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The offensive lines play
Written by Duane Long   
Thursday, 12 November 2009 11:07

I think there is an argument for Jim Bollman never having had the opportunity to prove himself as an offensive line coach. I know that shocks you coming from me but there are some things going on right now that give some weight to that argument.

It has been my contention from the point that I lost faith in Bollman a few years ago that lack of numbers and moving players all over the place has been at the core of what is wrong. Offensive lineman have the lowest success rate with the exception of quarterback. You need to keep the numbers up. I would like to have 20 in the program at all times, 16-18 scholarship players and be very aggressive in the walk-on program. Get a couple of contributors out of that underappreciated and at times underutilized area of any football program. The moving around of players fails to recognized the importance of getting reps at one position. Guards are considered interchangeable and most centers can play guard but the tackles are different positions. You have at least three unique positions to learn, center/guard, right tackle and left tackle. You have players who are behind coming out of high school because of the weight limits at Pony League. They do not learn basics until high school in too many cases. They need to settle into one spot and learn the position. Learn to do one thing very well.

We are seeing the best performance by the offensive line in more years than I care to try and remember. What is the difference? We have better numbers than we have had in recent years. We have 13 offensive linemen. The only time we have had a to shuffle this year, something we have had to do in previous years if there were injuries, is when we lost Boren for a few games, and that was because we have an All-American high school player in Connor Smith who has not panned out, not because we did not have a body. Cordle went down at RT. We went to Shugarts. Shugarts went down. We had Hall to go to.

The other matter is letting players find their game. Brewster has started every game at center. Boren has been hurt but when healthy he has played every game at left guard. Browning has played every game at right guard. Shugarts has played every snap when healthy at right tackle. Hall has played all the time at right tackle. When we have been solid at left tackle it has been the guy with the most reps at left tackle in there, Andy Miller. The one guy who has not had a good year is Cordle. He was playing so well at guard last year. Maybe had a chance at making an NFL roster with another full year at guard. He started the year at right tackle. He moved over to left tackle. In the last two years he has played at least four positions, center to start last year, left guard and this year left tackle and right tackle. I am not sure if he played any at right guard or not. I can't remember. And it shows.

Another thing about focus on one task. Since Hazel has assumed at least some and maybe all the offensive coordinator duties, the line play has gotten better. Maybe with only one task to worry about, Jim Bollman is showing himself to be a better line coach.

 


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Comments (9)Add Comment
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written by Zonabuck, November 12, 2009
Duane - there was a lot of talk last year that JT himself had to step in to take on some of the OL coaching from the Troy game onward. Apparently, that lead to OSU bringing in some new blood to coach the tackles, leaving Bollman to coach only the interior this year. I have not seen that disputed, so what is the difference this year?

Maybe we are just seeing the same thing among coaches that we do among some players -- some can do no wrong, and without accountability and pressure to succeed, they play OK without highs and lows. If you believe Bollman is different this year, then maybe what we're seeing is a guy trying to make his work more attractive to the marketplace. It's a shame that's what it takes to inspire.
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written by Miko, November 12, 2009
We lost Boren for a few games ?

Duane, he was held out of one game to 'heal up' ( NMSU ) - but could of went if needed.
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written by DSelwyn21, November 12, 2009
I don't think you can judge Bollman based only on the delirious afterglow of the Penn State game. This is year number nine for Bollman. If the problem was lack of numbers on the O-line, then who would have been better placed than Bollman to address the numbers problem? What was the excuse for last year's experienced offensive line underperforming? Did Steve Rehring getting injured against USC destroy the line's continuity? What about their pathetic performance against Ohio U. when Rehring was still healthy? I just don't buy it. Do you think if Connor Smith was on Iowa's roster that Kirk Ferentz would tolerate Smith moping on the Hawkeyes' bench for five years in a row?
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written by RipsManifesto, November 12, 2009
Yeah, I'm not sure I'm buying. You could argue his lack of depth to work with, and it's valid, but who's in charge of the numbers? If it's Bollman then it's his own fault. If it's Tressel, Bollman needs to be able to step up and say it's a little ridiculous to have more LBs on the roster for 1-3 positions than OL for 5 all the time.

