Turn Reflection Into Action: An Offseason Playbook for High School Football Programs

Championship programs are built in the offseason. Your most important phase of the year happens now, in the months between the season’s final whistle and the first days of camp. This is when you do the evaluations and lay the groundwork to take your program to the next level. 

This three-part framework is here to serve as your offseason playbook for turning reflection and raw feedback into solutions for improving every aspect of your football program.

Don’t just evaluate the results of the past season. Question, measure and evaluate your processes. Everyone involved with your program has room to grow season over season—not just your players. 

What’s Inside: 

• Culture Check
  • Read: Coach Garrett Mueller’s Culture Playbook
• Self-Scout: Coach & Player Evaluation
  • Download: End-of-Season Head Coach Self-Evaluation Template
  • Download: End-of-Season Player Exit Interview Template
• Your Offseason Blueprint
  • Download: Offseason Blueprint Timeline

Part 1: Culture Check: Who Are We Really?

Culture is the thermostat of your program. It’s the engine that runs when the coaches aren't looking. You don't get the culture you want; you get the culture you tolerate. Before you draw up a single new play, engage in a brutally honest assessment of your program's standard.

Five Starter Questions to Evaluate Program Culture

Are we intentional in building our culture?

Did we simply hope a good culture would emerge, or did we deploy specific drills, conversations and systems designed to install our values? Intentionality is the only pathway to an enduring culture.    

Do we have a clear mission? A “why?”

Beyond winning games, what is the single, memorable purpose statement that drives our program? Do players and staff know it by heart, or is it just a poster on the wall?

Coach Insight: “A written ‘why’ gives players ownership—it becomes their anchor when adversity hits.” — Garrett Mueller, Head Coach, Stewartville High School (MN)

What are our shared values?

Can every coach and player list the 3–5 non-negotiable behaviors we value most (e.g., toughness, accountability, service)?

How would our players describe our team?

What words would they use? The players' description is the truest, and often most painful, measure of your culture.

Coach Insight: “List the words players would use to describe your team. Then, write what you want them to be. Compare the two and close the gap through daily habits and clear expectations.” — Mueller

Is our program’s standard non-negotiable?

Are we punishing ourselves with costly, mental penalties? Is arrival on time or early? Did we execute the fundamentals, or did we let the small stuff slide? Discipline is the proof of your culture.

Coach Insight: “Building culture isn’t about a new facility or recruiting more talent — it’s about identity, accountability, and connection. Programs that live their values daily will outperform more “talented” teams that don’t.” — Mueller

Part 2: Honest Self-Scout: Coach & Player Evaluation

The best improvements come from within. Use this phase to reflect on your own coaching, give your staff room for feedback, hear your players’ voices and chart a stronger path forward.

Section A: The Coach’s Mirror (Self-Audit)

Before evaluating players or installs, the best programs start by evaluating the head coach. The offseason is the time for a clear, honest look at your habits, systems and the leadership you put on display every day.

A meaningful self-audit goes beyond wins and losses. It challenges you to reflect on how you led the program across every major area. 

Here are some key areas and questions to evaluate:

Program Identity and Vision: Was I a consistent model of our core values and vision?

Team Performance and Football Operations: Did I put our players in the best position to succeed?

Staff Evaluation: Did I get the most out of my staff this season?

Program Management: How well did I manage the stuff off the field?

Data, Film and Technology: Did we get the most out of the tools we have on hand?

Coach Insight: "I go through [in the offseason] and I evaluate the staff. How can I help my staff become better? What can I do better as a head coach to help them? I have them fill out evaluations on me. I meet with every single coach." — Justin Haberman, Head Coach, Gretna East High School (NE)

Section B: Player Voice: Closing the Feedback Loop

Your players provide the clearest, most honest view of how your program actually operates day to day. A structured, confidential exit interview process gives you actionable feedback you can use to improve next season—before installs ever begin.

A strong player exit interview should focus on three areas:

Player Reflection (how they evaluate their own season)

Program and Coaching Feedback (collected anonymously when appropriate)

Film and Data Awareness (how players engage with tools like Hudl)

Consider Forming a Player Leadership Council

Many championship programs formalize player feedback through a Leadership Council, typically 6–10 trusted players who serve as a bridge between the locker room and the staff. This group helps review themes from player feedback, communicate expectations back to teammates and turn honest input into player-driven change.

Coach Insight: “I have a good relationship with my kids and I let them know, ‘I can't get better, we can't get better as a program, unless you give us great feedback.’ I'll make this list of all the things that kids would like to see improved. I take it to the Unity Council, a body of 9 members of the team, and we discuss what needs to go from there. And then they go back and talk to their grade levels, and we make changes that way.” — Haberman

Part 3: Offseason Blueprint: Turn Reflection into Action

Reflection is a starting point, but implementation is what creates champions. Use your culture check, self-reflection, and player feedback gathered in Parts 1 and 2 to create a clear, month-by-month timeline—your offseason blueprint. This is where reflection pivots to implementation.

The Offseason Blueprint helps you organize the chaos that is your daunting to-do list. It provides a month-by-month framework that connects culture, leadership development, performance evaluation, recruiting windows, and community moments into one cohesive annual timeline. This is where reflection becomes structure, and structure becomes progress.