Coach Excellence Day 45 - Ohio U. OL Coach teaches how to play more physically
Dec 18, 2020 9:40 pm
Coach ,
Innovation begins with solving problems, and that's exactly why Allen Rudolph, offensive line coach at Ohio University found a better way for his offensive linemen.
For Coach Rudolph teaching his OL to get to the second level in combos was something that early on he struggled with, especially on gap scheme combos. The linebacker was able to play underneath the combo and it caused issues.
He used to teach separate combos for zone and gap which of course will require more practice time, and the understanding of the players when to utilize each technique.
To make his teaching more efficient, Coach Rudolph combined the same teaching of double teams for gap schemes as he does on zone schemes.
Duo, power, counter, and inside zone can utilize the exact same technique and the players can have a level of confidence that allows them to perform better because they are really only learning one technique that is repeated over and over. The only thing that really changes is the linebacker that is being combo-ed to.
Coach explains the 4 key points of this technique in this video:
Why the Fit of the combo is vertical?
He used to angle back the combos and because the pullers would cause the linebackers to trigger over the top and the combination would get washed. The vertical combo allows them to fight the pressure on level one and the linebacker can be blocked more effectively.
He explains in the video:
Coach believes that his approach has benefits:
- His players play faster
- He can get more done in less time
- It fits their physical brand of football.
He details all of it in his course and as a bonus shares more offensive line fundamentals. He provided this course for FREE.
Having taken this exact approach in teaching our lineman while I was at Baldwin Wallace, I can say it solved many problems for our offensive linemen and allowed us to be more physical in our run game.
Check out Coach Rudolph’s course “Getting To The Second Level in Double Team Combos - Base Fundamentals” and teach your offensive line to knock defenders off the ball next season.
Always be growing!
Coach Grabowski
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