Iowa Line Blocking Techniques

[doclee]

I'm not SPGroth, but I'll give this a shot...

You aren't looking to knee the DL in the crotch...at least how I've taught it in the past. But you want them to visualize the aiming point where you want that knee to go. In a zone scheme, first step needs to get up and down as quickly as possible (while also gaining width) and the 2nd step, if able to put it in the crotch of the DL. gives you as the OL leverage for the outside play. Then one you bring the hands/hips you can gain control of the block and seal your man.

That's the quick & dirty explanation from my perspective.

Good stuff...thanks! I did not assume BF meant that they coached the linemen to knee the opponent in the crotch. Glad you explained the "aiming point" process.

 

[SpecialKHawk]

It really comes down to as a defensive player who do want to see for 70+ snaps a game? A guy that is between 6' & 6'3" and 295 lbs or a guy between 6'5" to 6'7" and 315 lbs. It is that simple. Big men are going to win more battles. You can come up with all this other stuff by I am going to line up with the biggest, nastiest guys I can find and bury your front 7.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

I like KF & BF very much so my comments are purely something I have believed for a long time and that is our offensive lines have been very solid but not elite. We have been super at the tackles as you noted and I agree. It is my belief that our line play is not elite because we often, not always, play too many small stature guys. Yes, they are really coached up and the staff does a great job but the proof is in the pudding and the facts back up this argument.

First what was the best O-Line under the KF era and subsequently the best offense? Answer we all know is 2002. The smallest guy on that line was Bruce Nelson at 6'4" and 300 lbs. Coincidence?

Second how many times have we finished in the top 3 in the conference in rushing the football (B1G stats only)? I throw out the non-con because of the patsies. Compare that to Wisky over the same period.

Third how many interior lineman (guard, center) have we had drafted under KF? Compare that to the tackles.

Fourth take a look at the consistent top 20 programs in major college football and look at their starting O-lines. See a pattern?

Fifth there is a reason the NFL does not draft small lineman. They know what works over the long haul.

I do not buy for a second that in today's age we cannot find 5 guys who are 6'5" and 300 lbs who can also move. You might be able to find this in the state of Iowa alone.

To me there is nothing more important to offensive football than having a great and dominating O-line. I just think KF is stubborn and thinks he can turn undersized guys into productive interior o-lineman. Sometimes it works but not always and possibly not when we need a 1-2 yards the most.

You make some very good points. I think the bolded statements are related. KF certainly has shown he is stubborn. We he first took over and he was building, 15 years ago, maybe the landscape was to take the undersized kid and develop their size and fundamentals, as it was a more sure-fire way of securing commitments, versus the prized recruit, on average. However, there is something to be said about now pulling in those top rated kids. We've missed on a few but those seemed to be due to attitudes of the players. But, I just get the feeling KF doesn't want to eff around and stroke a kids ego. This is fine if you're landing the top kids that don't have an ego problem. Otherwise, you're not going to land the top kids. And, on the OL, Iowa should, at this point.

 

[RocknRollface]

I like KF & BF very much so my comments are purely something I have believed for a long time and that is our offensive lines have been very solid but not elite. We have been super at the tackles as you noted and I agree. It is my belief that our line play is not elite because we often, not always, play too many small stature guys. Yes, they are really coached up and the staff does a great job but the proof is in the pudding and the facts back up this argument.

First what was the best O-Line under the KF era and subsequently the best offense? Answer we all know is 2002. The smallest guy on that line was Bruce Nelson at 6'4" and 300 lbs. Coincidence?

Second how many times have we finished in the top 3 in the conference in rushing the football (B1G stats only)? I throw out the non-con because of the patsies. Compare that to Wisky over the same period.

Third how many interior lineman (guard, center) have we had drafted under KF? Compare that to the tackles.

Fourth take a look at the consistent top 20 programs in major college football and look at their starting O-lines. See a pattern?

Fifth there is a reason the NFL does not draft small lineman. They know what works over the long haul.

I do not buy for a second that in today's age we cannot find 5 guys who are 6'5" and 300 lbs who can also move. You might be able to find this in the state of Iowa alone.

To me there is nothing more important to offensive football than having a great and dominating O-line. I just think KF is stubborn and thinks he can turn undersized guys into productive interior o-lineman. Sometimes it works but not always and possibly not when we need a 1-2 yards the most.

