Table Of ContentComplete
Offensive Line
Rick Trickett
Human Kinetics
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Trickett, Rick.
Complete offensive line / Rick Trickett.
p. cm.
1. Football--Offense. 2. Football--Training. I. Title.
GV951.8.T75 2012
796.332'23--dc23
2012016246
ISBN-10: 0-7360-8651-X (print)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-8651-6 (print)
Copyright © 2012 by Rick Trickett
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E4928
To all my former, current, and future offensive linemen. As
I convey to every player, our relationship starts out with us
liking each other, then it may go through a phase of us not
liking each other, but then, hopefully, it becomes a coach–
player love for each other as we appreciate what both of us
have gained and learned from our relationship.
COnTenTs
Acknowledgments vi
Introduction vii
Key to Diagrams xii
1
Characteristics of Offensive Linemen 1
2
Stances 11
3
Drive Blocks 27
4
Reach Blocks 43
5
Cutoff Blocks 57
6
Down Blocks 69
7
Combination Blocks 79
iv
8
Stretch Plays 95
9
Inside Zone 115
10
Option 123
11
Pass Protection 131
12
Pass Progression and Drills 149
13
Conditioning and Core Work 161
Drill Finder 181
About the Author 193
v
ACknOwLedgmenTs
I thank garin
Justice, my former player and graduate assistant,
for his input in the beginning stages of this book. Garin “Big Oak” was
scheduled to assist with this endeavor before he was offered a full-time
coaching position at Concord University, where he is currently the head
football coach. I also want to thank Florida State University for graciously
allowing their facilities and equipment to be used for the photos. I want
to thank the models for their part in the photo demonstrations. Most of
all I want to thank my family, my wife Tara and my sons Travis, Chance,
and Clint for their continued support in whatever adventures this crazy
life may throw our way.
vi
InTROduCTIOn
starting out, I
thought the defensive side of the ball was going to
be my path in football. I played defense when I was in high school and
college. My professional coaching career began in 1973 at Glenville State
College. In 1975, I was the head freshman coach and defensive coordina-
tor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. At that time, it seemed that
a career on the defensive side of the ball was my future. I had no idea
that becoming an offensive coach was ahead of me. In my playing and
coaching careers, I have had the opportunity to work with many suc-
cessful coaches on both sides of the ball.
In 1976, West Virginia University had an opening for a part-time
tight-ends coach. Back then, a part-time position was a small step
above a graduate assistant. I interviewed with coach Frank Cignetti. We
seemed to hit it off, and I got the job. The team had two offensive line
coaches. One was Joe Pendry, who is currently the offensive line coach
at the University of Alabama. Pendry spent many years coaching in the
National Football League. As luck would have it, the two line coaches
had different philosophies. In 1977, the head coach made adjustments.
One line coach was moved to coach the tight ends, and I was moved to
assist Coach Pendry with the offensive line. That was a defining moment
in my career. After my first practice as an offensive line coach, I realized
I was hooked.
I became intrigued with the offensive line for many reasons. This
area included so many different blocking schemes, types of technique
work, coaching strategies, steps, helmet placements, hand placements,
and so on. You could practice all day with offensive linemen in shorts,
even without helmets, and accomplish a lot. You can’t do the same
on the defensive side of the ball. I love the work ethic of the offensive
lineman. I love the way the majority of offensive linemen see the posi-
tion as one that requires a strong work ethic. The offensive lineman
goes about his day-to-day operations knowing what he needs to do
vii
viii Introduction
to be successful. Most offensive linemen are good guys—apple pie,
Chevrolet type of guys. They seem to be blue-collar kinds of guys, the
kind I like to coach.
I coached the O-line for 1 year. When the head coach made changes on
the defensive side of the ball, he asked me if I would go to the defensive
side. They needed some fire, enthusiasm, and a new approach. I was the
young coach, thankful that Coach Cignetti gave me my start. I needed
to do what he wanted, even though it was not my first choice. I coached
the defensive line for 2 years, not knowing at the time that it was prob-
ably one of the best things I have done in my career. Gary Tranquill was
defensive coordinator and one of the smartest football coaches around.
I learned a lot about football! I learned about tying the coverages to the
fronts, analyzing offensive percentages, field position, technical parts, and
the thought process for a defensive coach. It was the opposite of what I
had been teaching on offense. What a great experience! I recommend that
any young coach work both sides of the ball, especially the side opposite
his comfort zone. Taking on the challenge of coaching both sides of the
football is a wonderful opportunity to learn. At West Virginia, we were
running the split-back veer offense, zone blocking on the backside, veer
blocking on the front side, quick-hitting plays, and a lot of play-action
pass. This scheme was valuable for me to learn. I hadn’t been around it
much, so I learned how to run it for 2 years and then how to defend it for
2 years. During that time, I also made great friends among my coaching
colleagues, including Nick Saban, currently head coach at Alabama, and
the late Joe Daniels, assistant coach at Ohio State.
