Colorado State University Athletics
Younger Addazio Will Keep with Family Recipe
5/19/2020 12:00:00 PM | Football, RamWire
Goal is to make line versatile, physical
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Even as newlyweds, the Addazios are going to need a fairly big dining room table.
As the tight ends coach at Bowling Green, Louie and his wife Courtney (a former Boston College volleyball player who he says is the best athlete in the family) would have his position group over for dinner. As the offensive line coach at Colorado State, the players will be bigger in size and number, as will be their appetites.
"My family is going to be around all time. My wife, we're going to have the guys over for dinner," Louie said. "We're going to do unit-bonding stuff. It's a family, and I'm a really loyal guy. If you're one of my guys, I've got your back forever."
Loyalty is something he learned from his father, Steve, Colorado State's head coach. So too was toughness and physicality, traits the Rams' front five – and beyond – will come to develop under him.
While it's his first stint as an offensive line coach at the college level, it is a system ingrained in him through his father and his time as a tight end learning the blocking scheme while playing at Boston College.
"We're going to be tough. We're going to play tough and physical, and we're going to win the line of scrimmage," Louie said. "That's the No. 1 thing we're going to do as an offensive line here is we're going to win the line of scrimmage. You can talk about it, but you've got to be about it. Every day it's a fight to win the line of scrimmage, and that's going to be our mentality."
He also realizes he won't be alone, and he invites the company. While he played for his father's teams, he witnessed how Steve would spend part of his days with the offensive line, the position where he build his reputation as one of the best teachers in the country. On those days, Louie would watch his father grab about half of the group and teach them on the side while the offensive line coach worked with the others. In the process, nothing was lost in translation, as they were both speaking the same language.
Through the seven spring practices the Rams were allowed to hold, the practice remained in place. Steve was a consistent visitor when the offensive line worked through individual drills, working with segments as Louie focused on another.
It's a position Steve values, so who teaches them is someone he has to know he trusts, a coach who will guide them in his vision. When he walks in their meetings, he'll understand the language. Past offensive line coaches of his – Justin Frye and Phil Trautwein – followed the same path as Louie, first as a player, then as a graduate assistant.
If you can't trust your son, who can you trust?
"The reason this is so important to me is they all knew the system of how I coach the offensive line, my terminology, my run game terminology, my protections, my fundamentals," Steve said. "That's imperative to me as the head coach to dive into that room or to dive into that field. I can't dive in and become disruptive because I call something differently, or I say something differently. I have got to work with a young coach who understands my system, so that I can work in partnership, and there can be four eyes -- not two eyes, four eyes -- involved in that offensive line at all times. Louie is an outstanding coach in his own right, and he will mesh really well with me and the system I use.
"It was a perfect fit, and he's a great working force together. He's done a fabulous job recruiting on his own."
As he has learned from both his father and Urban Meyer, his job is to coach his room hard and love them hard. When it comes to game day, he will expect his players to be versatile in what they can do and where they can play, and building depth will be paramount.
In short, his line should be able to block a gap scheme, as well as the zone. The athletes should be able to it all at more than one position, because game day will always come down to the best the Rams have.
"Complete linemen. That's what they're looking at for the next level, and that's what we're going to develop here at Colorado State," Louie said. "We're all interconnected.
"You need depth with playing experience, because O-linemen, they get dinged up and go down, so you need guys who can step in and play. I mean, if we have seven guys who can play, seven guys are going to play. If we have eight, it will be eight. As many who can play will play, but they have to prove it. The five best guys, no matter of position."
This is his second year as a full-time coach and his second stop. The fact the Rams return two starters means little to him, and neither does the game tape from a season ago. The season and job are new to him, and it will be for the players, returners or not.
The old book on any of the offensive linemen on the Rams' roster no longer exists, with Louie ready to pen a new one to move forward.
"To be honest with you, I don't care about the tape from last year. It's a fresh start to me, so we're going to start in the winter, we're going to roll and the best five guys are going to play," he said. "I've gotten to spend some time around everyone. That's all I care about, being able to spend time around them. I don't care too much about how much they played in the second quarter of the third game last year. I want a fresh start."
