Ok I'll bite. This is something I wanted to ask for ages, but never really found time and courage I am from Europe, I started to watch football maybe 8 years ago, so I don't have any firsthand experience.
My question is - can you explain to me in reasonable detail how NFL offensive play calling works?
To be more specific - what happens from the end of one snap to the end of another?
Let's say we just gained 3 yards running. My understanding is that OC looks at his spreadsheet and chooses a call suitable (or not, if you are Dorsey ) for 2&7. What happens then?
I guess that OC says some code name for the call to the QB and QB tells it to players in the huddle. How does that code look like? Does it have specific words for OL (so they know blocking scheme) and each WR/TE/RB (so they know which route to run / who to block)? Or is it a single name from which everybody knows what to do? Can you provide an example?
Then personnel. Who decides who is going to be on the field for the snap? If OC calls something what requires 3WRs and 1TE and we had 2TEs on field previous snap, who decides which TE goes off and which extra WR goes on field? OC? Or some coach on the sideline? This is extremely confusing for me how this can be decided and executed within seconds. And even if we stay in the same personnel, who decides who replaces for example Diggs if goes off, since he just run a long route?
Also, once we have correct players on the field, how do they know which exact WR lines up where and which route he runs? I guess they all have to be somewhat interchangeable, how do they know who runs what? I guess that it is impossible for this to be included in the call code, so how do they know? I can understand that if we start with Diggs/Davis/Shakir/Kincaid then it could be simple who is where, but what if Harty comes in? I guess he doesn't just always run the same route which would run player he replaces.
And as the cherry on top, how on Earth does no huddle work? How everybody knows what to do?
That is pre snap. One the ball is snapped, how does it work then? Let's say it is a pass play, how does going through reads work? Is it always decided pre snap who the first read is going to be? Is it "built in" the call already, so it is basically decided by OC? Or is it up to QB and he can decide on the fly?
I didn't mention pre snap changes made by QB, since that is another layer and for the time being I'd be satisfied with understanding how the basics work
After 8 years watching I have no idea, so I'll appreciate if you (or anybody else obviously) can explain this to me. I guess some things differ from team to team, but there are probably some basic rules which are generally accepted.
Thanks in advance!