Offensive line play

by BuckTN on Nov 14, 2011 10:31 AM EST

extremely poor but why?

The trade mark of most top 10, conference winning, teams is a dominate (or at least above average) offensive line. Coming into the season everyone looked at the depth chart and saw SR, SR, JR, SR, GR. That combined with the addition of, what was perceived to be, one of the best O line coaches in the south and we were destined to run right over most of the ACC. Instead, Clemson has won despite the offensive line not because of the offensive line. We've played some talented groups including Fla St, UNC, and GT and we didnt get a push against thier fronts but, the most disturbing games have come against Troy, Wofford, and Wake. Against the later mentioned teams we couldn't open holes even though Clemson's offensive line were giants when compared to their defensive line counterpart. I have some theories on why this is the case but, no real answer. My guess is:

the players were soft coming out of high school (Ard or Strelow has eluded to this)
not enough live practice against our def line
not enough emphasis on run blocking
not enough Olympic weightlifting in their training

I dont know the answer but i enjoy discussing it none the less. I do feel its a combination of all of these factors.

These opinions are not necessarily those of the Proprietors of Shakin' The Southland.

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A few thoughts/questions

1. I think these guys were already “Branded” as Charmin Soft before Caldwell could get to em…The fact that they are 4 and 5th year guys, I didnt expect him to have much impact on their mentality.. The next few waves would expect to be different.

2. Offseason- Couple of questions, how much does a position coach like Caldwell impact the S&C for his group? If he’s seen how it should be properly done while at other places, can he push for change or is it all on the HC and S&C Coach?

2B. Offseason- How would you guys rate our practice physicality in the offseason, from what you know? We’ve concluded that the season practices are a high school prom, so how do you feel about the offseason?

3. When was the last Clemson line that you felt you could be proud of? Physical, aggressive, technically sound, etc…

"Just because you've had 2 or 3 good games doesn't mean anything right now. It's not the first 3 games you're going to be remembered by." - The Chad

by scgreatest803 on Nov 14, 2011 11:09 AM EST reply actions

I tend to believe the players will take on the mentality of the coach and this is mainly because a tough coach will demand toughness or he will find someone else. If Morris sticks around long enough I think this will happen.

by BuckTN on Nov 14, 2011 1:24 PM EST up reply actions