Additionally, as stated earlier Tressel made it a point last year to say he was stepping in to assist coaching the OL. Hazell has begun being more involved with the OC duties. There was talk Peterson was assisting with the OTs so they would work better with his TEs. So in order for us to have a decent line we need three coaches teaching them, including the HC?

Fact is in 9 years there have been two constants with this team -- frequent underwhelming OL play and Bollman as OL coach. If it was just a numbers issue he's had plenty of time to correct it, yet has ignored/failed to do so.
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written by Razrback16, November 12, 2009
Just want to say I disagree, and I rarely disagree with Duane, but in this case as someone above said -- he's had 9 years. The o-line has consistently been bad. Don't let one good performance cloud the laundry list of other games with bad performances -- I see this on the Bucknuts message boards as well with regard to the coaching in general -- I'm as happy as anyone else when we win decisively, but people have to stay focused on the big picture -- data collection over time tells the story. 1-7 for JT in big games since, and including the Florida debacle, and 9 years of bad o-lines for J. Bollman. If it all gets turned around and we consistently see us winning (and at least staying competitive in our losses to some big games) some big games and the o-line playing better, then those of us critical of Bollman and JT should re-evaluate. But for now, I'll stick with the data.
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written by beenthere77, November 12, 2009
Interesting how so many blame Bollman for the #s, like he decided to just pass on quality linemen. Sure, most of them can come up with a couple names and think just cause these guys were able to start at a school that sometimes breaks into the top 25, they could have played for the Bucks. The reality is the pickings have have been slim, just like the numbers for the interior of the defensive line. Yet I don't hear any of these guys crying about Heacock for his low numbers. The availability of quality lineman has improved in the last couple years and lo and behold, the numbers have gone up, on both sides of the ball.

Don't get me started on the unreal expectations of these guys as true freshman and sophomores. And that's not even considering the injury factor.
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written by RipsManifesto, November 12, 2009
Been: C'mon now. We're not talking taking 8 OL every recruiting class. There is at least one OL player almost every class that people look at and think could play at OSU, but he doesn't receive an offer because we keep our numbers light. What would our line look like if we managed to take just one more OL guy every class? Would Cordle be playing? Would our freshman/sophomores be playing so soon? There's more to it than just numbers, but we can't ignore them either.
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written by Duane Long, November 12, 2009
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written by Miko, November 12, 2009
We lost Boren for a few games ?

Duane, he was held out of one game to 'heal up' ( NMSU ) - but could of went if needed.



I thought he was out for at least 2 games. I am not sure. You seem to be. It just validates the point all the more. Whether the man can teach technique and motivate is something we are not really sure about. What we do see on the field right now is his "small group" principle and belief in versatile players has been a failure. His last line will go down as his best. It is ironic that it will also be the one that shows his theories to be wrong.
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written by Duane Long, November 12, 2009
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written by Razrback16, November 12, 2009
Just want to say I disagree, and I rarely disagree with Duane, but in this case as someone above said -- he's had 9 years. The o-line has consistently been bad. Don't let one good performance cloud the laundry list of other games with bad performances -- I see this on the Bucknuts message boards as well with regard to the coaching in general -- I'm as happy as anyone else when we win decisively, but people have to stay focused on the big picture -- data collection over time tells the story. 1-7 for JT in big games since, and including the Florida debacle, and 9 years of bad o-lines for J. Bollman. If it all gets turned around and we consistently see us winning (and at least staying competitive in our losses to some big games) some big games and the o-line playing better, then those of us critical of Bollman and JT should re-evaluate. But for now, I'll stick with the data.



I want to be clear. I am not making the argument. I am saying there is an argument for it.

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