Belated Congrats to Coach Matt McDaniel

[IndianFan]

OL is going to be our biggest drop off from this season. Gone are the days of our 6’5”+ 300lb monsters. We better get really athletic and technical at OL quick. Not many options there.

Ace Reeves would probably disagree with that.

 

[ScalpEmIndians]

Ace Reeves would probably disagree with that.

Oh he’s fine and good to go. The drop off from him to the next in line is stark. 4 major question marks for the rest of the line.

 

[1989NDN]

We were spoiled by Ware, Pena, Miguel, Christian, Ferris, Wood, the Loftin duo, Metts, Wolford, and Black. Those kids were big and mobile. 6'4" 6'5" and 6'6" 275 lbs. - 300 lbs. The size, strength, and mobility of those kids allowed PN-G to compete with any HS team in Texas. PN-G had kids that owned the line of scrimmage. I hear we need some growth spurts and a few kids to put on some weight. The offseason is the time to get bigger, stronger, and faster. GO INDIANS!

 

[ScalpEmIndians]

We were spoiled by Ware, Pena, Miguel, Christian, Ferris, Wood, the Loftin duo, Metts, Wolford, and Black. Those kids were big and mobile. 6'4" 6'5" and 6'6" 275 lbs. - 300 lbs. The size, strength, and mobility of those kids allowed PN-G to compete with any HS team in Texas. PN-G had kids that owned the line of scrimmage. I hear we need some growth spurts and a few kids to put on some weight. The offseason is the time to get bigger, stronger, and faster. GO INDIANS!

Exactly

 

[rush]

We were spoiled by Ware, Pena, Miguel, Christian, Ferris, Wood, the Loftin duo, Metts, Wolford, and Black. Those kids were big and mobile. 6'4" 6'5" and 6'6" 275 lbs. - 300 lbs. The size, strength, and mobility of those kids allowed PN-G to compete with any HS team in Texas. PN-G had kids that owned the line of scrimmage. I hear we need some growth spurts and a few kids to put on some weight. The offseason is the time to get bigger, stronger, and faster. GO INDIANS!

I think there was also a drop off when PNG lost their line coach. Thoughts?

 

[pngfan316]

I think there was also a drop off when PNG lost their line coach. Thoughts?

I expected the offensive line to take a step back. AJ Roland is a well-known OL trainer and coach in the DFW area—young, high-energy, and completely locked in on football. Welch is older and not as football-obsessed at this stage. He briefly came out of retirement for the Vidor job and ended up at PNG a few days later, He was also thrown into a tough situation, being hired so late and having to work with three new starters on the line.

 

[19PNGndn68]

We were spoiled by Ware, Pena, Miguel, Christian, Ferris, Wood, the Loftin duo, Metts, Wolford, and Black. Those kids were big and mobile. 6'4" 6'5" and 6'6" 275 lbs. - 300 lbs. The size, strength, and mobility of those kids allowed PN-G to compete with any HS team in Texas. PN-G had kids that owned the line of scrimmage. I hear we need some growth spurts and a few kids to put on some weight. The offseason is the time to get bigger, stronger, and faster. GO INDIANS!

PNG 1975 State Championship Offense Line playing in the largest high school classification took on the best defenses the state had to offer. I don’t recall anyone being over 200 lbs or taller than 6 feet. Coached by Troy one of the best OL technicians. Technique and the will to win brings success.

 

[Broussard81]

I expected the offensive line to take a step back. AJ Roland is a well-known OL trainer and coach in the DFW area—young, high-energy, and completely locked in on football. Welch is older and not as football-obsessed at this stage. He briefly came out of retirement for the Vidor job and ended up at PNG a few days later, He was also thrown into a tough situation, being hired so late and having to work with three new starters on the line.

Coach Welch did a great job with the O-line for coming in so late.

 

[Rez]

I think there was also a drop off when PNG lost their line coach. Thoughts?

There was. We ran off the best o-line coach in the state.

 

[IndianFan]

We were spoiled by Ware, Pena, Miguel, Christian, Ferris, Wood, the Loftin duo, Metts, Wolford, and Black. Those kids were big and mobile. 6'4" 6'5" and 6'6" 275 lbs. - 300 lbs. The size, strength, and mobility of those kids allowed PN-G to compete with any HS team in Texas. PN-G had kids that owned the line of scrimmage. I hear we need some growth spurts and a few kids to put on some weight. The offseason is the time to get bigger, stronger, and faster. GO INDIANS!

The Indians have had a few linemen in the 6-4 to 6-5, 280-310 range over the past 5+ years that were/are very good players. Jackson Christian, Aaron Wolford, Rafael Black, Ace Reeves, Jansen Ware, Corey Burt, etc. Other big linemen in recent years like Miguel, Loftin, etc have all been in the 6-1 or 6-2, 275-290 range. I think Pena was listed at 6-2 305. Years before that players like Jeremy Davis, David Whitehead, both D1 players, were ~260 pounds. Many other good linemen have passed through in the 240-250 pound range or less. Metts (2025) was 6-1 250. Point being the offensive line can be good without having 6-5 300 pounders. But it sure has been great to have those dominant guys. They were physical and aggressive players. Time for the new guys to become as strong and talented as they possibly can. Technique and tenacity can make up enough of that size difference to be effective. Hopefully the entire team works hard in the offseason to improve.

Carry the Torch Forward
I hope Ace Reeves takes charge this spring and summer and pushes his fellow, less experienced linemen. Cardio, weights and agility drills. And learn and practice perfect technique. Push hard with thoughts of that last game and how they want to dominate every opponent next year. If they can rise to the occasion, Tyson Henry, Ashworth/West, Gholke, Jackson, etc will light up the scoreboard even more.

 

[IndianFan]

In high school football, I think the concept of ‘big enough’ applies to guys in the trenches. Beyond that the ability to get in front of a line defender and stay there on pass protection is key, and carry enough force into and stay on your man on a run block to give the back time to get past the first level. Doesn’t take much. You don’t have to pancake the opposing player to get the job done. You don’t have to be 6-5 300 to do that. Being conditioned, strong and quick on your feet goes a lot further towards being an effective blocker than an extra 50 pounds. And playing smart with proven techniques and doing your job every play. Leverage, footwork, hand placement, balance, and always knowing what your job is and executing is what successful line play looks like. As mentioned before, that’s why the 70s teams were so successful.

Go find Jeff Cooley and ask his thoughts on the topic. Three year varsity starter from 1975-77. One of the best ever at PN-G. 5-11 215 on a good day during his senior year.

 

[Usedtocould]

My dad played LB (a star at that position)
But then OG at Warren and weighed 155 lol
I remember one year in the early 90s when John Madden marveled at the fact that
ALL FIVE of the Dallas Cowboys OL were over 300

 

[ScalpEmIndians]

I’ve heard they asked incoming junior HB/TE Hansing to gain weight and have proposed a move to RT. If our next best OL option is a 200lb TE then we may have some issues.

 

[1989NDN]

In high school, you roll with what you got. Any lower classification kids in the pipeline with size?

 

[ScalpEmIndians]

In high school, you roll with what you got. Any lower classification kids in the pipeline with size?

I don’t see much in the realm of size in the lower grades. Some tough kids but not a ton of size.

 

[IndianFan]

Size means nothing if you don’t have the mentality and physicality to be a successful offensive lineman. Sounds like the coaches see something special in Hansing.