Pinch yourself if you’ve heard this criticism of a coaching staff before.

“By golly, I wish we’d open up the offense a bit.”

What does that really mean? Does that mean that fan wants his team to morph from whatever offense it runs into a run-and-shoot team like those favored by Southern Methodist coach June Jones?

Or does it mean the fan wants more gadget plays that can be used once or twice a season like a halfback pass (used twice by Porters Chapel last week) or a reverse?

Either way, this sort of criticism arises from folks whose only experience with football is PS3 or Xbox.

First of all, trick plays are just that, tricks. They can be a big momentum swing, positively or negatively. They make for excellent fodder for ESPN SportsCenter highlights and can win games in some cases — Boise State’s beautifully executed three game-winning trick plays in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma come to mind. But they are like lawyers and nuclear weapons, to be used sparingly, if at all.

Secondly, no matter what system a team runs, be it a “West Coast,” a spread option, a wishbone, an I-formation power running game or a single wing, the offensive line has to dominate the line of scrimmage. A team can have plenty of talented, glamorous skill position players, but if the line doesn’t block as a cohesive unit, opening holes in the running game and keeping pressure off the quarterback during passing downs, it won’t matter.

The type of system a team runs is determined by the kind of talent a coach possesses. If a team doesn’t have a quarterback with a strong arm and accuracy, a passing offense will be a disaster. If a team doesn’t have a blocking bulldozer of a fullback, an I-formation running game won’t work at all. A spread option won’t succeed without a dual-threat quarterback.

Good coaches can tailor their systems to the available talent. A poor example of this was Florida last season under Urban Meyer. Meyer and his coaching staff tried to use a pocket passer, John Brantley, in an offense designed around Tim Tebow. It didn’t work and Brantley had a disastrous season.

Every system has its proponents, but as the old saying goes, it’s not the Xs and Os, but the Jimmys and Joes. If a team doesn’t have gamebreakers in the skill positions and linemen who are dominant, it won’t matter what kind of system a team runs.

Another criticism is that a team is too conservative on fill-in-the-blank down. There’s probably a reason for that.

Coaches laboriously pore over film, cataloging tendencies and finding what play calls would work in each down and distance. Play callers are usually constrained by the importance of first down, because a small gain on first down changes what can be called on second and third downs. Nobody wants to be in third down and Rankin County to go every time.

Systems are designed to put players in a position to succeed. They aren’t just dreamed up on a whim.

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Steve Wilson is sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. You can follow him on Twitter at vpsportseditor. He can be reached at 601-636-4545, ext. 142 or at swilson@vicksburgpost.com.