The Power O is a play that has been around a long time. Running it with a fullback and a tight end used to be a staple in many run-based offenses, because it allowed for a double team at the point of attack and brought two extra blockers to the play side with the fullback and the pulling guard.

Offensive coaches were not afraid to call it into an eight- or nine-man box, and utilizing two tight ends and two running backs to get it done was common.

Having studied NFL offensive line guru, Alex Gibbs, I hold tight to his philosophy of investing time in our zone schemes in order to make them successful. As I progressed to the college level, we found a way to marry our teaching of our inside zone play with the gap scheme plays, power and counter.

Even Gibbs admitted that they were the same in his clinic speech at the 2015 C.O.O.L. Clinic. He said, “I don’t ever want to go into a game without a power play. … If you take the power play and mix it into wide zone … they go together.”

The problem for a defense is that the block looks exactly the same to the defender, and he cannot play the zone double the same as the gap double.

The professional game has evolved with many teams adopting an H-back for a fullback to the point where some would joke that NFL stands for “No Fullbacks Left.” However, many high school and college teams still used the fullback as a part of their offenses.

The game evolved further with the advent and popularity of the spread. Still, the power play finds a way to survive through all of these changes. The numbers that the scheme brings to the play side makes it a viable call in any offense.

The flexibility of the scheme is why we include it in our offense. The best part is that in going to those different variations, the rules, line calls and techniques remain the same for the offensive line. This is a key factor in choosing run concepts for our offense.

When we find that a blocking scheme is flexible and can have multiple uses and variations yet remain the same up front, we feel it is worth including in our attack.

We like the power scheme because of the synergy it has with our zone schemes. Like our inside zone play, our one-back power is an aggressive and physical play that has several similarities. First, both schemes have the offensive line going in one direction. Like zone, everyone is responsible for a gap. In our zone scheme, everyone blocks his play side gap. In power, it works the opposite with all linemen responsible for their backside gaps with one player kicking out.

Additionally, both use combination blocks. In our run game, we want to find as many double teams as possible. On inside zone, we can have up to two double teams, and power gives us a double team at the point of attack.

Because we have similarities between the two concepts, our run game allows us to emphasize the execution of fundamentals and techniques. For example, what we call a “Backside B” technique on zone play is similar to our “Deuce Block” on the power play, and we can work that single technique in a drill.

From a strategic standpoint, both our zone and power concepts are flexible schemes. Both can be run from multiple formations. These runs provide a balanced attack which can run to both the tight end and split end sides. The variations give the play even more flexibility.

Keith Grabowski has been a football coach for 26 years, currently serving as an offensive assistant and technology coordinator at Oberlin College in Ohio. He previously was a head coach at the high school level for eight years and the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Baldwin Wallace University. Grabowski serves as an advisor for several sports technology companies. He is a columnist for American Football Monthly and writes his own blog at thecoachesedge.com/blog. He’s the author of “101+ Pro Style Pistol Offense Plays” and five other books available on thecoachesedge.com and operates Coaches Edge Technologies. Follow him on Twitter @CoachKGrabowski