OL

[Deleted11512]

A lot of talk about the OL sucking and what needs to be done. I think everyone agrees that the OL sucks, and SOMETHING needs to be done. IMO, we can have the best OL coach in the country, but without players, they'll be an average unit at best. I don't want an OL that will block Vandy, Arky, UK, MSU....I want one that will block UGA, Bama, OU, UT, UTjr, etc...To have that, we have to have players. So, I went through the OL that beamer has signed/committed to see what other offers they had. Sometimes that's just as good an indicator as the star rating. I'm only listing the notable offers:

2022 - Not good enough. On top of that, Brubaker was out for the year, and Henry missed 9 games I think.
Brubaker 3* - PSU, UT, Mich, UF, AU, Ole Miss (24 total)
Mains 3* - Duke, UT (15 total)
Henry 3* - Mich St, Maryland, NC St, UNC (20 total)

2023 - Much better, higher rated kids with more quality offers
Anderson 4* - Clem, FSU, LSU, Wash (10 total)
Babalade 4* - TOSU, UF, PSU, Miami, Ole Miss (24 total)
Baugh 3* - FSU, LSU, AU, UT, Miami (41 total)
Shivers 3* - AU, Mich, FSU, Ole Miss (21 total)

2024 - Not sure if we'll land any others in this class from HS, but looks like we'll be active in the portal. Already in good position with some highly rated guys for 2025.
Thompson 5* - Bama, AU, Clem, UF, FSU, UGA, OU, UT (16 total)
Pringle 4* - AU, Clem, FSU, UGA, LSU, Mich, TOSU, PSU UT (21 total)
Franks 3* - Bama, AU, Clem, FSU, UF, PSU, Ole Miss (18 total)

Clearly the talent level is increasing. But we do need to bridge that gap between now and when these guys develop. Beamer was able to do that in 2022 with QB, WR, TE. Nichols was by far our best OL. Getting him back will be huge. I think we're on the right path with the OL.

 

[18IsTheMan]

All the talent in the world won't matter with a Dollar General OL coach.

 

[Deleted11512]

All the talent in the world won't matter with a Dollar General OL coach.

It's not an either/or discussion. Both is needed. We'll find out this year what his worth is. Recruiting is 50% of the job. Check!

 

[18IsTheMan]

It's not an either/or discussion. Both is needed. We'll find out this year what his worth is. Recruiting is 50% of the job. Check!

I guess let me ask it this way. If you were Beamer, would you place the fate of your career at USC in Teasley's hands?

 

[Deleted11512]

I guess let me ask it this way. If you were Beamer, would you place the fate of your career at USC in Teasley's hands?

I'm not evaluating Teasley on a daily basis, so there's no way possible I can answer that question. All I can see is success on the trail, he did a good job last year when Adkins was out, and he's been dealt a terrible hand with injuries this year. I don't recall much complaining about his OL last year. It wasn't great, but we didn't have a ton of talent up there either.

But have I given guys that may have been underqualified a chance bc I thought they had potential and were a good fit for my organization? Absolutely. Has that failed me? Absolutely. Has it worked out for me? Absolutely.

 

[18IsTheMan]

I'm not evaluating Teasley on a daily basis, so there's no way possible I can answer that question. All I can see is success on the trail, he did a good job last year when Adkins was out, and he's been dealt a terrible hand with injuries this year. I don't recall much complaining about his OL last year. It wasn't great, but we didn't have a ton of talent up there either.

But have I given guys that may have been underqualified a chance bc I thought they had potential and were a good fit for my organization? Absolutely. Has that failed me? Absolutely. Has it worked out for me? Absolutely.

It's just an awfully big gamble for Beamer. If he gets canned here, nobody is lining up to offer him HC gigs. At the very least, I'd poke around to see if any there were any reasonable OL coach upgrades out there.

Big problem I had with our OL is that we just weren't tough. Showed no fight. It was against UNC, I think, when they only rushed 3 D linemen on a play and beat 2 double-teams...on the same play...and sacked Rattler. That was emblematic of our OL this year.

 

[Deleted11512]

It's just an awfully big gamble for Beamer. If he gets canned here, nobody is lining up to offer him HC gigs. At the very least, I'd poke around to see if any there were any reasonable OL coach upgrades out there.

Big problem I had with our OL is that we just weren't tough. Showed no fight. It was against UNC, I think, when they only rushed 3 D linemen on a play and beat 2 double-teams...on the same play...and sacked Rattler. That was emblematic of our OL this year.

That particular issue wasn't just the OL, and is an indictment of our S&C program in my opinion. And sounds like there's a lot of noise around that particular job.

 

[Celtic Riot]

Both are valid discussions but if you held a gun to my head and said pick an elite coach or elite players, I am taking the players every single time. Clemson's defensive coordinator is not good, but he had the better players Saturday and made a 17-year NFL vet look like he never seen a football game before. That's a jimmy and joe difference right there.

 

[18IsTheMan]

Both are valid discussions but if you held a gun to my head and said pick an elite coach or elite players, I am taking the players every single time. Clemson's defensive coordinator is not good, but he had the better players Saturday and made a 17-year NFL vet look like he never seen a football game before. That's a jimmy and joe difference right there.

Look at what JImbo did with some of the best talent ever assembled.

Nobody wins big without talent, we all know that. But talent on its own doesn't translate to on-field results. There's a long list of coaches who have squandered talented rosters. There's also a long list of coaches who have coached less-talented players up.

 

[Celtic Riot]

Look at what JImbo did with some of the best talent ever assembled.

and Jimbo was also considered an elite coach, so I guess we watched both of those scenarios fail lol.

 

[18IsTheMan]

and Jimbo was also considered an elite coach, so I guess we watched both of those scenarios fail lol.

True, but the point is you just can't assemble talented players and expect that they'll cover up coaching deficiencies.

 

[Palmetto Golf]

It looks like we are upgrading our talent level. I think the biggest issue is stength and conditioning, which affects both sides of the ball. We got pushed around by everybody we played, possibly with the exception of Vandy and we could not get a push on anyone, possibly with the exception, again, of Vandy. Not being at practice, everyday, I really cannot tell what individuals execute their assignments or not. I can sure see we do not pick up delayed blitzes very well (coaching) and are slow (talent). I can also see we are not very strong and as mentioned tough.

 

[Celtic Riot]

It looks like we are upgrading our talent level. I think the biggest issue is stength and conditioning, which affects both sides of the ball. We got pushed around by everybody we played, possibly with the exception of Vandy and we could not get a push on anyone, possibly with the exception, again, of Vandy. Not being at practice, everyday, I really cannot tell what individuals execute their assignments or not. I can sure see we do not pick up delayed blitzes very well (coaching) and are slow (talent). I can also see we are not very strong and as mentioned tough.

If I could pick a bone with the coaching, I absolutely hate zone runs. I mean yes, they work for most teams, but I played OL at a high level and coached the position. It is pretty difficult to run zones unless you have a cohesive unit and everyone is on the same page, however after injuries and finding the right 5 all year we should have just stuck with the powers and pin and pulls etc. That run against Florida where we pulled the guard jones and juju broke it for a touchdown run was the most beautiful thing, I seen that line do all season.

 

[TheRoo]

Jimbo and staff had a lot of incentive to fail.