D-line coach busy: MacKinnon.
Coach gets replacements up to speed in injury-plagued season
There have been three constants on the Edmonton Eskimos defensive line this season: Injuries, Donnie Oramasionwu, and defensive line coach Kit Lathrop.
A steady stream of injuries, notably to rush ends Marcus Howard and Julius Williams and interior bulwark Ted Laurent, has forced the Eskimos to cycle 17 players along the line, the foundation of their defence, certainly, but also of their entire team.
Oramasionwu, the 26-yearold veteran tackle signed as a free agent in the off-season, is the only starter who has not missed a game this year. In fact, the unit of Howard, Williams, Laurent and Oramasionwu was only intact for three games before injuries began wreaking havoc.
As a result, Lathrop, who also holds the title of assistant head coach, has been in non-stop teaching mode, with surprisingly consistent results.
“Coach Kit has done a wonderful job of working new guys in right away,” Eskimos head coach Kavis Reed said. “We pick them up at the airport, grab a burger at Burger King, and bring them straight to the office and make certain we bring them up to speed.”
Turns out the stampede of defensive linemen that have rumbled into town have been well-recruited. They’re talented, adaptive and quick studies. And they’ve had to be.
Lathrop learned about coaching defensive line while he was still a star player in the defunct United States Football League (USFL) with the Arizona Wranglers. His position coach was John Teerlinck, who worked under head coach George Allen, a defensive guru who led the Los Angeles Rams with their “Fearsome Foursome” in the 1960s, and the “Over The Hill Gang” Washington Redskins in the 1970s.
Always enamoured of veterans, Allen brought in a steady stream of older players to play under Teerlinck, who was just starting out as a coach at the time. He became a legendary NFL defensive line coach, working with the likes of Hall of Famer John Randle at Minnesota, and Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney at Indianapolis.
But back then in Arizona, Allen’s notion was young players like Lathrop and a young coach like Teerlinck could both learn from the wily veterans Allen was recruiting.
In Edmonton, Lathrop says guys like Williams and Howard have helped the newcomers, who include the likes of Alex Daniels, Brandon Lang, Shawn Lemon and Kade Weston.
Eskimos defensive end Jermaine Reid, for one, downplays the hurdles the incoming players have faced, like having to get accustomed to playing one yard off the line of scrimmage, and so forth.
“Defensive line is a difficult position to play, but it’s really the same things, regardless of where you go,” said Reid, who missed the first half of the season rehabbing a surgically repaired shoulder. “You can only be blocked so many ways, so it’s not hard to go back into it.”
On the other hand, a defensive line can really only concentrate on one collective task at a time.
“I smile when I hear coaches say, ‘Get to the quarterback, rush the passer, contain him, keep him here, watch the draw, watch the screen,’ ” said an unsmiling Lathrop. “Well, what do you want, a pass rush? You want me to get the quarterback, or do you want me to watch the draw? You can’t do everything at once.
“So, we talk about different situations, what the down is, where they are on the field. We say, ‘Hey, this is the time we’re going to do this.’ ”
Communicating on the fly also is key, Lathrop said.
“Know where each other are, (ensure) there are no big, exposed rush lanes for quarterbacks to step up and run through,” Lathrop said. “You look at (Montreal quarterback Anthony) Calvillo, last week, with two running touchdowns (against the Saskatchewan Roughriders).
“That’s a case of (defensive linemen) leaving a totally exposed middle, and showing a lack of respect for his ability to step up and get 15 yards when needed. He may be 40, but he can still run.”
Obviously, that’s not something Lathrop wants to see on Sunday when the Eskimos play the Alouettes. Still, he acknowledges defensive linemen sometimes will “pull the trigger when we should be sitting down to play the run.” He’ll live with the rare error in judgment.
“The guys know I have very little tolerance for anyone who doesn’t put out effort,” he said. “It’s the only thing I get upset about. You can fix mental mistakes, overcome physical things, but you can’t overcome lack of effort. You’ve got to have a motor to play for me.”
One piece of good news emerging from that 39-19 thumping the Eskimos took from the B.C. Lions last week was no more injuries to report along the defensive line. That sounds like continuity to a guy like Lathrop, not that he minds constant teaching.
“I’m having a great time, I love teaching,” Lathrop said. “I love watching the guys pick it up. I loving seeing the light click on.”