Colorado University Athletics
Position Preview: Buffs O-Line Boasts Plenty Of Experience
August 06, 2017 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — If you want to know about a football team's offensive line, a good place to start is the running backs coach.
After all, it is the running backs whose success depends on the big fellas up front.
Safe to say, Colorado running backs coach Darian Hagan is pleased with what he sees from the Buffs' offensive line this year.
"It's as good as we've had for a while," Hagan said. "You look up there and you see really good athleticism, guys that are smart, guys that are maulers. In this conference, if you don't have a mauler up front, then you're going to struggle. Our guys, we have confidence in them."
Hagan's opinion isn't an outlier. Rather, it seems to be the common theme, all the way up to the ladder to the head coach.
"I've said it a few times, this is the best offensive line we've had since I've been here," Mike MacIntyre said early last week.
But the guy who really matters, the offensive line coach?
He's tuning all the commentary out and tuning in on the fundamentals. What matters to Buffs O-line coach Klayton Adams is what happens every day in practice and every day in the film room.
That's where players get better. Nobody, Adams notes, ever got better by reading about themselves.
"I worry about our expectations in our room," Adams said. "Obviously the head coach has some high expectations and that's good. But we just worry about getting better every day.
"It's kind of a coaching cliche´, but I really think it takes a little fun out of it to worry about what other people are thinking."
Adams is in his second year coaching CU's linemen. His first-year results were solid by any measure: the Buffs cut their sacks allowed total dramatically (from 41 in 2015 to 28 last season), while also dramatically improving CU's rushing performance by nearly 30 yards per game.
This season, Adams has four of his five starters back, and the one place where there's someone "new" is center, which will be filled by veteran Jonathan Huckins, who makes the move from guard.
Now, Adams says, it's time for his line to make another quantum leap.
"Right now, we're way ahead year of where we were last year at this point," he said late last week. "It's not even close. Having said, that, we're not even close to where we want to be. We've got a whole bunch of work to do. You'd like to go out to a practice and feel like 95 and 96 percent of what you want is being done; we're more in the like the 50 percent mark right now. We've just got a ton of work to do."
While the average fan sometimes believe playing offensive line is simply a matter of being big and strong, that's not the case. Those guys on the other side of the line who are intent upon doing harm to your quarterback or running back are also big and strong.
The difference is in the details — and it's why Adams is such a stickler for the little things, the fundamentals that can make the difference between a 2-yard gain and a 20-yard burst.
"This position is really about minute details and getting really, really good at certain fundamentals and understanding what you're supposed to do without having to have a long thought process about it," Adams said. "That's really where our focus is right now. There's a lot of volume we've installed in terms of scheme. … With each of those things there's some fundamentals that go with some of those schemes we have to improve on."
The good news is Adams has plenty of experienced players, meaning the learning curve shouldn't be steep.
Heading into camp, the depth chart up front included seniors Huckins at center, Gerrad Kough at left guard and sixth-year senior Jeromy Irwin at left tackle; along with redshirt sophomore Tim Lynott Jr. at right guard and redshirt sophomore Aaron Haigler at right tackle. Irwin, also a team captain for the second straight year, is already in the conversation when it comes to early NFL Draft chatter; and both he and Lynott earned preseason All-Pac 12 mention.
"That experience is really important, especially as you go into a first game or you go into a rivalry game or a big game," Adams said. "As you go through a season, it's the guys that have been there before who are the guys that you have a good feel about."
But it's more than the players currently atop the depth chart that has Adams cautiously optimistic. He's also seen some big improvement from players such as sophomores Brett Tonz and Dillon Middlemiss and junior Josh Kaiser. Others who have been impressive early in camp include freshman Colby Pursell and sophomore Isaac Miller.
"I really expect some of those guys to make a push," Adams said. "Hopefully during camp someone can really make a move. Those are the things that are exciting to me, when you are watching the guy you didn't expect fall into place with guys around him that have played and all of a sudden they're a different player."
WHO'S BACK: Senior Jeromy Irwin, senior Gerrad Kough, senior Jonathan Huckins, junior Josh Kaiser, sophomore Brett Tonz, sophomore Tim Lynott Jr., sophomore Dillon Middlemiss, sophomore Justin Eggers, sophomore Aaron Haigler, sophomore Isaac Miller, RS freshman Kolter Smith, RS freshman Hunter Vaughn.
WHO'S NEW: Freshman Heston Paige, freshman Colby Pursell, freshman Grant Polley, freshman Jacob Moretti, sophomore Jack Shutack (transfer), freshman Chance Lytle, freshman William Sherman, freshman Casey Roddick.
WHAT'S IN STORE: No doubt, the line is one very big reason — literally and figuratively — that observers are predicting a banner year for the Buffs' offense. There's plenty of experience, plenty of ability and lots of depth.
But the key — along with the obvious of remaining healthy — will be if the unit can gel together. While CU did improve its rushing numbers last year, the Buffs ran for less than 100 yards in each of its last two games (both losses). They'll need to improve that number against quality teams, and at the same time make sure quarterback Steven Montez has time to set up in the pocket when the Buffs go to the air.
A year ago, the Buffs took a significant step forward up front. This year, with a defense that lost eight starters, they need to take a similar step if they're going to control the tempo of games. If they can do that, good things are ahead for the Colorado offense.
STAT TO REMEMBER: Experience? Figure this: the five players who were atop the depth chart heading into fall camp have combined for 82 starts and played in 5,862 snaps from scrimmage, and all but Haigler have at least 13 career starts (Irwin leads the way with 26 starts).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
