zone game line and QB calls

I used to think that calls were not necessary - that if your players knew there rules then why would they make calls? I have learned since that even though as a player I would learn the system quickly - not everyone is that way. One of the problems that occurs over and over in a zone offense is one guy gets on a different page than the others. For instance, two players may know they will zone to Mike but what happens if they don't declare the same player as the Mike? With all the shades, it can be difficult to determine covered and uncovered on an adjacent lineman. With calls, confusion is eliminated and everyone gets on the same page. Now that doesn't mean they do everything right, it just means that if they do it wrong, they do it wrong together - we still have a chance. The calls can be termed anything. In fact, it is easier for my guys to develop their own calls so they have some type of meaning. Typical calls are Ace = A gap Double, Duece = B gap, Trey = C gap, but they could be anything apples = a, bananas = b, cherries = c, Uno = A, Dos = B, Tres = C. I doesn't matter as long as they all talk the same language. With this, frontside calls are usually different than backside calls. Additionally, when you scout a defense and find that a certain change in technique - something that is different from the established rules i.e. a wrongstepping guard) will benefit, then you put in a call for that (that is the Boss, Mate, Hawk, Wham of Whitewater).

I teach my players my zone rules and like Bill's, they are very simple. I use what I call a "hit box" term instead of covered/uncovered because for me, it eliminates confusion when a defender is in a gap or stemming around. (Just me, not a suggestion for others). Anyway, I differentiate between our cutback zone and our power zone - subtle differences but they are there and can lead to confusion and I feel that I need to remind players to keep them consistent (maybe obsessive). I have calls at the line, not in place of rules but to remind each player of how to apply the rules on that play against that front. They are very simple - just indicators of who will be zoning with who and what backer they will account for. Then I have calls for adjustments I can send into the huddle or I can teach the center to make the adjustment call based on a key read that he sees. If no calls are developed, we could not make adjustments based on defenses. I have three backside adjustment calls and three frontside calls based on if an 8th helmet shows up and where it is at. I also have a "gap it" call for when the defense is aligning in every gap and we don't know whos coming and who's dropping. We eliminate giving away our play by making false calls on every other play and staying on cycle with strong/weak and run/pass tendencies.

DESIGNATING MLB: This varies from team to team - it depends on their run & pass protection RULES. We do not have to do that with our blocking rules (listed above on my post of 3/3 at 10:38 AM).

In the PASSING game - our QB needs to know where he is & reads him as MLB ON CENTER - IF NONE, FIRST LB AWAY FROM THE CALL INSIDE OUT (we call him "MIKE"). The REASON for this is the ROLE he plays in each coverage & our QB needs to know where he is (& where he goes) on certain passes.

What do you do as far as calling "MLB" out??? Why???

First, Coach Thibault asks about QB designating Mike. I know there is a debate on who makes the calls but - and agian, this is just me and I am not suggesting anyone go away from what they are doing - I refuse to allow the QB to dictate my blocking combinations! This is for two reasons. First, I am an oline guy and I want my oline to be responsible for what they do and how they block things. Second, the QB has enough stuff to learn without having to learn my line's language and identify keys that dictate our blocking scheme. During practice, the quarterback does not have time for that where as the linemen have all practice and all classroom time to do those things. I want to have the guy that has spent all the time working the blocking schemes to call the blocking schemes. Therefore, my calls start with the center and the first thing he does is identify the position of the strong safety (assuming a cover 2 shell).

