Archetypes
27 ways a team can enter a new season
Some teams bring back the same operating core, while others change quarterbacks, coordinators, personnel, or nearly everything at once. The archetypes give you a consistent way to describe that setup before you start arguing about how good the team will be.
Archetypes describe structure and continuity, so they are not team grades, predictions, rankings, or betting recommendations. They tell you what changed around a team rather than how well that team will play.
The three caller states
Play-calling continuity is the axis readers ask about most, so it helps to be precise about what each state actually means.
Same Voice
The same person retains primary play-calling responsibility in substantially the same functional role. Keeping the same title is not enough by itself.
Example: Texas, 2024
Why it fits: Steve Sarkisian remained Texas's play caller, giving the Longhorns continuity in both the person making the calls and the functional role.
Familiar Voice
Play-calling responsibility changes, but a documented bridge connects the new arrangement to the prior operation, such as an internal succession or real shared responsibility.
Example: Michigan, 2023
Why it fits: Sherrone Moore moved from shared co-coordinator responsibilities in 2021 and 2022 to sole offensive coordinator and play-calling responsibility in 2023. The responsibility changed, but the bridge to the existing operation was direct and documented.
New Voice
Primary play-calling moves to an external caller without a documented functional bridge to the prior operation.
Example: Oklahoma, 2025
Why it fits: Oklahoma hired Ben Arbuckle from Washington State to become its new offensive coordinator and play caller for 2025. He arrived from outside the previous Oklahoma operation.
These labels describe the caller’s relationship to the program, not the caller’s ability or the team’s expected performance.
Nine families, built from two questions
How much of the offense carried over, and how much of the defense did. Pick a cell to read that family and the three caller versions of it.
| Defense returning | Defense changing | Defense new | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offense returning | |||
| Offense changing | |||
| Offense new |
Family 01 of 9
The Foundation
Returning Offensive Core and Returning Defensive Core
Most of the operating core is back on both sides of the ball. The staff can build on what the team already knows instead of starting the teaching over.
The caller changes what this situation feels like:
The Foundation — Same Voice
The same person keeps the primary play-calling duty, so the offensive language and habits carry over.
Worth checking: Whether the continuity is genuine or mostly a job title.
The Foundation — Familiar Voice
Play-calling changes hands through a documented connection to the previous operation, so some of the offense carries over with the new caller.
Worth checking: How much of the previous offense the new caller actually keeps.
The Foundation — New Voice
Play-calling moves to someone from outside the previous operation, so the offense is being taught in a new voice.
Worth checking: How quickly the new offense gets installed, and who has run it before.
All 27 archetypes
Each name pairs a family with one of the three caller states. A family name on its own is not a complete archetype. The matrix above is the quicker way in, so the full list stays closed until you want it.
Browse all 27 names
01. The Foundation
- The Foundation — Same Voice
- The Foundation — Familiar Voice
- The Foundation — New Voice
02. The Defensive Shift
- The Defensive Shift — Same Voice
- The Defensive Shift — Familiar Voice
- The Defensive Shift — New Voice
03. The Defensive Rebuild
- The Defensive Rebuild — Same Voice
- The Defensive Rebuild — Familiar Voice
- The Defensive Rebuild — New Voice
04. The Offensive Shift
- The Offensive Shift — Same Voice
- The Offensive Shift — Familiar Voice
- The Offensive Shift — New Voice
05. The Crossroads
- The Crossroads — Same Voice
- The Crossroads — Familiar Voice
- The Crossroads — New Voice
06. The Defensive Overhaul
- The Defensive Overhaul — Same Voice
- The Defensive Overhaul — Familiar Voice
- The Defensive Overhaul — New Voice
07. The Offensive Rebuild
- The Offensive Rebuild — Same Voice
- The Offensive Rebuild — Familiar Voice
- The Offensive Rebuild — New Voice
08. The Offensive Overhaul
- The Offensive Overhaul — Same Voice
- The Offensive Overhaul — Familiar Voice
- The Offensive Overhaul — New Voice
09. The Blank Slate
- The Blank Slate — Same Voice
- The Blank Slate — Familiar Voice
- The Blank Slate — New Voice