Finding Pleasure in the Pressure

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – As an offensive lineman, he was excited.

When your new head coach has built a reputation as a developer of not only quality players at the positions, but strong units season after season, Barry Wesley was immediately intrigued. He also expected to be pushed by Steve Addazio and to feel a little bit of pressure.

He wasn't wrong, but he didn't understand fully. At least not right away.

"No, no, no. Not at all," Wesley said. "I think my relationship with Coach has definitely changed as he's been here longer and he's been able to interact more. It's definitely a standard that everyone in the room is trying to uphold.

"I was very excited. He's got a track record -- the Pouncey brothers, Chris Lindstrom. What's also hard about that is trying to live up to that. He's a hard coach, but at the same time, he knows what he's talking about. I can feel the pressure in the offensive line room of wanting to live up to that standard."

In short, there is pleasure in the pressure of playing offensive line for an Addazio-coached team.

He is not the offensive line coach. The task belong to his son, Louie, who has been groomed in the finer arts of teaching the position. However, whenever the elder Addazio has a chance, he's hanging around the individual drills for the offensive line, adding to the teaching and emphasizing certain points.

There is a way he likes his offensive fronts taught, so he keeps people around who have played for him, learned from him, and he extends it out to his tight ends, who are very much part of the process.

"In terms of development of the offensive line, at least for me, I am an attention-to-detail guy. I'm an effort guy," Steve said. "You have to be a tremendous student of the game. You've got to have a passion. If you kind of like it but you don't love it, it's probably hard on you.

"That's the way I've built offensive lines wherever I've been, and I'm proud of the fact we've had good offensive lines. I feel proud that if I walked out that door and dropped dead, this offensive line would be a lot better than it was before. I want to build that thing, and I think Louie has done a fabulous job. He knows exactly the way I want it. He played for me. He's been around me. That's been my trademark. Where ever I've been, I've always had an offensive line coach who played for me and usually GA'd for me. That's exactly what I want. It gives me that great opportunity to meld in there as a head coach when I can, whenever I want, and I'm not disruptive, because I'm talking a different language, talking about different techniques; we see it all through the same set of eyes. That is critically, critically important. Just like I believe, as a head coach, because I was a line coach, that your tight end coach should also have an offensive line background and the ability so if you lose your line coach, you don't transition any other way."

Those who were already in the offensive line room had to learn, and the adjustment was not always easy.

Steve called it a "total redo project." It was fundamentals and mindset. It was how they practiced and the physicality and demand expected. All of it had to change.

Nearly half of the offense on the field is the guys up front, so they have to set a tone. They have to create a culture in their room and have it spread. They need to be leaders and preach the gospel of holding everyone around them accountable.

The tempo is theirs to set, and the addition of three linemen – Cam Reddy, Adam Korutz and Elijah Johnson – helped advance the teachings.

Reddy takes pride in knowing more is expected of him and the room he occupies. The payoff for him is being taught by the best.

"I think there's a higher standard because it's coach Addazio and Coach A. With those two guys, it is a higher standard, but you're also grateful, because you know you're getting the top coaching in the country, and that's a fact," Reddy said. "You are getting the top offensive line coaching in the country. For me, watching myself from different segments of the year or last spring and watching film now, you can see yourself progressing. I think that's' a huge deal.

"You appreciate it. You become grateful for it."

They have to embrace it, which is what Wesley and the others have found.

It doesn't happen overnight. It definitely doesn't happen when a pandemic interrupts the world, let alone a football team. The group didn't have a real opportunity to come together as one, not with a host of missed practices in the room and cancellation of games. The spring, and even this preseason camp, have afforded the group a real chance at growth.

"It's brick by brick. I definitely feel the jell and camaraderie on the offensive line, the young guys and the old guys trying to help each other out," Wesley said. "Last year when it was shortened a lot, not being able to communicate and build that chemistry was definitely difficult. Going into this offseason, going into training camp, this summer, we were able to do that. There are certain calls we make where you don't have to say the whole play call, it's we say the one code word and it's good to go."