Second, Hos Hos asked me to elaborate on my system. I will try to keep this brief and if you like the ideas, we can talk about incorporating the concepts in depth outside the forum - maybe email or telephone. Before I discuss it, I think it is important to understand that saying "inside zone" is like saying option - there are a variety of ways to run it and the subtle changes from one system to another are what define that system. I get a little frustrated when I read postings saying "this is what you do to block inside zone" - it should be "this is how I block inside zone." Here is a brief synopsis of my system. I want everything to look the same at the snap of the ball. Therefore, all runs (I only have 5), playaction boots, and scat passing game are based on the same principles. These make up 90% of the offense. (The other 10% is comprised of drop back passing, draws, and screens - but we don't spend much time on these). I want to establish the line of scrimmage with a power zone play and I want to physically beat up the defense with this. I challenge the C gap because it is the weakest gap against most defenses and force them to adjust. Every lineman blocks with the same rules here - even the backside - it is all considered "point of attack". The TB will take four yards if he sees it and I am not too concerned with cutback yet. As the game goes on, I want to be able to change this play up with calls based on what the defense is doing. I can cut the backside, man the backside, do some different things with the H back, (I don't like fold blocking on the backside because it is a new technique to practice). I can wrong step the frontside guard, frontside tackle, frontside tightend based on defensive alignment and number of players in the box. Incidently, all the calls that are being made are not based on the defensive linemen or the linebackers - we account for these in our blocking rules. The calls that adjust the lineplay are based on the presence of the 8th man. He has got to be taken into account when he comes down weak as a force player, weak as an inside player, strong as an inside player, or strong as a force player - and those are all different situations. Since our rules account for seven men in the blocking scheme, number eight presents an issue and we have to adjust. Not a problem because we work every situation over and over in practice.

When the defense starts to tighten up to close down the power zone, we want to attack both front and backside perimeters. We have a cutback zone designed to force all defenders inside so we can bring the ball back against the grain. Of course, we also have an outside zone play. All zone plays - power, cutback, and outside - use the exact same blocking combinations. The technique and footwork is slightly different, but the combinations from Dline to LB are all the same. The ways we account for the eighth man are similar as well. In addition to those three plays, I run a counter to the H-back (blocked like the counter trey only backfield motion is based on power zone) and an H-back inside trap. Those are the only runs I have and we get very good at them because we get so many reps - remember the zone combinations are the same for all three zone plays. There are times, when I have run the same play seven times in a row just varying some line calls in the huddle. Now, I don't know if this is what you were looking for when you asked me to elaborate. My guess is you have something more specific in mind. If so, let me know what it is and I will give you a specific (and hopefully more concise) discussion.

Duke,

You seem to have a good plan, sure enough. One question; if you like your linemen to make the calls rather than your QB (I like your thinking in this matter) how do they make adjustments for stemming, etc. as they are down in a 3 point stance and cannot see. Granted, you can't change the protection or scheme after the cadence starts anyways even if the QB is making the calls. What prompts my question, coach, is you saying that your scheme makes allotment for 7 to be blocked and when they put 8 in the box, you adjust as you have this built in. The defense is not going to stem until AFTER you start the cadence, so like all of us, you can't change after that point. My question is if in the PSL you see 7 and on the snap they now bring 8, what is your adjustment to cover this situation? We all know they very seldom bring as many as they show they can, but in the event they do bring the house you have to have a plan to deal with getting a hat on every body they throw at your QB. Good post, coach.

Coach Easton

Bill,

You know out of all the tremendous posts that you have made over the last several months on zone blocking, I truly believe that your offering above is, IMO, the best by far!!! Speaking for myself, had I heard that single thought along the way expounded by someone at a clinic, or on some field, or from some scource of any kind, it would have made my understanding so much better of the base principle of the zone concepts. You know I have been at this coaching profession for quite a while myself, and that is the very first time I ever heard that simple principle put forth!!! Sincere thanks for what you just posted!

JC

Duke,

How does motioning to and from slot reduce zone dogs? I have heard this before but was never really clear on it. Are you talking about 2 back sets?

thanks

Duke,
That is a great system young man! Repping it is the key, for sure. One of my favorite sayings has always been: You don't have to be the biggest, nor the strongest, not even the fastest. BUT, YOU DO HAVE TO BE THE SMARTEST! Best of luck with your solid format.

Coach Easton

Duke,

I agree whole heartedly with your retired mentor!

