Here are three tips to help you as you look to establish your team goals from year to year.
Be inclusive. Be specific. Be an evaluator.
Be inclusive. You are not heading into each season on your own, so don't set goals like you are. Generate goals with your coaches. Especially your coordinators. If you are a coordinator, then go ahead and make your goals to share with the staff. These are the guys that will drive you and your team to reach your goals. Share the goals, the vision, of the program. When everyone can see it, they can buy in.
Make sure to include your players. They are the ones that are actually going to make them a reality. Either through the use of team captains, or team units, do it together. Write them down, and let everyone see them. Let them drive your team. If offers up player buy-in and responsibility. The same goes for the coaches.
Be specific. You want to win 10 games? Great, but too vague. How will you measure success beyond a W or an L on your schedule? Set specific, achievable goals. Don't over think this, just give it a number. In a spread, passing offense set your goal for your QB to reach 2,000 yards. It's an achievable goal that gives your QB something to focus on each time he drops back. O-line? Earn an 85 percent blocking grade. D-Line? 20 sacks. DBs? 10 picks. Come up with a goal, a specific number to let the kids work toward it. If they are behind, then it gives them something to work toward. If they surpass it, then you can set another one. At the end of each season, evaluate the success or failure of each goal. Tweak your numbers to your staff and to your personnel, but be working to reach a milestone.
One of the best, specific goals I have is on offense. 10 yards of offense gained should equal 1 point on the scoreboard. At the end of the game, I can quickly evaluate the efficiency of our offense. 200 yards of total offense should show as 20 points. Any less than that and we weren't efficient or we were turning the ball over. You can easily factor in turnovers and defensive scoring.
Be an evaluator. Evaluate often. See what it working and what is not. If the team or a position isn't meeting the expectation, then adjust and make changes. Whatever it is, keep evaluating. If the goal is to complete 60 percent of passes between ten and twenty yards and you aren't close, it may require a change at a position(s) or a change in play calls. It could be personnel, or game plan, but now you have a baseline standard to measurably compare your results to. Things will fluctuate from year to year as no two teams are the same, but this puts you in the ballpark each year, especially after first-year results.
