The Axioms of Attack: How Dan Gonzalez Teaches Coaches to Build Smarter Game Plans

Apr 07, 2025

“If you don't know what you are, it's really hard to know what you're trying to do.”

That’s one of the many takeaways from our recent conversation with offensive coach and system-builder Dan Gonzalez, whose framework for building a passing game, and by extension, a full offensive identity, continues to influence coaches looking for more than just plug-and-play call sheets.

In this episode, Dan took us deep into how he teaches coaches to build not just plays, but philosophies. And it all starts with a series of guiding principles he calls Axioms, offensive truths that help create structure, cohesion, and clarity in your system.

Let’s unpack how these axioms serve as the scaffolding for weekly game plans and how they can help you simplify the complex, especially when you're navigating the constant tug-of-war between structure and flexibility.

Why Axioms Matter in the First Place

Dan doesn’t treat offensive football as a buffet of concepts. He sees it more like building a language. You don’t just grab cool words — you need grammar. Structure. Syntax.

“If your offense doesn’t have internal logic, then your answers to problems aren’t connected,” Dan told us.

Axioms provide that logic. They’re not rigid rules, but organizing truths that help you filter every install, every tag, every adjustment.

For example:

Every concept must serve a spacing purpose.
Protection must match route structure.
Quarterback timing is a constraint, not a suggestion.
Everything must be modular and additive.

These aren’t just sayings, they’re filters that shape what you even consider in the first place. A new motion isn’t just “cool.” It has to serve a purpose within your system’s existing language.

From Axiom to Game Plan: Creating a Modular Framework

One of the most useful insights from Dan’s approach is his belief that game plans aren’t built on what defenses do, they’re built on what your offense is equipped to do.

“It’s not about building a 60-play menu for the week. It’s about knowing what your core is, and then letting the opponent tell you how you’ll apply it.”

In other words: don't start from the top-down. Start from the inside-out.

Gonzalez teaches coaches to divide their plan into modular buckets:

Base Install (your axiomatic core)
Complementary tags (additive pieces that solve specific problems)
Answers for coverage/toolbox (matchup breakers, tempo shifts, or route subs)

Each layer builds on the previous one. That structure gives your QB fewer new concepts to learn, because you're simply applying known ideas in new configurations.

QB-Centric Planning: Constraint, Not Creativity

A big theme in the episode was how Gonzalez’s system is QB-centered, but not in the way people think.

It’s not about freedom. It’s about clarity.

Dan breaks QB game planning into constraint-based thinking:

“What can he process pre-snap?”
“Where can his eyes reasonably go in progression?”
“How do we eliminate gray reads?”

From that lens, the game plan becomes a narrowing process, not a creative one. You’re filtering everything through the lens of your quarterback’s operational reality.

This is where the axioms really shine. If you believe that every concept needs to serve a clear picture for the quarterback, then everything else, formation, motion, shifts, tags, has to support that clarity.

Building a Repeatable Process

One of the most coach-friendly parts of Dan’s system is that it's built for sustainability.

He’s not giving you “answers”, he’s giving you a way to generate answers on your own, week to week.

Here’s a simplified breakdown of how he structures a weekly offensive install:

Reaffirm the axioms. Start each week by rechecking your system’s core. Don’t let desperation or new toys distort your identity.
Self-scout versus current opponent. How does what you do fit (or not fit) into the defensive structure you're facing?
Game plan through your core concepts. Don’t chase “new”, explore variations on what you already teach.
Create a solutions layer. Identify the biggest threats on defense (press corner, field pressure, bracket coverage) and build counters from your existing tags.
Call it like you teach it. Use only what your QB has reps on. The constraint-based filter wins again.

Final Thoughts: The Axioms Are a Coaching Multiplier

Too often, we look for the “one right call.” Dan Gonzalez is teaching us to think bigger and to create a system that generates answers organically, predictably, and sustainably.

Whether you're a high school OC trying to create a plan your QB can handle, or a college assistant wrestling with how to layer in solutions without re-inventing your install, Dan’s framework is worth your time.

The real lesson? Stop chasing what works. Start building something that lasts.