How does the quarter know what plays the coach calls? And how do they communicate these plays to the rest of the team
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In modern NFL football one player on the offense, almost always the Quarterback, has a speaker in their helmet. The coach then tells them what the play is, and the QB tells the other players in the huddle. Each player has memorized what it is that they need to do on each play. They’re able to do this through careful practice and the fact that they don’t need to know what everyone else is doing, usually just what they need to do.
The QB does need to know what everyone is doing, but they often accomplish this through something called a “[coach wristband](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/a7c853f1d1ae1e130031f130cd3a7c86cbd25be4/c=0-100-2998-1794/local/-/media/2017/08/22/Phoenix/Phoenix/636390114680461526-palmer.JPG?width=2998&height=1694&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp),” this is a wristband that has a number of the plays written down and may have certain plays sketched out for the QB to use as a reference.
Then there are what are known as audibles, when a QB changes a play by calling something out. Hall of Fame QB [Peyton Manning](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH5gwHHjZ7Q&t=31s) was particularly known for this. When he’s yelling all those words they are a code that the team has. That code can do things like tell them what the defense is doing or change the play. For example you might have a code where the QB says “lightning” if he thinks the defense is in zone coverage or something like that. You can also give specific instructions to one player, for example in the clip above you hear Manning say “run a flare” to the running back, meaning that he wants that player to run a flare route but everyone else is still doing the same thing. Some of what a QB is saying at this time, known as a “cadence” are audibles, some of it is called a “snap count,” basically a countdown to when they snap the ball, and others are telling players what the defense is going to do.
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