Linemen steps on the zone?

What I teach for inside zone is the following:

1. Locate your level 1 defender. GOBB (Gap-on-backside-backer) and later in the season in will just be called gap man. Then they see through level one defender to his level 2 defender. It forms and is communicated as a stack (d-lineman & LB behind him). You teach the combo to work the stack. You two guys have those two guys.

Start it out as a double team. Teach your guys to be very aggressive. Tell them to take level one defender and put him in the lap of the level 2 defender. Then, when they embrace the viciousness that is required, then teach them to feel level one defender and see level 2 defender (4 hands on, 4 eyes off). The analogy I use here is...walk the dog and then close the gate. In layman's terms...walk level 1 defender back towards stack backer, when stack backer commits, one man is off, walks him past the hole, and the other has to close the gate (swing the hips on d-lineman). Accompanying 4 hands/4 eyes is bumper butts. I like to intro this with rope tide, literally, around the both of them. Tell them..."you are married. Two become one."

2. Now, as your kids get good, we have found success with predetermining who's off and who closes the gate with a "TAG" call. Once they have located their gap man, now they make a call: Tag-you-off or tag-me-off depending on who is closest to the call. It is utilized when the have staggered stack (d-line in A gap and LB in B gap). On the predetermined combo, the off-man splits the defender in half by running through defender with his near shoulder and hand and then clouds-out to 2nd level defender. You are setting up the defender to be easily scooped by on-man (the close- the-gate-man). This can and has been successful on an inside and outside zone.

3. On outside zone, this is what I teach. I initially teach it as no combos. First, locate your defender...GOB (Gap-on-backer). Locating a defender has a lot of carry-over from inside zone. On inside it is GOBB with two B's & on outside it is GOB with one B. This carry-over provides easy acquisition. If you have no one in the gap or on you, you go to the backer. You never look backside.

Now, once you locate your man...you wax him. Like Karate Kid. "Wax on Wax off" Essentially, take backside arm and get it across your defender's body to his outside shoulder. I teach my guys eyes to be a yard ahead. That gets his feet where they need to be to get that arm across...to wax him. What you will find is a bcket step gets it done.