Jay Jordan is articulate, informed, logical and opinionated just like everybody else. And a good read for thoughtful debate. I always chuckle when comments are made by him or anyone else about the "bad" offensive line play at ISU and the inability of ISU to historically recruit "good" offensive linemen. I played offensive line in college and my son played defensive line in college so I have some perspective to offer. The main difference between the two positions is reaction and athleticism. D-line must be quick and seek the ball on instinct. O-line have to analyze a called play assignment and make adjustments in mili-seconds. The basic difference is the O-line absolutely must have trained repeatedly so that the adjustment that they are required to do is done automatically without hesitation. My head coach was an offensive lineman in the NFL and his favorite quote to we O-line was "He who hesitates, is lost". So true, the game is won in the trenches and if the D-line gains the advantage with the first step, it's all over. The secret to successful O-line development is repetitive practice of assignment until there is no hesitation under any alignment or unanticipated movement of D-line. There is a reason that Ferentz at Iowa routinely sends O-linemen to the NFL. He played O-line, coached O-line in the NFL and is a master at coaching up his in-state Iowa recruits into NFL caliber players. Generally speaking, he takes local talent and makes it happen. Nebraska did the same thing in their dominant run, local Nebraska recruits that were developed. I contend that the talent that is on campus now is fully capable. It has been done before. McCarney had a running back that rushed for two thousand yards twice and that does not happen without a good offensive line. It is not brain surgery. All that has to happen is to give a good running back a chance to get off the line of scrimmage and let his ability manifest itself past the line of scrimmage. Troy Davis, David Montgomery, Ennis Haywood, Dwayne Crutchfield, and others are examples. Physically the current O-line is more than capable, the question is whether the offensive scheme and offensive line coach can bring it all together successfully. I think money spent on hiring a good offensive line coach by the head coach is key to success.
