Cup of Coffee and birds chirping

Gotta say that it is a great way to start the day by sitting on the old front porch with a cup of coffee and the sounds of nature all around. Off in the distance, toward town, I can hear the bells to the old church ringing at 07.00. Sounds pretty cool. Most likely, unless you live right next to the church and wanted to sleep in..plus it's Monday morning...anyways here are some thoughts for the blog today.

Breaking it down to the simplest thought:
I have the goal of developing some really good offensive lineman from within our club. I have had this goal for a long time, being usually the only coach on offense it makes it challenging to put a ton of time into every position. I am an avid studier of "The Annual Offensive Line Clinic" videos and I really like Jim McNally and how he teaches OL play. But, truth is, you cannot dump too many things on to young players or "new" older players. I have come up with this simple...and I do mean simple teaching progression for OL play.

1. Rule number one is this. Put yourself between the defender and the ball carrier or QB passing the ball.  Yes it sounds simple, but you have to make sure each lineman understands exactly where the ball is suppossed to be run or where the QB will set up to throw the ball. He has to know where to "put himself." If he can do that, then I tell them to get between the defender and the ball and make it take as long as possible to get beaten....step one...
2. Make sure your stance allows you to move the easiest and quickest way to where you want to go. I used to be one of the guys that taught the "universal stance" but I have changed somewhat into teaching how a lineman can adjust his stance to get the job done. Now this will be a little harder to write, but I will give it a try. Let's say it's 3rd & 8 and everybody in the stadium knows you are going to throw the ball. The DE aligns up in a very wide, rush the QB position. As the OT, why should I set up in my "normal" stance? Go to a two point, narrow my feet a little, sit back and put myself into a better position to cut-off DE's rush angle...and yes...it could still be a draw. Another old trick to eliminate the false step in your footwork is to curl the toes on the foot you want to push off of. In doing this, you actually shift a little weight and take a quick step with the opposite foot. There are a ton of little changes you can make, and they do not appear obvious to the defense.

These two concepts are what I start with in introducing OL play. How does it get more advanced? Once a young lineman or the classic "new" old lineman begins to understand these two concepts, they will begin to get better. The hard thing that I have noticed is that a player that is not sure what he is doing, wants to be told what to do. I want the player to figure out that by understanding, for example, "we are running outisde there, and if I am supposed to put my body between the ball carrier and defender, the defender is going to run out there to where the ball is going...I might have to pull around here and cut-off his pursuit angle to the ball." When I see the light start to come on, confidence comes with that also.

So that's this mornings thoughts. Two basic ideas for the OL to master. Putting yourself between the defender and where the ball is going...adjusting my stance to get there the fastest and smartest way....and by the way, when you get there...be aggressive...

Until next time...see if you can get two blocks on one play....