Breakdown Sports

History has a tendency to repeat itself. In football, that means something gets invented, iterations are formed, it gets tucked away for a while, and then it reemerges in a new form but with the same constructs. In this way, we can also predict how defenses will attempt to adjust, and how offenses will likely adjust to their adjustment. And this piece we are going to look at the history and evolution of the veer and belly run plays.

Daniel Mears / Detroit News Under Doug Nussmeier, Michigan has switched to a predominately zone scheme. There are two typical types of zone runs: Inside Zone and Outside Zone. But that’s not all Michigan runs. They also utilize several gap and man blocking schemes to counter the standard zone schemes. Furthermore, they utilize several pin and pull adjustments to their zone stretch scheme to attack the edge. One thing I'd like you to do when looking at the diagrams is to split them in half through the center. Notice the playside and the backside throughout this post. What that will show you is what the defenders to that side of the field are seeing, and why it is difficult to defend all these concepts. The diagrams below are all from an I-formation with a FB. But it's important to note that these plays can all be run from a pistol set or a shotgun set, with a FB, or H-back, or even at times simply a TE, making them diverse throughout multiple formations.