Some More Stunts for the Zone Read

Not that stunt!

In some recent discussions on the Huey board, I decided to dust off a post that was actually supposed to have been posted over a year ago!  It was a thread that was to go along with one of my first posts about the Down and Up stunt against the zone read.  As with many things, I shelved it and haven't been back to it.  Well here it is, and here are a couple of other stunts that may help you against the zone read by giving different looks to the offense.

Setting the Three Technique
This one topic has been debated countless times.  The offense has the upper hand because by setting the three technique away from the running back they have an easy cut back lane if the ball is handed off to the running back.  Not to mention an open B gap to the weak side that they can exploit if they have a running QB by running QB iso to that side.  If you set the three technique to the back, then the blocking on the front side of the zone play becomes a bit easier because of the soft B gap.  So what to do?  The two stunts discussed here involve moving the three technique in a manner that allows the defense to dictate what the offense will do.  If your defense is not flexible enough to move the three technique around, you need seriously reevaluate what you are doing defensively.

Stunt 1- Using the Three Technique as the QB Player
The first stunt is where the 3 technique is set to the RB.  On the snap, the defensive end will slam down hard into the B gap and attack the near hip of the offensive guard.  This will do two things.  To the QB it looks like the end has come down hard and this should be a pull read.  Second, if the ball is given, then the DE will have the B gap for the cutback run.  The Tackle, will loop outside and replace the DE to contain the QB.  Again, if the QB pulls the football, then he will run right into the unblocked three technique.  Obviously the success of this stunt lies in the ability of the three technique to tackle in space.  A good rule is to do this when  the offense puts the RB into the boundary, which gives the QB less room to operate in.

Stunt 2- The Read Blitz
The Read Blitz was introduced to me a few years back as a well to "mess" with the option QB and give the defense another easy way to defend the option.  Against the spread, the defense will set the three technique away from the RB, inviting the cutback.  Pre-snap the weak side LB will walk up to within a yard of the LOS into the open B gap.  This LB is keying the near hip off the offensive guard.  If the hip moves inside, the LB attacks right off this hip and flat down the LOS, looking to prevent the cutback.  If the hip attacks to him, either vertically or laterally, the LB will work to get up field and wall off the play coming to him (could be power, iso or QB zone).  The DE to the side of the read blitz will now become the QB player.  In similar fashion to the down and up stunt, the DE will still squeeze the tackle, but with hands only, being aware not to get his shoulders turned so that he may be in a position to contain the QB if the QB pulls the football (which will more than likely happen due to the DE "squatting").

The beauty of this stunt is that even if the LB gets washed, he's done his job, because he's eliminated the cut back lane in the weak side B gap (which is what most DC's are worried about by setting the three technique to the back).  The major coaching point here is to have the DE squeeze with his hands, and then shuffle down the line, being prepared to tackle the QB.

The read blitz can be used against many types of options and was introduced to me as a way to mess with the triple option QB on inside veer.  Against the veer, the LB simply tackles the dive back if the guard's hip goes down inside.  The DE will still squeeze and sit for the QB.  This is a simple stunt that doesn't take a ton of teaching time to develop and can really foul up an option QB's reads.

A word of caution, be well prepared and know when to run this stunt as it's not the best in the world against isolation runs to the opposite side of the stunt for the lack of the extra player to make up for the extra gap presented by the lead blocker.  It's also a bit tough vs. the pass because now the LB must drop to his zone, being only a yard off the LOS.  This is where detailed film study is really crucial in game planning.

So, that's it!  Just a couple of tidbits to keep you rolling along.  Sorry it's been so long between postings, but life is back to that glorious busy buzz of high school football.  Never thought I'd ever say it feels good to be underpaid and overworked!!!!

Duece

Split Field Coverage Concept - The Underneath Players

What's underneath there???

I get a lot of questions about this topic, especially regarding TCU's Blue coverage and how they deal with crossers.  Now, I've not heard it from the man himself, but from what I've watched on film and broken down, here is what I've come to find out.  To first illustrate, we need to look at how traditional zone coverages, that are not split field in nature deal with crossing routes.

