Toledo’s Counter-Extra Concept

By Mike Kuchar with Mike Hallett
Co-Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach
Toledo University (OH)
Twitter: @coachhallett

For Coach Hallett, the genesis of his multiple puller runs derived from all the Odd fronts he saw on a weekly basis. The MAC is littered with Odd front defense, so Coach Hallett implemented several leverage pull concepts to handle all those second and third level defenders who are off the ball. “We were playing all these Odd defenses you have to make some choices on who you’re not going to block when it’s seven and eight-man fronts,” he told me. So, Coach Hallett and the rest of the offensive staff at Toledo made a concerted effort to get three pullers to the play side of its counter concepts. He termed it “counter extra” which was built into the play call.

It was extremely effective against field-pressure defenses such as Florida Atlantic, Toledo’s opponent in the bowl game last season. In these Odd looks, Coach Hallett had to build in a seventh blocker backside to handle the seventh defender-usually the Will linebacker- play side while the front side blocks down.

Base Rules:

In Toledo’s counter extra concept, the framework is simple: there is one blocker designated as the kick blocker, one designated as the wrap blocker and one blocker as the bonus player. From there everything is built back. In most cases, the play side Guard is the kick blocker, the backside inside tight end is the wrap blocker and the backside outside tight end is the bonus blocker.

For Coach Hallett, it’s all about handling any edge pressure and getting the back one on one with a third level defender, which has been a win for both of Toledo’s running backs this season.  He has complemented these concepts with track flow zone plays where both tight ends would come across the ball to seal the edge backside and with full flow outside zone concepts where both tight ends would work play side.

RB Coaching Points:

The back is taught no different than any other counter concept. He’s fitting off the kick blocker and first insert blocker’s block, while looking to create a divide in the defense.

We’re going to take a look at how these counter-extra concepts are devised and utilized against all the structures that present themselves.