Offensive Line Coach

The Broncos line has got to be one of the worst that I have ever seen. I get that there have been a ton of injuries, but wow. Russ is taking a lot of heat, but the dude just has no time back there on the majority of plays. It's brutal. 

 
AZRaiderH8r said:
The Broncos line has got to be one of the worst that I have ever seen. I get that there have been a ton of injuries, but wow. Russ is taking a lot of heat, but the dude just has no time back there on the majority of plays. It's brutal. 
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The line is almost entirely made of backups, and a couple spots are third stringers. There is no chance.  I just hope Russ isn't going all Adrian Martinez and has PTSD next year when they have a line again.

 
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I was listening to Rob Zatechka's latest podcast with Travis Justice.  They covered a number of topics, as they haven't had a pod for a few weeks.  Rob spent a few minutes chatting about the retainment of Raiola on the staff.  Rob's main comments were:

  • Yes, Raiola being retained could be in part of recruiting Dylan, but would Rhule risk a 5-star QB by putting him behind a crappy o-line?
  • Rhule wouldn't be hiring an O-line coach he didn't want around for a long time if he didn't trust Donovan
  • Donovan brought in Aaron Graham a number of times this past season to observe and give his thoughts.  Graham said that the individual talent and abilities on the o-line was very poor (gave no more specifics) and Raiola was left trying to polish a turd
  • Based on how poor the individual players were on the o-line this past year, Raiola could have been considered one of the better coaches on the team last year
 
ColoradoHusk said:
I was listening to Rob Zatechka's latest podcast with Travis Justice.  They covered a number of topics, as they haven't had a pod for a few weeks.  Rob spent a few minutes chatting about the retainment of Raiola on the staff.  Rob's main comments were:

  • Yes, Raiola being retained could be in part of recruiting Dylan, but would Rhule risk a 5-star QB by putting him behind a crappy o-line?
  • Rhule wouldn't be hiring an O-line coach he didn't want around for a long time if he didn't trust Donovan
  • Donovan brought in Aaron Graham a number of times this past season to observe and give his thoughts.  Graham said that the individual talent and abilities on the o-line was very poor (gave no more specifics) and Raiola was left trying to polish a turd
  • Based on how poor the individual players were on the o-line this past year, Raiola could have been considered one of the better coaches on the team last year
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the comments by Zatechka and the quote by Rhule seem to be at odds with each other.

 
ColoradoHusk said:
I was listening to Rob Zatechka's latest podcast with Travis Justice.  They covered a number of topics, as they haven't had a pod for a few weeks.  Rob spent a few minutes chatting about the retainment of Raiola on the staff.  Rob's main comments were:

  • Yes, Raiola being retained could be in part of recruiting Dylan, but would Rhule risk a 5-star QB by putting him behind a crappy o-line?
  • Rhule wouldn't be hiring an O-line coach he didn't want around for a long time if he didn't trust Donovan
  • Donovan brought in Aaron Graham a number of times this past season to observe and give his thoughts.  Graham said that the individual talent and abilities on the o-line was very poor (gave no more specifics) and Raiola was left trying to polish a turd
  • Based on how poor the individual players were on the o-line this past year, Raiola could have been considered one of the better coaches on the team last year
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I think there is some OL talent on the team. I think it has been a combo of poor S&C and a poor scheme. I believe that if Rhule has a more aggressive style blocking scheme, and not a catch the defender scheme we have seen the last several years, the OL will look a ton better next year

 
Gorillahawk said:
I think there is some OL talent on the team. I think it has been a combo of poor S&C and a poor scheme. I believe that if Rhule has a more aggressive style blocking scheme, and not a catch the defender scheme we have seen the last several years, the OL will look a ton better next year
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I think there'll be improvement. I'd say there were a number of contributors of the play not being better. 

 
M.A. said:
I think there'll be improvement. I'd say there were a number of contributors of the play not being better. 
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I think the overall offensive scheme can make the o-line look improved, as well.  Whipple was one of very few college OC's who wasn't using QB run game in his system.  Going 10 vs. 11 in the run game requires the offensive line to be amazing.  By utilizing the QB run game, that holds another defender away from the ball carrier, and creates space in the defense.  I know the o-line struggled with pass blocking, as well, but that can be schemed with an improved short passing game, and not solely relying on looking for deep passes downfield to Palmer.

 
Rhule mentioned every single OL on the team said they loved Raiola, even the guys leaving. Which if you think our entire OL is trash may not be comforting, but interesting for sure. Also said there are pretty much 3 core OL philosophies, and Rhule/Raiola know the same one which was a big deal.

 
Would’ve been interesting if Rhule also asked all the O-line if they also liked Austin, before he was let go. 

As in, do you respect and like playing for Raiola as much as you did or didn’t like playing for Austin? 
I’m glad we kept DR

 
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I am I said:
Would’ve been interesting if Rhule also asked all the O-line if they also liked Austin, before he was let go. 

As in, do you respect and like playing for Raiola as much as you did or didn’t like playing for Austin? 
I’m glad we kept DR
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When coach Rhule says we're going to have a good line next year, I believe him. It tells me that there's been a number of things limiting their performance. It's just to critical for success for him to minimize it. There's so much that goes into it to consider. These guys might not be incredible athletes as but they're not playing anywhere near what they can be. Each contributing element is going to be addressed and corrected.

This is much like we see in our work experiences. Something isn't working and it should be. A few things are addressed, adjustments are made and it makes all the difference in the world. I don't know that we can do a 180 with these players for next season but maybe we can achieve somewhere around a 90 degree improvement. That would be significant.

As for coach Austin, who knows there. I'm sure that there were a lot of questions asked players. I think across the board the staff wasn't functioning cohesively limiting their effectiveness as a whole. You have to have the right people and do well with orchestration and managing.  

 
Husker in WI said:
Rhule mentioned every single OL on the team said they loved Raiola, even the guys leaving. Which if you think our entire OL is trash may not be comforting, but interesting for sure. Also said there are pretty much 3 core OL philosophies, and Rhule/Raiola know the same one which was a big deal.
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It's not that interesting imo, its just normal. Take it to the head coaching level, and Callahan had Zac Taylor and many other players writing open letters about their support and love for him as a coach. Pelini had the same thing with players openly talking about how much they loved him. It's great that that's there, but it's not correlated to the ability to do the job.

 
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