’t See
Now let’s talk about one of the biggest advantages you can have on a JV sideline: A set of eyes in the sky.
If you have access to headsets and a coach in the booth—especially someone from your varsity staff—you use it. Every single time.
Because the game looks different from up there.
From the sideline, everything is fast, cluttered, and emotional. You’re seeing pieces of the puzzle, but not always how they fit together.
From the box, you see structure.
You see how the defense is aligning, where the numbers advantage is, how your formations are affecting them, and what’s consistently working or not working.
And maybe most importantly, you get someone who isn’t caught up in the moment.
They’re not dealing with substitutions, emotions, or immediate reactions. They’re just observing and communicating.
That perspective is invaluable.
A simple message from the booth like, “They’re overplaying your strength,” or “Your backside is open every time,” can be the difference between spinning your wheels and finding a solution.
When You Don’t Have the Box
But let’s be real—not every JV program has headsets or a coach in the booth.
So what do you do then?
You get better at communicating on the sideline.
Because even without the technology, the principle is the same: you need clear eyes and clear voices.
That means assigning coaches specific responsibilities. Someone focused on the offensive line, someone on skill players, someone tracking defensive alignment and tendencies.
Then—and this is the important part—you actually talk to each other.
Not in passing. Not in frustration.
With purpose.
“What are you seeing?”
“Where are we struggling?”
“What’s consistent?”
Too often, JV sidelines become reactive instead of reflective. Everyone is watching the same play, having the same emotional reaction, but no one is stepping back to analyze it.
Good communication fixes that.
It slows things down just enough for you to make a thoughtful adjustment instead of a desperate one.
Keep the Message Simple
Even when you do identify the adjustment, the way you communicate it matters just as much as the adjustment itself.
Because again—you’re dealing with young players.
If your explanation takes longer than the play clock, you’ve already lost them.
So you boil it down.
Short. Clear. Direct.
“Block down, climb to the backer.”
“Read that defender only.”
“Stay inside, force it back.”
You’re not giving a clinic. You’re giving a cue.
Something they can grab onto and apply immediately.
Trust the Process
Here’s the part that can be tough to swallow.
Sometimes, the right adjustment doesn’t fix things right away.
Sometimes, your kids still struggle.
Sometimes, the other team just executes better.
And that’s okay.
Because again, at this level, the goal isn’t just to win the game.
It’s to develop players who can handle these moments in the future.
So when you make an adjustment, you’re not just trying to solve a problem—you’re teaching your players how to think through the game.
You’re showing them how to respond to adversity, how to stay composed, and how to trust their training.
And those lessons matter a lot more than whether the adjustment leads to a touchdown on the next drive.
Final Thoughts
Making in-game adjustments at the JV level isn’t about out-scheming your opponent.
It’s about understanding your players.
It’s about knowing what they can handle, what they’ve repped, and what they can execute when things aren’t perfect.
So when the game starts to tilt, don’t panic.
Simplify.
Lean on your base.
Communicate clearly.
Trust your system.
And remember that sometimes, the best adjustment you can make…
Is helping your players play faster, not smarter.
Because if they can do that—if they can
line up, trust their rules, and play with confidence—you’ve already made the adjustment that matters most.
