Basically, an audible happens when the quarterback sees something at the line of scrimmage that may induce him to change the play. For example, if the original play is a run to the right and the defense stacks most of its defenders on the right side, the quarterback may audible to a run to the left, away from the defenders.
Stanley Conner is the offensive coordinator and running backs coach for Alabama A&M. Before joining the Bulldog staff, Conner was a four-year letterman at Jackson St. University where he helped the Tigers earn four Southwestern Athletic Conference titles. Following graduation, Conner played with the New Orleans Breakers of the USFL and the Ottawa Rough Riders of the CFL before settling down into his coaching role. Conner has dealt with many offenses in his time and said that calling an audible all depends on how the defense adjusts to what it is the offense is trying to do.
"A lot of times on offense, you have certain plays that you want to run against different defensive fronts or looks," Conner said. "As the quarterback, it's his job to recognize those fronts and get you into that play. And for that to happen you have to have an audible system. And an audible system is just another way of getting the group to run the play that you've practiced all week."
Conner said that other players on the offense are allowed to recognize and notice possible audibles, but making the final call depends solely on the quarterback.
"The quarterback is the floor general and he's an extension of the head coach or the offensive coordinator," Conner said. "He's expected to understand that situation and be able to make a very good decision."
"Sometimes, you allow your center to recognize a front," Conner continued to say. "Once he identifies it, he would give the front an odd or even front to alert the quarterback that there is a possible change, but the audible itself is usually the quarterback's call."
In addition to allowing the quarterback the leeway to make audible calls, Conner said that they also put a little restraint on the quarterback sometimes as learning lessons.
"Also, sometimes we don't allow the quarterback to audible," Conner said. "You try to get him to understand that you don't want him to get you out of a good play to a better play. He has to understand that it's alright sometime to stick with the good play."
In addition to knowing when and where to call audibles, offensive teams also have to find ways to let their players know they are calling an audible without keying off the defense.
"There are different ways to identify an audible: names, colors or numbers," he said. "So it's just whatever works and another way of getting from one play to another."
"And the plays are all about what your kids can handle," he added. "You can take one play and give it a word, color or number and use all three during the game. It just all depends. Sometimes, the defense looks for those kinds of audibles so you have to change it up whenever you can."
