Three days of fall camp are in the books, and whether or not ASU’s offensive line can show marked improvement from 2022 remains a question mark. The Sun Devils’ front five last year may have been just one more struggling unit in a three-win season, and even though it has a low bar clear to show progress, its position coach Saga Tuitele says that this desired feat is very much still work in progress.
A major roster overhaul that took place since the arrival of head coach Kenny Dillingham last November didn’t skip this Arizona State unit. These days, only two starters from last season, left tackle Isaia Glass and right tackle Emmit Bohle, are running with the first team. UNLV transfer Leif Fautanu is slated to start at center, and Joey Ramos, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury in week one last year, is set to assume the starting role at left guard. Junior college transfer Max Iheanachor and Purdue transfer Sione Finau are engaged in a battle from first-team duties at left guard.
Tuitele, ASU’s first-year offensive line coach, is tasked with bringing this collection of players, who, like him, are newcomers in Tempe, on the same page. And there is one guiding principle in philosophy that will aid him in that mission.
“It’s the fundamentals,” Tuitele said. “We emphasize the fundamentals and techniques of football. Everyone says, ‘low man wins,’ but you have to teach kids how to get low. Your hip flexibility and hip movement; your hips have to get under the defenders’ hips. In order to do that, you have to get your feet in the right place."
Observing other drills in practice, the offensive linemen have truly honed in on driving and explosiveness. Tuitele has harped on his players to drive their feet in the ground while simulating running play movements. Their foot placement while moving is also a key point of teaching as establishing a solid base under you.
“Football, as much as people think it’s an upper body game, most of it is down in the lower half of your body,” Tuitele explained. “That’s been our emphasis, not just the camp, but this whole year, this whole offseason. Getting our guys to understand the importance of our foot speed, foot placement, our hip ability and mobility, and hip speed, and violence that’s the part that’s one of the main parts of playing offensive line.”
Tuitele naturally knows the importance of emphasizing the physical aspect of the position and the methodology that goes with it. Yet, establishing a formidable measure of trust is another trait he emphasizes, as it is a cornerstone to the requisite chemistry any successful offensive line has to have. Having that mantra being implemented by a position coach who is new to his players, a group of individuals that is still comprised of many new faces still learning each other, presents another challenge. After all, you’re only as strong as your weakest link.
“You got to build it,” Tuitele said of the trust factor. “You got to build it, and you build their bond and their love for each other in the offseason. Then you build the feel of the game when you get pads on; that’s where trusting the guy next to you and putting guys in position where they could play with each other. Feeling each other’s grunts, each other’s words, each other’s hand movements, or hand passing… that’s where the game evolves”.
During a one-on-one period in Wednesday’s practice, the offensive line undeniably faced their fair share of defeat against a stout Arizona State defensive line. After each rep, Tuitele would pull his player aside immediately, providing his constructive feedback.
“You know kids want to be coached,” Tuitele commented. “I always give them reinforcement sometimes; you get to camp mode, and you just want to get as many reps as you can. Each individual each rep is different, so I give them one or two pointers with that quick rep to emphasize the positive”.
The positivity is structurally beneficial for any group building camaraderie. This is not to say that Tuitele isn’t very vocal when criticism and a course of correction are needed during some drills throughout practice. There have been many instances where certain drills are forced to be repeated until they are executed satisfactorily.
The connection between the line and the tight ends is another element vital to the physicality of the offense in the trenches. Tuitele praised the performance of the tight ends and reinforced the notion that his linemen must make the job of that unit easier, whether it’s run or pass blocking. The blocking facet of an offense can be better judged when the pads come on, a phase that began with just shoulder pads in yesterday’s session and will ramp up this Saturday when the team goes full pads. When true full contact is introduced, it could expose more weaknesses but undeniably provide a better understanding of the level of physicality and connection this offensive line has within themselves under Tuiteles’ guidance.
“You can only get that in pads,” Tuitele pinpointed. “You can’t mimic a period where the offense has to pick up the blitzes, or it’s an inside run period. You can’t mimic that in the offseason; what you can do is prepare for them and prepare for when stuff doesn’t go right and how they respond to that.
“The actual physicality of that thing, that’s what practice does, and being our first day of pads, you got good things, bad things, and you got to clean it up.”
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