The Lions' Pride

I am excited about this hire as well. I do not think that Coach John Thomas was bad. It did seem like our guys definitley were conditioned to last through the 4th quarter. But I think sometimes a small change may make a huge mental swing. All we can do is wait and see. I do see some of the gamecocks were pretty stacked and not sure wehter it was the genetic make up of the kids or was due to their lifting program. Looking forward to good things regardless.

Although I played O line at a D3 school, we were lucky enough to have a position coach on staff for 3 of my 4 years who had actually gone to school to be a S&C guy basically. For us, at that level where many school's programs were basically doing high school stuff, especially in the late 90s was a tremendous advantage for us.

At this level, I think we'll start to see a change in body types, but it won't be as obvious as it will be 3-4 years down the road. You have to remember, a lot of guys who will be starting the next two years are now juniors and seniors and will only have a few years in this program. It's not like you can start them off at the point of a junior or senior who has been doing this type of program for several years. The real difference, IMO, will be seen with guys who come in, RS, are here in the program for several years. That will be a few years away. That said, there will be positive elements that will be immediate.

To me, in the short term, the bigger difference will be in the OL coaching hire. He's a guy with a proven track record. I don't want to steal anyone's thunder, because I have seen this notion posted here before, but our O lines technique was basically all over the map in the past. A good O line coach can mold consistency in his players with proper teaching. Assuming what he's teaching is sound, that will be where we see an immense and immediate change. The power and strength will come, but the technique needs help and that again, IMO is what will make an impact sooner, like potentially next year.

When I talk technique, I do not mean scheme either. Scheme can at times be very secondary as long as the technique you are teaching the guys to execute that scheme is sound. I'm speaking directly to hands and footwork (in all directions). Also, and this is an area where I think we've really failed in the recent past - second level techniques. Blocking a linebacker isn't that hard, but getting first level movement, with two guys working together, then one properly releasing to pick up a LB is an area we need to improve. It's that first level movement where we often are lacking. It's these techniques that can potentially, again, POTENTIALLY, make us very good very quickly.

Sorry guys, rereading here, that was kind of a long rant, but I'm a bit of an O line junky.

I second everything you've said here about this S&C approach. I saw many of these benefits as well. While I am in no way an expert on what was happening at PSU, just reading some of the things they are referring to as "new" leads me to believe they were really lacking in some of those areas. It can make a big difference, it did with me as well. Except with the abs..... I played at about 270, and I was SOLID back in the day, but abs? No way. If you played at 265 with abs.... Well god bless you and your S&C coach, cause I would have needed a magic wand to grow a six pack, all due respect...