New OL Coach - Who would You Hire???

[Evil Crimson Dragon]

Sounds like he's anticipating more of the same.

Have to wait and see if we get a new OL coach.

that will be the key

 

[Bamabuzzard]

The hope is that they have much better feet. I don’t have the ability to evaluate that so I have no clue how the new guys compare in that critical skill. But just because they are the same size doesn’t mean there can’t be a big difference in the foot quickness. I’ve heard several people comment on the feet slowness of last year’s OL. I don’t know enough myself or who to trust to comment on that. I’ll just say that i would be surprised if Proctor or Brailsford or Carroll had slow feet.

I agree, we cant go by size, hopefully the staff watched tape and saw better feet and athleticism.

 

[AlexanderFan]

I assume you will be surprised to know that Grubb’s Seattle ran a tad more successfully than the current one: 4.2 ypc vs 4.1, but the attempts have gone up. IMO, though Geno Smith is better than many think, Sam Darnold at QB has been the biggest difference in their O.

Right. Grubb has his problems, but comparing him with Geno Smith at the helm to the guy with Sam Darnold is criminally unfair.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Right. Grubb has his problems, but comparing him with Geno Smith at the helm to the guy with Sam Darnold is criminally unfair.

My biggest beef with Grubb is his tendency to go off script when something is clearly working and it not only ends a drive but changes the direction of the game. It drives me nuts.

 

[bamaga]

I assume you will be surprised to know that Grubb’s Seattle ran a tad more successfully than the current one: 4.2 ypc vs 4.1, but the attempts have gone up. IMO, though Geno Smith is better than many think, Sam Darnold at QB has been the biggest difference in their O.

Seattle uses more power run game with a Fullback and a wide zone attack . The fullback is Robbie Ouzts. All 6-3, 274 pounds of him. Their TushPush play uses a TE as the QB with Ouzts pushing from behind.

 

[bamaga]

My biggest beef with Grubb is his tendency to go off script when something is clearly working and it not only ends a drive but changes the direction of the game. It drives me nuts.

My beef as well, the double, triple , throwback , halfback pass, flea flicker play either loses 10 yards or loses a down because the QB is under duress. Did any variation of that play work last year? It was definitely a drive stopper.

 

[CB4]

My biggest beef with Grubb is his tendency to go off script when something is clearly working and it not only ends a drive but changes the direction of the game. It drives me nuts.

I think this is a common problem with many OC’s and play callers. You can’t be seen as a genius or an offensive mastermind unless you do stuff that “isn’t expected”. If you run a toss sweep for 5 yards on every play and score TD, well you’re just “OK”. But if you run a pass off a jet sweep reverse that works once in eight attempts, man you are a “guru”.

Back in the dark ages when I played, our oline coach also called the offense. Just a simple country guy. He said calling plays wasn’t hard.

“Find something that keeps working and keep doing it until it doesn’t.”

 

[bamaga]

Proctor got beat an awful lot for a LT who is supposedly highly rated.

I know we've got a few guys who are 350+, but he was 370-380 last year. There's just a big difference between a 370 and 320. Both are "huge" to most of us, but 320 is close to the NFL average.

According to AI:

By Position (Approximate Averages):

• Offensive Linemen (Center, Guard, Tackle): ~310 - 315 lbs (6'4"-6'5" average height)
• Defensive Tackles (DT): ~300 - 310 lbs (6'3" average height)
• Defensive Ends
  (DE):
  ~280 - 285 lbs (6'4" average height)

JMO, Proctor needs to play at around 335. I think that will help with the speed rushers around the edge. With his height, he should have leverage, and 335-340 , should be a good weight. An OT doesn’t have to be faster than an Edge player, not going to happen, just fast enough to not let a guy run around him in under 3 seconds.

 

[bamaga]

I think this is a common problem with many OC’s and play callers. You can’t be seen as a genius or an offensive mastermind unless you do stuff that “isn’t expected”. If you run a toss sweep for 5 yards on every play and score TD, well you’re just “OK”. But if you run a pass off a jet sweep reverse that works once in eight attempts, man you are a “guru”.

Back in the dark ages when I played, our oline coach also called the offense. Just a simple country guy. He said calling plays wasn’t hard.

“Find something that keeps working and keep doing it until it doesn’t.”

That is the old way of thinking, and still works to some degree. There are play callers and guys that call plays. One just rattles off plays because a play has to be called , and the other builds on what other plays have established with the defense. I thought more of Grubb than I saw last year. The question is was last year the anomaly? Or the two years at Washington?

 

[CB4]

That is the old way of thinking, and still works to some degree. There are play callers and guys that call plays. One just rattles off plays because a play has to be called , and the other builds on what other plays have established with the defense. I thought more of Grubb than I saw last year. The question is was last year the anomaly? Or the two years at Washington?

My point primarily is that many of these guys get caught up in calling plays to be seen as being “creative” or “innovative” instead of being purposeful in establishing play calling that puts defenses in compromising or stressed circumstances.,

Going back to my old days, our OC did that via “keep doing it until they stop it” approach. He would do it until he saw the defense started to adjust.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

That is the old way of thinking, and still works to some degree. There are play callers and guys that call plays. One just rattles off plays because a play has to be called , and the other builds on what other plays have established with the defense. I thought more of Grubb than I saw last year. The question is was last year the anomaly? Or the two years at Washington?

I think the OL truly needs to improve to determine if last year was a fluke or not. I could see where his playcalling could have been influenced by how bad the OL was. So I'll give him that. I can see why we run a jet sweep on a fourth and short because on the previous four rushing attempts the back was hit behind the LOS. So its possible those previous plays could easily impact the fourth and short play call.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

ESPN just had Rece and Herbie on and Herbie said one thing hes interested to watch Monday night is Miami's OL and their obvious size advantage over Indianas DL. No one's been able to stop Indana's DL regardless of the OL's size. Im curious to watch too. I know this is an OL thread but Monday we're going too see if Miami's OL is better coached than Indiana's DL.

