Covered/Uncovered Blocking

1) Covered/Uncovered.
2) Calls- who makes them: the uncovered guys.
****Will call combination then # of who they are working to****

Playside calls:
TED= Tackle and TE working to #
TAG= Tackle and Guard working to #
TAB= Guard and Center working to #

Backside calls:
SLIP= Center and Guard
SCOOP= Guard and Tackle
SIFT= Release over the center

‘If Mike sits, destroy

If Mike goes, crack flow’


So out of a tight end set against an odd defense:

55      51
E         N        E    S
O  O  X  O  O  O

Here the te and tackle are covered= no call
PS Guard calls TAG #51- tackle knows he has help to the ps b gap
BS guard calls Slip #55-center knows he has help on the bs a gap
BS Tackle has sift

We work our head/explosion through the aiming points and work the ray technique (our as some call it, a one arm bench press) with our arm extension if uncovered with our eyes on the number called.

Again uncovered guys make the call.

I think this a much clearer system that can handle all fronts and gives us more answers against more things than just "follow your rules."

Bottom line: I think it will help our kids know who and know what.

Stretch the playside and expand the backside.

Re-Thinking my zone approach.

Well another season is in the books. I foolishly thought I might be able to keep some content up on this site while the season was under way but...well....I was way wrong.

A couple of thoughts before I begin to dig into the evolution of how I teach zone.

1) I got a flip camera to film practice and I will never NOT film practices again. Mainly focused on drill work through the summer, then only filmed the team time (as I ran into a problem with breaking it down, battery life through the course of practice, and watching JV players run through drills.) Here from our spring scrimmage:

2) I really learned that no matter how good a teacher of something you are, very few kids will remember what you taught the year before. I will not make that mistake again.

Ok so...Zone.

Last season, as seen in the previous posts on the zone concept, we employed a true zone concept (ie step and feel pressure and react.) And we got pretty good at it, so I figured we were on to something. Well, what happened is that group of lineman graduated.

I was pretty sure I could teach the next group to get off and feel it just like the last. But what I needed to learn was a system that was player neutral, ie we would have success regardless of the Jimmy's. If we had great jimmy's we would explode, if we had average jimmy's we could get consistent yards. So what this year ended up being was a bastard system, one where we evolved from a straight man scheme to a combo team.With that said. I want to emphasis that we did not get there entirely this season. But for next year we laid a ground work, a teaching method, and a thought process that will lead to it.

Part of coaching is learning how to do something better, and trying to teach the next group kids who are completely different from the last group.

More to come on how we are gonna do it better....

Clinic Notes

Attended several clinics in the area. And I am working on a comprehensive installation video.As soon as the install is ready I will share it with everyone. So, sorry for the delay in posting. 5 different articles all partially complete. Bear with me.

Here are my notes regarding multiple subjects. Just know that when I attend these things, I am only looking for 'nuggets' that either inspire me or will allow me to teach or explain something better.

From the PEMCO All-Sports Clinic on February 24-27

Bruce Brown (Motivation/Leadership:)
   1) Teaching/Motivating teams requires you to be a creative craftsman
   2) Average does not inspire/ Ability gives you credibility
   3) Really think about this: Would YOU want to play for YOU?
   4) Staff Building: First rate people are confident enough to hire first rate people. Second rate people hire
       third rate people.
   5) Fearless Play....a direct reaction to how I react to FAILED plays.
   6) If you have kids that are looking to check out (in big moments,) look in the mirror.

John Thompson, DC for Georgia State:
   1) In any Cover 3: 10-30 principle....Player responsible for deep 30, the 10 is on me as the coach.


NIKE Coach of the Year Clinic on March 4-6

Pat Ruel, Zone Guru and asst Line coach for the Sehawks
   1) Terms: Its a 'punch thru' or a 'run thru' block....not a hook or a reach
   2) Practice: "I do you".. ie at practice dont wonder about stuff....at practice practice what you do and do it
       over and over again.
  3) Zone concept: Run the board....similar to run 'your cylinder/foot path' but  for me a much more consistent
      term to deal with defensive player movement and alignment.
  4) Pass Pro: Vertical; press on the inside move....When doing the pipes visualize player movement..get the
      mental reps even if against air..

Things we are playing with...

Like every staff, the off season is used to reflect on what has happened, project what might happen for next season and always answer this question: How can we be more explosive and dynamic?
 
In answer to that we have thought about:

The midline option is a great fit in our scheme because it controls both B gap defenders simultaneously.

