Friday, November 28, 2008
Media limitations petty at Tech, UVa
Lots of unknowns in O-line recruiting
Doug Doughty
Doug Doughty's College Notebook Plus is exclusive to roanoke.com and is posted by 5 p.m. Fridays.
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Frank Beamer’s media lockdown at Virginia Tech this week has made for an interesting dichotomy between the state’s two Division I-A football programs.
At Tech, Beamer trusts his assistant coaches but not his players.
At Virginia, Al Groh trusts his players but not his coaches.
Groh’s “one-voice” policy does not affect his players, probably because he doesn’t think he could get away with it. But, once Groh learns about Beamer putting his players off limits, who knows?
If you ask me, it’s time for both programs to take a walk on the wild side.
Am I mistaken, or has Tech lost of the intimidation factor that it enjoyed earlier in the decade? There was no muzzle on the Hokies then, on or off the field.
Maybe some stupid flags cost them a game or two, but not that I can remember.
Political correctness has been in greater supply in Charlottesville. Where has it taken the Cavaliers?
UVa football was frequently overlooked until 1980s linebacker Charles McDaniel opened his mouth.
The word out of Blacksburg this week was that reporters were given what they deserved -- the Al Groh treatment -- but the lockdown came at a time when Virginia players were never more accessible.
At a Tuesday press luncheon before Virginia’s game with Clemson, reporters got tight end John Phillips, outside linebacker Clint Sintim, wide receiver Kevin Ogletree, quarterback Marc Verica and inside linebacker Jon Copper. Offensive tackle Eugene Monroe and running back Cedric Peerman were available by telephone the next day.
That was virtually every prominent Virginia player over a span of just over 24 hours. Meantime, the same Tech players – wide receiver Danny Coale, defensive end Orion Martin and offensive tackle Nick Marshman – have represented the Hokies nearly every week, except that Marshman wasn’t there this week.
I’ve never had a problem with coaches closing practices (that’s fine for me to say; it would be a four-hour round trip) but putting assistant coaches off limits is ridiculous. If you trust them to go on the road and say the right thing to prospects, their coaches and parents, why can’t they be trusted with the media?
The same with Sean Glennon. You trust him with your offense for four years – OK, for parts of four years – and, as a 23-year-old, you worry about what he might say to the media? I don’t care what the media has done to tick you off. That’s still being petty.
IT SEEMS TO ME that there was a time when Virginia and Virginia Tech routinely had good offensive lines. What’s the deal this year?
Seldom has there been a Tech-UVa meeting when both of the offensive lines have been so undistinguished. UVa can’t open holes, witness its 114th place standing among 119 Division I-A teams in rushing offense. Tech can’t protect its quarterback, witness an ACC high of 36 sacks allowed (Wake Forest, which is 11th among ACC teams, has allowed 29 sacks).
Many of Virginia’s deficiencies can be blamed on poor recruiting, but great things were predicted for the Tech offensive line in 2007, when the Hokies signed five of the top six line recruits in the state: Blake DeChristopher, Will Alvarez, Jaymes Brooks, Khalil Latif and Greg Nosal.
They’re all still there, although Latif is now listed as a defensive lineman who isn’t on the two-deep. DeChristopher starts at right tackle, while Nosal and Brooks are listed as second-teamers at left tackle and right guard, respectively. Alvarez, probably the highest-rated of the bunch after DeChristopher, is nowhere to be seen.
We’re told that once Alvarez learns the system, he could be a factor. And, the truth is, the best teams don’t move their offensive linemen into the starting lineup before the third or fourth year. But, if Tech is one of the best teams – heck, they’re a conference championship contender – you can’t say that they’ve got an elite offensive line.
If these young guys are any good, they should be playing.
Virginia’s highest-rated offensive-line recruits have had good careers, but if you look at guys like center Jordy Lipsey and guard Ian-Yates Cunningham, you see they basically were journeymen despite being rated among the top prospects in the country at their positions.
How is it that offensive lineman are so hard to evaluate? No position is harder to evaluate, according to Al Groh.
“Sometimes it’s almost comical [on tape] to watch the 6-6, 280-pound player matched up against a player who’s only this big,” said Groh, holding his hands at a level to suggest a 6-footer. “He’s trying his best to do everything his coach told him, but he doesn’t have to be explosive.
“He can just dominate a player out of sheer size. Then, all of a sudden, they get to college football and everybody [is their size]. It’s like we often say to them in recruiting, ‘When you look across the line, it will be the first time you’ve seen somebody who looks just like you and it’s going to be that way from now on.’
“That guy who’s 6-6 can knock most guys he sees in high school off the ball. Now, everybody is big and the development of lower-body strength – pushing power – is such an integral block of run-blocking. Some players have a greater capacity to develop that. Some have problems with pass protection. That’s all about lateral quickness.
“They don’t throw many passes in high school and, if they do, every one’s a bootleg. You can look at a nice-looking kid on the hoof and there will be play after play after play with no pass protection based on the system he’s in. So, there are a lot more unknowns.”