Traditional Zone
In a traditional zone, much like in basketball, routes get passed off to other defenders when the run through a zone.  In the early years, if you were to have run with the receiver after he passed through your zone, you surely were getting yelled at as a player.  The idea behind zone is that all eyes are on the football and that in an attempt to minimize spacing, you pass routes off to one another.  This works good in basketball where things work on a much tighter scale, however in football, OC's found out that there was just too much ground for a traditional zone player to have to work with to effectively control passing concepts by simply passing one receiver from zone to zone. This "passing off" is where many zone coverages fail and it's for two major reasons.  Reason one, is sheer athleticism.  Most underneath zone guys are linebackers or inverted safeties who are not as fleet of foot as their cornerback counterparts, yet they are still having to cover receivers within their zones.  As the spread has evolved, instead of the number two receiver being a tight end or a running back, he's now a slot receiver, which makes this match up that more lopsided in the offenses favor.  Secondly as offenses have advanced through the years, passing concepts have become more and more advanced, and are using this "passing off" technique against the defense by overloading zones with multiple crossers and/or high lowing a zone AND adding a crosser.  These two factors are the single most important reason to pattern read in my opinion.  That's for another post however...

Anyhow, in traditional zone, if a hook to curl defender expands to his landmark and gets a receiver coming into his zone, he runs with him, until something makes him stop.  Now this can be the edge of zone, or another receiver entering his zone.  A lot of people call this passing the route and looking for work.  In the beginning of pure zone coverage concepts, I'm sure this was the bees knees, however as offenses have figured this out, the stress put on these underneath coverage guys by both horizontal and vertical stretches have become so great, most folks are not using any "pure zone" concepts anymore (if you are, please proceed to the nearest mental hospital, put on one of their fancy white coats and stay awhile).  With two speedy receivers crossing in a linebackers zone, or high-lowing his zone, the idea that you ask him to split the two and rally was a good answer in the beginning, but as QB coaching has progressed, even in high school football there are kids who can fit the ball into the tightest of windows.  So now you get pattern reading.  But how does pattern reading and the split field concept tie together?  Let's take a look.

Reading...you're doing it wrong!

Pattern Reading
I would venture a guess that ALL major college football defenses pattern read.  I'm sure there are a few that still use some landmark drops, but most are now at least using a progression type read, reading from two to one, or one to two and so on.  Other pattern read schemes have very definitive rules, such as "all of number two vertical and out", which gives a clear cut picture of what the defender is doing.  This pattern match principle can be easily seen on display every Saturday afternoon in the fall.  Pattern matching is not really all that new either, but it's refinement is what's really taking pattern matching to new heights here lately.  Anyhow, what I really like about pattern matching is the definitive answer to reacting to what a receiver or offensive player is doing.  This leaves very little gray area for the defender to have to deal with.  Gray areas are what force your players to play slow, because it makes them think. Now many of those that argue against pattern matching, don't really understand the concept and just how concrete it is.  It's the best of both worlds is what it really is.  It's zone in nature, which means we have all 11 eyes on the football at the snap of the football, helping immensely with stopping our opponent's run game.  Secondly it's man in nature in that once the man trigger has been pulled by the defender, he simply covers the receiver man to man.  We all know that man is one of the simplest coverages out there, so all you are really doing, when pattern reading, is giving qualifiers to man coverage.  Anyhow, I could go on for days here, but even in pattern matching, defenders can still pass off routes to other defenders.  In Saban's Mable adjustment to trips, if there are two crossers, the inside linebackers will pass them off to one another, they do not run with them man necessarily, even though their base rule would say to do so.  This can lead to some confusion though and lead to open receivers.  It can also allow the offense to use this passing off feature against the defense, much like offenses exploited it back when it was still a pure zone concept.  So how does the split field concept alleviate the stress put on a defense by crossing receivers?