Coach Easton

Coach Joe,
It depends on the team. Most teams - not all so you have to do a good job scouting - base zone blitz schemes on strong safety support in one way or another. So, if the strong safety is on the tightend side, and we go to what we call twins (most call some form of slot) - x and z one side tightend on the other - then the defense has to make a decision. Do they keep the SS support for their strong side zone blitz and match the z up with someone else, do they use a CB to adjust, or do they check out of it and put the SS on the Z? If they use the corner to adjust, then we might motion the FB to the flanker position to force the defense to give-up the SS and check out of the zone dog. Different teams will do different things and if they are a man blitz team, this of course does not apply. We don't see a lot of complicated coverages and zone dogs like I am guessing Coach Bill Mountjoy and Coach Easton see so we can decifer it and game plan it pretty well based on scouting. The biggest problem comes when the SS comes in late - like what Coach Easton was saying in an earlier post. Hope this makes some kind of sense.

We don't do double cadence with every team. With that said, delay was an issue early, so we changed some things up without changing the cadence. We quickened the tempo for our players. When the whistle blows, they get to the huddle in a hurry, we call the play, and they sprint to the line - very little time there and that has helped also to disrupt defenses and wear them down a little. We also minimize the verbage of the actual play call. We restructured how we call formations which helped with time. We package things to minimize personell changes - we can get into an assortment of formations with only two personell packages - (anything from double tight ace back to empty). Most importantly, we practice the quick tempo. One day each week in practice, after warmup, we put the offense on one sideline of the practice field, put the defense on the other, (coaches included) and we run 10 plays starting from the -10 without coaching - it is just like a game. We call plays from the sideline and have managers mark the ball and call penalties (sometimes at random just to see how players will respond). I have the managers take 3 seconds off the play clock so that we get practice with a shorter time frame. We force that standard and then they adjust to it.

By the way Duke did you see my question about the wrong stepping and backside blocking? It is after the question about zone dogs

thanks

Coach Joe,
Sorry I missed the question about wrong stepping. As for me, and I know this flies in the face of what a lot of people do, I don't like to step away from the direction of the zone with any playside linemen! I don't like blocking backside shaded noses with Centers. I don't like blocking playside shaded noses with guards. The only times I allow this is when the defense has presented a front in which two of our players are accounting for the same LB. In those cases, we will adjust and can allow a guy to wrong step without losing anything. The backside is a different story. In our base, we treat everything as point of attack. You are right about the man blocking on the backside, we don't do it if there is a SS present. Instead, we have to find a way to get to the SS. I never worried about a SS on the backside when we were a blockdown power/counter team - he's not going to make a play. However, with zone he is not sealed of with traffic like and we have to get someone to him - even at the expense of leaving a DE or such. The H back blocks backside in our base power zone. Like most everyone else, we can also lead him front side, man him on Will, have him block a backside DT and release the guard to 2nd level, man him on a SS/OLB if need be, or align/motion him out of the box. After I read your comments about the TE/FB switch, I will have to consider that and I will steal it from you if it fits with what I teach. I drew it up and think that it would be a simple adjustment that would allow us to match up players and give the defense different reads. Is that what you do with it? You commented on Alex Gibbs. I would lie to you if I said that I made anything up on my own. (that is why I read all these posts, to steal ideas from all these exprienced, smart guys). I have worked with some good guys to synthesize our ideas into a working process. My mentors very well may have gotten a lot of those ideas from Alex Gibbs - I know they got them from somewhere.

Thank you oneback for mentioning that point. This weekend I had the pleasure of listening to Jerry Campbell in Toledo and he went over his near ear rule. All the OL coaches I have talked to about the the IZ all say step PS. I have been having trouble with this theory for some time now. When you see a 5, 1, 3, 7 and outside 9...they always told me to trey the 7, base the 3, send center to Mike and base the 1. I was worried about penetration, when I started to get on this site the near ear rule came into play. I like the rule but what about the 7? Jerry told the the postioning of the handoff will determine the scheme you use upfront, on whether or not you deuce the 3 and leave the y on the 7 and ace the 1 or do it the way I mentioned above. Could someone let me know how the handoff position determines the scheme up front. My other question is this we see a base 4-3 with head up shades all up front, now what do you tell you OL to simply step playside whenever you have an head up shade? We have also seen two 1's shades, what do you do in this case with the center? I am just trying to cover all the possibilities that are out there before I commit.