By Mike Kuchar

Senior Research Manager

X&O Labs

Introduction

“It all starts with the inside zone,” is a reoccurring coaching maxim that we’ve heard over the last decade.  The inside zone is often the first concept installed on the first day of spring and summer camp every season.  It’s a physical, downhill run scheme that relies on the vertical displacement of defensive lineman and linebackers at the point of attack, giving the running back an opportunity to find an exploit open gaps for yardage.  Yes, we got all that.  We know the scheme, but do we know the best way of teaching it?

Ask most offensive line coach and they will tell you that the zone run game may be the most sought after topic of conversations at clinics.  Questions like:  Where do you like to run the scheme? How do block combinations?  When should you come off linebacker depth?  What does the back read? bombard these coaches on the clinic circuit.  So, these were the same questions we sought answers to in this special report.   The fact is 40.9 percent of coaches use the inside zone scheme for nearly 26-50 percent of their offensive run game.  That means one out of every four runs is the inside zone.  Not surprised?  Well, neither were we.  Naturally, a scheme that is utilized by over 75 percent of the programs in the country should have plenty of resources to tap into and that’s exactly what we did.  We found that 42.7 percent of coaches say they averaged between 5-6 yards per carry on the inside zone and that was the majority.  We were curious to find how different these were running the scheme and what they were doing to give them that rate of efficiency.  So we went right to the source, probing the coaches that told us why they were successful.

Before we present our research it should be pointed out that this special report is more centered on the techniques, not the schematics of the inside zone run game.  Again, we all know about the schematics inside zone- we’ve been hearing about it for decades- this is more about how to block it.  

Ball Carrier on Points of Attack and Reads

Because so much of the success of the inside zone is predicated on the displacement of linebackers, we thought it necessary to present information on the play of the running back.  After talking with so many offensive line coaches when researching this project, there were plenty who talked about how the running back can often make or break the play.   While it should be noted that many coaches teach the inside zone as a cutback play, according to our research 45.2 percent of coaches say the front side A gap is the most used point of attack in the inside zone scheme (Diagram 1).   Longtime NFL coaching veteran Jim McNally is one of those coaches who prefers to run the tight or inside zone right up the butt of the Center to the play side and believes it’s the back’s job to “cram it up in there” without hesitating. 

By Mike Kuchar

Senior Research Manager

X&O Labs

Introduction

You have to know who to block before you block them.  Although the inside zone has a concept may be elementary in nature- just block your gap- but because of the constant pre-snap movement of defenses it’s important your players understand how this affects their blocking responsibilities.  In this case, we will report the various ways in which coaches teach their lineman to block the inside zone. 

Offensive Line Splits

According to our research, 63.6 percent of coaches say a two-foot split along their offensive front is most suitable when running the inside zone scheme.  While most coaches preferred a horizontal split of two-feet along the offensive line, some coaches like 23-year NFL veteran Tom Lovat stressed the importance of the vertical alignment off the line of scrimmage.  Lovat talked to his players about creating the neutral zone so that his offensive lineman had almost a yard before they made contact with the defenders.  “Our earhole would be on the belt buckle of the Center,” said Lovat.  “The defensive linemen have to align on the ball.  So this creates an area where you can be moving forward all the time.  You shouldn’t have to move laterally.  Even if you’re covered, that player is a half of a yard off you anyway. If you crowd the ball he’s up in your face.  By the time you’re foot is off the ground he would stuff you.” 

There are still a faction of coaches- 26.1 percent- that do prefer a split of three feet along their offensive front.  These splits have been made more common with the Mike Leach school of thought of extending the front to open larger run lanes for the back.  Leach keeps his splits at three feet for a variety of reasons that he explained to us on the record back in 2011.  “To me, the ultimate offenses in terms of distribution are what we do and the old school wishbone offense and both of them have wide splits with their lineman.  We would do it for zone run lanes and pass blocking assignments because the edge guys are now wider from the QB than they would be.  We start out at three feet.  If we had no trouble in blocking them than we would widen, if we had trouble then we’d tighten them.  Defenses would try to keep a guy in the middle of a gap and shoot that gap, if they did that we would keep it at three feet.  We would just take deeper drop steps to get angles in our run game. No defenses ever had success in doing that [shooting gaps] against us because, again, it wasn’t something they would consistently do so they weren’t comfortable in doing it.  They’re not good at just shooting gaps because they haven’t done it except for three practices in preparing to defend us.”

Identifying Fronts:  Numbers or Concepts?

Once the splits have been determined, a decision needs to be made on how to identify various defensive fronts to run the zone scheme.  While there may be differences in opinion on this, the majority of coaches- 37 percent- use a concept identification system such as even or odd front.  In its simplest form an Odd front is any front where the offensive guards are uncovered such as a 3-4 (Diagram 1) or 3-3-5 (Diagram 2) while an Even front is typically a four down front such as a 4-3 (Diagram 3) 4-4 (Diagram 4) or 4-2 (Diagram 5).   This is similar to what Clayton Hall, an assistant coach at Gallaudet University tells his offensive linemen.   Hall is more specific with concept names.  He will tag an “Over front” as a 3-technique and 6 or 9 technique front side with 1-technique backside (Diagram 6).  He’ll term an Under front with a shade, 5- technique, 9-technique front side and a 3-technique and 5-technique backside (Diagram 7).  He’ll term “Even Stack” for any  4-4 or 4-2 front and he’ll term “Okie” to any base 3-4 defense with two 5-techniques with the exception of “Okie Philly” for any Odd Front with two 4i techniques (Diagram 8).    Finally, “Bear” would denote the 4-6 front with two 3-techniques (Diagram 9).