Split Field and Crossing Receivers
Now I'm speaking of how TCU's split field concept works and what makes it so solid, I'm sure there's plenty of split field coaches out there that will disagree with this approach, however the TCU scheme is by far the BEST I've seen for dealing with crossing routes.  Let's set up a two-by-two set up playing Blue to both sides (though TCU does not do this, we could simply say playing quarters to both side etc.).  Anyhow, does not matter where the read side is, just keep in mind what the underneath players are doing.  Let's look at the following concept (similar to the levels concept) out of the two-by-two formation shown below.

The corner to the away side has to honor the vertical of one to help the weak safety get over the top, so the out will inevitably be open, however the Mike, is the slice player so he will exit 90 degrees in an attempt to undercut this route.  Now, if the read side linebacker (Sam in my illustration), passes off the shallow crosser, the QB can have a field day!  Here's where the man trigger of pattern matching comes into place.

As we can see from the illustrations, if the read side linebacker passes the crosser off, there's a large void and an open area for that receiver to sit down in.  If he runs with the crosser, which he should, then this window is immediately closed.  Also, from the illustrations, you can see there are still elements of pure zone coverage as look at the strong safety, who sees two go inside and knows now I look to work under number one's route.  He is, in effect, "passing off" the crosser to the inside linebacker, which as stated above, is a pure zone concept.

Now, the other beauty of the way TCU plays things, is that behind everything they do, there is a "common sense rule".  Which basically means, "don't do anything stupid".  For instance, one would say, "What about mesh coach?".  This is a valid question, since now you have two crossers and as we all know (or should know), crossers can severely damage man coverage, ESPECIALLY when they cross.  Here's where the common sense rule comes into play though.

The two linebackers will communicate to each other on the crossing routes and come off and switch.  Here the switch makes sense because Mesh attempts to beat the tar out of man coverage with these crossing routes.  Had the two defenders stayed locked in man a natural rub would occur and one defender, or both, could be compromised, thereby leaving a receiver open.

The Weakness
Much of the questions I get on the subject of underneath coverage defenders has to do when one of these defenders is assigned to the vertical of a certain position.  For instance, in Blue, the read side linebacker is the middle hook dropper and will have all of number three vertical.  This scares the hell out of folks, because they are not accustomed to having their linebacker run with any vertical threat.  This is not a big deal IF you've done your scouting homework.  I once faced an OC in that would get in stacked twins, two-by-two look with the receivers out on the top of the numbers and would run the running back vertical down the seam because he knew we were running quarters.  They had a major down and distance tendency for doing this, and had a damn good running back who could catch as good as any receiver on their team.  When we saw this look, or expected it, we simply rolled into good ol' country cover 3.  They ran fade/hitch with the other receivers which cover 3 took care of nicely.  The safety would roll to the MOF and we ended up picking off that route once and breaking up another to where they quit running it.  My point is, don't make one coverage fit everything.  That would be like you waking up in the morning, trying to find an outfit for the office that would also look good for your job interview that afternoon and be comfortable enough at your son's Little League game later than night.  CHANGE YOUR FRICKEN' CLOTHES DUDE!!!  C'mon, don't ask one coverage to cover everything, I mean that's what everybody supposedly loves about cover 3 is that it aligns to everything.  BIG DEAL, it covers NOTHING, so why use it?  If you know a team likes to do a particularly thing you need to have an answer for that.  It may mean another coverage, it may mean tweaking what you have, but Lord knows, whatever you do, don't just "hope" your linebacker can run with their back if he can't.

We have found a weakness!

The other thing I get, is coaches saying "Well that's just man, I don't like my linebackers to play man".  Well why not?  I mean, the best way to see man to man coverage, is to go to a playground and watch kids playing tag or a pickup game of football.  If you watch, there will be mismatches everywhere, hell that's LIFE.  But watch closely and time up the time that the kids begin to run or chase the other kid and the time that one either separates or closes the gap between the other.  You will see this time will be around three to five seconds.  Sound familiar?  Any kid can run with a receiver for three to five seconds, anywhere on the field.  This is not a major issue in my book, and I always roll my eyes at that question, but go check it out for yourself.  The other thing to remember is that 75 percent of pass defense is pass rush.  So if your guys can run with their guys for three to five seconds, you need to be able to apply pressure in that same amount of time.  That, my friends is EXACTLY how good pass defense works.

