The Five Most Interesting Things Ed Warinner Said: Sept. 28, 2020
With four of his starters from last year's offensive line off to the NFL, Ed Warinner certainly has his job cut out for him with this year's unit. Getting Jalen Mayfield back is obviously a very big deal, but he still has to fill a few other spots with guys who haven't played much football. Warinner spoke with Jon Jansen on MGoBlue TV yesterday and had some interesting things to say.
1. That’s what you want to have — a little depth. For injuries, but then in this year, with what's going on with the pandemic, you may lose some guys to that, and you don’t know when that’s going to happen.
It sucks to think about and to prepare for, but it's the world we're currently living in. No one wants to lose a guy for 21 days after a positive test — a Big Ten rule — but the coaches are obviously talking about it and know that it's not only possible, but probably inevitable. However it plays out, it seems like Warinner is doing what he can to have multiple guys ready at multiple positions.
2. At some point, we’re going to have to settle on, ‘These are the guys. This is the O-line.'
Every coach knows that and Warinner is already talking about it publicly despite the fact that he hasn't even seen his guys in pads yet. Obviously Mayfield has played a lot, and Andrew Stueber and Ryan Hayes have a couple starts under their belt, but Warinner is going to have to figure out a lot in a short amount of time. He's already thinking about it and ready to get it going.
3. The noises and the sounds out of Chuck [Filiaga's] mouth might be different than Trevor [Keegan's] mouth. It might be different than [Ryan] Hayes, it might be different than Karsen [Barnhart]. So how they communicate is their own little world out there.
We all know that offensive lines take some time to jell, but it's cool to hear the offensive line coach talk specifically about the way guys physically speak while out on the field. Certain guys command the line, while others struggle to find their voice. Certain players are much more confident in their checks and calls, while others needs reps and live action to find that confidence. Warinner knows that and knows his guys better than anyone, which is going to make his job challenging over the next couple of weeks.
4. I think it takes about two weeks together.
I'm not sure I've ever really heard Warinner put a timeline on figuring out his starters, but this sounds like a doable number. With pads set to come on in a matter of days, and the opener just over three weeks away, Warinner doesn't have much wiggle room. Once the pads are on, the men will separate from the boys and Warinner is going to be paying very close attention to that separation.
5. When you watch film from the end zone and you see them and they all look the same, that’s when you feel really good as an O-line coach. They’re all taking the same footwork, the same body position — a cohesive, choreographed unit. We’re not there yet.
Another direct statement from Warinner. He knows his guys aren't ready yet and he knows he has to figure it out in a hurry. It feels like it's going to be Ryan Hayes, Chuck Filiaga, Andrew Vastardis, Andrew Stueber and Jalen Mayfield from left to right, but Trevor Keegan is going to challenge Filiaga, while Zach Carpenter tries to beat out Vastardis. Maybe Keegan and Carpenter will really take off when they put pads on or maybe it'll be the older, more experienced guys who seize the opportunity. Time will tell.
