Summer Project: D Line Tasked With Perfecting Technique
Phillips turns his living room into a practice field for side work
Mike Brohard
There are times when the living room needs to become a playing field.
So, Devin Phillips goes over the island at his house and grabs the five stools. Picture one as the center, two others are guards, the other two tackles. And if need be, a random chair can become a tight end. Or a linebacker. Whatever is needed.
“At first, I would have a roommate hold a pad as far as getting off strikes. As far as working on plays, you can find five objects and set it up as the offensive line and step through it, look at the playbook and step through it and do it, learning plays that way,” Phillips explained. “There are different things you can do, you just have to get creative with it.
“I can do it in my room or go outside to a park. As long as you’ve got an open space with enough room to work, and you can work through it full speed or step through it and learn where you’re supposed to be in the defense.”
For Phillips, the stools are great because they’re about the correct height for where he wants to strike, and using proper technique is the focus Colorado State defensive line coach Buddah Williams sent his players home with for the summer.
The basics of the game may remain unchanged, but the way coaches teach things are different. They all have their tricks of the trade, and Williams is no different. As a first-year coach, his players are still growing accustomed to the techniques he wants them to use, and regardless of the improvement he witnessed in 15 spring-camp practice, he wants more polish.
“It’s technique, playing with our hands and getting off blocks better,” he said. “It’s drill work and coaching each other up, seeing what good examples of it are on tape, then trying to mimic those when I’m not around and through drill work and working with each other.”
There are times when they are together and can work as a group. They can use the sleds at the practice facility, and they can use each other as offensive linemen. It is very much hands on, and the group can provide immediate feedback.
As long as you’ve got an open space with enough room to work, and you can work through it full speed or step through it and learn where you’re supposed to be in the defense.Devin Phillips
The elder statesmen, such as Phillips who is a four-year starter, can help the youngsters, but Williams also wants them to feel comfortable pointing out mistakes, too. An added layer is a group chat, where they can share videos of each other or of NFL players using the right technique.
Williams is happy the way the chat is working, and newcomer CJ Onyechi isn’t surprised in the least.
“We all send it in the chat. Sometimes it is flooded with video and pictures,” he said. “We all send them in, show coach our progress and we’ve gotten a lot better from that. I think it’s very important in a group like ours, because we have some old guys, but a lot of young guys and we want them to feel comfortable even correcting us, and we do it back to them. When they’re older, they will do the same thing and it flows.
“It builds a lot of comradery. That brotherhood in there was already established, and the way they accepted me was 100 already. It only gets better through doing that.”
To see is to believe, so Williams loaded them all down with an assortment of video clips. Clips of them doing things right and wrong, as well as teammates who excel at a certain aspect. He also provided film of NFL players who do the techniques correctly to bolster the collection.
They all had things to work on, and while come caught on quicker than others, the offseason has proven to Williams to be a prime time for improvement. He’s seen it already from the clips they send in of themselves.
“Devin absolutely caught on extremely fast. He’s a chameleon,” Williams said. “He can adapt to anything, and he’s played so much football, so he was one of the first ones to catch on quick and be a good resource for the inside guys. On the ends, Mo Kamara and CJ, they caught on and they know exactly what we’re looking for. Some of the younger guys, and CJ and Mo do a good job of coaching each other up,
“They all had to learn something different. Both CJ and Mo were in two-point stances most of their career, so putting their hand in the dirt is one, just getting comfortable being in the stance. Once they start to get used to that, they know what the big picture is starting to look like.”
Onyechi’s dedication isn’t newfound, either. Getting comfortable in the stance was something he recognized early, so he was working on it at home himself.
Any place is a good place to get in extra work, you just have to work with what you have.
“Especially before spring ball, that was my M.O.,” he said. “I was in the crib getting a feel for it. I’ve been in a three-point before, but it wasn’t my predominant, every-play stance. That’s what I did during spring ball, and you can tell we’re so much better at it now.”
It’s teamwork, even between position groups. Phillips lives with Ty Francis, and he’s made him stand in at times to take a blow or two so he can get a move down. In turn, he likes helping Francis, because some of the skill work he does helps Phillips be more athletic along the line.
You just do the work, even if it means it draws some curious onlookers. Like the time back home in the park. He had set some things up to move through and around, constantly looking at his playbook when it drew the attention of a jogger who had no idea what he was doing.
The key is doing it, because as Williams as told them, technique is the key.
“My learning style, or how I learn best, is a lot of hands on,” Phillips said. “Usually, you can show me one time, and I might mess up the first time, but you show me one or two times and I’ll get it. I just have to rep it up and go over the reps over and over again in my head.”