 Here is the trap version:

After we visited Oregon, we talked about this a lot, but never got around to making it a base play.

Off of a base Stretch play with a  fold on the backside

 This is sweep rt with a zone left look on the backside

Fundamentals of Line Play

The most important thing to remember about the game of football at the high school level is skill development. To that end, we emphasis the following “BIG SIX:”

1)      SPLITS

a.        G-C 3 FT, G-T 4 FT

b.       Inconsistent splits and alignment can destroy the timing of the play and make reacting to defensive movement more difficult

2)      STANCE

a.        THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL ASPECT OF LINE PLAY

b.       Don’t give away a thing; Balance and power on display

3)      STARTS

a.        WE WIN AND WE LOSE ON THE FIRST TWO STEPS

b.       Properly execute the first and second steps as they relate to aiming points, while using the correct shoulder and/or hand placement on all blocks

4)      FITS

a.        POSITION OURSELVES TO BE SUCCESSFUL EVERY PLAY

b.       Proper blocking and power angles for leverage, with correct balance and footwork for control

5)      FEET

a.        THE KEY TO DOMINATING THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE

b.       Double time (Acceleration) on contact

6)      FINISH

a.        BE RELENTLESS-LEAVE NO DOUBT

b.       Sustain your block to the echo of the whistle.

WE CAN CORRECT POOR TECHNIQUE; WE CAN’T CORRECT POOR EFFORT

Effective offensive linemen in our program have the following characteristics:

1. Attitude:

A good attitude in an offensive lineman can’t be over-emphasized. A player with a good attitude can be taught what he needs to be successful. A player with a bad attitude will have a negative impact on the entire offense. A player has to be selfless before we can develop unity on the offensive line. Once we develop unity we can create an identity. Once we create an identity, then we can establish tradition. It all starts with attitude.

“We work the hardest; we’re known the least. But who cares? For we are the reason.”

2. Effort:

No one should ever question your effort -NEVER! We determine effort by players who go to the echo of the whistle and finish blocks and games. An enthusiastic player will give you great effort.

Be a Hitter: This is why you play! You must relish contact. It's the player who hits first, the hardest, most often and the longest that win Championships. When it comes to being a hitter actions speak louder than words. We want an aggressive player who plays with his head, heart and pads

3. Commitment:

Commitment is fundamental to our success. Ranging from excellence in the class room, to active participation in the community, to even ensuring the pads are brought out everyday to practice, commitment encompasses a wide variety. The following quotes sum up the general philosophy, followed by four areas of emphasis:

“The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn't like to do.”

-Thomas Edison, renowned inventor

“Are you here to do something, or are you just looking for something to do?”

-Gordon Elliot, Auburn High School Football Coach

-          Loyalty: Playing on the offensive line is about trust and honesty. If trust is ever broken, failure is inevitable. Loyalty is the key to the togetherness needed on the offensive linemen and the team. Loyalty is demonstrated by showing respect for your coaches, yourself, and each other. Loyalty is the key to having “one heart beat” on the offensive line.

-          Strength: You can not be ‘allergic to iron’. The key: how it translates onto the field, not just in the weight room. Explosive strength is priority one, with overall strength being next. Strength training helps eliminate injuries, and it allows us to dominate in the tight spaces of the line of scrimmage.

-          Conditioning: If you can't breathe, you can't play. It doesn’t get any simpler than that. Fatigue will eventually defeat your opponent, it may also defeat you. Conditioning is an important part of mental toughness. The harder you work the harder it is to surrender.

-          Knowledge: There is no excuse for not knowing assignments and how to execute them. Players should also know what all linemen are doing on each play and where the quarterback and running back are going. Knowledge through preparation helps you to think and make a decision under pressure, and to know the assignments of your teammates in order to execute the offense.

Screens

One of the more consistent plays we had all season was a double screen.



***To show the blocking scheme, I used an endzone view. The back will check then feather release to the side line. The number one receiver will be the other screener in 2x2, while in 3x1 the slot opposite the back will be the other screener.

Because it is a double screen, we used a mirror count system....ie the tackle would have the overhang player, guards would have inside linebackers and the center would pick up the most dangerous player, usually a safety or we would get a double team on an inside backer. This way the line play is consistent in a 2x2 set as well as a 3x1 set.

We use these progressions for most screens (Bubble has a different progression for us, as we block that more like playaction) for ease of learning and to maximize the reps.


A couple of examples:

Playaction game next....