And a big table at home. He and Courtney are going to need one.
As the tight ends coach at Bowling Green, Louie and his wife Courtney (a former Boston College volleyball player who he says is the best athlete in the family) would have his position group over for dinner. As the offensive line coach at Colorado State, the players will be bigger in size and number, as will be their appetites.
"My family is going to be around all time. My wife, we're going to have the guys over for dinner," Louie said. "We're going to do unit-bonding stuff. It's a family, and I'm a really loyal guy. If you're one of my guys, I've got your back forever."
Loyalty is something he learned from his father, Steve, Colorado State's head coach. So too was toughness and physicality, traits the Rams' front five – and beyond – will come to develop under him.
While it's his first stint as an offensive line coach at the college level, it is a system ingrained in him through his father and his time as a tight end learning the blocking scheme while playing at Boston College.
"We're going to be tough. We're going to play tough and physical, and we're going to win the line of scrimmage," Louie said. "That's the No. 1 thing we're going to do as an offensive line here is we're going to win the line of scrimmage. You can talk about it, but you've got to be about it. Every day it's a fight to win the line of scrimmage, and that's going to be our mentality."
He also realizes he won't be alone, and he invites the company. While he played for his father's teams, he witnessed how Steve would spend part of his days with the offensive line, the position where he build his reputation as one of the best teachers in the country. On those days, Louie would watch his father grab about half of the group and teach them on the side while the offensive line coach worked with the others. In the process, nothing was lost in translation, as they were both speaking the same language.
Through the seven spring practices the Rams were allowed to hold, the practice remained in place. Steve was a consistent visitor when the offensive line worked through individual drills, working with segments as Louie focused on another.
It's a position Steve values, so who teaches them is someone he has to know he trusts, a coach who will guide them in his vision. When he walks in their meetings, he'll understand the language. Past offensive line coaches of his – Justin Frye and Phil Trautwein – followed the same path as Louie, first as a player, then as a graduate assistant.
If you can't trust your son, who can you trust?
"The reason this is so important to me is they all knew the system of how I coach the offensive line, my terminology, my run game terminology, my protections, my fundamentals," Steve said. "That's imperative to me as the head coach to dive into that room or to dive into that field. I can't dive in and become disruptive because I call something differently, or I say something differently. I have got to work with a young coach who understands my system, so that I can work in partnership, and there can be four eyes -- not two eyes, four eyes -- involved in that offensive line at all times. Louie is an outstanding coach in his own right, and he will mesh really well with me and the system I use.
"It was a perfect fit, and he's a great working force together. He's done a fabulous job recruiting on his own."
As he has learned from both his father and Urban Meyer, his job is to coach his room hard and love them hard. When it comes to game day, he will expect his players to be versatile in what they can do and where they can play, and building depth will be paramount.
In short, his line should be able to block a gap scheme, as well as the zone. The athletes should be able to it all at more than one position, because game day will always come down to the best the Rams have.
"Complete linemen. That's what they're looking at for the next level, and that's what we're going to develop here at Colorado State," Louie said. "We're all interconnected.
"You need depth with playing experience, because O-linemen, they get dinged up and go down, so you need guys who can step in and play. I mean, if we have seven guys who can play, seven guys are going to play. If we have eight, it will be eight. As many who can play will play, but they have to prove it. The five best guys, no matter of position."
This is his second year as a full-time coach and his second stop. The fact the Rams return two starters means little to him, and neither does the game tape from a season ago. The season and job are new to him, and it will be for the players, returners or not.
The old book on any of the offensive linemen on the Rams' roster no longer exists, with Louie ready to pen a new one to move forward.
"To be honest with you, I don't care about the tape from last year. It's a fresh start to me, so we're going to start in the winter, we're going to roll and the best five guys are going to play," he said. "I've gotten to spend some time around everyone. That's all I care about, being able to spend time around them. I don't care too much about how much they played in the second quarter of the third game last year. I want a fresh start."
And a big table at home. He and Courtney are going to need one.
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