Change can be a good thing, but it can also be overwhelming. For an offensive linemen at the University of Pittsburgh, there has been quite a bit of change, perhaps more so than any other position on the roster.
Everything about how things were a year ago until what they are today is completely different. There is a new coordinator calling the plays, another new coach teaching their position, a new set of quarterbacks manning the huddle, and oh yeah, the offense itself is nothing like what the team ran last season.
Basically everything from when these guys were recruited to this very point in time is new, but when you are coming off of a three-win season, that’s not the worst thing in the world.
When it comes down to it, playing offensive line is still about moving people, and that translates through any offensive scheme, no matter who is teaching it, or who is behind center. Pitt sophomore Ryan Baer, the team’s projected starting right tackle, said the biggest adjustment was just learning how Bell and Darveau like to operate.
“O-Line is kind of the same no matter where you go,” Baer told reporters after practice on Tuesday. “It’s just the techniques that you play at and then obviously the new speed of the game. But it's still coming off the ball, hitting someone, and protecting the QB. It's just, we had to see how he wanted us to do it.”
While this new Pitt offense has yet to be revealed to the world, the time is coming with Pitt’s season opener against Kent State on August 31st fast approaching. The word around the program has been about the warp speed in which it can run. For an offense that scored just 20.2 points per game at a slow pace a year ago, it has been an adjustment that has taken time to master.
“Honestly, it was pretty hard at first,” Pitt senior left tackle Branson Taylor said of the offensive changes. “I’ll be honest, going from not a tempo offense to a very high-tempo offense, it was tough to get our conditioning down, but I think we’re in full stride now.”
Knowing that the offense would take time to install and operate at a high level, it was not a huge shock the word out of training camp early on that the defense was ahead. That message changed on Tuesday when it was revealed the offense prevailed in the decisive final scrimmage of training camp over the weekend.
The biggest key, at least from the offensive line’s perspective, was that they cleaned up on the little things. In the first scrimmage, there were too many false start penalties which led to the defense winning, an area of focus in the most recent one.
"Came out with more energy,” Baer said of the biggest differences from the first to the second scrimmage. “We got movement off the ball. We kept the QB clean for the most part. I think we maintained the energy more."
Taylor, who has started 15 games in his career, felt those differences as well.
“We focused,” said the senior from Ohio. “The first scrimmage, we did not focus in, especially as an offensive line. We focused in and I think we only had one (false start) the last scrimmage, so it was really good.”
The offense is finally starting to hit its stride in the latter stages of camp, which is where the team hoped it would be by now. There is excitement around some of the new weapons in the offense, and also a scheme which may benefit the returning guys. The quarterback race between Eli Holstein and Nate Yarnell has yet to be finalized, but for the linemen, they believe doing their job is instrumental to the success of the offense, regardless who is under center.
“If we play five as one and our double teams are good, we’re protecting the QB, we are going to play good offense,” Baer explained.
Added Taylor, “We’re rolling now. We have all our installs in. Our tempo is where it should be and it’s been good.”
Everything around them is a lot different, but for Pitt’s two starting tackles, the end game is still the same. Taylor and Baer are each entering different stages of their career. For Taylor, the senior, this is a showcase season to be a leader and also prepare himself for a shot at the NFL. He said he looked to former linemen ahead of him like Carter Warren and Matt Goncalves for pointers on how to be the senior left tackle.
“Just communicate,” Taylor said of where is trying to improve as a player. “Try to bring the energy every single day, and that’s what I’m trying to bring to my game and being a leader.”
Baer is a little behind Taylor in terms of where he is entering the year as a redshirt sophomore. He was a highly-touted prospect out of high school and got on the field last year as a replacement for the injured Goncalves. Despite being a talented young player, Baer sort of was thrust into playing right tackle and struggled at times, but now he’s been able to hone in on that spot for a year. He feels the added attention to detail will be beneficial.
“Last year, I kind of was bouncing around everywhere,” said Baer. “So this year, I had a whole spring and fall camp and summer to just focus on and training at right tackle. I think that's helped me out a lot, just to clean up some technical issues."
Both tackles appear to be in a good place with a little over a week until the season opener. The confidence is high, but now it’s a matter of taking some momentum from the practice field and applying it to game day.
“I think the sky is the limit for us,” Taylor said of Pitt’s offense this season. “With our tempo and our skilled guys, I think the sky is the limit.”