 

[AlexanderFan]

My biggest beef with Grubb is his tendency to go off script when something is clearly working and it not only ends a drive but changes the direction of the game. It drives me nuts.

There are some that use last year Seattle versus this year as an indictment against him.

 

[Snuffy Smith]

JMO, Proctor needs to play at around 335. I think that will help with the speed rushers around the edge. With his height, he should have leverage, and 335-340 , should be a good weight. An OT doesn’t have to be faster than an Edge player, not going to happen, just fast enough to not let a guy run around him in under 3 seconds.

Could you imagine Proctor trying to stop Will Anderson next year?

 

[Ole Man Dan]

Whats different in the guys we're bringing in compared to last years guys? The guys we're bringing in are just as big as the guys we had last season. So whats the different?

The difference is TRAINING. We need someone with a reputation in Highschool or Someone with a reputation at another college... THEN we need a OL coach who is mean and nasty, someone who will push them harder than they have ever been pushed.
We need our entire coaching staff to be mean and nasty.
AND... We need our Strength and Conditioning guys to be like Scott Cothran. We need all of our guys to be TOUGH GUYS.
LASTLY... This has to start at the top.
No more Ice Cream Trucks...
Our practices have to be the toughest things they have ever done.
DeBoer needs to make Cignignity look calm and happy. That's what DeBoer needs to do.

Can he do it? If not we need to look elsewhere.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Could you imagine Proctor trying to stop Will Anderson next year?

Proctor would never even see Anderson blow by him. Will Anderson is the definition of an elite edge pass rusher. I dont think Proctor lined up against anybody in WA's class.

 

[bamaga]

ESPN just had Rece and Herbie on and Herbie said one thing hes interested to watch Monday night is Miami's OL and their obvious size advantage over Indianas DL. No one's been able to stop Indana's DL regardless of the OL's size. Im curious to watch too. I know this is an OL thread but Monday we're going too see if Miami's OL is better coached than Indiana's DL.

I won’t. I have no real interest in watching that game. I missed three Bama games this year, and my interest is up and down. Mostly down now.
I’ve enjoyed watching NFL playoff games. I am a Pats fan, but it was bittersweet victory watching To’oto’o make 8 tackles 2 TFL and Will Anderson have 3 sacks, 4 QB hurries, 2 TFL and 2 Forced fumbles(strip sacks) in a losing effort.
If the Texans had a decent QB, they would win the Super Bowl. CJ stroud had 8 turnovers in the two playoff games, and completed 44% of his passes today. BTW, Anfernee Jennings is alive and well playing for the Patriots. Not all world, but a long way from almost losing his leg below the knee.
Anyway, back to the thread.

 

[rolltide_21]

Stoutland. Won’t happen but that’s who I’d pick.

 

[KrAzY3]

I think the OL truly needs to improve to determine if last year was a fluke or not. I could see where his playcalling could have been influenced by how bad the OL was. So I'll give him that. I can see why we run a jet sweep on a fourth and short because on the previous four rushing attempts the back was hit behind the LOS. So its possible those previous plays could easily impact the fourth and short play call.

I wanted DeBoer to have Grubb because that's his guy, that's the one that ran his top offenses, that's the one Nick Saban wanted to hire. If you want DeBoer's system at all, you probably would want Grubb running it.

Having said that, while advocating for Grubb I pointed out the tendencies in this system in the run game and elaborated on why I thought that was a problem. I never thought that system/approach would hold up to SEC defenses, especially without Michael Penix. Milroe actually covered up some of the weak running game in 2024 by giving them a pseudo running game.

We've now seen enough to give that some credibility.
Scoring offense rank, first year is prior to DeBoer's arrival.
Washington:
2021: 108
2022: 7
2023: 13

Alabama
2023: 24
2024: 22
2025: 49

Clearly, there was no big bump like DeBoer saw in Washington. But there also was no Penix and no Pac-12 defenses either. I think Grubb knows what the issue is, but he's kind of powerless to stop it (believe it or not at Fresno State as their OL coach their running game actually improved). Calling plays with a banged up QB when you can't run the ball is basically running an offense with one hand tied behind your back. Either they bring in someone to teach run blocking and establish a running game, or I don't think we ever see the improvement in offense some people expected.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I wanted DeBoer to have Grubb because that's his guy, that's the one that ran his top offenses, that's the one Nick Saban wanted to hire. If you want DeBoer's system at all, you probably would want Grubb running it.

Having said that, while advocating for Grubb I pointed out the tendencies in this system in the run game and elaborated on why I thought that was a problem. I never thought that system/approach would hold up to SEC defenses, especially without Michael Penix. Milroe actually covered up some of the weak running game in 2024 by giving them a pseudo running game.

We've now seen enough to give that some credibility.
Scoring offense rank, first year is prior to DeBoer's arrival.
Washington:
2021: 108
2022: 7
2023: 13

Alabama
2023: 24
2024: 22
2025: 49

Clearly, there was no big bump like DeBoer saw in Washington. But there also was no Penix and no Pac-12 defenses either. I think Grubb knows what the issue is, but he's kind of powerless to stop it. Calling plays with a banged up QB when you can't run the ball is basically running an offense with one hand tied behind your back. Either they bring in someone to teach run blocking and establish a running game, or I don't think we ever see the improvement in offense some people expected.

I wonder if facing better more physical defenses in the SEC played alot into that? I also wonder if he sees any need to adjust his philosophy after two years of his offense not doing what hes used to it doing?