Serious question here for the coaches and staffers who have been a part of a program: how do you watch/chart OL play? Do you follow the standard charting developed by Belichick/Renner/Walsh or from a former college/pro coach or is there another way you watch tape? 

The best programs in all of high school football (and probably at all levels) have the most developed and technical offensive lines and so many of these athletes get overlooked by the average observer year in and year out. When I was on staff and we would meet other coaches at clinics or during film trades and nearly every time they wanted to know how we developed our linemen. Our guys were always trained to pass set, get out and run, and know the playbook responsibilities as much as the QB. It has been the cornerstone of the Trinity offense for the last 25 years and with Chris Botner and Breno Giacomini running the position now, there's no chance of that changing.

However, so many people from my perspective just don't see the real reasons why the Rocks can go for 300+ every single game. It seems very simple to me when watching guys like Nate Shields, Dakari Beckham, Alex Moore, Cole Spencer and others over the years just completely shut down the 3/4/5-star defensive ends each week. But it always seems to get lost in translation to the common viewer or journalist. Travis Moten (Fern Creek), Cedric Works (F. Douglass) and Aden Reeder (Cin St. X) were all high level D-1 prospects with eyes on them every snap and they had a combined 3 tackles and 0 for loss going against Shields the last 2 years yet somehow he continues to get missed when teams watch film on Trinity.

What am I missing here? I know I am biased, but the first guys I watched on tape this year were the ones going against KeAndre Thompson, Sebastian Blue, Jahbarri Frost and Juleone Carney and I knew with about 100% certainty how the game was going to go. It starts and ends with line play.

Just an FYI... St. X has Reeder (Michigan) with 6 solos 3 assists 1 TFL and 1 sack against Trinity.  Clapper (Notre Dame) added 9 tackles as did Reilly (Clemson) also with 9 tackles.  But, your larger point is dead on.  That game ended 17-14 with X on top.  X was runner up in Ohio D1.  Trinity has the Joes whether it be O-Line or any position group to play with anyone.  

Adding the link:  https://stxsports.net/sports/football/stats/2025/trinity-high-school-ky-/boxscore/7498

Charting is great, but I think you should do it with the players during film session so they can see it play by play and understand why and how they are being graded.

Keep it simple though.

Lastly, I personally think that O-line play is overall extremely poor across the state and the country.  And it's bad at every level, even the NFL.  

There are 2 big reasons for this IMO.

1.  The over emphasis on size.  Olineman are absolutely humongous now, and they can't move.  Heck many Offensie linemen can't even get in a 3 point stance any more.  And I mean can't.  They can't block because they can't move fast enough to keep up with the faster defensive players anymore.  It's really bad. Quit trying to make these linemen morbidly obese and allow them to move.  The best Olinemen in high school don't have big bellies.  They are leaner, move well, and just impose their will.  

If these lineman would be 20-30 pounds lighter, they'd be way better.  And this goes for NFL too.  These 350lb guys can't block someone like like Miles Garrett.  If they were 310, they'd be more able to move to block these rushers.  

 

2. The lack of contact during practice.  I understand the need to not have the same physicality and banging your heads in all practice every practice, but I really think we swung the pendulum way too far for the sake of safety. I'm not saying we need to go back to the good old days, but we definitely need to bring more contact back into practices.  Oline play is suffering greatly, which is impacting overall safety, especially for QBs and RBs.  You can't block effectively constantly going against dummies, sleds, pads, or going "thud speed."  You need to go full go so the OL can see and react to things in real speed.  You are seeing the same thing with tackling.  Tackling is also equally poor at all levels, including the NFL for the same reasons.  

Anyways, Oline play is pretty awful these days.  But it can be fixed IMO with some common sense changes to how people prepare.  

12 hours ago, James Graham said:

Just an FYI... St. X has Reeder (Michigan) with 6 solos 3 assists 1 TFL and 1 sack against Trinity.  Clapper (Notre Dame) added 9 tackles as did Reilly (Clemson) also with 9 tackles.  But, your larger point is dead on.  That game ended 17-14 with X on top.  X was runner up in Ohio D1.  Trinity has the Joes whether it be O-Line or any position group to play with anyone.  

Adding the link:  https://stxsports.net/sports/football/stats/2025/trinity-high-school-ky-/boxscore/7498

None when he was on our left side against #66.

Edited December 31, 2025Dec 31 by bugatti
Capitalization and punctuation.

Are we talking about actual OL chart rating at the high school level for KHSAA, or are we wondering aloud what are the college scouts looking at when recruiting KHSAA OL?

If it is the latter, we all know you can't teach size. High D1s are looking for the measurables out of the gate. They are taking chances on the size, not necessarily the skill, out of high school. 

 

If you don't meet/exceed their metrics, you gotta prove yourself in the G5 and transfer after getting a year or two of film. That is where the game is.

3 hours ago, Hungover_in_Andover said:

Are we talking about actual OL chart rating at the high school level for KHSAA, or are we wondering aloud what are the college scouts looking at when recruiting KHSAA OL?

If it is the latter, we all know you can't teach size. High D1s are looking for the measurables out of the gate. They are taking chances on the size, not necessarily the skill, out of high school. 

 

If you don't meet/exceed their metrics, you gotta prove yourself in the G5 and transfer after getting a year or two of film. That is where the game is.

I'm more interested in finding out why high school coaches and media cannot see offensive line play and realize what is effective and which players are great ones. To me, if you are already looking at a flashy defensive end or a monster up front who can cover multiple gaps and those guys get walled off play after play by a tackle or guard or center with great feet, they should get just as much recognition. A lot of what Isaac Sowells and Jedrick Wills was talked about but mostly because they had to play both ways (and were effective as well!) 

To me, its evident and something I look for routinely when watching film. 

This is a great topic.  I personally believe it is a lack of coaches who understand how to teach the techniques in a manner the player can relate to and thus implement on the field.  I say it that way because I didn't want to say there aren't enough good OLine Coaches.  I think it is the hardest position to coach effectively because you have to make 5 guys/plus backups get it and be cohesive about playing it and likely multiple positions within the group.