After West Virginia University, I headed for Southern Illinois Uni-
versity to coach under Rey Dempsey. Coach Dempsey was a very intel-
ligent football coach. He had two offensive line coaches; I coached the
center, quick guard, and quick tackle. The first year, our best player was
the strong tackle. However, at the end of the season, our center, quick
guard, and quick tackle made the all-conference team. The other side,
although made up of the best players, did not receive any awards. The
other offensive line coach and I had different personalities. I approached
Coach Dempsey and told him that this was not working for me. He gave
me the whole offensive line, moving the other coach to the defensive line.
I have not shared an offensive line since that time. I am not an advocate
of having two offensive line coaches. It is not ego; I think there needs to
be one voice, one personality for the offensive linemen. I like having all
five play with my personality in the background.
In 1982, I moved to the University of Southern Mississippi to coach
under Jim Carmody. We had some great players. It was a unique
Introduction ix
experience to work with skill players who were so talented. Reggie Col-
lier was quarterback, Sam DeJarnette was running back, and Louis Lipps
was wide receiver. Louis went on to play with the Pittsburgh Steelers
and was rookie of the year; he had a great career in the NFL. The defense
had great speed. This was my first opportunity to coach in the South. It
was an eye-opening experience to see the speed and quickness on both
sides of the ball. This helped me set another coaching philosophy—being
aggressive on the offensive line. We had to be an aggressive offensive
line to be able to block players of that caliber and athletic ability.
The University of New Mexico was my next stop on the coaching
carousel. Ben Griffith, the offensive coordinator, had come from Georgia
Southern, where Erk Russell was the head coach. They had just won the
national championship for Division I-AA. We put in the run-n-shoot
offense. We were up and down the football field. We could move the
football on anybody. We ended up third in the nation in offense. To give
you an example of the WAC Conference at that time, we were number
3 in the country, but number 2 in the conference behind Brigham Young
University. This was another good experience for my coaching résumé;
I learned new styles and different philosophies.
After my short stint at New Mexico, I was hired by Charlie Bailey at
Memphis State University. For the next 4 years, I had the most fun of my
coaching career. Coach Bailey was a lot like Coach Tranquill; he knew
both sides of the football. We turned around that program. We made
great strides in winning football games. One year we were fortunate to
beat the University of Florida when they were undefeated, and we also
beat Alabama when they were rolling. The time I spent at Memphis State
University was such an enjoyable experience.
I continued on to Mississippi State University. During my first 2 years
there, Rockey Felker was the head coach. For the next 2 years, it was
Jackie Sherrill. Jackie decided to keep me on as the offensive line coach
after Coach Felker was let go. I appreciated the opportunity he gave me.
Coach Sherrill hired Watson Brown as the offensive coordinator. Watson
Brown knows more about offensive football than most others out there.
I always told him that he might know too much! We ran several styles
of offense, sometimes changing from week to week. This situation made
me learn how to teach numerous techniques. This really helped define
and improve my teaching ability. During this 2-year period, I was able
to get my feet underneath me and become the teacher I am today.
Auburn University was the next stop for our family. Terry Bowden,
son of legendary Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden, was named
the head coach, and I was the first person he hired. Our first year we
x Introduction
went 11-0! It was exciting to be in the Southeastern Conference and have
such success. We were placed on probation because of the previous staff’s
misconduct, so we were not allowed any postseason play. This was also
the beginning of my friendship with Jimbo Fisher. Jimbo was the quar-
terback coach at that time. The next year, we won 9 straight games, so
that made 20 in a row. We tied with Georgia after four overtimes, and
then we lost in the last few minutes to Alabama. Because the Bowdens
are a very close family, and we had both Tommy and Terry Bowden on
our staff, we started out with the same offense as Florida State during
our third year. During that time, Florida State (with quarterback Char-
lie Ward) was running the run-n-shoot spread offense with four wide
receivers. We were also very successful in moving the football. We had
a great tailback named Stephen Davis, so he had to be involved with the
offense. We were a four-wide, I-formation team. We broke every offensive
scoring record in the history of Auburn University during that year. Our
team was extremely versatile and diverse. We could move the football
on quite a few teams in the Southeastern Conference. We continued to
be successful at Auburn, competing for the SEC title. However, in 1998,
things did not go as well. The line went through several centers because
of injuries. The team did not respond as well as expected. Coach Terry
Bowden resigned midseason under pressure.
After considering various options in coaching, I took the head coaching
position at my alma mater, Glenville State College. Glenville State is a
Division II school in the West Virginia Conference. The previous 6 years
at Auburn had been tough and pressure filled. Suddenly football was fun
again. I was coaching players who were playing the game because they
loved it. I was the head coach and offensive line coach. I had a center who
was given $250 a semester for books—that was all he received. These
were the kinds of kids who appreciated a free T-shirt. They were ecstatic
over the smallest things. They would knock a wall down if that is what
it took to get your approval. They didn’t ask for sweatpants or tennis
shoes; they were happy to get a T-shirt. It was a great experience for me!
It was good to get back to the ground roots of football. We would have
to bus to games. I remember my first game as the head coach. It was 9
hours away. We watched the movie Scarface two times up and two times
back; it was the only movie we had! This job brought things back to a
different level of coaching. After being in the Southeastern Conference,
things were a little harder to come by here, but we sure appreciated
everything we received.
After Glenville, Nick Saban, my friend and former colleague, called
and asked me to come with him to Louisiana State University. I helped
