49ers Matchup of the Day: Javon Kinlaw vs. Colton McKivitz
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Their OLine coach is probably the #1 guy for the zone blocking scheme.
Been around the Shanahan/Gary Kubiak tree for awhile.
Went to a very good organization. One that should be winning a lot of games in the near future
Even the assistant OLine coach comes from that same tree Chris Foerster
Been around the Shanahan/Gary Kubiak tree for awhile.
Went to a very good organization. One that should be winning a lot of games in the near future
Even the assistant OLine coach comes from that same tree Chris Foerster
You have to be nasty to play OL in that scheme.
Punch, Pull and Bite. Like Dan Neil and Mark Schlereth were. Definitely have to want it more and he willing to even kick a guy.
I don't like them. Most of them are weirdos...Don't ever ask me to figure out what 16-17 year old is going to be a pro.
I do know that the nastier they are the better they will be.
In a zone blocking scheme that is what they have to be.
I do know that the nastier they are the better they will be.
In a zone blocking scheme that is what they have to be.
Funny thing is there is a WVU link here as well with creator of the zone blocking scheme
But he didn't coach OL when he coached at West Virginia
Denver beginnings
The first time Vikings assistant Gary Kubiak remembers hearing the term "zone blocking" was upon returning to the Broncos as an assistant coach under Mike Shanahan in 1995. Shanahan hired legendary assistant Alex Gibbs as his offensive line coach, and the staff began discussing an antidote to the zone blitz schemes proliferated by Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Dom Capers.
In their zone blitz, the Steelers would in essence swap player responsibilities. If a linebacker blitzed, for example, a defensive end might drop back into his coverage zone. Among other results, the switch would throw off an offensive line's man-to-man blocking assignments.
In response, Gibbs' zone-blocking scheme called for linemen to block whoever was in a particular zone rather than a specific man, often creating a double-team on the line of scrimmage to push back the initial wall of defense.
"I remember Dom Capers running all of those zone dogs," Kubiak said. "When you're in a man scheme, you're getting picked off and you look bad. In zone schemes, when defenses start stunting, you don't stop and go back and block them. You just keep running into your area and pick people off. So all of it was probably a reaction to the zone blitzes, and it just became part of football."
As the zone-blocking scheme developed, it grew beautiful in its simplicity and effectiveness. It boiled the running game down to two essential plays: outside zone and inside zone. Coaches taught one on the first day of practice, the other on the second day. By the third day, Kubiak said, the foundation of the run offense was installed.
During the next four seasons, the Broncos won two Super Bowls while tailback Terrell Davis rushed for 6,413 yards, second-best in the NFL. Davis scored a league-high 56 touchdowns during that period as well. His performance in those seasons, as well as a 157-yard game in Super Bowl XXXII, formed the foundation for Davis' enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The approach spawned believers who would impact the league a quarter of a century later.
"It was really about just many, many repetitions of doing something simple," Kubiak said. "I remember Alex saying, 'We're not going to run a lot of plays. We might run them 10,000 different ways to look different, but it'll be the same thing up front.' ... You become a wide-zone or a tight-zone team, and you adjust to what people do."
Here's a modern-day example of the scheme from the Niners' Week 13 game against the Ravens, a 19-yard gain by Raheem Mostert on a cutback, as shown by NFL Next Gen Stats animation:
But he didn't coach OL when he coached at West Virginia
Denver beginnings
The first time Vikings assistant Gary Kubiak remembers hearing the term "zone blocking" was upon returning to the Broncos as an assistant coach under Mike Shanahan in 1995. Shanahan hired legendary assistant Alex Gibbs as his offensive line coach, and the staff began discussing an antidote to the zone blitz schemes proliferated by Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Dom Capers.
In their zone blitz, the Steelers would in essence swap player responsibilities. If a linebacker blitzed, for example, a defensive end might drop back into his coverage zone. Among other results, the switch would throw off an offensive line's man-to-man blocking assignments.
In response, Gibbs' zone-blocking scheme called for linemen to block whoever was in a particular zone rather than a specific man, often creating a double-team on the line of scrimmage to push back the initial wall of defense.
"I remember Dom Capers running all of those zone dogs," Kubiak said. "When you're in a man scheme, you're getting picked off and you look bad. In zone schemes, when defenses start stunting, you don't stop and go back and block them. You just keep running into your area and pick people off. So all of it was probably a reaction to the zone blitzes, and it just became part of football."
As the zone-blocking scheme developed, it grew beautiful in its simplicity and effectiveness. It boiled the running game down to two essential plays: outside zone and inside zone. Coaches taught one on the first day of practice, the other on the second day. By the third day, Kubiak said, the foundation of the run offense was installed.
During the next four seasons, the Broncos won two Super Bowls while tailback Terrell Davis rushed for 6,413 yards, second-best in the NFL. Davis scored a league-high 56 touchdowns during that period as well. His performance in those seasons, as well as a 157-yard game in Super Bowl XXXII, formed the foundation for Davis' enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The approach spawned believers who would impact the league a quarter of a century later.
"It was really about just many, many repetitions of doing something simple," Kubiak said. "I remember Alex saying, 'We're not going to run a lot of plays. We might run them 10,000 different ways to look different, but it'll be the same thing up front.' ... You become a wide-zone or a tight-zone team, and you adjust to what people do."
Here's a modern-day example of the scheme from the Niners' Week 13 game against the Ravens, a 19-yard gain by Raheem Mostert on a cutback, as shown by NFL Next Gen Stats animation:
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Alex Gibbs - popularized zone blocking scheme while he was Offensive line coach for the Denver Broncos.
He was Defensive backs coach at WVU (1973–1974)
He has mainly coached O-Line in the NFL. Exception 1 year at Georgia.
After WVU he was the Offensive coordinator/offensive line (1975–1978) for Ohio State.
Starting his career as a DB coach at Mount Airy, Duke, Kentucky and WVU I am sure gave him insights to a better zone blocking scheme.
The concept of Zone blocking in both the run and pass game was created by Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz. However, this blocking scheme came to prominence when used by the Denver Broncos, under offensive line coach Alex Gibbs (formerly the offensive line coach for the Seattle Seahawks), and head coach Mike Shanahan.
Gibbs also never coached zone blocking until he was with the Denver Broncos.