Time to move on from Frank Pollack

[SunsetBengal]

(10-10-2023, 04:54 PM)Joelist Wrote: Actually they are not buzzwords. Power Gap, Wide Zone and Inside Zone are all schemes. Each encompasses many plays. And these schemes favor different types of linemen. Zone schemes emphasize quick and fast linemen to get out and flow the play to the sideline. Power emphasizes exactly what the name suggests - strong linemen who leverage well are more important than speed here.

Since our OL room is full of the type of linemen Power Gap schemes favor, it is only reasonable to ask if a coach has experience with that type of scheme. One can make a case right now that a lot of the troubles on the line (in the run game) are us trying to have them run wide zone concepts they are not physically suited for. Pass blocking they are already doing pretty well, with the main issue seeming to be picking up stunts by C-LG.

Any team that thinks that they can only run one or the other style of plays and be consistently successful is fooling themselves.  Even if you have a bunch of athletic, high mobility guys on your OL and prefer to run the Wide Zone play, there are still times that you'll find you need to push dead ahead for short yardage, or run some inside traps and dives just to keep the defense honest.

Committing a team to only one "scheme" of running plays is foolhardy, and can make your rushing offense as one dimensional as being a pass only offense.  Defenses are smart, they adapt and learn how to stop what you run over and over.  Remember when Miami introduced the "Wildcat" offense?  What did it take, about 4-5 games before defenses saw what was going on and were able to neutralize it.  Anyone who grew up playing OL knows that you need to first and foremost, be able to drive an opponent off of the ball.  If you can do that, and you have good mobile athleticism, the playbook expands as far as your unit can execute in orchestrated fashion.  Blocking skills are blocking skills, no matter the blocking "scheme", I call those schemes buzzwords because they are just a compartmentalization of the entire duties of an offensive line.