Offensive Line Play

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Offensive Line Play

• IHSFCA Clinic
• March 30, 2012
• Greg King
• gking_at_sterlingschools.org

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Offensive Line Play

• Blocking can be developed to a greater degree
  than any other phase of football because it is
  the most unnatural task. It requires patience
  and many hours of hard work because there are
  more things to learn.
• Mike Barry - Former OL Coach

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G.O.L.F.

• Get Off
• Leverage
• Finish

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G.O.L.F.

• All drills and techniques are based on this
  acronym
• Dont Clutter there head with all kinds of things
• If you have all 3 of these, you CAN play!

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Get Off

• Stance
• Teaching progression
• Feet Elbows Reach
• Weight distribution
• 4 point 50/50 on Hands and Feet
• 3 point 40/60 on hands and Feet

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Get Off

• Stance
• Feet
• Shoulder width apart
• Weight on inside of feet
• Once feet are set do not move them
• Knees
• Straight ahead
• Power Angles Z in the knee
• Back Flat Eyes up

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Stance
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Stance
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Stance
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Stance
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Center

• 1 hand on Ball Other on ground
• Need to work with 2 hands as well
• Rain!
• Small Hands
• Step and then snap! (Even in warmups!)
• Use back up center as NG when warming up
• Footwork in all directions
• Shotgun

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Get Off

• Take off
• 1st Step
• Will get you in position to block
• Quick 3-6 inches
• Chest over knees
• 2nd Step
• Must get on ground before contact
• POWERFUL

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Leverage

• Contact
• Never sacrifice contact
• Pad under Pad
• Low man wins
• Goalline/Short Yardage - Pad on Pad
• Inside Leverage
• Punch hands inside
• Should hit same time as shoulders
• Get shoulders on defenders chest

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Leverage

• Knees
• Playside knee - Drive to playside hip
• Backside knee - Drive to crotch
• Coach this from behind
• Watch knees
• Watch elbows
• Good Blocking is nothing more than the backside
  knee moving forward while maintaining contact
• DO NOT ALLOW SEPARATION
• Smell Armpits
• Keep power angles

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Finish

• Sustain block for 3 - 5 seconds - keep balance
  and pressure to the end! - smell armpits
• DO NOT TELL PLAYERS TO ROLL THE HIPS - this
  will happen naturally!!!
• Stalemates - can become winners
• Defenders can become off balance - reaching for
  tackle
• Sustain blocks for 3-5 seconds
• Keep power angles

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Dos

• Get off the ball
• Strive for consistency and perfection
• Give 2nd effort - turn 5 yard gain into a TD
• Adjust to opponents scheme and alignment
• Keep in good football position - Power, Leverage,
  Balance
• Accelerate - bring knees with power - sustain

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Donts

• Lunge or overextend
• Are you leading with hands?
• Too big of 1st step?
• Is head down?
• Is 1st step getting you in bad position?
• Lean or commit early
• Be slow off the ball

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Different Blocks

• Everything is a Drive Block
• Different Footwork
• Same techniques
• Same coaching points
• Consistency!

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Double Teams

• Get movement off the LOS
• Work toward 2nd level defender
• Always secure 1st level defender 1st!
• Blockers will try to leave too quick
• 2 Players work in a Drive-Finish combination

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Double Team - Drive

• Regular Drive Block
• All techniques the same
• 1st step is vital
• EXPECT NO HELP!

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Double Team - Finish

• Needs to get hip to hip with Drive man
• Aim for the hip of the defender
• Keep shoulders square
• Footwork is important!
• Feed defender to Drive man
• If defenders hip goes away Get Vertical to 2nd
  Level

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Double Team

• If defender is a gap player, then both are drive
  man
• Who becomes the finish will depend on
• Movement of the LOS
• Movement of the 2nd level defender

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Drive-Finish Combos
B
B
B
Get Vertical Push
T
T
T
1
1
TE
T
T
G
G
C
1
1
1
1
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Out or Down Block

• Same footwork
• 1st step is with near foot do not step upfield
• May just have to rotate it
• Aim for inside number and near hip
• If hip tries to cross adjust footwork to take
  upfield
• If hip goes straight ahead
• Eliminate penetration
• Widen hole

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Out-down Blocks
B
T
T
T
4
B
3
2
3
TE
T
T
G
T
G
1
1
1
1
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Downfield Blocks

• Touchdown Alley (TE and T)
• Angles
• Hustle
• Break Hips down
• Get across field flat for the cutback block
• Scoop (T G)
• Zone block to cut DL to inside

