The Hermanator Inside Zone Offense
It’s all about convex outcomes. You want the most big play potential from the most mundane. Horizontal spacing does this and the typical way it’s achieved is to feature 3 and 4 receiver sets, splitting them out wide. You may remember last season, the receiver splits were wider than usual. You will not see that very often next season, as Herman’s brand of spread football does not descend from that of Art Briles. Nevertheless, the spacing is meant to isolate defenders and create wider lanes. Whether it be a spread-to-run or spread-to-pass offense, this helps create numerous opportunities for ‘explosive’ plays, as defenders are often tasked with making a tackle all by their lonesome. If you miss the tackle, chances are there is only one more man or none to beat for big yards or house calls. That is the gist.
You may have noticed that uptempo practices are en vogue today. While Herman utilizes uptempo procedures, the offense will not be a 100-play offense. Instead, Herman will seek to utilize faster tempo more as tactic more so than an overall strategy. In order to achieve this, position groups are often tasked with observing a signal from the sideline and adjusting accordingly.
A major aspect of most spread systems is using basic math to run core schemes. Whether you’re running or passing, you’re looking to match-up against favorable numbers. This is where the now ubiquitous ‘box count’ comes into play. What you’ll often note, if a defense is in a 2-high safety shell, the offense will often opt to run, as it often indicates that the number of blockers in the box is equal to the number of defenders. For the most part, you’ll see that from Tom Herman. Now, say the defense adds a defender to the box, you just pass, right? It just so happens, most spread teams also incorporate the ‘read run game’. In that case, the blockers all ignore the ‘key’ defender and the quarterback is asked to ‘read’ him and either hand-off or pull the ball to run or throw. These schemes are also ubiquitous and, in Herman’s case, you’ll see all manner of zone and power schemes with a read element, all meant to even the numbers in the box. To be clear, Herman wants to run the football. It’s what he does.
Inside Zone, the cornerstone of the offense, where everything starts. Coaches love zone blocking for good reason. It’s very flexible and provides options for the runner. Though blocking rules may vary, they often entail covered-uncovered or “0-out” rules... if you don’t have a defender aligned directly over you (or ‘shaded’), then you are helping your fellow blocker to the play side with the defender directly over him. The helper helps his fellow blocker gain control of the block. As the helper is ‘combo-blocking’ he eyes the linebacker at depth, disengages, then attempts to block the linebacker only when that linebacker’s within immediate reach. If he’s not coming downhill and not within arm’s reach, it’s typical to see the helper ignore him until he is. Now, zone can be run a few different ways, but again, this is the gist.
What’s important to note is that the scheme can be altered to allow the quarterback to read different defenders. In the modern age of football, you have 1st, 2nd, and even 3rd level reads. What you’ll see mostly are 1st and 2nd, either a defensive lineman or linebacker being left unblocked and the quarterback reading that player, deciding to hand-off or keep to run or throw. You’ll also see how the alignment of the back and his path are altered within the scheme to create different angles of attack. What I often look for and what I hope you begin to look for are the combination blocks along the front. If you see good displacement there more often than not, it’s going to be a good day.
Inside Zone is a tried and true scheme, one that almost all coaches run. It’s where everything starts and it’s also where the other schemes you’ll see are derived. It’s all good in the Herman hood.
[More @ TFB including game photos with in depth analysis]
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Last edited: Mar 15, 2017
