Square One
March 27, 2009 02:35 PM | General
March 27, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It’s back to square one for West Virginia offensive line coach Dave Johnson. Last year at this time Johnson inherited a veteran offensive line with the majority of its starters returning.
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| Offensive line coach Dave Johnson will be working with an inexperienced group of players this spring.
Bill Amatucci photo |
This year, the majority of its starters are beginners.
“Fundamentals are what I am about every single day. You not only have to know who to block but how to block them,” Johnson said. “It’s development every single day … develop, develop, develop.”
Johnson has two just players with significant starting experience returning – center Eric Jobe and tackle Selvish Capers. Sophomore guard Josh Jenkins also has some starting experience before his season ended prematurely after just five games. Donny Barclay has seen time, too.
Because some of the older players have been taught three different ways of doing things, Johnson is still trying to sort through some of the habits they have formed through the years.
“We’re still battling with some things and it will take time because they have developed habits. If you do something for a period of time you are going to develop some habits,” Johnson explained. “Whether it be from high school or previous coaches here, there are some habits that need to be redone and we’re working on that.”
Johnson is first and foremost a fundamentals coach. The sum of the parts must always equal the whole.
“We are starting from ground zero with stance – how do you get into a stance? Where should your hands be? Where should your eyes be?” Johnson said. “Then you coach every single detail as well as you can.
“If our technique or our fundamentals are not right on then we are going to get beat because we are not as good athletically as any of the guys on defense,” Johnson said. “That is a constant battle that we’re always going to have. We address it in all areas, in our meetings, in our individual time and we do it in the weight room. Mike Joseph has strength coaches devoted just to the offensive line so we can train them. We lift, we do agilities … everything we do with them is to develop them as offensive linemen.
“Any time my guys are engaged with the defense we are losing the athletic battle,” Johnson added. “Those guys are always going to be better athletes than we are.”
Johnson is also beginning to teach different blocking styles as the West Virginia offense evolves. But regardless of what type of offense a team runs, Johnson says man-on-man blocking remains the essence of offensive line play.
“If you do zone, man blocking or gap schemes it comes down to man-on-man. At some point in time you are going to be engaged with a guy and that’s what you have got to coach. That’s what it all stems from is the basic fundamentals of drive blocking,” Johnson said. “How do you sustain that drive block? How do you maintain your leverage on your man so we can have success on the line? Those are all transferable with everything you do, and that’s where it has to start and that’s what we try to do every day.”
Ideally, Johnson would like to have eight players ready to go by the time spring drills are finished.
“You better have three centers that you feel good about at that position just because handling the football is so critical,” Johnson said. “That is something you can’t mess around with, whether it is someone from another position that can come in and play or whatever. Last year we had Mike Dent and Eric and we also had Greg Isadaner that could come in there as well.
“Eight would be good and you would like to have three be able to handle the football,” Johnson said.
Johnson believes there are several core characteristics offensive linemen must possess in order to be successful.
“Size is a key component. Foot speed is a key component. Agility is a key component. Intelligence is a key and character is a key,” Johnson said. “Those are all of the things you kind of look for when you go on the recruiting trail and then you see what the best available there is out there that can fulfill those things. After that, who wants to come? That’s the battle – getting them on campus, getting them to know the people.
“I am recruiting guys from Pittsburgh and they have never been south of the Mason-Dixon line. Then they come into Morgantown and they say, ‘Whoa.’ It’s a perspective that I don’t know where they get it from or where they get that image, but once they get here this place blows them away,” Johnson said.
Johnson believes the coaching staff has been able to land some quality linemen in the two recruiting classes that he’s been involved with so far.
“In this recruiting class we’ve got some big guys but we also have some guys that aren’t very big when you look at their measurements. But there are some guys who play hard and winning football games and becoming better are a high priority to them,” he said. “That’s what kind of attracted them to me and vice versa.”
Johnson believes offensive line is one of the areas on the football field where ability can be developed.
“We’re just going to work hard every day and sometimes you have to take a step back and re-teach some things and re-emphasize some things and then go on. Some days you take two leaps forward because they got it,” Johnson said. “That’s the whole deal about the offensive line.”
Johnson said he will also do a lot of experimenting to come up with the right combinations.
“You are losing four guys so we’re going to have to find out where the parts fit. In my mind I kind of know but a lot of these guys have not been put under any pressure yet,” he said. “You’re talking about some guys that have not even been in a scrimmage against good people – against that speed. We’ll find out. We may have to mix and match a little bit. We’ve had to do it before. We’ll just try and simplify it and hopefully the system will handle it and then we’ll go from there.”
Johnson is a patient man, but cautions that his patience is not limitless.
“I try to be as patient as possible until I believe that they should know what to do. Then it’s time to move on,” Johnson explained. “Whether they can or can’t do it - or whether they chose not to do it - then as a coach I have to move on because the clock is your enemy. I only get so much time with them. Time goes by very fast and some guys have to produce in a timely manner or they are going to be left behind and somebody else is going to pass them by.
“Guys that get the reps are the guys that are going to develop and I can only give the guys the reps who I feel can do it and can help us win,” Johnson said.