Agreed, there is not a problem with finding size like that. Iowa can recruit whatever they want for the offensive line.

KF wants shorter guys on the interior to run his scheme.

His theory is low man wins.

Whether or not that's the most effective way is debatable.

 

[PCHawk]

I like KF & BF very much so my comments are purely something I have believed for a long time and that is our offensive lines have been very solid but not elite. We have been super at the tackles as you noted and I agree. It is my belief that our line play is not elite because we often, not always, play too many small stature guys. Yes, they are really coached up and the staff does a great job but the proof is in the pudding and the facts back up this argument.

First what was the best O-Line under the KF era and subsequently the best offense? Answer we all know is 2002. The smallest guy on that line was Bruce Nelson at 6'4" and 300 lbs. Coincidence?

Second how many times have we finished in the top 3 in the conference in rushing the football (B1G stats only)? I throw out the non-con because of the patsies. Compare that to Wisky over the same period.

Third how many interior lineman (guard, center) have we had drafted under KF? Compare that to the tackles.

Fourth take a look at the consistent top 20 programs in major college football and look at their starting O-lines. See a pattern?

Fifth there is a reason the NFL does not draft small lineman. They know what works over the long haul.

I do not buy for a second that in today's age we cannot find 5 guys who are 6'5" and 300 lbs who can also move. You might be able to find this in the state of Iowa alone.

To me there is nothing more important to offensive football than having a great and dominating O-line. I just think KF is stubborn and thinks he can turn undersized guys into productive interior o-lineman. Sometimes it works but not always and possibly not when we need a 1-2 yards the most.

While I do agree with your post, I think a certain angry god has a lot to do with where we rank in rushing stats over the last 10 years or so.

 

[trj]

I look at those Denver Bronco teams of the late 90's and the early 2000's as the prototype of zone blocking scheme. When it was going well they could plug in a guy off the street and he could get 1500 yds. easy. Alex Gibb was the O-Line coach during most of that time and he was often accused of dirty tactics basically preaching what was described in that article.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

I look at those Denver Bronco teams of the late 90's and the early 2000's as the prototype of zone blocking scheme. When it was going well they could plug in a guy off the street and he could get 1500 yds. easy. Alex Gibb was the O-Line coach during most of that time and he was often accused of dirty tactics basically preaching what was described in that article.

Living in Colorado, the golden age of the smaller lineman ended fairly quickly in the early 2000's. It worked for the back-to-back SB's, but not much after that. Shannahan stayed about 5 years too long. Bronco's fans (I'm not one, I'm a die-hard Steelers fan) are an odd bunch. They refused to blame Shanahan when they started missing the playoffs, because "he won back-to-back superbowls." But the Bronco's running game stunk for a long, long time under MS.

 

[trj]

Living in Colorado, the golden age of the smaller lineman ended fairly quickly in the early 2000's. It worked for the back-to-back SB's, but not much after that. Shannahan stayed about 5 years too long. Bronco's fans (I'm not one, I'm a die-hard Steelers fan) are an odd bunch. They refused to blame Shanahan when they started missing the playoffs, because "he won back-to-back superbowls." But the Bronco's running game stunk for a long, long time under MS.

Orlandis Gary and Mike Anderson were pretty productive......Brian Griese and Jake Plummer wasn't the answer at qb in terms of being the successor to elway. Maybe by NFL standards the zone blocking scheme is outdated, but for what iowa is trying to do I think it can work you can't have plodders like Weisman/coker as primary backs, but if you can have guys that can hit cutback lanes it just sets up everything for the Iowa offense.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

I think there is a point to be made that Iowa's smaller interior lines have sputtered at times on controlling the line of scrimmage in the running game. Smaller guards have been around 6’3” and 285 lbs, with the high end of the range being 6’5” and 295-300 lbs. Players taller than 6’5” are usually on their way to the tackle spot. Pass blocking has usually been pretty good even with the smaller interior linemen, but really the only pass first quarterback Iowa has had during the period was Tate. I don’t think Ferentz prefers guards on the smaller end of that range, but he will take them if they show the athleticism.

The most successful offensive lines under Ferentz have tended to be a little larger in the interior line. The 2001 & 2002 lines were definitely not small. The 2008 & 2009 lines weren’t small compared to other years. The differences in size haven’t been huge.