It was clear early many in the room were looking to Reddy, and with good reason. He understood the Addazio's and as the center, he has to be the anchor of the group, and he embraced the role.

The 2020 season wasn't ideal by any stretch. Not the number of games the team played, not the way the offensive line performed. If he was a teacher, he'd leave an empty space for the grade, due to the amount of factors. He saw some good, giving them a base from which they could build moving forward.

He also can see off in the distance where they need to be for the offense. The spring definitely helped. Preseason camp continues to be promising, but in some ways, it still feels like playing catchup.

"I think we started that early. Whether it was doing extra stuff in the winter or maximizing spring practice and just treating it almost like our first camp, that's how I took it," Reddy said. "I took it as any time we lost from last year, we've got to play catch-up all year long, and I think we've done a good job with that. I think this camp is so crucial because it's the most time we've probably spent together consistently, day after day, because of COVID. It's huge for us. We need that as an offensive line."

Ches Jackson agrees. He's not liking the changes to learning an entirely new subject, but rather adjusting to a different style of teaching. Some words may have been new, but the action was the same. For the most part. There were some adjustments to foot movement and hand placement, but that wasn't a big ask. What they had to get used to was the precision which was expected. The biggest adjustment in his book was adapting to the tempo of practice and play.

To meet the expectations of the two Addazios requires persistence and practice and most definitely consistency in performing the actions. He and the rest of the returners now understand what Reddy already knew, and that was the repetition of it all was going to be needed. So it's not uncommon to see a group of offensive linemen hanging back after practice, punching with their hands or going over their footwork. They never do it alone, either, with a teammate close by watching. That's a good sign, because they are now starting to see things themselves through the Addazio lens. If they can see it, too, they can repeat it. Or teach it. Or even both.

"There's a lot of pride in our room. We're trying to uphold a standard," Jackson said. "Honestly, I feel the main thing that pops in my head that I've been thinking about these past couple of weeks is just to be consistent with what they've been teaching us. I feel like that has been the really big emphasis. The whole summer we've been working and working on these techniques, and now we've got them all down. Now it's just being able to go out and be able to do it day in and day out.

"It feels amazing. I feel like we're really starting to click up front, get things put together. I feel just being able to have these days stacked and come out here every day and get this work in has been a great help."

The more the merrier. The Rams will need a starting five, but a college football season necessitates depth. And if somebody has earned the right to play, Louie will find a spot for them. However many linemen earn the right, they'll play. And they'll be needed, because the elder Addazio needs to see better numbers in the running game.

At minimum, he wants the Rams averaging at the very least 4.0 yards per carry. It sets up everything offensively. It makes second and third downs more manageable, which in turns opens up the play calling for offensive coordinator Jon Budmayr. It also leads directly to the physical, dominating theme they all crave. It means in the 4-minute offense, they can churn out first downs and hold down victories.

"I think a lot of guys would agree with me. Just putting the time in during all the spring ball practices, learning everybody, communicating, you build much more confidence and you have a lot more familiarity with all the guys," Reddy said. "I think as an offensive line, our focus is we love to be able to run the football. Our goal is being a tough offensive line, mentally and physically. I think that's the most simple way to put it. What that translates to is really great run blocking, it's handling blitzes and pressures and movement on the defensive line. That comes from play study and knowing the defense ahead of time so you can see that stuff when you're tired or just fighting fatigue. Whatever that is, I think mentally and physically being a really tough unit is going to take us to another level."

Playing the position for an Addazio requires a certain standard to be upheld. It takes time to perfect, and a desire to find the pleasure in the pressure.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Players Mentioned

Ches Jackson

Elijah Johnson

Adam Korutz

Cam Reddy

Barry Wesley

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Colorado State University Athletics