Complimentary Plays (2)- OZ/Stretch and variations

As a base inside zone team, one of the great compliments is a stretch or outside zone play.

As defenses began to make adjustments to our inside zone play, we began to see more and more pinching and slanting to take away the off-guard track of the running back. To counter act this we decided to run around it.


Playside tackle would execute a 'Rip-Reach." He will step with his inside foot, looking to cross the face of the defender, aiming his hands and his head to the outside number of the defender. He will then continue to
This is one of the better blocks for gaining leverage on a defender, as it really allows us to pin the player right where we want him

Where this play gets 'fun' is with the play of the playside guard. We can do several things with him, depending on how the defense is playing. The DE pinches really hard, he can pull around him leading the back to the edge for a true stretch play feel. If the DE plays up on the tackle,  the guard can squeeze to the knee then work up his cylinder and it becomes an Outside zone play.

All others work a zone step to the outside number and work to wall off the defender following the same Covered/Uncovered principle from our base inside zone play.

Here is a progression of the playside guard off of a Fly-sweep

 ***NOTE: Of course, he is supposed to work his head back inside. Its still a good example of converting an outside zone to a stretch.

Below is our QB Sweep. The Lt Tackle executes a pretty decent rip reach...some call it a hook block...

Limits?

LIMITS AND DEFICIENCY OF ZONE RUNS WITHOUT A TE HAS BEEN ON MY MIND

Even if we get hat-on hat..we can still be out numbered.

Thus it is vital that we have a strong complimentary system to deal with these numbers games. The obvious one should be a strong passing game, either vertically off of playaction or horizontally off of bubbles/screens. These compliments must be there in order to ensure a numbers a gap/numbers advantage. Without them, the defense can bring force players and suffer little to no consequences.

Another solution, if the passing game is not adequate or up to the task would be to have a complimentary 'gap' scheme. This creates problems for a sound defensive front. See below.

GAP PULLING SCHEMES (concepts taken from runcodhit):

"Lets look at the the problem that is created. First off, consider the # of gaps that are needed to defend the running game.
There are six gaps and in this example we have 6 defenders to cover each of these gaps. So, whats the problem? The problem is that the offense moves where the gaps are on pull type plays.

What makes it a problem for the defense is that the defense does not rearrange the way that the 6 gaps are defended. So essentially, a gap is left open for the ball carrier to run through. If there is 6 gaps and 6 defenders then how is there an open gap?

The pulling scheme puts two players in one gap."


I believe that this scheme, as evidenced by our success with gut and counter, is a 'cheap' compliment to the base zone looks.,  with the pulling lineman creating that extra gap space. It will also maximize how we can me limit OL assignment while manipulating the backs.

We can then break every play down to one 4 schemes or concepts: zone, gap, screen, and pass pro

Packaging Plays

One of the things we as a staff have really started to develop over the course of the past two seasons are packaged plays...ie 2 plays in one. This idea first gained traction with us when we visited the University of Oregon in February of 2010.

While there, along with absolutely hanging on every word that Coach Greatwood said, we stumbled upon a counter play that intrigued us.

Here we married a traditional fly sweep with a Quarterback counter the other direction.

The beauty of packaging these two plays is that they really force the defensive end to really be wrong no matter what. If he plays the sweep (by expanding and trying to spill or contain the motion man), we run counter with the Quarterback. If he plays the counter (by stepping down on the pulling lineman) we have a clean edge (meaning more players to block than defensive players to defend in a particular area.)

Here, because of our success with the fly portion, the defense over rotates creating this:

Combined with our other zone play principles, we have made it our mission to confuse and confound the defensive ends in any system to the point where they are non-factors.

Why is that important?
The defensive end in most schemes are (usually) the dominate athletic defender of the opposition. If we cause uncertainty, even for a moment, we eliminate a major player.

Other examples:

More packaged plays to come........

Complimentary Plays

There are many ways to compliment a zone running attack.

At the professional level of football, the play most used has been the bootleg pass(think the Denver Broncos.) In the college ranks, the in vogue thing has become the zone read, or zone option (think the Oregon Ducks.)

For us, we had a hard time this past year being consistent with either of these. So lacking these two common 'constraint' plays, we as a staff decided with our overly athletic quarterback to go to a tackle 'wrap' play as a compliment. We called it 'Gut.'

As you can see, the reason it is a compliment to zone is that the interior lineman block the zone path to the left.

The right tackle here, due to alignment of the defensive end, will block out.

