Offensive line brings depth, experience for new coach Hand
“I love our offensive line unit. Anytime you can have a veteran group — you cannot put a price tag on experience. The veteran group aspect excites me.”
— UCF coach Herb Hand
When Herb Hand arrived at UCF, the veteran offensive line coach must have immediately liked what he saw.
The Knights possess plenty of depth, experience, size and speed up front with six returning starters in 2021, which fits right with what Hand is looking for from good offensive linemen.
These are his kind of dudes. “He likes to put that ‘Dude Alert’ thing on Twitter,” redshirt junior tackle Sam Jackson said of Hand’s social media signature when highlighting something he likes or respects. “It’s a mentality. We’re the people that move the offense. You can’t have a play without the center snapping the ball, and you can’t have [quarterback] Dillon [Gabriel] making plays if we’re not blocking right.”
Redshirt freshman center Matt Lee explained, “Being a dude is like coming to work every day, doing everything right and being able to be trusted by coaches and your teammates.”
Hand’s built a reputation for finding and developing talent wherever he coaches, as demonstrated by the nine all-conference selections he’s mentored the past five seasons while coaching at Texas and Auburn. While the players are different, the blueprint remains the same.
“I like to look up at guys. I’m about 6-2 and I like to be able to look up at them, that’s No. 1,” said Hand, 53. “We’ve certainly got some guys with good length to them, which is good to see. You want guys that can bend, who are flexible and who can move their feet. You want guys that are physical enough at the point of attack to re-establish the line of scrimmage. … You want guys who are athletic enough to be able to go out and block in space.
“One of the most important aspects of being an offensive lineman is being able to process and think quickly, because on the snap
of a ball things can change. The best players are the ones that when the ball is snapped, they can think on their feet and they can adjust.”
The players are elated to learn from one of the best in the business.
“He has a wealth of knowledge,” Jackson said. “He’s been coaching for a long time and he’s going to demand the best from you.”
Added redshirt junior guard Cole Schneider: “He’s a player’s coach. You have some great conversations, whether it’s about him cooking or about inside-zone footwork.”
The six starters include Jackson, Schneider, Lee, Ed Collins, Lokahi Pauole and Marcus Tatum. The group has 86 career starts among them and 4,404 snaps of experience from last season alone.
“You’ve got a bunch of older guys that have game experience,” said Jackson, who split time between right tackle and right guard last season. “You can see when we’re running through plays, things pop up that you don’t go over [in practice] but some guys can adapt.”
For a veteran coach like Hand, who previously worked at Penn State in addition to Auburn and Texas, the ability to walk into a new situation with an experienced group like the one at UCF is priceless.
“I love our offensive line unit,” Hand said. “Anytime you can have a veteran group — you cannot put a price tag on experience. The veteran group aspect excites me.”
Other linemen who saw limited action last season were tackles Adrian Medley, Paul Rubelt and Josh McMullen; guards Brett Bell, Mike Lofton, Kyle Back; and center Chidoziri Maghiro. True freshmen Ethan Mort and Leander Wiegand are midyear additions, as well.
While the Knights are spending this spring establishing a new foundation within the program, the linemen have specifically been focusing on their footwork and new blocking techniques.
“It took a little bit of time to get used to, but now I think we’re much more comfortable and it’s our system now,” Lee said. “I think everyone is adapting to it well and I get more comfortable every day doing the new stuff.”
It’s the small things receiving the most attention this spring.
“The little details can become big things, especially when you’re a cohesive group of five guys,” added Schneider, who spent last season at left guard. “You want to work on yourself but at the same time, you want to get your whole unit together because it’s not a one-man position.
“You have five guys up there and you’re only as strong as your weakest link.”