Foundations of Inside Zone

A deeper look at how Inside Zone complements the Wide Zone.

My first ever article on Substack was the Foundations of the Wide Zone.

Foundations of the Wide Zone

As much as I’d love only to run Wide Zone, and some games that may be the case, we need other runs. Wide Zone is a slower-developing run with a horizontal stretch, so it needs a downhill physical run to complement it.

In our system, we use Inside Zone as that play.

Inside Zone vs Duo

Let’s get this out of the way upfront:

What is the difference between Duo and Inside Zone?

For the 5 Offensive linemen… Nothing. I know a lot of people disagree, and that’s fine. That’s the beauty of this complex game, there’s an array of opinions.

As a zone guy, we teach from a zone starting point. I’ve sat down with gap scheme coaches who teach it like power. The thing is, we both block the play the exact same way.

The running back aiming point and read changes, so I’m not saying they are identical.

As long as you are sound in your teaching, and the kids understand, call it anything you want.

Inside Zone Offensive Line Play

We still use the covered/uncovered principle the same as Wide Zone.

• Covered - Someone head up or in your play side gap.

• Uncovered - No one head up or in your play side gap.

Covered

How we determine covered is the same, the technique we use is different. Our aiming point is now the defender’s inside number. We want the offensive linement to drive them vertically, not horizontally.