Some background: My brother played college football at Southeastern Louisiana after winning two state championships at Liberty Hill. He played TE in high school but was recruited as a left tackle because they assumed he could get to about 290 because he is 6-foot-5. He played left tackle for two years, starting as a sophomore before a coaching change happened and he was moved to tight end under the new regime that ended up winning a Southland Conference Championship. I sent him vines from the Southern Miss game to get his thoughts on some of the issues along the offensive line. Here is a transcript of our discussion.
Me: What were your overall thoughts?
Hunter: It is tough to say who missed assignments because I don't know the specific plays or scheme called, but it seems like a technique/communication issue which to me is a coaching thing because there has to be accountability there. If you're making those types of mistakes on a consistent basis then find the bench. That is how a guy learns.
Me: There isn't a lot of depth, so that is easier said than done.
Hunter: They aren't getting flat out beat on all of those plays. One of the sacks was from a twist that wasn't communicated between the guard and tackle. We called it bumping the twist. The tackle didn't bump the guard off of his man to pick up the twister and that's first day type stuff. Another one of the blitz pickups were terrible. The worst things I saw happened when a blitz took place. They did a decent job technique wise when it was a striaght pass rush from the defensive line, but it wasn't just the offensive line. I saw running backs bailing out on blitz pickup when it was obvious their job was to only release if the blitz didn't come, so communication is what I think is the issue. Another one that was bad and reflects on coaching is when the left tackle got beat to the inside of a play-action. First of all, he should've jump-set him, but he pass-set him (*my note: That means the tackle should have washed him down like a run play instead of trying to release to his back outside foot first, which got Darragh off balance and allowed DE to get inside* end note). Second, the only way the defender gets to the quarterback on that play is through the inside. He doesn't even have to touch the guy if he jump-sets to the inside and forces him around because the ball will be out by the time the DE runs the circle. Instead, he pass-sets and let's him take the inside. We would've been benched for that. There's no excuse for it. He obviously doesn't know what is going on behind him.
Me: Can you tell if anything is on the quarterback or center? The quarterback is a walk-on in his second start and a few of the later ones was a true freshman at center.
Hunter: How the (cuss word) can a true freshman be expected to play center at the college level? Anyway, the center is the most important lineman on the field. Since he's a freshman they might not have him making the calls, but if he is (making the calls) he controls all of it so that may be a big part of the whole issue. On one play I saw cover-zero (my note* he means man-coverage with no safety over the top* end note) and they nearly picked up the blitz, but didn't have enough guys. When that happens it's on the quarterback to make that count pre-snap and get the ball out quick and he hesitated and got sacked. That could be because no one is open, i don't know, but you still got to get that ball out and save the yardage. So, if the quarterback and center are that young and inexperienced, the coaches are probably handicapped a lot in what they can call and do on the field, especially if you can't bench guys for lack of production. That's some tough (cuss word) to deal with. It is much easier to have youth on the edges and experience at center and quarterback because they can at least tell us what to do on the fly. You can see it on film an all that but (cuss word) changes once the game starts and the defense plays games up front. It wasn't like Southern Miss was just killing the guys 1-on-1, so it is either coaching, lack of execution or a combination of both.
Me: What were your overall thoughts?
Hunter: It is tough to say who missed assignments because I don't know the specific plays or scheme called, but it seems like a technique/communication issue which to me is a coaching thing because there has to be accountability there. If you're making those types of mistakes on a consistent basis then find the bench. That is how a guy learns.
Me: There isn't a lot of depth, so that is easier said than done.
Hunter: They aren't getting flat out beat on all of those plays. One of the sacks was from a twist that wasn't communicated between the guard and tackle. We called it bumping the twist. The tackle didn't bump the guard off of his man to pick up the twister and that's first day type stuff. Another one of the blitz pickups were terrible. The worst things I saw happened when a blitz took place. They did a decent job technique wise when it was a striaght pass rush from the defensive line, but it wasn't just the offensive line. I saw running backs bailing out on blitz pickup when it was obvious their job was to only release if the blitz didn't come, so communication is what I think is the issue. Another one that was bad and reflects on coaching is when the left tackle got beat to the inside of a play-action. First of all, he should've jump-set him, but he pass-set him (*my note: That means the tackle should have washed him down like a run play instead of trying to release to his back outside foot first, which got Darragh off balance and allowed DE to get inside* end note). Second, the only way the defender gets to the quarterback on that play is through the inside. He doesn't even have to touch the guy if he jump-sets to the inside and forces him around because the ball will be out by the time the DE runs the circle. Instead, he pass-sets and let's him take the inside. We would've been benched for that. There's no excuse for it. He obviously doesn't know what is going on behind him.
Me: Can you tell if anything is on the quarterback or center? The quarterback is a walk-on in his second start and a few of the later ones was a true freshman at center.
Hunter: How the (cuss word) can a true freshman be expected to play center at the college level? Anyway, the center is the most important lineman on the field. Since he's a freshman they might not have him making the calls, but if he is (making the calls) he controls all of it so that may be a big part of the whole issue. On one play I saw cover-zero (my note* he means man-coverage with no safety over the top* end note) and they nearly picked up the blitz, but didn't have enough guys. When that happens it's on the quarterback to make that count pre-snap and get the ball out quick and he hesitated and got sacked. That could be because no one is open, i don't know, but you still got to get that ball out and save the yardage. So, if the quarterback and center are that young and inexperienced, the coaches are probably handicapped a lot in what they can call and do on the field, especially if you can't bench guys for lack of production. That's some tough (cuss word) to deal with. It is much easier to have youth on the edges and experience at center and quarterback because they can at least tell us what to do on the fly. You can see it on film an all that but (cuss word) changes once the game starts and the defense plays games up front. It wasn't like Southern Miss was just killing the guys 1-on-1, so it is either coaching, lack of execution or a combination of both.
