With the spring football season approaching the halfway point, Steve Greatwood is not a happy man.
His area of expertise — the offensive line — is far from where he expected it to be at this point in the offseason. After all, the Ducks do return their entire starting offensive line from a year ago as the only unit on the team not affected by graduation.
“I’m not happy where we’re at right now,” Greatwood said. “I’m thinking we should be further along than what we’re doing right now.”
Now approaching his 19th season as Oregon’s offensive line coach, Greatwood brings a higher level of demand for his players, particularly with a group that played nearly every snap last season.
Senior Jordan Holmes started all 13 games at center, junior Mark Asper recorded 12 starts at right guard, senior C.E. Kaiser started 12 games at right tackle, sophomore Carson York started all 13 games at left guard and senior Bo Thran started all 13 games at left tackle. Holmes is also the only remaining captain on the squad after Will Tukuafu and Walter Thurmond III both graduated and senior quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was sidelined until the 2011 season. Holmes tallied a team-high 55 pancake blocks during the regular season and earned Pac-10 All-Academic honors following the season. As the leader of not only the offensive line but also the entire team, even more is expected of Holmes this season.
“His leadership’s great.” Greatwood said. “He does a good job there. There’s certain things I want out of him — I want to see more out of him. Better movement and just being sharper all the way around.”
With the second-team freshman All-American York recovering from shoulder surgery this spring and Asper going down with a tweaked left shoulder on Monday, Greatwood has been able to work in a handful of other players. But even with the substitutions, his expectations remain the same.
“I just don’t think we’re focused,” he said. “I wasn’t happy with the focus today.
“You know, I think we need to be more physical. Some guys are hurt, so we’re juggling some positions and stuff like that, but there’s no excuse for that.”
Greatwood commented that despite having some players out of position, he still feels there should be no drop off.
“Most of these guys have played enough football here we should be able to plug them in anywhere,” Greatwood said.
In addition to the first-stringers, sophomore Nick Cody and junior Darrion Weems have each seen reps at the tackle position during their time with the first groups. Senior Max Forer will also remain as Holmes’ backup center this season.
The arrival of junior college transfer Ryan Clanton also looks promising for the Ducks, though the 6-foot 4-inch, 300-pound Clanton is still going through the initial learning process.
“He’s one kid I probably have a little more latitude with as far as it’s new for him.” Greatwood said. “But he’s competing.”
Clanton, a Junior College All-American for the City College of San Francisco in 2009, was rated the No. 7 junior college offensive tackle, according to Scout.com, after helping the Rams to a 9-1 season. But as he and junior college transfer tight end Brandon Williams are quickly learning, the Oregon offense waits for no one.
“We’re trying to get to a tempo so that (the) two minute (drill) is really what we want to be able to be in,” second-year head coach Chip Kelly said. “It’s easier to practice really fast then slow down than it is to try and speed it up.”
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