Tag Archives: Offensive Line

October 26, 2019 · 3:56 PM

Feet Feat

In the previous football coaching post, I talked about the important concept of open and closed gates for an offensive and defensive lineman. The ability to use your lineman body type as a tool to your advantage in creating or protecting space on the football field. Football is a game of real estate; it is a fight for space. The offense wants to create space and gain real estate while the defense want to deny advancement. It’s the story of humanity in a simple and physical game, I want that space.

The gates concept relies on footwork. Of all the athletes on a football team, the casual fan would likely rank the lineman as a distant last in regard to who has or needs the best footwork. In reality, it’s the exact opposite. The big boys are the ones who need the best footwork. The lineman needs the footwork of a dancer to go along with the strength and mindset to be successful. 

Where the feet go, the body follows.

When I watch a sporting event, either live or on video, the first thing I’m drawn to is footwork. The feet can tell you volumes. Football, basketball, wrestling, track & field, baseball, volleyball, etc. all movement sports are built on the foundation of the feet. It’s so basic and so logical, coaches often overlook this fundamental factor in building great athletes enamored by speed and strength numbers. 

The football lineman must have good to great footwork to get their job done. Good footwork allows them to close gates to effectively create space or defend space. Don’t believe me yet? Then try this.

Stand straight, looking forward, and with feet shoulder length apart about an arm length and a half from a wall. Take a step with your wall-side foot and reach out and touch the wall with your near hand. Not hard right? As you stand there with your fingertips touching the wall, notice how balanced and strong your lower body feels. You feel strong and stable. You could push a hole in the wall if you felt it was necessary.

Now, stand back in your original position. Anchor your feet in place and reach out to touch the wall. Not so easy, right? Did you feel balanced and strong this time? Nope. You probably felt thankful that the wall was solid and sturdy or you’d be lying on your butt on the floor. 

That’s the importance of good footwork for an athlete. The ability to move with power, quickness, and speed AND retaining the power, quickness, and speed in your new position.

How do you develop good footwork, especially for the Bubba athletes?

For starters, movement skills emphasizing footwork must be a part of everyday training, 365 days a year. Foot ladder drills, agility drills, dot drills, etc. can easily be incorporated into the strength training routines or classes. With something so important to athletic success or failure, why a coach wouldn’t incorporate and emphasize footwork skill development is beyond me.

With the Bubbas, we use the T-board drills to develop the first three steps. The first step is a quick, short (6 inch) angle or stretch step just across the vertical board keeping the hips and shoulders square. It’s important to watch the athletes and make sure the hip follows the foot. Remember, where the foot goes, the body follows.

The second step brings the trail foot level with the lead foot keeping hips and shoulders square to the line of scrimmage then initiating contact with hands. The second step establishes the close gate and brings the lineman’s body to a favorable position with, importantly, the balance and power to get their job done.

Once contact is made the third step is used to establish hip leverage to seal the defender from the hole. The first three steps in a block are critical to an offensive lineman. The higher the level of football, the more important these technical bits become. 

The next steps are used to drive or seal the defender from the attack area of the play design. With our undersized, but athletic, lineman we had in our program, it was absolutely vital we had good footwork to put our bodies in a position of strength versus the defense. We use the board to establish good fundamentals or to re-establish good fundamentals on a daily basis. The teaching progression added bags and holders to the vertical board as an advanced drill. All repetitions are at full speed and each block finished to the coach’s whistle.

Where the feet go, the body follows.

Footwork development is an integral part of any athletic movement program. It takes focus and discipline and repetition. That’s not just what is required of the athlete. The coach must be more focused, more disciplined, and more attuned to the details as they watch each and every repetition. Nothing in this coaching business can be run on autopilot. There’s not a single aspect of sports coaching, especially in youth or high school, where the coach can put on the cruise control. 

Coaching is work.

Hard work.

And, if you’ve hung around here long enough you know…

HARD WORK IS THE MAGIC.

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October 12, 2019 · 8:52 AM

Gates

As a former offensive and defensive line football coach, one thing I always look for when watching a game or scouting a game is open/closed gates. What is a gate in football? It’s the ability to stay square and create your space in the contact zone called the line of scrimmage. It’s the same concept as the gate on a fence. When a gate is closed, you can’t walk through it. It’s a barrier. When a gate is closed, you have to do something drastic, like climb over, dig under, or ram through it, to get through. An open gate is just the opposite. It’s no longer a barrier but an invitation to come through.