 

[Eda]

It really comes down to as a defensive player who do want to see for 70+ snaps a game? A guy that is between 6' & 6'3" and 295 lbs or a guy between 6'5" to 6'7" and 315 lbs. It is that simple. Big men are going to win more battles. You can come up with all this other stuff by I am going to line up with the biggest, nastiest guys I can find and bury your front 7.

I think BF said Iowa is gonna line up and punch you in the face first; regardless of size. That's the way they teach the players.

KirFer also discussed in his round table about the players they recruit; and how it would be nice to get the big kids all the time, they are not always available. In fact he pointed to Bulaga and Scherff as an example of how few players are actually capable of coming in and contributing right away. Iowa (and likely MANY teams) have to have kids in the program for a few yrs to build them up. Many players at Iowa have started at the guard postion to learn the roles/techniques before moving out to tackle.

 

[ICHawk24]

Living in Colorado, the golden age of the smaller lineman ended fairly quickly in the early 2000's. It worked for the back-to-back SB's, but not much after that. Shannahan stayed about 5 years too long. Bronco's fans (I'm not one, I'm a die-hard Steelers fan) are an odd bunch. They refused to blame Shanahan when they started missing the playoffs, because "he won back-to-back superbowls." But the Bronco's running game stunk for a long, long time under MS.

Denver Broncos NFL rank in rushing yards and yards per carry:

2000: 3rd in yards, 6th in ypc
2001: 10th in yards, 19th in ypc
2002: 5th in yards, 3rd in ypc
2003: 2nd in yards, 4th in ypc
2004: 4th in yards, 8th in ypc
2005: 2nd in yards, 2nd in ypc
2006: 8th in yards, 9th in ypc
2007: 9th in yards, 5th in ypc
2008: 12th in yards, 3rd in ypc (MS final season)

 

[NCHawker]

It is easy to get carried away with this article...as if it reveals Iowa's unique secret sauce. What leaves me less excited about reading this is the fact that Iowa has only finished in the top 1/2 of the big ten, in rushing, twice since KF has been there. That would be 2002 and 2008. If I missed 1 year forgive me but the point remains.

NCH

 

[SPGroth]

I'm not SPGroth, but I'll give this a shot...

You aren't looking to knee the DL in the crotch...at least how I've taught it in the past. But you want them to visualize the aiming point where you want that knee to go. In a zone scheme, first step needs to get up and down as quickly as possible (while also gaining width) and the 2nd step, if able to put it in the crotch of the DL. gives you as the OL leverage for the outside play. Then one you bring the hands/hips you can gain control of the block and seal your man.

That's the quick & dirty explanation from my perspective.

Thanks Hawkfan. Yes, it is more of an aiming point for the backside knee. Get it up and into the guy that they are blocking. Want to power off the ball and bringing the backside knee will help them do it. Now, I just need to find a drill to teach this to youth offensive lineman. Been looking but haven't found anything at this point.

 

[Eda]

It is easy to get carried away with this article...as if it reveals Iowa's unique secret sauce. What leaves me less excited about reading this is the fact that Iowa has only finished in the top 1/2 of the big ten, in rushing, twice since KF has been there. That would be 2002 and 2008. If I missed 1 year forgive me but the point remains.

NCH

I don't think there's anything new being done here. Just an explanation of the way we've always been executing the blocking scheme. We're not changing scheme or technique at all.

 

[CP87]

It is easy to get carried away with this article...as if it reveals Iowa's unique secret sauce. What leaves me less excited about reading this is the fact that Iowa has only finished in the top 1/2 of the big ten, in rushing, twice since KF has been there. That would be 2002 and 2008. If I missed 1 year forgive me but the point remains.

NCH

I don't see that so much as a failing of their running-game scheme or techniques, rather I think it is more a failure of their passing game. This running game is not meant to stand alone; it does not have enough diversity to do so. It must be complemented by an effective pro-style passing game that leans heavily on play action (think Broncos with Elway/Terrell Davis, Colts with Manning/Edge James, Redskins during the Gibbs era, the Texans of the last few years with Schaub/Foster, or even the Falcons '98 Super Bowl team with Chris Chandler/Jamaal Anderson). Those were all excellent rushing teams, using a very similar scheme as Iowa, but with the added threat of moving the ball effectively through the air. Too often Iowa has not had that, and that has been the true failing of the offense. In years when opposing defenses have been forced to stay honest AND the Hawkeye backfield has not been decimated by AIRBHG, the running game has been dominant.