 By Mike Kuchar

Senior Research Manager

X&O Labs

COVERED LINEMAN TECHNIQUE

Since there can be several examples of what a “covered” lineman is, we will detail the following examples of what a covered lineman can be.   We’ve found that the technique of these covered offensive lineman can change based on the alignment of the defender. Although the pre-snap leverage of the defender may change, as it relates to footwork, we’ve found that 36.1 percent of coaches teach the far number (or widest number) of the defender as a visual landmark in inside zone schemes.    

Covered Play Side (Diagram 1)

Double Under Technique

The Double Under Technique is a relatively new technique- we’ve found it to be around four years old- that many higher level coaches are starting to teach to their players.  We first heard the technique discussed by well-reputed Penn State offensive line coach John Strollo.  By definition, the double under technique is a tight elbows, double under lifting motion (with palms up, not thumbs out) strike.   Jim McNally calls it a “fish bowl” strike, to simulate picking up a fish bowl with both hands under the bowl.   Although the visual aiming point may change, former NFL coach Bob Wylie tells his players to put their helmet one inch outside the sternum of the defender when executing this block.  “ We tell them they will never usually get one inch outside the sternum so they wind up getting their helmet on the play side number,” he told us.  “If I tell them to put the helmet on the inside number, it may wind up on the outside number.” “The shorter the steps the better,” said Wylie.  “It becomes a tight elbows, double under lifting motion.  We’re trying to get underneath him, but we want both feet on the ground on contact.  “When you strike, your feet keep going and it’s a lifting action.  You want to keep your momentum going further.  The farther you turn your thumbs out, the stronger you feel.  You’re trying to hit him with the bottom part of your hand.  You may not get that but if you may get it. You can tell where you’re elbows are.  If you don’t see any light between the elbows and body, it’s a pretty good chance the hands are where they need to be.”

Jim McNally is a huge proponent of the double under technique.  In the video below, he describes the technique and the drills that correspond with it. 

Note: This video was granted with permission from of the School of the Legends. You can find other technique related videos by visiting their website http://www.sotl.com.

By Mike Kuchar

Senior Research Manager

X&O Labs

Introduction

This case is focused on the techniques that are taught when combination blocking the inside zone scheme.  These are used when two offensive players are responsible for blocking two defenders.  Before we start to address the “how” used by coaches to teach this technique, we’ll start with how lineman are taught to identify the “who” to block.  

IDENTIFYING SECOND LEVEL TRIGGER POINTS

Many coaches put a premium on identifying the leverage of the second level player that the combination will be working up to.   Lineman need to not only identify the linebacker they are working to, but also understand where that player is situated the footwork needed to get there.  Jeremy Darveau, the offensive line coach and offensive coordinator at Southwest Minnesota State University, is one of those coaches that educate his players frequently on the location of linebackers.  Darveau talks about a “Plus” and “Minus” leverage point for linebackers.  A plus alignment refers to the play side linebacker being “plussed” over, which means wider from the box (Diagram 1).  In this situation, Darveau schools his play side offensive lineman to expect to climb to linebacker level while he tells his backside offensive lineman to sell out to reach the down lineman because of the little chance of him climbing to linebacker depth.  In order to teach the reach, Darveau uses a bucket step, which he calls six inches off the line of scrimmage and eight inches width.  “We want to cover the width of the defensive lineman with the depth of the first step,” was Darveau’s coaching point.    “We are going to expect more of a stretch here,” Darveau told us.  “They really don’t need to get off the double team because there is a good chance that 3-tehnique will spike into the A gap and the Center will wind up taking him over.   In a minus alignment (Diagram 2) the linebacker is tighter to the box.  This would essentially, switch the roles of the lineman.  The backside offensive lineman should now be prepared to climb to linebacker depth while the play side offensive lineman should be aggressive with his second step to get vertical displacement.   In this situation, Darveau teaches more of a flat step to his uncovered offensive lineman because of the probability of getting more of a vertical, not horizontal push.  Darveau’s flat step is what he calls enough of a first step to get to outside framework of covered defender.  It’s an aiming point of the play side number in 7-9 inch area.  “He must stay square in that situation,” said Darveau. 

Damian Wrobleski, the former offensive line coach at Rutgers University this season, also uses an indicator system to identify linebackers in the zone run game but he uses a “thick” vs. “thin” scenario.  Thick is the terminology that refers to a situation where a second level linebacker is tight to the Center, which requires the offensive lineman to get more of a piece of him.  The linebacker could be either head up on the offensive lineman.  “In this case, he will use more of a shoulder point and lift technique on first level defender,” said Wrobleski.  A “thin” situation means the second level player is wider, requiring the offensive lineman to not get as much a piece of him.  “In this case, we’ll teach the lineman to use more of a side flipper or hand just to deter him and work to linebacker depth,” said Wrobleski. 

There are two main drills that Darveau uses to teach his offensive lineman block linebackers in space.  One of these drills that Darveau organizes is what he calls Sack Draggers.  It teaches lineman to be able to play with a great base while moving laterally.   The points of emphasis of the drill are below (Diagram 3).

To see video of the Sack Draggers Drill, click on the link below: