That link is wrong. Callahan has used the ZBS at his other coaching positions.
I heard him quoted in an interview during training camp where he said "I paid for my kid's college educations teaching the Zone Blocking Scheme".
He says he uses a mix of Zone and Man depending on the situation and players.
Here is an article from 2009 about Callahan's ZBS with the Jets:
Published: Thursday, December 31, 2009, 8:28 PM
They fool you on every play, baiting the overzealous, embarrassing the overaggressive and slipping through cracks you never knew existed.
When they do it just right, you look silly.
The science of zone blocking may not be overly complicated, but the latest addition to the Jets playbook has put Rex Ryan’s team on the precipice of a playoff berth.
The Jets’ top-ranked rushing attack (166.6 yards per game) has leaned on a design built on offensive linemen blocking areas rather than single defenders as running backs run parallel to the line of scrimmage before choosing a crease to slip through.
Although the Jets used inside zone-blocking runs — running backs cutting back through open lanes inside the tackles — last season, they have added another dimension that has made all the difference.
Offensive line coach Bill Callahan’s decision to expand the team’s zone-blocking repertoire this season with more outside zone plays — linemen running as wide as the tight end’s position on the field — has paid dividends in the past two months.
“In the beginning of the year, we weren’t as good at it,” right guard Brandon Moore said. “We were still getting a feel for it. As we’ve gone along, it’s become our staple.”
The evolution of outside zone runs during the season has had a tangible effect. Thomas Jones, who admittedly didn’t care for the new wrinkle early on, averaged 3.7 yards per carry in the first five games. After grasping the nuances of outside zone runs, Jones averaged 4.6 yards per carry over the next 10 games.
“It’s a transition,” said Jones, the league’s fourth-leading rusher (1,324 yards). “Once we (practiced) it and we had some success, that’s when we started to buy into it. Now we’re a zone team.”
The Jets’ run-heavy offense, which averages a league-high 36.7 attempts per game, is an anomaly in what has become a pass-first league. Eight of the 10 teams that have clinched a playoff spot rank in the Top 10 in passing. The Jets are 30th.
“As an offensive lineman, it’s a way to impose your will on another team,” Moore said. “The attitude of this team is run the ball and play defense. That’s all I ever asked for. That’s a recipe for a great team.”
Pro Bowl center Nick Mangold estimated a 50-50 split between zone-blocking and traditional man-blocking runs, but offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has gradually increased his zone calls throughout the season.
The primary difference with outside zone runs lies in a running back’s wider “landmark,” or ultimate destination, before a decision needs to be made.
Offensive linemen must be even more in sync since zone designs require more combination blocks. They need to “stay on their track” to fulfill their assignment, Moore said.
On any given play, running backs are presented with a front-side read, back-side read and “hit it right now” option that requires them to keep it simple: find immediate daylight and burst through a hole.
According to Jones, the running back moves “sideways,” or parallel to the linemen, who flow in one direction in unison. The secret to the outside-zone style’s success is to let opponents do all the heavy lifting.
“It’s an illusion,” said Jones, who on Sunday will face the Bengals’ second-ranked rush defense (87.7 ypg), which has allowed only four teams to top 100 yards this season. “Instead of making the defense come to where you want them to go and then blocking them, you let the defense take themselves out of the play and you react. If they over-run it, you cut back. If they stay back, you stay front side.”
The flexibility of zone schemes allows Jones and rookie Shonn Greene to make more reads. Fullback Tony Richardson, an integral part of the Kansas City Chiefs’ dominant zone-blocking system in the first half of the decade, also helped.
“There’s not a (pre-determined) hole where if they blitz it or stunt it, it’s closed,” Pro Bowl left guard Alan Faneca said. “The hole may be between the right guard and tackle or it could just be behind the tackle. It gives the running backs a chance to find a way.”
The scheme also exploits “really fast flowing defenses,” said Greene, who thrived in a zone-blocking scheme at Iowa.
“Get them running one way,” Greene said, “and then you can cut off that.”
Callahan plucked elements from successful zone-blocking teams of the past and showed video clips to his linemen in the offseason.
“We took little pieces from a bunch of different teams and made it into our own,” Mangold said.
Faneca spent 10 seasons in a big gap-trap, man-blocking system in Pittsburgh before learning to block more at an angle to move guys around and create running lanes rather than simply driving through them straight on. After a brief adjustment period, the unit began to gel. So, the number of zone-blocking calls increased.
“Once the proof was out there that we were starting to get it,” Faneca said, “that’s when the coaches opened the door a little bit and started getting a little more creative with those packages.”