The face of your pass defense.

To me, the major weakness of the underneath coverage in the split field concept is communication.  If communication is missed it can lead to open receivers or defenders running into each other.  It is imperative that you, as the coach, make sure that your players know not only why they should communicate, but how to effectively communicate.  I worked for a guy that used to have underneath guys yell "crosser" when a receiver would cross in front of them and leave their zone.  I always wondered why, because trying saying the word "crosser" with a mouthpiece in.  I came to him one day, and said "Why don't we just say in, instead of crosser?  It's shorter and easier to say than crosser."  He looked at me, as though he'd never thought of that, which to find out, he hadn't and we immediately changed that and our communication with our underneath players got much better.  These are the things that you, the coach, can do to facilitate your players and help them be successful implementing the underneath coverage in a pattern read scheme.

Conclusion
The underneath coverage  in the split field concept is not as tricky as folks make it out to be, especially if you build communication into your system and a set of fail-safe rules.  I always tell folks, using the word "always" in building your rules is a bad thing, because good OC's find out your "always" and then exploit it.  Keep your rules open and flexible as possible to allow for your players to adapt to what they are seeing.  Just as in the example above, both the inside linebacker's man keys were triggered, but because of communication and common sense (which should be ingrained in how you coach the coverage to your players) these players knew what was coming and were able to adjust.

Always...not "always" a good word...

Duece

University of Nebraska Linebackers Clinic

I had the opportunity, back in December to watch the University of Nebraska practice for their bowl game against the University of Georgia Bulldogs.  After that practice, the coaches held a small breakout session that was quite informative.  Since I've been a LB's coach over the past 3 seasons, I figured I'd go check out their LB's coach and see what he had to say.  Needless to say it was a very informative session, and here are my notes from the clinic.  Hopefully you can find some good information in this stuff like I did.  If you are interested in their defensive backs, Coach Hoover went and listened to their DB coach speak, and you can check out his post on the matter here.

Linebackers

·         Tackling Progression

o   start from scratch

·         8 Drill Categories

o   Agility

§  General footwork

§  Types of game movements

·         Duplicate and repeat game movements

o   Watch film to see how to do this (never lies)

·         Make players bored with your drills

§  Quick Box

·         Align a 5 yard box with LB's facing coach.  LB approaches and coach points to cone, LB must get to cone, and then react to coach's next signal. 

·         Great change of direction drill with constant movement

§  10 Dots

·         Align dots or cones in a series and have LB's try to get through them as fast as possible

§  Flip Hips

·         Use a line and stay on that line

o   LB must sprint

o   Don't make drill predictable

§  45 Degree Break

·         LB drops away from you and reacts to your pointer

·         LB should break and open hips when you change the pointer

·         If the LB jogs, then simply make him keep running until he gets the idea

o   Footwork

§  1st step is based on the RB's movement

§  They take a lateral step and replace

§  They move with that shuffle until something declares

§  Shuffle Drill

·         10 yards

·         LB's shuffle between yard markers (1 yard), back and forth staying between the tick marks (use dummies)

§  Shuffle Break Drill

·         Same as shuffle drill, but at the end make them break and intercept a pass, or scoop and score

§  Shuffle with bags

·         Good drill with high reps

·         1st LB on command shuffles to end of 1st dummy and reacts to coaches command to either go forward (sprint to the next dummy), or break and cross over to the opposite side.

·         Once 1st LB goes, 2nd LB aligns on same side as the 1st LB on 1st dummy.  Both will then react to the coach's command.

·         The 3rd LB will then repeat what the 2nd LB did, so that you don't have guys standing around waiting on 1 guy to do the drill.

