On the dry-erase board that is the back wall of Brooks Bollinger's cramped office at Hill-Murray High School, a 5-by-4 checkerboard of offensive football schemes acts as a backdrop. To the untrained eye, it's an impressive, if confusing, mix of circles, squares and arrows drawn in orange and red.

A few smaller boxes map out plans for various two-minute drills and two-point conversions.

But the last thing Bollinger wanted to do when he got the job as the Pioneers coach last winter was instill an inches-thick playbook like those he inherited as a college and professional player.

"I needed to condense," Bollinger said. "It's the diet version."

A couple sheets at a time, Bollinger has added in plays here and there. A handful have been taken out as well.

"I had a general idea of how I wanted it to look," he said of the Hill-Murray playbook, which still isn't fully assembled. "But I had to figure out what our strengths [were]. And we built the system around that. Believe me, there was a very small master plan at the beginning."

The skinny black binder, which rivals a book report, has worked. Bollinger has Hill-Murray in the state tournament for the first time since 1987. A victory Saturday against Rocori in the Class 4A semifinals would mean the Pioneers would play in their first Prep Bowl next week.

Bollinger came to the job with zero coaching experience at any level. But the Rose Bowl-winning son of a college coach, who made 10 starts in the NFL, had some decent credentials.

"He knows what's going on," senior tight end Jay Zoborowski said. "I don't know how they do it in the pros, but I am sure it's a lot more complicated. He takes the specifics and makes it work for us. It's been a blast."

Zoborowski called his coach "Madison guy," a nod to the system Bollinger executed as a four-year starter for the Badgers. Bollinger uses a run-first approach but isn't afraid to let junior quarterback Zach LaValle take some chances.

"We'll run upfield behind our big guys until they can stop us," LaValle said. "But [Bollinger] gets on [receivers] about their routes -- seven steps, turn here, turn here -- and their landmarks. The passing game is there for us and it's because he is all over the field helping guys out."

Bollinger is quick to peel the pat off his back and place it onto his players.

"I don't want to just do a lot of stuff," Bollinger said. "Whatever we do, I want them to do it well. The number of systems isn't what keeps me up at night. It's 'How can I put these kids in a position to have success on the field?' And they've done it."