(11-20-2017, 10:30 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: Through a mutual "friend" Chick Ludwig, I saw a post from Willie Anderson that read something to the effect of "We back in it...!" and gave his twitter address.  Sure, it was just an attempt at getting followers (something I just don't get...and I hear people pay services to get more?  I digress) but I responded with a little sarcasm:

Me: "Willie, how does offensive line coach sound to you?"

Willie:  "...sounds like a coach that coaches the offensive line that spends very little time actually coaching and teaching.  Lots of paperwork putting in plays and watching film.  Very few coaching and training is done"

Me: "I mean I want you to coach them, and paperwork doesn't win games....coaches that can truly teach can!"

Willie:  "that's all coaches.  They have a hard ass job trying to get guys to learn system and skills.  All Oline coaches work their asses off.  Just have to have players that do it for them when you're in the pros.  Guys have to train skills in the offseason.  Coaches don't have time to teach anymore"

Me:  "I understand the point you are making.  Here's mine:  until a scheme that isn't always falling back, and isn't improving the run blocking is installed, everything else should become second priority.  

I find it interesting that Willie perceives even the Bengals coaches as "working their asses off", but how much of it is that busy work that people that don't really know what they are doing are always running around trying to act like they have no time.  You hear time and again what a great teacher Belicheck is when it comes to technique, etc.  In my opinion, you need to MAKE TIME to work the technique in your most glaring faults because nothing else will matter if you can't execute when you need to....which, is pretty much always for this team.

(11-20-2017, 11:49 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: And another question is...then why arent coaches training guys in the off season? Last time I checked a football player is paid year round. Work on your craft during the off season and teach them when you dont have to watch as much tape and "paper work".

(11-20-2017, 11:49 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: And another question is...then why arent coaches training guys in the off season? Last time I checked a football player is paid year round. 

(11-20-2017, 01:05 PM)Jakeypoo Wrote: It's really hard to develop offensive lineman in today's NFL because of the lack of time in practices in the spring and training camp. Also less practice in pads during the regular season hurt o line development. Which makes you wonder what the hell were the Bengals thinking by letting both Zeitler and Whitworth go?

(11-20-2017, 11:51 AM)XenoMorph Wrote: dude willie Anderson is a pro if he is telling you the OL coaches are working their asses off they are.  he was here for many years and just like he says the players have to put work in themselves too.

(11-20-2017, 02:39 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Yeah, but you have to consider that these ex-players are still very guarded with what they say. They don't want to burn any bridges and get blackballed. Willie still does many things for/with the team, including just randomly showing up around the facilities. Willie literally just made a defense of Marvin Lewis disguised as an attack on Dave Shula the other day.

Love Willie, but he's homering it up big time. Marvin and Paul Alexander deserve to be fired more than any of their peers in the NFL.

(11-20-2017, 02:52 PM)RoyleRedlegs Wrote: He's homering it up but he's also not wrong.
With the NFLPA rules about practice and how colleges are enforcing practice regulations now, you have to seek out additional work if you're an OL now.

You have to want to put in that extra work to succeed. 
There are so many camps and places that offer training that you can't get from a team. 

There's an OL problem across the sport. At every level. 
Started when contact was put on major limits at practices. 

And the problem here, specifically, is so layered and starts with Mike Brown and his cheap ways forcing coaches to do more than, well....coach. 

(11-20-2017, 03:06 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: If it's guys not willing to put in work, then you still blame PA for selecting guys with poor work ethic. I'm not buying that PA has no time in the offseason to work on technique, though. During the season, sure. IIRC, it was Zeitler who said they don't make corrections to technique in-season. That would imply that they do make corrections in minicamps and training camp.

Quote:During the 2011 labor negotiation, one big give-back from the owners to players related to work rules. Each team’s offseason program was cut by five weeks, from 14 to nine, with only five of those weeks to include on-field work. The number of hours within that time was reduced. Summer two-a-days were eliminated. Allowable contact was reduced drastically.

(11-20-2017, 03:16 PM)RoyleRedlegs Wrote: You are kind of missing the point. He can't work with those guys in the offseason by rule. 

It's up to the players, now more than ever, to seek out additional work because the team isn't allowed to. 

9 weeks, 5 on field and with incredibly limited work is not enough time to "coach guys up" on the OL. 

You can blame PA for a lot of things and that's fine. But don't act like Willie is blowing smoke when he says players have to take the initiative. 

There are a ton of contributing factors to why we are so bad running the ball. OL being part of it and probably the biggest but not the only part. 

And we should really be more focused on why PA is so involved in the draft, there's no way a position coach/assistant head coach can have the time thoroughly scout as well. 
It all comes back to the systemic problems from Mike Brown. 

(11-20-2017, 03:16 PM)RoyleRedlegs Wrote: And we should really be more focused on why PA is so involved in the draft, there's no way a position coach/assistant head coach can have the time thoroughly scout as well. 
It all comes back to the systemic problems from Mike Brown.