§  Leverage

·         Don't give a RB a 2 way go

·         Set 1st cone 3 yards deep and 2nd cone 5 yards deep

·         Put RB between the 2 cones

·         LB aligns on deeper cone

·         RB will run to shallow cone and can either cut upfield or cut back (no juking)

·         If RB cuts back, LB makes good physical tackle

·         If RB cuts upfield, then LB must flatten and run feet, driving like crazy as he has no leverage.

o   Drill is done to prevent the cutback

§  Double Leverage Drill

·         Same as leverage but now with 2 LB's

o   Double the work

o   Same reactions for both LB's

§  Space

·         LB aligns on hash and WR on top of #'s

·         Coach throws ball to WR (can just make motion if you can't throw-better this way b/c WR doesn't have to catch the ball)

o   If you don't throw it, have coach hold WR for a second to mimic game speed on fast screen

·         LB attacks landmark and does not allow WR to cutback (similar to leverage drill but done in a much larger space)

·         WR goal to get 10 yards, LB goal to stop him from getting 10 yards

§  Shuffle-Alley-Shuffle

·         RB starts out jogging down yardline, and will alternate between jogging and sprinting (you can control with whistle if need be)

·         LB should shuffle when RB jogs (don't give up the cutback, backside leverage) and sprint with shoulders square when RB sprints

·         RB has 2 way go after 3 or 4 reps and can cut back or try and out run the LB

o   Vs. cutback LB makes tackle, Vs. run away LB runs feet and makes leverage tackle (combo of leverage drills)

o   Blocks

§  Shock the blocker (head and hands)

§  Shock and then get off

§  Keep it competitive

§  Shock sled

·         Sled they have they use in early season and off-season

§  Shock drill (vs. a man)

·         Set up OL and LB with LB in a shade in one direction or the other

·         LB/OL should be the same distance apart as they are in a game

·         Have OL execute a scoop or zone block, LB should attack (shock) the blocker and then get by with a push-pull move (doesn't care to rip, only after push-pull does he tell his guys to duck their arm under)

·         Set up a cone to either side that the LB/OL cannot go outside of

·         LB should shock the OL, release and then burst upfield

·         Can do this drill in multiple groups

o   Tackling

§  Leverage drill

§  3 yard box

·         RB on 1 end, LB on the other of the 3 yard box

·         On command RB will move lateral between cones, while LB shuffles to mirror him

·         On command, RB attacks LB head up (no juking) and LB must make a face-up tackle and drive legs

o   Similar to "mirror drill"

§  Low Tackle

·         Tackler wants his body at the center of gravity of the ballcarrier

·         Step on the RB's toes

·         Wrap and twist once contact made

o   Wrap dummy, land on dummy and then roll completely over

o   Pass rush

§  Attack the middle of the RB & flip hips to get by

§  LB should slap RB hands down as he's flipping the hips

§  Can create this using a standup dummy and have LB blitz the dummy, slap at the dummy and flip hips to get around the dummy

·         Once clear of the dummy LB should accelerate

·         Can also do this drill to imitate a blitzer coming off the edge

o   Play on Ball

§  Teaches the strip

·         "Start the lawnmower"

o   Many kids nowadays not familiar with lawnmower tech

§  Key is to lift elbow and punch the ball downward

·         Only done when ballcarrier is secured

§  Can add scoop and score to any agility drill

§  Play on Ball

·         Reach with long arm, knock ball down and turn back to QB

o   Make them do the drill 1-armed -no pass interference

§  Put their near hand in their pants to do this

·         Reads

o   They key RB's, because when you focus on something further away you can see more than focusing on something that is close

§  OL can give false keys

o   If LB's having a tough time reading, vary their depth off the ball

o   Make their first step lateral, then have keys that make them attack downhill

§  "Slow til' you know"

§  All their drills are shuffle and read

§  This depends on the leverage of the LB too

·         This also depends on what your opponents run

o   They see a ton of inside/outside zone

Two Gap/One Gap vs. One-Back Zone Option

Since posting the original Two Gap-One Gap (TGOG) posts, I have had numerous emails wanting more, more, more.  Where here you go!  In this post I'm going to show you how the TGOG scheme, when coupled with coverage can negate the zone read and zone read triple options being employed by many of today's spread offenses.  The TGOG was developed specifically to give lesser athletes an advantage against just such offensive schemes.  Let's get into the details shall we?

