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View Full Version : Steelers' O-line tailored to dish out punishment



tony hipchest
08-05-2010, 08:52 AM
now this is what i LOVE to hear-

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_693451.html



Just look at the man, and you know he means business.
Listen to the passion in his voice, and you quickly realize there is no messing around with this guy.
But more than anything, new Steelers offensive line coach Sean Kugler has no clue how to define the word "finesse."


The identity of the Steelers' offensive line during the Larry Zierlein era was anything but that .... So in came Kugler — and his penchant for teaching his offensive line to knock the head off the opponent right in front of you.


And with Kugler's philosophy based on physicality and with the line surge being an important part of short-yardage success, the Steelers took a step in the right direction in January when they brought on Kugler to teach the offensive line.

"He loves plays like that where we are out there smashing people," Essex said. "And what offensive lineman doesn't like to play downhill?"
Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians is all for Kugler's aggressive style.
"There are some different styles of how he wants to block things, and I am not a guy (whose philosophy) is etched in stone," Arians said. "If that is how he wants to block it, then that's how we will block it."

:tt02: looks like somebody is finally getting through to arians.



The Steelers will employ more toss plays, more edge runs and more pulling plays toward the outside by Essex and fellow guard Chris Kemoeatu to go along with his zone, man and gap-blocking schemes.
"There are definitely going to be some new wrinkles to our running game, that's for sure," Hartwig said.

Killer
08-05-2010, 08:56 AM
Excellent read!

http://files.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2010-08-04/oline2-a.jpg

Kugler had a drill set up for the second day of practice in which linemen went downfield and cut blocking dummies. That drill got the attention of everybody.

"I haven't done a cut drill on a dummy on grass in, yes, a very, very, very, very long time," Starks said. "Usually they would give us a pad to land on, but no. The ground is not soft at all."

The Steelers were never really particularly good at cut blocking, and that's something that Kugler noticed while evaluating films in the offseason.

"We are trying to work on fundamentals of football right now," Kugler said. "We are trying to build good fundamental o-line football for these guys."



kick ass!

SteelerSal
08-05-2010, 09:07 AM
"We are trying to work on fundamentals of football right now," Kugler said. "We are trying to build good fundamental o-line football for these guys."



Get back to the basics that you were taught in youth leagues...I love it!!

I expect to see much improvement with the o-line this season no matter who is starting.
The past few seasons looked like a cluster F*ck with the line looking like the keystone cops.

salamander
08-05-2010, 09:14 AM
If there were ever a season to prove all the doubters wrong, I'd say it's 2010.

Bring it on!

vrabinec
08-05-2010, 09:14 AM
That's all nice, but the o-line sucked in the practices I saw. That said, Kugler seems to be talking to these guys a hell of a lot more than Zirlein ever did, and he gets in there a demonstrates stuff while Zirlein just loved to tell the players what he wanted out of them. It's like night and day in that respect. Kugler reminds me of Grimm with his manerisms. Don't know if what he's telling them is right or helpful, but I like what it looks like from the stands.

Shoes
08-05-2010, 09:20 AM
Great read Tony...thanks for this!

SteelGhost
08-05-2010, 10:10 AM
Excellent ! Thanks for sharing Tone ! Looks like Mr. Kugler goes in the right direction :thumbsup:

vasteeler
08-05-2010, 10:13 AM
That's all nice, but the o-line sucked in the practices I saw. That said, Kugler seems to be talking to these guys a hell of a lot more than Zirlein ever did, and he gets in there a demonstrates stuff while Zirlein just loved to tell the players what he wanted out of them. It's like night and day in that respect. Kugler reminds me of Grimm with his manerisms. Don't know if what he's telling them is right or helpful, but I like what it looks like from the stands.

hopefully thats just getting adjusted to each other

vrabinec
08-05-2010, 10:23 AM
hopefully thats just getting adjusted to each other

Well, there were two problems. The primary problem I see right now is that Hartings absolutely stunk it up. He wasn't all that good to begin with, and this surgery just make him twice as bad. We have Urbik backing him up, and he's still getting pushed into the backfield a bit, and same with Legursky, so right now we don't have a center that's worth a damn. That's why I'm losing my mind over the coaching staff starting Pouncey out at guar. You have huge issues at center, and you draft the best center in college football, but for some reason you want to save the kid the rigors that go with being a rookie center so you stick him at guard? I don't get it. Why not find out whether the kid is the best center in camp, since you have such a big hole there, and then if he's not, move him? Every snap Pouncey takes at guard is one less at center, and every day we get closer to the opener with no functional center on the line. They're betting that Hartwig will get better at some point. What if he doesn't? Then how much time will Pouncey have to give it a try? Or are they just gonna stick Urbik or Legursky in there and live with our center getting mauled on every other play? Makes no sense.

The second problem they have is the cohesiveness. They looked really cohesive in the first practice, but in the second one I saw, as soon as LeBeau started sending loops and stunts at them, there were guys in the backfield running free on every other play. This line is a LONG way away from being even remotely effective. I think Mendy can handle it because he's such a good cutback runner that he can make his own holes, but our QB's are gonna get slaughtered (even more than usual)

tony hipchest
08-05-2010, 10:33 AM
urbick cant be that horrible at rg can he? starks/kemo/pouncy/urbick/adams is some serious beef. i really wish we would just give our young guys a chance to play and gain real game experience like how other teams do it.

the patriots threw sebastian volmer right into the fire and he did great.

of course our O-Line is gonna look like complete shit in camp and practices. they have to go up against lebeaus defense every day, but they will not face that james harrison and casey hampton every week in games. :doh:

vrabinec
08-05-2010, 10:39 AM
urbick cant be that horrible at rg can he? starks/kemo/pouncy/urbick/adams is some serious beef. i really wish we would just give our young guys a chance to play and gain real game experience like how other teams do it.

the patriots threw sebastian volmer right into the fire and he did great.

of course our O-Line is gonna look like complete shit in camp and practices. they have to go up against lebeaus defense every day, but they will not face that james harrison and casey hampton every week in games. :doh:

Urbik played almost exclusively at center the two days I was down there. He looked better at guard than he did at center, but I don't know how long he's been taking snaps there, and he may just not be used to snapping the ball and getting his hands up to make the block.

You're right about them going against our defense. Let's hope that our defense is just that good. (I think it's a little of both)

Devilsdancefloor
08-05-2010, 11:20 AM
Well it is nice to hear he is more of a coach that Z. Most of the Oline i think didnt respect Coach Z. If they still suck after camp that is when i will be worried, but kugler sounds like he has them on the right track at least.
i hope they put Urbik at RG and put pouncy at C(hopeful thinking i guess)

Austin87
08-05-2010, 12:55 PM
i hope they put Urbik at RG and put pouncy at C(hopeful thinking i guess)

Agree 100% with this.