Build Your Staff: Offensive Line Coaches Are Your Core
It is officially football coaching job season and to be honest it has been for a month or so. For every coaching staff preparing for a playoff run, there at least three times that many looking ahead to next year. If you have your eyes set on a head coaching job, this article is for you. We want to talk about who you are going to hire as your offensive line coach.
For some of you this may seem to be a peculiar place or position to start with. However; once you wade through all of the fan and media perspective, it will be quite possibly your most important hire as a head coach.
I understand that there are other positions you could argue are more important to consider first. For instance, if you are an offensive coach, it is obviously smart to find a competent Defensive Coordinator and vice versa. Your strength coach is also important but at the high school level that person is likely going to be an assistant coach or you got it. You.
Your offensive line coach and his position group will dictate how physically tough your football team is. In most cases your football team will only be as tough as your offensive line. Before you defensive coaches scoff at this notion too much, consider this. Have you ever tried to get better as a defense practicing against a “soft” offensive line? Iron sharpens iron and this is the opposite of that.
Odds also are that the best teacher and communicator on your football staff will be your offensive line coach. It is almost mandatory, because of all of the different things that come into play with this position group. No other group has five players who must work in sync on every snap or the play never gets started.
Your Most Important Hire As A New Head Coach Might Just Be Your Offensive Line Coach.
An elite offensive line recognizes, not only what is in front of them, but also what may be coming next. The blocking assignments have to be a given. In other words, if they have any question about who to block, you have no chance. After the ball is snapped the stunts, dogs and blitzes are all a part of what must be recognized and blocked if you want to be successful.
Now consider that you or your coordinator may want to run a tempo offense, the offensive line coach’s job just got harder. Your starting five linemen had better be in shape. There’s that toughness thing again. Also, If the defense does not get lined up, that can be a pain for an offensive line, not an advantage. Your schemes have to account for this too.
Good Offensive Line Coaches Will Find A Coach On The Field
Every quarterback coach worth his salt will be meeting with the quarterbacks periodically throughout the year. A good offensive line coach will work hard to identify the “Alpha Dog” from the offensive line group. This player is the coach on the field. It is often your center but it does not have to be. Your offensive line coach needs to tap into this as a resource.
Your offensive line coach should be a detailed and meticulous teacher. “We are just going to run Duo up and down the field” is not coaching. There is absolutely no reason this coach should not have the majority of the blocking sheets done before the first snap of spring ball. Football is football.
Your offensive line coach should have your blocking schemes set up vs multiple fronts and ready to go. This way when you get to the season, your offensive line coach can spend your time on breaking down your opponent, not going into some man cave and re-drawing the power for the 45th time.
The Available Technology Will Make Your Staff Better
Find an offensive line coach that embraces technology. If he uses paper and pencil to draw your stuff up, he is not only archaic, but also not an efficient coach. Obviously, we think all coaches should use FirstDown PlayBook, but regardless of what your offensive line coach uses, there is technology that will allow for better teaching.
So we hope you are on some school’s short list for their head coaching position. Of course, we don’t want rule out that you are an offensive line coach and you are the head coaching candidate. That just means that you better find another you and fast!
