The Weekly Competition Between Alabama's Offensive Linemen
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— The nastiness and physicality of the Alabama offense line is on display each Saturday, but the competitiveness starts within the unit's meeting room.
For more than a decade, Alabama offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic has kept track of knockdown blocks and created a competition among his linemen at various stops throughout the country.
"You always keep track of it and talk about it, but once I put a board up on the wall where I write it down every week, and I might have a special reward for a guy that week, it’s amazing how much more competitive it is," Kapilovic said. "So if you’ve got any pride in yourself, when you walk in that room and people are looking at those numbers, you want to have high numbers. It’s just something that we want our guys to play hard and play with an edge where there’s a competition among them."
Left guard Tyler Booker won the competition in each of the Crimson Tide's first three games, but right guard Jaeden Roberts was the winner against Georgia. Booker explained the value of getting knockdown blocks in game and the effect it can have on a defensive players as the game wears on.
Example of a Booker (52) knockdown block against Georgia in the clip below.
"It’s really a competition to see how many times you can put somebody on the ground because being put down on the ground and having to get back up, that takes something out of you every play," Booker said. "That’s more energy that you’re exerting getting up, and less energy you’re exerting playing me. So it’s crucial for us to get knockdowns.”
Example of a Roberts (77) knockdown block against Georgia in the clip below.
Kapilovic has made some chains for the guys and other prizes, but he said it's really more about the bragging rights among teammates than any physical reward.
The competition will continue this Saturday at Vanderbilt. For the first time this season, Alabama didn't allow a sack against Georgia. Kapilovic like some of the things he saw in pass protection, and no sacks is always the goal, but there are still things he wants to see improvement on, particularly in the run blocking.
"We're always striving to get better every day," Kapilovic said. "There are some really good things happening out there, but then there's things that need to be better. We have not played a perfect game, not even close, and that's what we're trying to get to."
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