How do you recruit for Offensive Line?

Technique is HUGE! I was a 6-0 200 all-confrence left tackle. If I didn't have good technique i would've been eatin alive going up against Zach Sterup, the Nebraska commit a few years ago.

People have said ol is the hardest to recruit and coaches can get a better feel after they have seen them in person. In most cases prospects are not even done growing by the time they get their offer. I think it is important for coaches to evaluate not only skill but potential growth and body type.



I have heard people say that they even sometimes look at the parents to be able to tell how much more a kid can grow.



I have full confidence in Hoke and especially Funk after the glowing reviews from the clinic.

Sounds like you've answered your own question:

I was talking with the commissioner of the local youth football league, and he mentioned that there is a huge disparity between those who are good players in junior high and those who excel at higher levels. Basically, kids that are pretty strong and coordinated younger have a huge advantage, and once late bloomers catch up, the advantage is obliterated.

Clearly the best strategy is to offer junior high kids who are terrible. I may not understand basic logical, but I think I'm on to something.

hope they're good football players.  

It's tricky.  You basically want a kid with the frame to put on enough weight, the footwork/agility to play the position at the college level, and a bit of a mean streak.  

OL is the position group which requires the most amount of scouting from the staff. This is due to the reasons you pointed out above. Some kids blossom early, and some late. The coaches need to scout the kids and project them to the college level.

I think what matters when evaluating OL is:

1. Size, does he have the measurables?

2. Footwork/technique

3.Strength

4.Attitude and Work Ethic

If the player is 6'7" and 260 pounds it is pretty easy to see the kid gain 40 pounds in a college weight lifting environment. At this height and weight he should be dominating high school opponents who are typically much smaller. If he is not, that is the first red flag.

You then look at footwork and technique. If he is lacking technique and footwork, which most HS players are, then you can project how he will perform with proper coaching and technique.

Strength can always be improved upon in a college weight training program. Obviously, you do not want to take a kid who is that size but can only bench 150.

Attitude and work ethic are important as well. Does the kid finish blocks and play with a chip on his shoulder? Does he work hard at practice and in the weight room? For many players who are big, it is going to be a constant battle to keep their weight under control. It is essential that they have the work ethic to keep their weight in the desirable range.

You are also going to want to see how he does at camps and combines against other top players from his class. These events are helpful in that it can put guys who do not see elite talent in their regular season, in one on one situations with the best DL in the class.

Wisconsin clearly does an excellent job at this. Over the last 5 years they have only had 2 4* recruits. When you consider the type of game they play and how effective they are at it this is extremely impressive. With all that has came out about this today I went and looked at all the OL recruits Wisconsin has signed over the last 7 years and noticed a few things.

1) Almost every one of their recruits has excellent footwork and the reason they are not rated so high is due to their measurables. This tells me that although obviously strength is important, it is possibly over rated by recruiting sites.

2) Like what has been mentioned above, most of these recruits have put on atleast 35 pounds  between being rated by recruiting sites and hitting the field in college. This shows that weather it be that they grow, hit the weight room way more often, or just get bigger as they get older, it is hard for sites to predict who will grow the most and who is done.

3) Smarts. This was the most interesting thing I found. Although I have always said that a players work ethic and "understanding of how to play the game correctly" are more important at every position than Rivals and Scouts give them credit for, I believe it is even more important on the O Line. In many highschool programs it quite simple, you block the guy across from you and blitz packages are quite simple but in college and then again at pro level you olineman need to be some of the smartest guys on the field. Any mistake made by an offensive lineman generally leads to a sack at this level 

For this reason I believe although camps are a great way to evaluate OL instead of game film, I also believe it is a position like we hear all about for QB's entering the NFL draft where the interview process may be extremely important.

Tressel: Looks for kids who plow and eat tons of pizza. Also, must have an "entrepreneurial" business acumen

Dantonio: Rough and nasty attitude with street-fighter mentality. Bonus points if the recruit has been in an actual street fight. Prison tats are a nice touch

Joe Pa: Footwork is key, as all potential recruits must master the Charleston. Must be able to control bowels in pressure situations

Hope: Active players that play until the whistle (or just a second or four after). Must be personable when introduced to opposing coaches.

Ferentz: Weightroom studs only. No bitching to the press about killer workouts (nearly literally sometimes).

[NAME REDACTED]: Another big fan of footwork, especially barefoot waterskiiers. Likes laid back kids that don't sweat the small stuff, dude.

There are a few basic things you can look for (in no particular order)

-Athletics

-Frame

-Smarts

-Technique/System

Generally you want kids who are athletic. Guys who play basketball, rugby, or lacrosse have a better chance of naturally developing the footwork they need to be successful than someone who is just big. As far as frame, kids with a big frame get a better look. You can always add size, but you cannot build a bigger frame. Like they said above, smarts are a big part of it. If you're playing o-line you have to know what everyone else is doing, and what they're going to do if the defense does crazy blitzing. Finally, you do want to look at technique. I also know some colleges don't like kids from the wing-t offense, or from spread offenses based on what they (the college) do. It's a lot easier to get kids who already have a knowledge base of how to block in an offense rather than changing everything they've ever done. 

Professional scouts/coaches have a hard time projecting offensive linemen, so I'm not sure that any of us have a clue.

However, one thing that we look at as coaches is whether a kid has an older brother or not.  It seems that younger brothers are often better than older brothers.  Younger siblings often seem to have a nastier attitude, maybe because they've been picked on growing up.

We currently have a kid whose older brother is headed to play D-II.  The older sibling is a 6'5", 240 lb. tight end/defensive end.  The father is currently about 6'6" and 300 lbs. and played D-II basketball.  The younger son is a sophomore and 6'3", 245 lbs.  We knew when we saw him as a freshman that he would probably have a nastier attitude than his older brother, and we were right.  We assumed that he would grow to be about his dad/brother's height, and he seems to be on his way.  He's filling out to be thicker than his older brother, and we'll see how far he can take that size.

But size can only get you so far.  Personally, I like to look at athleticism when I watch these kids playing high school ball.  Footwork, balance, and foot speed are the most important things.  If you have a 6'5" kid with decent weight who plays tight end and blocks well on the edge, then he can probably project to offensive tackle or guard.  Get him in a college strength program and eating a s***load of calories, and he can put on the weight.  That's not the problem.  You can take an athletic kid and put weight on him.  It's pretty hard to take a big oaf and turn him into an athlete.

That's why I was such a big fan of Taylor Lewan and Jake Fisher.  They were both 6'7" and pretty thin, but they had great attitudes about blocking and they could move their feet really well.  The jury's still out on how they'll develop in college and potentially into the pros, but I like taking kids like that and bulking them up.  That's what I like to see.