both zone and man techniques.

Jeffrey Tebelak


I personally use the zone blocking scheme in my offense. We have always been a veer option football team and use the guidance and blocking principles that Coach Campbell describes in his "Option On Me" principles. We try to combo block and zone block on every play if possible. The center and guard combo block is coined "Cage" blocking, the guard and tackle combo block is called "Gate" blocking, and the tackle and tight end combo block is "TNT" blocking.

We use veer combo blocks and zone blocking because the veer is a quick hitting and powerful running play. We want to drive the defensive lineman off the ball and either drive him into the linebacker or drive the defensive lineman off the line of scrimmage and scrape to the linebacker--either way it has been very successful for us. We average 350 rushing yards a game and it is not uncommon for us to see 400 and above rushing yards a game. Don't get me wrong: combo blocking, scoop blocking, and zone blocking take time to master and it all starts during the off-season with just teaching the first steps, pad level, second steps... Each offensive lineman needs to master his steps and paths during the off-season to have a successful zone running scheme offense. Many coaches try it for a season and when they struggle scrap it and go back to man blocking rules. But boy when the kids master the steps and paths, watchout! It is ran well.

When we run the inside veer to the open side of the offensive formation (away from the tight end) we do have man blocking rules. We see a lot of 4-3 defenses in our league and they like to shade the strong side defensive tackle in a 3 technique position (on the outside eye or shoulder of our strong side guard) and a 1 technique defensive tackle on the open side of our formation (away from the tight end and a 1 technique is lined up on the inside eye our inside shoulder of our weak side guard). So when we run the inside veer to the open end of the formation and option the defensive end (means the DE is not blocked) it is an easy man block for our offensive linemen with the exception of the weak side guard and center who combos to the middle linebacker (Mike linebacker), we do this because the one technique defensive tackle makes it hard for the center to get the angle on the Mike; we thus scoop and drive the 1 technique to the linebacker or scrape to him. It is hoped this is not too confusing, for it is not for our kids when they put the time in to learn it. The opened end weak side tackle has a great angle on the weak side linebacker (Will), the strong side tackle or the closed tackle has a great angle to the SAM backer (Strong side linebacker) or will combo with the strong side guard and drive the defensive 3 technique tackle to the linebacker or scrape to SAM. The tight end will inside release to SAM and if he were to be gone continues to the safety for a down field cutback lane for our fullback, quarterback, or running back (pitch man).

If our offensive linemen have the speed, power, and agility over their defensive linemen they normally will use their man blocking scheme while running the inside veer to the opened end of the offense. We do not use our elbows like I did when I played high school football (wow showing my age); We teach our offensive linemen to extend their arms because it is easier to drive and steer the defender to the direction that we want to take them. Plus you cannot run a zone scheme by using your elbows, because your hands help you turn their shoulders while your partner takes over the block (the players are hip-to-hip and low to the ground. One player is called the "Post" player and he drives and steers the defender, and the other player is the "Reach" blocker and he reaches, takes over the man, and pushes off the "Post" blocker to the linebacker or the opposite way depending on what the linebacker does). If the linebacker shoots through his gap, the "Reach" blocker takes him while the "Post" blocker stays on his man, if on the other hand, the line backer scrapes or flows over and heads towards the ball the "Post" player will get him as long as the "Reach" blocker lets him know he is okay with a strong nudge or push.

This season I have lost some of my offensive linemen to graduation or had to move them to the fullback and running back position. I do not have big offensive linemen but they are very strong and quick. I lost my right offensive tackle to graduation 6' 270 pounds and had to move two offensive linemen to the fullback and running back positions because I have no running backs coming up from the lower level who like to hit. Both of these former offensive linemen are 5'10" 220 pounds and run a 4.6 and 4.7 forty time; they are beasts and love to pound the ball and can break an arm tackle from an unblocked defensive tackle or defensive end.

Since I have done this, because I think it helps us more at those positions we are also running the fly-offense: Green Sweep, Yellow Sweep, sweep-action Belly, sweep-action Counter, and sweep-action spin...along with the mid-line option, the inside veer, and the load option. I have three very fast fly-sweep players (4.4 and 4.5 forty times) and with the fast fullback and running back who used to be offensive linemen they have what it takes to get outside and block the defensive corner back, safety, or outside linebacker...determining what fly-blocking scheme we call. And my two running backs have what it takes to run the option as well.

We will still be utilizing the zone blocking principles and have gone to a heavy side offensive line and a quick side offensive line. They will flip to the strength side since we run the sweep and my quick linemen on the backside make quick hitting inside veer ball-players. I learned this from La Mirada High School; they use to do this all the time when Coach Mealy was coaching them.

I prefer the zone blocking scheme because it gives us more ways to make great blocks and it fits well into our offensive style of play. I have talked to some Wing-Tee and Double-Wing coaches and some maintain the man blocking rules because as they state, "if our offensive linemen cannot bench press over 300 pounds then the zone scheme does not help us." I personally don't believe you need to bench over 300 pounds to zone block well, but who am I...these coaches are very successful and so if it works, why not let it be :0)

Brock Harney

As an offensive line coach at the high school level, I feel that I have successfully blended zone and man concepts to get the simplest, most effective approach that is teachable and allows us to be clear on our assignments.

We are a power offense, we use a gap scheme similar to the Wisconsin Badgers, North Dakota State Bison and Stanford Cardinal. We have met with staffs from two of these schools and have found that they also consider zone blocking to be a strong complement to their rushing attack. We have found that we can keep the same terminology for double teams and just change angles for the appropriate scheme. Our power scheme tends to be more of a backside angle attack while our zone scheme sees double teams that occur on a frontside angle. We drill these both every day, and essentially have condensed these schemes into two categories- frontside angles and backside angles.

We have applied some zone concepts to our gap scheme for consisentcy, but have found that these zone concepts (square shoulders, punching level one to backside, etc.) have made our power scheme more effective. Our other breakthrough was applying power principles to zone blocking- essentially zoning all blocks but the frontside kickout- where we used some of our power scheme principles. The result was a more effective zone run scheme.

Whatever you decide to use, you must teach and drill it every day and you must know how to adjust it when things break down (better yet, encourage your oline to find solutions on their own in practice- we have grown by leaps and bounds by giving our oline a small amount of creative license in practice. We tell them that if they want to try something and it works, we will incorporate it. Giving them ownership in a small piece of the offense pays large dividends without giving up any control from the coaching perspective).

Casey Glenn

The oldest saying in football is that a game is won or lost in the trenches and I believe it still holds true. In today’s up-tempo offense...blocking schemes involved with pass protection and picking up the defensive blitz can make the difference in the success of any given play. The offense depends on players being able to block without any help, but with creative defensive stunts and overloading one side of the line, offensive players must be able to work together to be effective on any given play.



There are advantages and disadvantages to running either a man-blocking scheme or a zone-blocking scheme. In a man-blocking scheme you are responsible to block a specific player, which in practice should make it simpler for younger and inexperienced players to understand. The basic idea is that your defensive man is right there in front and your job is to block him out and do not get beat.



On the other hand in zone blocking, you have more of responsibility. Offensive blocking is designed to get the defense moving in one direction to allow a running back to find daylight. Zone blocking requires more athletic ability because players are assigned to a zone and must account for the stunting or blitzing for the linebackers. Success requires solid communication with their fellow line-men.



As head football coach I would utilize both zone blocking and man-rule blocking. It’s a good change of pace and helps keep the defensive unit off balance and forcing them to adjust to your offensive attack.