The spirit and attitude are present, as is the commitment.
Between the end of the 2013 season and the start of spring practice, the members of the Georgia Tech offensive line met regularly to play basketball, ultimate Frisbee and touch football. Prodded by line coach Mike Sewak and coach Paul Johnson, the linemen combined to lose about 200 pounds, center Thomas O’Reilly said.
“I think we were in sort of a need of a cultural change,” said guard Trey Braun, who shed about 10 pounds to get to 290 and is apparently the line’s top ultimate Frisbee player. “We’ve really been working to implement that.”
For a group that has only one rising senior and is replacing three starters, the ambition is not lacking, either.
“I feel like we can definitely lead this team to great things,” said All-ACC guard Shaquille Mason, the lone senior. “No more mediocrity.”
Through nine sessions of spring practice, though, the process to approach that destination has been labored.
“I don’t know if we’ve progressed as fast as we’d like to,” Sewak said after Monday’s practice.
Sewak was not critical of effort or attitude, but clearly was frustrated by the lack of execution. He summarized the play in Saturday’s scrimmage as “bad,” noting that linemen were merely holding ground on blocks as opposed to opening holes or creating push. Players have been overthinking their assignments. Backups aren’t seizing opportunities for playing time. There has been a difficulty in taking techniques honed in drill work to live scrimmages.
“It shouldn’t take this much time,” Sewak said.
Right tackle Bryan Chamberlain has worked hard, “but still has a catastrophic mistake every once in a while,” Sewak said. He also said he is “not at all” satisfied with the depth at guard, where Shamire Devine is the top backup behind Mason and Braun.
Inexperience is a factor. Center Freddie Burden and tackle Errin Joe sat out last season with injuries. Devine and tackle Chris Griffin redshirted as freshmen. Of those four, all are first- or second-string despite the fact that only Joe has had any playing time, and that was a limited number of snaps in 2012. The ability to play and adjust without hesitation has yet to surface.
“Everything happens with reps, and game reps,” Sewak said.
To that end, Sewak moved Burden from second-string center to first-string left tackle after an injury to Griffin, keeping Joe with the second group. Sewak said that Monday’s practice was the first in which “I really saw (Burden) be physical” since his ACL tear last spring.
The move was also prompted, Sewak said, because, “I’m looking for a guy because there’s going to be some holes to fill next (season). You can’t count on all the true freshmen to come in and fill them.”
Tech signed six offensive linemen in its 2014 class.
This clearly is a group in flux. Ray Beno, Jay Finch and Will Jackson were constants in recent seasons, contributing a combined 117 starts over the past four seasons, but have graduated. Last season, even with those three and Mason returning as starters, the unit did not meet expectations. Tech is trying to rebuild with Mason (26 career starts), Braun (eight) and Chamberlain (eight).
“This year, we’ve definitely just focused on trying to build a camaraderie and just a group mentality,” said O’Reilly, who is atop the depth chart at center.
O’Reilly and Braun both said practices have been particularly physical. Just as the offensive line is trying to replace starters and develop younger players, the defensive line is doing likewise.
Tech has six more practices, including the April 18 spring game.
“They’re a good group,” Sewak said. “They’ve just got to take care of business.”
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