For every playbook out there, you will find another way to name offensive football formations. There are no strict guidelines or rulebook to what you call your formations.  Creating your own system of rules for how you name offensive football formations is important, though. It will determine how easy it is for your players to grasp new formations. The system also determines how easy it is for you call new formations.  I love keeping it simple. Football plays take a lot of work. They take time to install and perfect. You do not need a lot of plays. Formations are cheap. You can install new formations quickly in practice. Being able to run just a few plays out of many different formations creates a complex look for the defense, while you keep it simple.  Check out this episode of The Football Coaching Podcast to learn all about naming and grouping your offensive football formations.