By Calum McRoberts, CC BY-SA 2.0

My football concept of gates on the offensive and defensive line is similar. When an offensive lineman or defensive lineman keep their hips and shoulders parallel to the line of scrimmage, their gate is closed. When they turn their hips and shoulders perpendicular to the line of scrimmage, they open the gate.

A defensive lineman’s job is simple. They are assigned a piece of real estate, a gap or area, to protect. Nothing gets through. Nothing knocks the DL from their spot. The job is much easier and much more effective when they play with their gate closed. Opening their gate and turning their hips and shoulders open a running lane.

The same is true for an offensive lineman. Their job is to create open real estate and running lanes on a run play. The job is to clear a path by using your closed gate-created space to either drive the defender away from the running lane, like a snow blade on the front of a truck, or shield a lane for the running back to use. 

For pass blocking, the offensive linemen need to provide a protective barrier for the QB in the pocket in order for the QB to feel safe, comfortable, and able to make the throws. Close gates are essential to provide a barrier from the rushing defenders across the line of scrimmage. Closed gates in pass protection reduce the attack alleys of the defense just like a closed gate of a fence makes it harder to enter. Only when a pass rusher breaks the blocker’s hip level does the blocker turn the hips and shoulders to adjust their gate to the threat.

Establishing good technical skills to be an effective offensive and defensive lineman requires excellent footwork, body position, and hand battle skill. Everything a coach should do in practice must be centered around those skills. The footwork is vital. It drives the placement of the hips which drives the placement of the shoulders, which drives the success or failure in a lineman doing their job. (What is good footwork? That, and how to develop good big boy footwork are coming soon in a separate post.)

Practice perfect every rep. 

Practice for perfection when the athletes get tired because physically and mentally tired athletes make mistake because they lose form. 

Practice, practice, and practice to keep the gates closed. 

Close those gates, Bubbas!

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March 15, 2018 · 6:33 PM

The Bubba Conundrum

I’m a big boy. A lineman for life. “Husky” was my Sears Toughskin categorization as a kid. I loved coaching the big boys of the offensive and defensive line in my football coaching days. Loved it.

We called ourselves the “Bubbas”. The running backs/defensive backs were called “Bullets”. The TE/linebacker-types were the “Bricks”. Everybody belonged to a group, everybody in each of those groups trained differently in our strength and conditioning program.

I almost blew a gasket recently when I heard of a coach telling a big boy lineman he wouldn’t be much use to the team next fall unless he got into better shape. First, I hate this approach, especially with a Bubba. It’s tough growing up a big boy in a skinny boy world. When one tells a big boy the above criticism, what he hears is something he’s probably heard over and over in his entire life—that he’s fat, lazy, and/or of little value— instead of hearing that he needs to be in better shape. Second, the above criticism from the coach is delivered with no plan of action.

The young athlete was knocked into a dark pit by someone he probably respects and not given any plan or tools for climbing out. Modern coaches and parents need to be more positive in these situations. Point out to the athletes they’d perform at a higher level if they were in better condition AND then give them a vision of how we’re going to accomplish this. (The WE part of the equation is very important.)

The conditioning requirements for high school football players are different for the Bubbas, the Bricks, and the Bullets. The specific work/recovery demands require specific considerations for each group of players. Even the casual high school football fan realizes the differences in physical demands between an offensive guard and a wide receiver on any given play. The lineman’s job and the wide receiver’s job both use the burst energy supplied by the anaerobic energy systems but in different ways. The lineman is using power over speed. The wide receiver uses the opposite, speed over power. Power/Speed vs. Speed/Power

A high school football play lasts only 5.6 +/- 2.0 seconds according to a study published in 2006. The NFHS play clock is 25 seconds. Adding the variable length of time it takes for the ball to be marked and set before the play clock is started, the total time between plays is about 45 seconds. I know what you’re saying, “This Hays guy is such a geek. I just want to play football and hit people. I don’t care about math or physiological energy systems. Where’s my dang helmet?”

My answer is this, you don’t have to care. Not really. But, as a strength and conditioning coach, I HAVE to care. I HAVE to design training regimens that give you the best chance to perform and “hit people” like a cannon shot each and every play of a four-quarter high school football game. I HAVE to consider these geeky physiological demands in order to give you the power you need.

5.6 +/- 2.0 seconds work followed by 40 seconds rest.