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Outside Shades (3 tech)

• 1st step is important NO Zone Step
• Dont want to get knocked back
• Step towards chest of DT
• Strike him as hard as you can to stop upfield
  push
• Bring backside knee to crotch
• Frontside knee to playside hip
• Keep working feet to get upfield push
• May not happen right away

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Outside Shades (3 tech)
4
2
3
1
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Blocking Failures

• Poor Stance
• No Get Off
• Too big of 1st step
• Ignorance of Assignment
• No Contact
• Too High No leverage
• Feet Not moving On Contact
• Back knee gaining ground
• Not reading defenders alignment

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Drills Stance 1st Step
Put their toes on line to make sure feet are
straight. After perfecting stance, go right
into 1st step drill. On cadence Players will
step with correct foot and stay there until
instructed to return to stance.
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Drills 2nd Step Drill
Lines move up from 1st step drill. 1st in line
executes perfect stance. Person next in line will
grab rt. Ankle firmly. On cadence, offensive
player Will step with lt. foot, as in 1st step
drill. (CP Make sure 1st step is 6 in.) The
Offensive player will have to step with power to
take ankle out of grip.
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Drills Happy Place
Players will be in good football position
(Simulating after 1st two steps.) Make sure hips
are low, back is straight, eyes are up, Z in the
knees Push them to stay in this position
Train muscles
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Drills Power Walk
Players are in their happy place. They will then
power walk forward (CP-Make sure 1st step is
forward!). Weight on the inside of their feet
(Pound the Ground), Elbows tight, good arm
movement. Can add different directions to this
as well.
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Power Walk w/ Pressure
5 10 yards
2nd part of drill is to then put OL in a fit
position and then power walk.
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Switch Drill
2
OL
1
DL
DL
OL
Important to make sure that on the switch the OL
sinks hips and gets inside leverage with
hands. Yell Switch! Do not blow whistle- only
do that to stop drill.
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Boards
Drive defender to end of board. On whistle
finish the block by exploding knees, hips and
arms out. Stand behind and look for knees
driving to hip and crotch, as well as elbows
tight to the body. Can use variations by moving
boards or lines to simulate veer Releases,
down/out blocks, pulls on traps, etc.
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20 Yard Drill
Bring back knee to crotch Adjust playside knee
when Defender moves Keep in balance Can make
this into 10 yard Drill for more explosion
and to work on 3 techs and fan blocks
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Cage Drill
Have body under control Sink Hips Leverage Good
footwork
5 yards
5 yards
Competitive drill used to teach blocking
linebackers. Divide OL into two teams. OL
starts in stance on edge of cage. OL has 5
seconds to knock LB out of the cage. OL gets 1
pt for knocking out of cage, 2 pts for a
knockdown. LB gets a point for winning.
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Practice Plans

• Summer
• FUNDAMENTALS!!
• Footwork
• Camps Helmets and shoulder pads
• Still work progression
• Work from fit position
• Last day or so will go from stance
• Injury vs. Benefit

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Practice Plans

• Preseason
• Prepractice
• Play Installation and review
• 30 min of Indy
• Fundys!
• 7 on 7 period
• OL Indy
• Pass pro
• Inside Drill

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Practice Plans

• In-season
• Everyday
• Zones
• Get out of locker room
• Hurdles Over and Unders
• Prepractice
• 20 minutes by position stretch/fundys
• Mondays
• Film Endzone camera!
• Scouting Report fronts/adjustments
• Indy 10 Minutes
• Team Pass Breakdown

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Team Pass Breakdown Set up
S
S
LB
LB
C
C
E
E
WB
QB
QB
TB
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Team Pass Breakdown
Drill is 1 on 1 live between 2 different groups
(OL/DL and E and DB) Both groups go until they
hear a whistle. If E catches the ball, DB looks
to tackle in open field. After their rep, the
drill switches to the other side. When drill
comes back to right side, it will be RB vs. LB
with same rules.
M2M or Zone
C
E
QB
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Practice Plans

• In-season
• Tuesdays Defensive Emphasis
• Defensive Stations
• Defensive Indy
• Offense
• 7 on 7 OL - Pass Pro Indy or scheme
• ½ Line Bags/Live
• Team Offense
• Wednesdays Offensive Emphasis
• Offensive Stations Offensive Indy
• Group Work (TE/T on DT or TAG blocks on
  Jet/Rocket)
• 7 on 7 OL inside run
• Team Pass vs. Sophs