Setting the Front
There has been much argument about how to set the front when facing zone read option teams.  Personally, I like to set the three technique on the opposite side of the running back, or at the very least slant him in that direction from a two technique alignment (especially vs. those pesky OC's who flop the RB prior to the snap).  Anyhow, I also believe you need to mix things up, as good spread teams with a running QB will also run QB iso and QB power.  I think setting the three technique to the back is a good change up when expecting the iso and power type of QB runs.  Being able to mix things up keeps the offense on it's heels and they now do not know what to expect.  The TGOG scheme allows the defense to be sound, regardless of where the three technique is set.

Setting the Coverage
Assuming the ball is in the middle of the field (MOF), as with the three technique, I say mix things up.  There is no right or wrong way to do things, and in this article I'm going to look at all the possible alignments and how the defense is sound no matter where the read side of the coverage is set (assuming you use split field coverage).  Now we all know the ball is only in the MOF some 20 percent of the time, so the read side may or may not be set with your front.  I'm going to detail the scenarios to show you just how sound the TGOG scheme is, regardless of where the coverage is set.

Attack the Offense, Scenario #1- Front and Coverage set Away From the Running Back

As the drawing shows, the read side of the coverage and the front are both set away from the RB.  The DE on the strong side, being a one gap player can get up field and help play the spill by the Sam LB.  The three technique will allow himself to be reached and fall back in to play the A gap and help on cutback.  To the weak side, the one technique is a one gapper and will get up field, also preventing the cutback or "wind back" play from developing.  The weak side DE is a two gapper, so he is collapsing the OT, not allowing the OT to work up to the Mike LB and is playing the B gap cut back also preventing the "wind back".  The Mike LB, will have QB all the way.  This is very advantageous if you are in the MOF and playing Bronco coverage on the away side.  As you can see, you have all your bases covered.  Now let's look at the triple option run the same way.

The front assignments remain the same, however the secondary must make up for the motion and the resulting "extra player" that will show up on the away side of the coverage.  This is an easy check for the secondary.  The FS should check the secondary into either Roll Sky, or Roll Solo.  I'd prefer Roll Sky as the SS is already inverted and can help play under the #1 receiver on any playaction routes, as well as run with the wheel route by the RB off of playaction. 

The FS moves with the motion and is the alley/extra QB defender to the "new read side".  The WS, can screw down and is now the force player and will take pitch.  If the number two receiver blocks the WS, then the FS will overlap this block and play the pitch.  Again, you are sound as you have all three phases of the triple option accounted for (dive, QB, pitch), and you've done it simply by defeating the blocking scheme and not by assigning players to a certain phase.

Attack the Offense, Scenario #2-  Front and Coverage Set to the Running Back

Now the three technique is still on the same side as the SS, yet the RB is now to the strong side of both the front and the coverage.  Maybe you did this expecting a QB isolation run or QB power run and the offense decides to run the zone read instead...not an issue.  The strong side DE, being a two gap player, will work under the reach block by the OT and play the B gap looking to spill the play outside.  The one technique is a one gapper and is attempting to blaze a trail up field, not allowing the left guard to come off (even though I have it drawn up that way).  The one technique holds the A gap and helps on the cutback.  By alignment, the one technique is difficult to block one-on-one by the center, so you have eliminated any chance of a double and scrape by the center and left guard.  The weak side three technique is a two gapper, so he mashes the guard down in the A gap, and does not allow the guard to scoop to the next level while helping on the cutback.  The weak side DE is a one gapper and is coming hard up field and will play the QB all the way.  The Sam LB plays the spill created by the one technique and the strong side end, while the Mike LB is what some call the "fall back" player to the weak side.  The "fall back" player is responsible for the cut back or "wind back" that sometimes happens on the inside zone play.  Because of the play of the two gapping three technique the OT will be late scraping off to get the Mike and he is unblocked to help on the "wind back".

Against the triple option, the secondary has very little to adjust to.  The easy check here is to simply check into Bronco on the away side, or Solo.  I prefer Solo, as this keeps the WS with his eyes on the side the triple option has been run to as an extra player who can play if the FS "whiffs" on the number two receiver going vertical.