Why share these seemingly trivial numbers? No, I don’t give you these numbers so you know there’s about 40 seconds to run to get a bag of popcorn without missing any action. I emphasize these numbers because everything we need to do to prepare our Bullets, our Bricks, and our Bubbas to perform needs to revolve around this conditioning ratio. About 8 seconds of intense work, followed by 40 seconds rest.

Sprints, lifts, med ball slams, swings, pull-up, sled pulls/drives, agility drills, etc. all should follow fairly close to this timing 75-80% of total training time. The wide receiver’s plan would include a high percentage of the speed-building exercises. The offensive guard’s plan would include a high percentage of the power-building exercises. The remaining 20% or so would be developing general fitness in order to support the basic foundation.

These methodologies are usually sufficient for the high school athlete. If athletes move up to high levels, the college or professional level, the methodologies become even more personalized and intricate.

Bottom line, give your big kids a solid plan. Instead of straight up criticism, give them a goal. Give them the tools they need to attain the goal and give them the support they’ll need along the way. Every football team is built on the backs of the big boys. You better figure out how to deal with them and understand their needs if you want to be successful.

Respect your big boys! #BubbaForLife!

 

 

 

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September 26, 2013 · 7:02 PM

Blocking the Veer With Your Best Friends

“Hey, Ned.”

“Hello, Mel.”

“Yo, Vic.”

“How’s it going out there, Opie?”

If you’ve read this blog in the past, you had a pretty good idea how stupid I can be. That said, here’s one I’m extra proud of. When you coach, one of the most important (and most difficult) things you have to do is get everyone on the same page. Doesn’t sound that hard, does it? Now, consider you are dealing with high energy, hormone-driven, attention-span-of -duck, teenage boys and the difficulty level rockets through the stratosphere.

A veer-based run game is an explosive, quick hitting scheme and can be a potent offensive weapon.  With veer principles, two level one defenders are left unblocked to be read by the quarterback.   The first level one unblocked defender is the dive read and the second level one unblocked defender is the option read.   The offensive linemen aligned on the two read defenders release to seal level two defenders, creating running lanes for the backs.

In case you don’t understand a word of the previous few sentences, here it is in a nutshell. The offensive lineman need to be smart. Not ACT/SAT, Ivy League smarts, but football smarts. And part of this football smarts is…having everyone on the same page as to what we are trying to do and how we are going to do it.  So, as a coach, you must develop a language everyone, from the ACT 32 composite kid to the kid whose best grade in junior English is 32%,  can wrap their heads around. 

The first year we went to a veer-based offense, we used schemes and rules based on identifying read men from their defensive alignment technique when blocking each of our three veer running plays, the midline veer, inside veer and outside veer.  During that first season, we ran into problems adjusting to the multiple defensive fronts we saw on a weekly basis (or even within a single game) which forced confusion at the line of scrimmage. 

Since the key for blocking success with the veer offense is to get off the ball fast and aggressive, the confusion created when identifying read men against multiple defensive fronts often led to our offensive lineman playing timid, which slowed down our entire play.  As a result, we did not move the ball as well as we would have wanted and we were forced into developing a new system of veer blocking. 

So we went with our Best Friends. But, first a little football basics.

We came up with the gap read veer (GRV) blocking principles which simplified the schemes allowing for continuity of this simplicity throughout multiple defensive fronts and continuity through the midline, inside and outside veer plays.

Gap Read Veer Basics

 The GRV is a combination of the no-mesh mesh technique and a clear/cloudy read of the target gap by the QB.  A speed attack from the dive back into the target hole is necessary.  The goal is to get the dive back 1-2 yards into the line of scrimmage before the defense has a chance to react.

The dive back targets the call hole, 0 or 1 for midline, 2 or 3 for inside veer and 4 or 5 for outside veer (Table 1).  The dive back attacks the target hole full speed expecting the ball.  If he gets it, he tucks and runs, looking to cut out, stay on path or cut back.  If he does not get the ball, the dive back tucks and collides with the defender to sell the fake.

The QB opens to the hole and steps into the line of scrimmage.  He has the ball extended with both hands with his eyes on the read gap (Read Gap = gap directly outside the hole target of the dive back).  If the read gap is open (clear), he gives the ball to the dive and continues on with the fake.  If the read gap is closed (cloudy), he pulls the ball and explodes into and down the line of scrimmage to the option read man.

So, here come the problem of communication. Everyone, when they get to the line of scrimmage, needs to be on the same page as to who the read men are.

