Our Offensive Line

[Darrell McPhaul]

That oline sure has stepped since the first three games.

Keep in mind the OL is going against 7-9 man fronts. That makes what they have accomplished that much more impressive.

The fulllback Dela Torre & H-Back/TE Swaim have also made a big difference. I watched Swaim, when he makes contact, he drive the hell out of you.

 

[UTK66]

That oline sure has stepped since the first three games.
Keep in mind the OL is going against 7-9 man fronts. That makes what they have accomplished that much more impressive.

The fulllback Dela Torre & H-Back/TE Swaim have also made a big difference. I watched Swaim, when he makes contact, he drive the hell out of you.

Great points. Still not impressed with Espy and Walters but there is no doubt that the line is playing far better than earlier in the year.

 

[TheContractor]

Swaim is a beast. That twist wasnt handled well by the left side but that can happen occasionally. Ill wait till be play a good D, which sadly we dont until maybe bowl game.

 

[LongviewLobo01]

I think Searles has done a tremendous job. It's too bad that he's not going to be around after this season to see the fruits of his labor over the next few seasons.

 

[Thiggystyle]

Just don't tell Searles his guys are playing soft - right Santa?

 

[Lord Vader]

Great points. Still not impressed with Espy and Walters

Never have been, never will be.

 

[McQ]

I think Searles has done a tremendous job. It's too bad that he's not going to be around after this season to see the fruits of his labor over the next few seasons.

He'd be one of my keepers, but new coaches typically clean house.

 

[Darrell McPhaul]

He'd be one of my keepers, but new coaches typically clean house.

I would keep Searles too. Our OL best football is in front of them. Searles did not have anything to work and it usually takes long to buiild an OL than any other position.

Our depth is young and very talented.

 

[Santa Gertrudis]

Just don't tell Searles his guys are playing soft - right Santa?

Searles no likey when you call his offensive line soft. To his credit, his offensive line isn't so soft any more.

 

[SlickStreet]

it took a helluva long time for the OL to transition to an element of dominance. With the massive amount of experience, it's somewhat expected, but I think many of us began doubting it ever would materialize.

The OL is my favorite unit on a team, and it's satisfying to see it perform a lot better---approaching the level a UT line SHOULD be performing at regularly. Oh well.

 

[Lord Vader]

The fact a good coach like Searles had to take this long to get these dudes to face forward tells you a few things:

1. The program was farther in the toilet than you may have imagined

2. Given time, good coaches will overcome Mack's shortcomings

3. The quality of lineman recruited to this program was absolute dung.

 

[SlickStreet]

I don't think the quality of OL was absolute dung. Sure, it has been at times and in spots in recent years, but the talent level has been sufficient to assemble a good line in recent times.

Where I agree is the fact that said talent was fairly young for awhile sure played a significant role in the timeline. I also think McWhorter checked out sometime well before he retired, so development was poor. But a lot of that, too, had to do with the kind of scheme we ran during the Colt-Jordan Shipley period. The line play was totally passive, since we became overly reliant on Colt's near-perfect accuracy in the short passing game.

Then Mack changes the O' every couple of years, which obviously puts the staff and players behind the curve repeatedly. OL play takes longer to gel, as you and others know, so that area suffered the most.

 

[Darrell McPhaul]

I don't think the quality of OL was absolute dung. Sure, it has been at times and in spots in recent years, but the talent level has been sufficient to assemble a good line in recent times. Where I agree is the fact that said talent was fairly young for awhile sure played a significant role in the timeline. I also think McWhorter checked out sometime well before he retired, so development was poor. But a lot of that, too, had to do with the kind of scheme we ran during the Colt-Jordan Shipley period. The line play was totally passive, since we became overly reliant on Colt's near-perfect accuracy in the short passing game.

Then Mack changes the O' every couple of years, which obviously puts the staff and players behind the curve repeatedly. OL play takes longer to gel, as you and others know, so that area suffered the most.

Good point. Three different OC's & three different offensive schemes.

 

[Lord Vader]

The line is still substandard as compared to where it was in the earlier years of the Mack Brown era.

2007 Recruits:

Tray Allen - Was considered the top OL in his class. Only made six starts. Injury prone.

Michael Huey - Played in 47 games with 20 starts.

Aundre McGaskey - Did nothing and transferred

Kyle Hix - Played in 51 games with 39 consecutive starts.

2008 Recruits:

Mark Buchanan - Appeared in just 20 games, mostly on special teams

Luke Poehlmann - Had a knee injury, but played TE, and was a utility linemen. Contributed.

David Snow - Played in 52 games with over 30 starts. Was a badly needed swing lineman at a time when the line wasnt very good.

2009 Recruits

Thomas Ashcraft - Played in 35 games, mostly on special teams. Jumped ship to SMU for the 2013 season.

Paden Kelley - Played in 20 games with one start, but never progressed. Quit the team.

Garrett Porter - Has played in 45 games, mostly on special teams after his 2010 season.

Mason Walters - Has started 45 games at right guard, but been identified as a player who has not lived up to his potential. Takes plays off. Has been benched at times. Still, hard to be disappointed with 45 starts.

2010 Recruits

Dominic Espinosa - Starter at center over the past three seasons. Has had trouble putting on the strength to be dominant at the position. Often gets beaten by athletic interior linemen.

Trey Hopkins - Has played in 44 games with 36 starts. Has developed into an NFL caliber offensive linemen.

2011 Recruits

Josh Cochran - Played in 28 games with 23 starts. Developing into a quality player.

Taylor Doyle - Scout team guy.

Sedrick Flowers - Has played in 12 career games. Coming along.

Garrett Greenlea - Reserve. Has not seen much action.

Marcus Hutchins - Moved to DT. Non factor.

Our OL recruits from 2007-2011. Yeah, Id say this was a very disappointing group overall outside Hopkins, Cochran, Huey, and Hix

 

[SlickStreet]

Whisenant, good rundown, and it's appreciated. Here's my thought process, fwiw. There were, especially for a period there, some really weak takes by the staff. IMO, it was due to laziness (at least generally). That, combined with schemes that were essentially devoid of requiring decent OL development and frequent change in the last few years, has all resulted in the relatively poor line play we've seen.

But, I still believe we had enough talent from the standpoint of what the kids were ranked coming in (along with offers from other good to excellent programs) that the material was there to at least have had a decent OL had the development/coaching, schemes and consistency in said schemes been at a higher level.

IMO, the whole program, for that matter, has had far better talent than the results we've seen on the field. Most (yourself as well, perhaps) will acknowledge that, but there are some who insist that Mack simply hasn't had that much to work with. Of course, if the latter is the case, that's on him inevitably. But I believe while recruiting has had some bad spots (like some of the classes prior to '10), that's been dramatically compounded by several elements that fall back on the coaching of said personnel once it arrives in Austin.

 

[Lord Vader]

Solid reply Slick.

Yes I do absolutely acknowledge those kids couldnt have ALL been misses (in so much as everyone couldnt have been wrong). Mack shopped for cheap groceries and cooked bad meals for a long time.