As a old lineman and high school football line coach , I’m a little partial but the big guys work hard, and get very little love, what do you guys think?
O line
- Thread starter OldBengal
- Start date
Sorry to leave you hanging OldBengal saw your post, but did not have time to respond yesterday. It is a known fact that interior lineman (especially on the o line) are underappreciated and not often exposed to media hype. I too appreciate the big fellas. I often take a few series and focus solely on the interior line play. Its opens up my eyes to a game within a game when you see guys blowing or getting blown off the ball. We are working on a program for next season to recognize these fellas by having an interior lineman of the game. Funny thing is, my likely sponsor is going to be IHOP. Have been wanting to get t-shirts for the o line that's reads "DHOP" (Dinwiddie House of Pancakes). Looks like it may happen.
Imao the oftentimes most over looked part of the high school game. O line play was definitely due to the great success to SRs offense the past several years. We had a great class that came through. Also had two state team centers.
The Trenches! A whole different ball game is played here...all guts, very little glory...lots of blame when things go wrong and little praise when they do not! The best most linemen can hope for (especially on the offensive side) is a pat on the back from his coach and maybe a shout out from his QB or RB...but for some those moments are few and far between. I have always been a fan of programs that demand respect for their Linemen, I believe it pays dividends and goes a long way in building team culture. A true student of the game will tell you 100% that the reason the National Championship and Superbowl were so competitive this year was Superior Line play for both teams!
I second what the posters above have said about those under-appreciated but vitally important linemen. The D-line gets a bit more notice because they have the opportunity to make a big hit on a RB or pounce on a loose ball that gets a TO, but no top level team can be successful without these guys on both sides of the ball. At the school I follow, as with many schools, the skill players come out first and the linemen later during pre-game warmups. However, when the linemen finally come onto the field, the rest of the team stops whatever they are doing to run to the sideline and greet the linemen. Builds both team respect and camaraderie.
