A decade or so, you could probably count the number of advisors on staffs nationwide (NFL and college) specifically tabbed with helping make in-game decision on both hands.
However, with advancement in real-time analytics to and the creation of roles on staffs to help with game management on game days growing at a rapid pace, it's pretty commonplace to see that type of role and an accompanying job description on NFL and college staffs.
While analytics are often boiled down in the public eye to whether to go for it on fourth down or punt it, or kick the PAT or go for two at critical junctions of a game, the smart and strategic use of timeouts is an area seldom talked about but often criticized.
First-year Memphis head coach Charles Huff, who went 32-20 at Marshall from 2021-24 where his tenure ended with a 10-3 Sun Belt championship season before moving on to Southern Miss last season, where he won seven games in his only season with the Golden Eagles program, shared an interesting nugget at the Tigers signing day press conference yesterday regarding timeouts worth sharing.
The best part about it? It doesn't require having someone carrying around a 500-page folder on your sidelines. At its most basic premise, Huff believes in using his timeouts on defense (almost exclusively), sharing that gaining five yards back is a whole lot easier than gaining back six points.
"I am probably a lot different, and you are going to write that I'm going to be the dumbest coach ever, but I try not to use timeouts on offense. That's a strategy of mine that I have kind of adapted."
"My philosophy on that, just so you guys know and can boo me or whatever as the dumbest coach, on offense if you get a delay of game, the worst thing that happens is you lose five yards," Huff shared with a simple shrug of the shoulders. "And there are ways to stop the clock on offense, like getting out of bounds, or spike it or whatever.
"On defense, if you don't have the right defense, it can cost you six points. On defense, if they are tempo-ing you and you can't get your defensive lineman off the field or you can't get it stopped, then they will just walk down the field on you. On defense, if you've got 12 [guys] out there, they are going to get a free play and they get a penalty. So I am going to use my timeouts on defense, obviously until the end of the game. Simply because I think the benefits of taking the five-yard delay of game penalty on offense outweigh that we are in the wrong coverage, and we are about to get gashed, or we don't have enough guys on the field, or we don't have the right call and half the defense saw one coverage and half the defense saw another coverage and they're going to get more than five yards."
"On offense, if we get tired, we can always slow the pace down. On defense you cant say "whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down guys. This is like the 12th play in a row."
"It'll be great when we win and you guys can write about why we didn't use the timeouts," Huff goes on to explain the end of the game is totally different but the first half he is of firm belief in reserving those timeouts for defense only.
It's a sentiment that Huff shared last year at Southern Miss, when it was pointed out to him that the timeouts used while the Golden Eagles were on defense always seemed produced good results in a media availability leading up to their matchup with Appalachian State.
"Yeah, I'm different than other guys. Think about this, you're a football expert, on offense if you let the clock run out, what's the penalty? Five yards. On defense if you don't like the look, it's probably a touchdown. So, we'll use all our timeouts on defense. What's five yards? I'll take a five-yard penalty over a 66-yard touchdown because somebody's not lined up right or this formation may not be what we were expecting or hey, we think a team is in an area where we think they may take a shot or they may try a certain formation or hey look, our guys have been out there seven, eight plays, we can't sub them, so I've always been a coach that I'll use timeouts on defense more than you will on offense. Why? What do you need timeouts on offense for? Typically two-minute to try and use the clock, well if you have really good fundamentals, you don't need it. You've got a two-minute warning and you get out-of-bounds. And, we run a tempo offense, so we really don't have a need for the timeouts on offense. Now, could we use them, yeah. Do we want to run a bad play, no. Do we want to get into a situation where we lose five yards, no. But, if it's five yards or a 66-yard touchdown, I'll take the five yards everyday of the week."
"So, I'm a big believer. I tell them every Saturday we have a staff meeting before the game and I tell them we'll use timeouts on defense. Now, do you want to use them all? No. You try to save them for when you need them, but we would all feel a lot better about a five-yard delay of game than a 66-yard guy running down the middle of the field and everybody going 'Oh, who's supposed to cover him?' where half the defense is playing this, half the defense is playing that."
"For multiple reasons, it could be a communication issue, could be we have some defenses where certain formations trigger certain adjustments. Two-by-two, we're going to do this. Three-by-one, we're going to do this. Well it started two-by-two, it went to three-by-one, it went back to two-by-two, well did they all get the check? So, that's kind of our philosophy. I don't know if it's right, but I think five yards is easier to gain back than six points, so that's just kind of my philosophy."
Hear Huff's most recent comments yesterday in the clip.
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