The left tackle will wrap into the first open hole, with an emphasis of staying tight to the guards block.

The backs will mesh like zone left, with the  tailback hitting hard to once again deliver the linebackers were we (the offensive line) need them. The quarterback will then disengage and follow the tackles block into the hole (and with the action of the back delivering the backers,) having the 2 way go of a cut to the left or the right.

This was our second best play over the course of the season, for three main reasons: 1) We had a tough tailback that defenses HAD to respect, 2) A quarterback as fast as anyone who was a threat to take it eighty yards every play and 3) a tackle who could adjust to the linebacker in hole.

Great play for our athletic quarterback...great complimentary play to zone.

2 Examples:

Now what?

Once we have laid down a framework of identification and a thought process for who we are attacking prior to the snap, the focus now shifts to player movement post snap.

Here is an example of post snap movement. The play is zone left.

As you can see every player has stepped to the play side, and we have followed our covered/uncovered principles. 58 has worked to the knee of the next down defender, as he was an uncovered player. His next thought, as the defender did not crash his gap is to climb. 

We define the climb as working in the cylinder (here the gap area between the offensive tackle and the center.) Others define it as a track.

This is another example of a zone left play. Here the guard did not step all the way down to the knee, instead climbing to fast. When the defender crashed the playside tackle had no help, so he got beat. This is the area that needs the most emphasis...FAT GUYS FIRST; Then climb to the Big Uglies. The reason for this is the onus is on the backs to "DELIVER" the linebackers to the lineman. 

This is also a good example of how defenses slant different ways, and that if we follow our frameworks it doesn't matter.

More to come...

Fat Guys and Big Uglies....

What makes the Zone running game so dynamic, and in many ways explosive, is (as alluded to at the top of this blog) is the simplicity of the scheme.

When referencing schemes, or plays in particular, one first must understand that in all reality there are a million ways to do one thing. So for us, and for the sake of the kids that we coach, we try to keep things as simple as possible (the KISS principle...Keep It Simple Stupid.)


The first framework, when discussing my philosophy of zone blocking, is 'Covered/Uncovered.'

Covered/Uncovered is used in dealing with multiple defensive fronts, allowing us to ask this one question and block any defense we see. Again, this is a pre-snap framework.


In doing this, we first must define the defenders. This helps us understand who we have to block.

We define them  in a couple of ways: First level of defenders, usually the defensive line (from here on referred to as 'Fat Guys') and second level of defenders, usually the linebackers (referred to as 'Big Uglies.')

Covered= "Is the first level defender (the 'Fat Guy') covering my helmet or my playside gap hand? If yes, then the first thought is to block him. 'FAT GUYS FIRST!"

Uncovered= "No one covering my helmet? No one covering my playside gap hand? Great, step to the knee of the NEXT 'Fat Guy' defender. FAT GUYS FIRST!"


Post-Snap framework is upcoming. Like I tell my players, "Those little triangles we draw on the board? They don't stay where we put them. They move."

Zone

Who am I and why would you care? These are the first questions that I always ask when looking over other peoples blogs.

As you can tell by the title, I am Coach Roth.  I have been an assistant coach at Lakes High School for the past 5 seasons. My goal is to provide other coaches little nuggets that will help. If I can impart one nugget to one person, than this blog has done its job (even if it is me who finds the nugget.) Because really that's what I like about other peoples blogs as well.

SO.....
I have had the privilege to coach in an offense the last 5 years that holds very true to my core beliefs...spread them out, play fast, be as wide open as you can, and when in doubt back it up with a mentality that says 'I will physically dominate you.'

One of the keys to this has been the implementation of a zone blocking scheme. This allows us to accomplish two major factors in the above: spread you out and have a physical mentality.


The basic tenants of zone blocking are these: 1) Each offensive lineman is responsible for the playside zone 2) The defense moves, so how do counter act that? 3) We have five offensive lineman, it is therefore our job to block five defenders.

Here is a diagram of Zone Left.

Each player will step to the left and block a player with in that zone.

So what about rules? Most (if not all) O-line coaches will go on and on about rules. I, however, prefer to think of it as a framework, more like an "If, Than," statement. I want my players to have freedom, with in that framework, to figure out how best to accomplish the result I desire.. For us, that process will start with a question: "Am I covered by a defender, or am I uncovered by a defender?"

Here is a video of zone.

Versus a 40 front:

 

 

Here are some cut-ups of Oregon running the zone play.

Covered/Uncovered framework coming.....