We felt it necessary to establish simplicity and consistency in our system which identifies defensive read men.  We wanted a system based on our offensive structure rather than the old system which was based on a defensive alignment structure that could change when the defense changed.

Within our GRV structure, after our linemen get to the line of scrimmage, each lineman verbally identifies the defensive lineman that will ultimately help them determine who the dive and option read defenders are.  What they call the read men doesn’t matter as long as everyone understands what the names stand for and how they need to use it. We designate or identify the defensive lineman with our “BEST FRIEND” names:

  • Center – Called and identified “NED”. The defensive line defender aligned anywhere on the center.  This man will never be a read man.
  • Guards – Called and identified “MEL”. The first defensive line defender outside A gap. This man will be the dive read on Midline.
  • Tackles – Call and identified “VIC”. The first defensive line defender outside B gap. This man is the dive read on Inside Veer.
  • Tight End – Call and identified “OPIE”. The first defensive line defender outside C gap. This man will be the dive read on Outside Veer.

If a lineman felt he could block a defender one on one, he called his friend “ELMO”

If the lineman felt he needed double team help, he called out his friend, “OSCAR”

We also had our friends for lineman pull blocking:

  • COWBOY – Center pulls
  • TODD – Tackle pulls outside
  • GOD – Guard pulls outside
  • SAM – Backside guard pulls
  • GUS – Both guards pull
  • SAW – Both baskside guard and tackle pulls

Our offensive lineman had ALOT of friends!

TABLE 1.

 

 

Dive Target

Hole

QB Gap Read

Release Man

(Dive Read)

Combo

Block

Option Read Man

Midline

Right

0 – Center’s Right Foot

A

1st DL on or outside A gap

DL inside A gap

2nd DL on or outside A gap

Midline

Left

1 – Center’s Left Foot

A

1st DL on or outside A gap

DL inside A gap

2nd DL on or outside A gap

Inside Veer Right

2 – Right Guard’s Crack

B

1st DL on or outside B gap

DL inside B gap

2nd DL on or outside B gap

Inside Veer Left

3 – Left Guard’s Crack

B

1st DL on or outside B gap

DL inside B gap

2nd DL on or outside B gap

Outside Veer Right

4 – Right Tackle’s Crack

C

1st DL on or outside C gap

DL inside C gap

2nd DL on or outside C gap

Outside Veer Left

5 – Left Tackle’s Crack

C

1st DL on or outside C gap

DL inside C gap

2nd DL on or outside C gap

So once we had everyone identified, then we blocked with this simple rule set. General Veer Blocking Rules

                        RELEASE – COMBO – SEAL – CLIMB – ESCORT

Play Side Offensive Linemen

  • Release – An inside release or outside release, whichever is most efficient, around the read man.  Attack and seal a level 2 linebacker.
  • Combo – Double team the first defensive lineman inside the read gap to drive him off the line of scrimmage and seal defenders in order to create a running lane.
  • Seal – Stretch step and cut or seal the 2nd defensive lineman inside the read gap.

            Backside Offensive Linemen

  • Climb – Stretch step and climb to seal play side gap or move up to a level 2 linebacker.
  • Escort – Last man on the backside of play. Sprint downfield to block safety or deep backside pursuit.  Escort the RB into the end zone on a breakaway run.

A veer-based run game can be a potent offensive weapon to attack a defense using an explosive, quick-hitting run scheme.  The key to success in the veer is for the offensive line to get off the ball fast and aggressive.  Confusion at the line of scrimmage will force offensive lineman to play timid and slow down the offense.  For us, the gap read veer blocking principles and the naming of our “Friends” simplified our blocking schemes. 

From an offensive line point of view, the GRV Friends blocking system allowed us to approach the veer package of midline, inside veer and outside veer as one play with different target holes instead of three plays with three blocking schemes.  This concept dramatically simplified the mental aspect for our lineman and was a big part of our success running the football.

 Don’t you agree, NED, MEL, VIC, and OPIE?

(Author’s “Ha ha ha, that’s stupid funny” Note:

I just recalled a story about our blocking friends that cracked me up. We were playing our rival, Marysville, and one of the lineman who also played defensive line came to the sidelines and said, “Coach Hays, Marysville is so f!@#$-ing stupid. Their o-line is calling stupid stuff like ‘San Antonio’ and ‘Fort Worth’.”

I looked at the young man. “Seriously? You’re calling Marysville ‘f!@#$-ing stupid’ and WE’RE the ones who are yelling Sesame Street characters out there?”)

  

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