As someone who has to follow sports news a lot for this site, I have to say that Phil Rauscher elevation to O-Line Coordinator was one of the quietest things to happen in this off-season. Stacy Searels is now serving as an analyst, and I’m sure still helping with recruiting, but apparently the move was a good one, per a soon-to-be first round NFL Draft pick.
That’s some positive news, and I would have to say that the offensive line was one of the least of my concerns as the season progressed last year. Given that the line lost Drew Bobo late in the year and had to plug in a true freshman who owned Alabama for four quarters, I’d say the progress is moving in a positive direction.
From what little I can see about the few leaked observations from spring practice, the OL is one of the more positive stories I’m seeing bits and pieces of.
Now if we can just see the same progress on the line across ball in practice, I’d say we’re cooking again.
It seems to me that injuries, especially on O, and especially on the OL, have been our undoing the last 3 years. I know football is a sport of violent collisions, so injuries are somewhat inevitable. But, maybe we are due for a pretty healthy year. With as much as we have returning, that would be a leg up.