Jim Turner is the offensive line coach for Texas A&M. 16 years ago, now head coach Mike Sherman was at that exact same position. The offensive line is not a glamorous position such as the quarterback or running back. Often they are overlooked because their responsibilities are very similar every play. However, a good offensive line is the base of a brilliant offense.
This years Texas A&M offense is expected to be very powerful. The skill positions are filled with talent. However, this is irrelevant if the offensive linemen are unable to consistently block for them.
Some A&M fans are uneasy because the offensive line this year is relatively young. There are three sophmores on the line, Luke Joeckel, Shep Klinke and Jake Matthews. The two other linemen are juniors, Brian Thomas and Patrick Lewis. Those five guys have been the starting group since have way through spring camp. This has brought a sense of stability to the offensive line.
“Any stability is helpful,” Sherman said. “We’ve been able to keep those guys healthy and then you don’t have to make changes. That’ll be a consistent group. Stability at offensive line is most critical of all the positions on the field.”
However, Sherman doesn’t what the stability to make people think there isn’t competition along the line. Every practice, back-ups are working their tails off to try and knock some one out of a starting role. This keeps everybody working hard at practice as no one wants to be demoted.
The offensive linemen have also been logging serious hours in the film room. They want to be able to pick up on little tendencies of their opponents defensive linemen, which will help them block their opponents when it comes to game day.