Expect shuffling to continue on NU offensive line

EVANSTON-Northwestern’s offensive line seems to be the lightning rod of the team this season. Even with four returning starters, the front wall is the favorite topic of conversation and a frequent target of criticism in the media.

So it’s understandable when head coach Pat Fitzgerald calls the O-line “salty” and “ticked off,” and offensive line coach Adam Cushing says “they showed up with a chip on their shoulder” in camp this year.

But it wasn’t comments from the media or fans that first stung and then galvanized this group of linemen. It was the words of their teammates.

Redshirt freshman Gunnar Vogel says that critical comments from the team’s Leadership Council are what hit home the most and changed the mentality of the group.

“(The Leadership Council) had a meeting with Coach Fitz and they agreed, and reasonably so, that the offensive line was one of the weaker links on the team and we’re holding (the team) back,” said Vogel after last Friday’s practice at Hutcheson Field, the first full-contact, full-go session of fall camp. “After hearing it from your own teammates, it’s not as big of a blow coming from the media. This offseason we focused on that so much and that’s been our biggest drive.”

Fitzgerald says that he’s noticed a difference.

“I think they’re much better at conditioning than they were, functional strength, than they were at this time last year,” said Fitzgerald. “Our next-level guys weren’t strong enough a year ago and most of them were young, and now those guys have put in the work. I think the group is much more competitive and much closer as a group than we were at this time last year.”

Of course, Fitzgerald wasn’t bashful about publicly chastising his line last season, either, all but blaming the unit for several of the Wildcats’ losses, including Illinois State, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Minnesota. But he thinks that some of the media’s criticism recently is unfair. Yes, Northwestern suffered 39 sacks last season, second-most in the Big Ten; but some of those, he said, were the fault of quarterback Clayton Thorson holding on to the ball too long.

“Everybody talks about 39 sacks and it being their fault, and that’s fine,” said Fitzgerald. “But nobody talks about us (having the leading rusher) in the conference. It’s just really funny. If out get caught up in the whirlwind of what people say about you, you’re either the hero or the goat. I’m just glad that they’re in a salty mood. I’m glad they’ve done something about it.”

Cushing credits strength and conditioning coach Jay Hooten for driving the linemen hard during the offseason and making gains in strength and endurance. He also lauds his players with adopting the right mindset last winter.

“What’s really cool is the guys didn’t whine about it, they didn’t wonder why. They just got better,” he said.

One would assume that the Northwestern line’s greatest strength this season would be experience, with left tackle Blake Hance, left guard JB Butler, center Brad North and right guard Tommy Doles all returning. Not many teams have the luxury of returning four starters, meaning that just one new one needs to be identified.

But the truth is, not one in that quartet has nailed down a starting job yet, according to Cushing. And even if they do end up starting again, it may not be in the same position they played a year ago.

As you’ve probably read by now, Northwestern is looking at more combinations than a slot machine on the offensive line as Cushing and Fitzgerald look for the best five. They hope to hit the jackpot before the season opener against Nevada on Sept. 2.

At Wednesday’s practice, the big news was that Jared Thomas was playing left tackle in place of Hance, a two-year starter, who was on the second team. Then on Friday, Thomas was still at left tackle, while Hance was back with the first team as the left guard. JB Butler has played first team guard and second-team tackle. Vogel and Andrew Otterman have run with both the first- and second-team at right tackle. Rashawn Slater and Nik Urban have played at least two positions, Ben Oxley is popping up here and there, and new Georgia Tech graduate transfer Trey Klock is just getting his feet wet. The paper rosters that Northwestern’s media relations staff hands out to media members are getting a better workout at practice than the Wildcat players.

The goal of these different iterations is to find the best five players, regardless of position, and then figure out their spots later. Cushing says that not even North and Doles, the two stalwarts, have their positions set in concrete at this point.

“I told the guys that we’ll be using different rotations every day,” said Cushing, who is entering his 13th season on the Northwestern staff and ninth as the offensive line coach. “I want guys to be comfortable being uncomfortable and learn the whole offense, so that we can always have the best five guys out there.”

It may be unorthodox, but it makes sense on its surface. If the Wildcats can identify the top, say, eight offensive linemen and they can all play different positions, it will ensure that when a tackle gets hurt, they don’t have to play the next best tackle, but rather the next best player. There won’t be a dropoff in talent level just because an injury occurred at a specific position.

It also gives Cushing flexibility. He might be able to substitute for North at center for a series so that he’s fresher for the end of a game. Extrapolating the idea a bit, Cushing says that substitutions here and there throughout the season would make North “fresher in our 13th, 14th or 15th game.”

And how many players are in the rotation doesn’t really matter to Cushing. The more, the merrier.

“If 10 guys shown that they’re ready, we’ll play all 10. If eight are ready, then we’ll play eight,” he said. “That’s why we’re shuffling guys in different positions every day.”

Cushing has the perfect example to illustrate his grand plan. He points to former Wildcat offensive lineman Geoff Mogus, who played both left guard and left tackle for Northwestern’s 2015 team that finished 10-3.

Mogus’s ability to play both positions enabled Cushing to move him from one spot to another. It also enabled Hance, the next best offensive lineman at that point even though he was just a redshirt freshman, to “get his feet wet and to become, all of a sudden, a two-year starter for us at this point. So the ability to play a couple different positions (is an advantage).”

Cushing’s almost hockey-like changes in his offensive line may look to outsiders like a desperate plan to find a functional line to optimize the talents of stars like Thorson and tailback Justin Jackson. But Cushing is happy with his unit’s progress so far and says that his experiments will continue for as long as it takes to figure out his five starters and his two-deep.

At some point, though, Cushing has to identify his tackles and guards and centers so that they can focus on only one position. That has to happen relatively soon, right, coach?

“I’m not sure you have to do that,” said Cushing with a smile. “I know that’s against conventional wisdom. Luckily I work for a head coach that’s embraced that idea. Let’s just play them all, put them in a spot and play the best five.”