Again, the read side of the coverage can play "read force" where if the SS is unblocked then he will take pitch, and if the number two receiver crack blocks the SS then the FS takes pitch.  You also have two QB players in this scheme being the Mike and the weak side DE.  Again, as you can see, the defense is sound in it's attack of the offense.

Attack the Offense, Scenario #3- Front Set to the Running Back, Coverage Set Away

The only thing I do not like about this setup is the distance that the Mike must travel to get to his assignment.  This scheme is sound however, in that the "plus one" player to that side is the SS.  The strong side DE is a one gap player and will get up field and play the QB.  The three technique, being a two-gapper, mashes the guard into the A gap and plays for the cutback.  The play of the three technique creates a dilemma for the right guard and right tackle.  The guard is in no position to single block the strong tackle as he's expected to scoop to the 2nd level by getting help from the tackle.  If the guard sits and waits on the tackle, the Sam is unblocked coming right off the hip of the OT trying to scoop to the three.  If the guard tries to turn out on the three, and let the tackle drive up field for the Sam, then the three technique will come across his face into the A gap, and should be unblocked by virtue of sheer leverage.  Again, you have three players on two (don't forget the strong side DE).  To the weak side, the weak DE will spill the reach block by the OT (since he's a two-gapper), and the one technique is working hard up field.  The one technique must get up field and press the center so that the guard has to maintain the double team for fear of losing this block.  The reason the guard has to stay is the alignment of the one technique makes it impossible for the center to reach him.  This technique allows for the Mike to scrape across both the A and the B gaps and play for the spill.  Again, if for some reason the Mike does get picked off, you are "plus one" with the SS.

Against the triple option we see nothing changes from the above example where the offense runs the play to the away side.  The FS should make his check to Roll and let the new "away side" play either Sky or Solo.
 
Attack the Offense, Scenario #4- Front Set Away From the Running Back, Coverage Set to the Running Back

This look, again is not one of my favorites, due to the long distance traveled by the Mike LB, however it is still a sound and productive scheme.  To the strong side the DE is a one gapper, and will help play the Spill by the Sam LB.  The three technique is the two-gapper and will close the A gap playing for the cutback.  The Sam LB has a very simple job, fill the B gap to his side.  This gap should be open as the play side guard will be occupied with the three technique and the play side tackle has to handle the strong DE.  On the weak side the one technique makes life miserable for any double and scrape scenario that gets thrown his way.  The center cannot come off as the one technique penetrates up field in the A gap.  The weak DE is a two-gapper and will mash the OT down inside playing the B gap and allowing the Mike to scrape outside and play for the QB.

Nothing new here, as we've seen the triple option run to the read side before.  Again, not my favorite due to the distance traveled by the Mike, but this is a sound scheme if you get caught in this look.

Summary
As can be seen, no matter how you set it up, the divorced secondary coupled with the play of the TGOG technique is a very good weapon against the one-back zone option.  This scheme allows LB's to flow freely to the football, all the while allowing lesser athletes to play on your DL and make plays.  Utilizing the split field coverage scheme and playing coverages we already know such as Roll Solo, and Roll Sky make this a dangerous weapon in the hands of the right coordinator.

My preference is to keep the three technique away from the RB.  The read side of the coverage does not concern me because no matter what the offense does, the FS simply makes the adjustment, whether it be checking into Roll against motion, or playing read force when the option is run to the read side.  To me, the inside zone has a tough job running at both a three and a five technique.  Offensive coaches will tell you this is no big deal, but you watch enough film and you will see that zone teams struggle running at a three technique.

Another argument by many DC's is if you don't have the three technique set away from the back you don't have anybody playing for the cutback.  With the TGOG this is untrue.  You always have players dedicated to every gap and every phase of the option.  I think these factors alone are what has sold me on the TGOG scheme.

Keep the emails flowing, I try to get to them at least once a week, but keep in mind I have a job, and a team to coach as well.  Hopefully this stuff is helping!

Duece