Offensive Line Coach

I thought Hixson did better than I expected him to. Maybe that just means that my own expectations were too low. But the point is, he at least got coached to play a new position somewhat competently in basically one offseason.

And Corcoran really came along.

So there were at least some positives from what Raiola was doing. But he didn't help our right tackle's game at all, and that leaves some pretty big question marks for me personally.

 
Born N Bled Red said:
How anyone can automatically fault Riaola based on 1 year is beyond me. Not only was it 1 year, it was a year in which both tackles are sophomores, breaking in a new starting center (you know, the guy who makes calls on the line) installing a new offense, the coach getting fired two games in resulting in changes to the offense, 0 commitment to the run the top two guys being out (one for idiocy in the the offseason, one due to injury). Second string depth is all Sophomores or younger. To top it off, strength and conditioning clearly had a negative impact on the line's footwork, agility and speed. I mean- he walked into a nightmare situation. - I wouldn't be surprised if he advised Dylan to go elsewhere because with talent and age on hand, Dylan wouldn't likely finish his career without significant injuries. 
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What Fru said. 

It's not about blaming Riaola for everything. It's that if there was ONE position coach you wanted to bring change and credibility, it was OL, making it an awkward place for the single Frost holdover. 

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
What Fru said. 

It's not about blaming Riaola for everything. It's that if there was ONE position coach you wanted to bring change and credibility, it was OL, making it an awkward place for the single Frost holdover. 
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I wonder what the previous coach’s influences were. More than once Scott said that Raiola was coaching as he wanted.
 

Raiola was said to be highly frustrated from the first phases of the season. Maybe Donovan wasn’t conducting his practices entirely how he’d like. Was that a factor…

It seems that there’s much more to this story. Rhule wouldn’t retain Riaola if he didn’t think he was a coach that he could rely upon. And he wouldn’t keep him just to successfully recruit Donovan’s nephew.

 
M.A. said:
I wonder what the previous coach’s influences were. More than once Scott said that Raiola was coaching as he wanted.
 

Raiola was said to be highly frustrated from the first phases of the season. Maybe Donovan wasn’t conducting his practices entirely how he’d like. Was that a factor…

It seems that there’s much more to this story. Rhule wouldn’t retain Riaola if he didn’t think he was a coach that he could rely upon. And he wouldn’t keep him just to successfully recruit Donovan’s nephew.
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Also seeing commentary from local beat writers that Whipple’s run game designs were archaic and only had like 3 different run schemes in the offense.  If run schemes are that easy to analyze and defend from opposing defenses, o-lines are going to struggle no matter how well they are coached.

I’m not saying I don’t have any concerns about Raiola, but there were a lot of factors which makes it difficult to judge Raiola’s performance as o-line coach, and if he deserves a spot on Rhule’s staff. 

 
ColoradoHusk said:
Also seeing commentary from local beat writers that Whipple’s run game designs were archaic and only had like 3 different run schemes in the offense.  If run schemes are that easy to analyze and defend from opposing defenses, o-lines are going to struggle no matter how well they are coached.

I’m not saying I don’t have any concerns about Raiola, but there were a lot of factors which makes it difficult to judge Raiola’s performance as o-line coach, and if he deserves a spot on Rhule’s staff. 
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Good point. There’s a lot to consider. I’m told that Riaola takes the responsibility seriously and is constantly working on improving his skill. 
 

He’ll likely continue doing so. The questions posed to him and others and their responses probably weighed quite a bit into Rhule’s decision.

 
M.A. said:
Good point. There’s a lot to consider. I’m told that Riaola takes the responsibility seriously and is constantly working on improving his skill. 
 

He’ll likely continue doing so. The questions posed to him and others and their responses probably weighed quite a bit into Rhule’s decision.
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If anything Satterfield met Donovan, interviewed/spoke with him for a couple of hours, and the two guys hit it off. Satterfield must be confident that Donovan can teach the line concepts that he has in his offense. Plus, Rhule likes to get involved in all concepts of the team, so Rhule and Donovan can work together at times. Yes, it’s interesting that Satterfield and Rhule did end up bringing Raiola back, but there must be reasons which are important to them. 

 
If I remember correctly, Riola wanted to coach the oline to be aggressive and play downhill, but Frost/Whipples offense did not ask for that. I think/hope that Rhules offensive scheme will fit how Riola thinks an oline should play and Riola will be more effective because of it

 
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Guy Chamberlin said:
What Fru said. 

It's not about blaming Riaola for everything. It's that if there was ONE position coach you wanted to bring change and credibility, it was OL, making it an awkward place for the single Frost holdover. 
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Agree. I’m hoping it was just not being in sync with Whipple regarding what he wanted to do and what we had the personnel to do and this staff feels DR has the right philosophy and vision for the OL for what the envision for this offense

 
So much of this thread is focused on Raiola coaching as it should be but feels too much like  saying: 

Yes, we know the O line has no talent but assuming it does, Raiola did a poor job coaching this talented line.

I don’t think ANY line coach could teach this year’s line to run block any better than it did nor to pass block much better.  This year’s O line was a lost cause. Period.  Without additional new talented players (3-5 or more ideally), the only real prospects for a better O line performance in 2023, is purely based on alternative offensive schemes which probably won’t help much.  Of course opponents could get worse but ??? Not seeing a big ten drop off.   
 

I see Rhule finding a couple difference makers in the portal maybe. Maybe returns by injured guys helps another spot.  Say three out five spots get more coachable.  That could in the best case scenario put DONU line in the low-mid Big Ten pack (10th of 14 perhaps).  That’s not good but above terrible.  
 

By year 2, Rhule can find three more to replace grads, and depth is developing via S&C and recruiting generally.  Still not championship caliber. Maybe up two spots to 8 of 14.  That’ll mean Raiola / Rhule ARE good coaches. It’s all guesstimating 

 
Gorillahawk said:
If I remember correctly, Riola wanted to coach the oline to be aggressive and play downhill, but Frost/Whipples offense did not ask for that. I think/hope that Rhules offensive scheme will fit how Riola thinks an oline should play and Riola will be more effective because of it
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I think you're gonna find that what Rhule likes to do on offense is eerily similar to what Frost liked to do.....big offensive line with speed at the skills.

 
TheSker said:
I think you're gonna find that what Rhule likes to do on offense is eerily similar to what Frost liked to do.....big offensive line with speed at the skills.
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It'll be more complementary to the defense I believe. More game control through time of possession. I really do think that Rhule wants to establish a reliable running game. 

 
Gorillahawk said:
If I remember correctly, Riola wanted to coach the oline to be aggressive and play downhill, but Frost/Whipples offense did not ask for that. I think/hope that Rhules offensive scheme will fit how Riola thinks an oline should play and Riola will be more effective because of it
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Our line was pretty good when we played that way.

 
TheSker said:
I think you're gonna find that what Rhule likes to do on offense is eerily similar to what Frost liked to do.....big offensive line with speed at the skills.
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From what I gather, Rhule's offense at Baylor was mostly pretty standard spread stuff. The difference seems to be that Rhule's approach was more about being able to execute a relatively constant set of plays really well, rather trying to trying to out-scheme each opponent in a different way. (This may have been part of his downfall in the NFL, where scheme is a more critical aspect of the game.) But I think there were some sizable differences in what he ran at Temple vs at Baylor, so it'll be interesting to see what he comes up with here.

 
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