few formations few plays - Oak Raiders of 80, peak quick, run out of gas without the
all Heisman team which the Raiders used to roll out , Bo,Marcus, Tim Brown, etc, Lamont Jordan is nobody's Heisman.
many formation few plays- Joe Gibbs' Redskins, try to get a formational breakdown, easy to add wrinkles to formational scaffold as you go, gets out of the gate quickly execution wise but you have to add something every week
few formations many plays - West coast, similar looking sets with a motion or two, the goal is to gather information early on how the defense is playing things, then throw in one modifier to get desired result and exploit over and over again with multiple route combos exploiting same flaw Mike Holmgren could call pro set plays all day and never call the same one twice, this is why west coast teams had to script early so they didnt spend all their time info gathering, and why they usually blow people out in the 2nd half because they are looking for weapons in the first half, the reason the other theories burn out midgame/ midseason is because they are the "run it till they stop it" mindset, which means you run out of intel and element of suprise midway through the 3rd quarter. You also have to do this is you have horribly weak receivers like McNabb.
Many plays many formations- You make an immediate splash by shocking your opponent until they just decide to settle down and kill the snake by chopping off the head, this is why TB is going thru so many QBs, D coordinators realize there arent enough hours in the day to prepare for your doodles, BUT they understand the mental load your QB has, and if they can get rid of him, you're stuck with a 2nd string guy with no reps, trying to run a phonebook. Its a great way to look smart as a coach and have someone to blame when the players can run everything you dream up, it does make up for lack of talent
though
perhaps the best theory for cpu games is to make sets based on the defenses response. sounds counterintuitive but thats the only thing that should stop an offense, A DEFENSE

anti man plays, anti zone plays, anti read plays, anti rush plays, problem is you have to poke around
early or scout a lot to determine what your opponent likes to do. With the offense I run in real life
Quicksilver Offense- Championship in a Box since we line up in the same formation every play, the mtip the balance if we choose, we know the defense should line up balanced because we are, so it is painfully obvious to see a safety rotation, line shift or backer creep, a lot of teams line up so many different ways, they force the defense to do the same, such that you cannot recognize defensive changes because you dont know if they are doing it because they WANT to or are simply reacting to your sideshow.
the defensive progression we face weekly is,
cover- when that doesnt work,
lots of route combinations
blitz- when that doesnt work,
so we always have a mix of routes built in, and dbl tite freezes LBs
blitz more, when that doesnt work,
so we polish up our screen/draw game
(we especially polish our option game because blitzing is a zone scheme, option
requires man defense)
get ultra physical and a little dirty,
discipline and instill not fighting back
and when that doesnt work-
go to dime -
now we can grind the ball and get our RB to 100 yds like SF used to in 90's and Seahawks do now, just be sure not to completely fold the tent.
My whole offensive theory is judo based (counter attack, use their aggression against them
on a metaphysical level, it is to be like the nature of water, (water doesnt need to be notified of a leak)
it is always well rounded and prepared to exploit a fracture in its container.
THis approach generates better team chemistry, you can manage a better draft profile/salary cap, and you avoid putting all your eggs in one basket, then the guy breaks a leg, or develops a character flaw then you to decide
whether to win or cut the jerk YOU NEED because you built your whole system around him. Players should be spark plugs and YOUR STRATEGY the engine. Vick was the engine in ATL and with him gone, you see the results, not so much because he's gone but because so much focus was on him, no one scrutinized substandard OL and horrible/young WR's, and no defense. Now that he's gone its all apparent, and somehow simultaneously all his fault. PHI switched its whole playcalling mindset to balanced AFTER McNabb got hurt, but now they are back to throwing 50x a game. This is what happened to Marino, Cunningham, and Elway til he got a
SYSTEM coach in Shanahan (DEN) You or I could run for 1000 yds with his scheme, thusly he never has to break the bank on a star RB (the most fragile position in sports) and can spend elsewhere. As a result the Broncos are always in it in January. He just needs a non-idiot/non-rookie at QB to succeed. In a franchise sense, this allows you to manufacture players at certain positions, players who look better than they are because they are in your system, and you can always get favorable trades from teams desperate to find what you MAKE.
DEN- RB Olandis Gary, Terrell Davis, Travis Henry, Tatum Bell, #35 this week etc
SF 90's QBs Garcia, Bono, Kemp, Montana, Young, that last two may seem strange but remember
Joe Montana was 3rd string at ND and TAMPA BAY !!! didnt even trade away Steve Young,
they CUT HIM, I make TEs in cpu games and real life with my system. What will you make with yours?
In closing you can polish your strength all you want, but someday you will get off the bus and someone will have an answer to it, it's the most obvious thing you do and coaches spend all week combatting it.
And they learn exponentially because they see what the last coach did that worked and add that too.
Be well rounded enough to attack the defenses weakness, EVERY defense has one (too slow, too fast but weak at the point, too aggressive, too passive etc) and every coach has one too (but that takes longer to figure out but the homework is worth it) , if they could fix it they would.
As a coordinator you never want to see the perfect opening and say, "Man, I wish we had THAT play",
you should return your paycheck.