Tag: offensive line coach

Broncos OL coach Zach Strief worked out Joe Alt at Notre Dame’s pro day

Broncos offensive line coach Zach Strief got close looks at tackles Joe Alt and Blake Fisher at Notre Dame’s pro day last week.

Denver Broncos offensive line coach Zach Strief got a close look at offensive tackles Joe Alt and Blake Fisher at Notre Dame’s pro day last week.

Strief was among the NFL coaches on hand to run Alt and Fisher through various drills at the Irish Athletics Center in Indiana.

Alt (6-9, 321 pounds) is widely considered the top offensive tackle prospect in this year’s class. Our most recent NFL mock draft has the Tennessee Titans selecting Alt with the seventh overall pick. The Broncos are not scheduled to pick until 12th overall, so if they are targeting Alt, they will likely need to trade up.

Fisher (6-6, 310 pounds) has been projected to go in the third round of most NFL mock drafts. Denver holds pick No. 76 in the third round and Fisher might be a realistic target at that spot.

Mike McGlinchey is under contract through the 2027 season, but Garett Bolles is set to become a free agent next year. The Broncos would be wise to begin planning for the future at offensive tackle.

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Alabama hires former Baylor assistant coach Chris Kapilovic as new offensive line coach

According to Pete Thamel, Alabama will be hiring Baylor offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic to be the team’s new offensive line coach. Kapilovic served the last three seasons as Michigan State’s offensive line coach and run game coordinator.

Alabama had a huge void to fill when offensive line coach Scott Huff left Tuscaloosa to become the offensive line coach for the Seattle Seahawks. Now, that void has been filled.

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Alabama is set to hire Baylor offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic to serve as the team’s offensive line coach moving forward.

Kapilovic has made multiple stops in the coaching landscape. More notably, he has served as an offensive line coach at North Carolina, Michigan State, and Colorado.

Alabama struggled to protect quarterback Jalen Milroe at times last season. It often resulted in sacks. Altogether, Alabama allowed 49 sacks on the season. Typically, that number is cut in half. Will Kapilovic be able to fix the offensive line issues? It will be interesting to see how he retools and reshapes the offensive line moving forward.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the latest regarding the Alabama football program.

Badgers officially welcome new O-line coach

New o-line coach officially welcomed

The Badgers announced that they were hiring a new offensive line coach late last week and they made the addition official Wednesday, welcoming AJ Blazek to Madison.

Blazek spent the last three seasons as the offensive line coach at Vanderbilt, but he has Big Ten experience as well. He spent the 1999 and 2000 seasons as a member of Iowa’s football team before joining their coaching staff and he later spent the 2016-2018 seasons with Rutgers.

Wisconsin will have a new primary running back in 2024, though Chez Mellusi is the favorite and he’s been in Madison for three years, while they will also have a new quarterback under center. Blazek will look to ensure that regardless of who’s touching the ball, they have adequate protection.

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Report: Wisconsin to hire an SEC offensive line coach

Report: Wisconsin to hire an SEC offensive line coach

The Wisconsin football program is hiring Vanderbilt offensive line coach AJ Blazek, according to a report from FootballScoop.

Blazek is set to take over the job after Wisconsin reassigned OL coach Jack Bicknell after the 2023 season.

The former Vanderbilt assistant was an all-Big Ten center at Iowa in the early 2000s before coaching offensive line at Western Illinois (2013-2015), Rutgers (2015-2019), North Dakota State (2019-2021) and now Vanderbilt (2021-2023).

He takes over a position group at Wisconsin which hasn’t lived up to expectations since the 2019 season. But with starters Jack Nelson, Jake Renfro, Riley Mahlman and others returning, it’s a group with a lot of potential.

Head coach Luke Fickell needs to get this hire right. This will be Wisconsin’s fourth offensive line coach in as many seasons, an unacceptable rate given the program’s pedigree at the position.

Sean Payton made Zach Strief a priority for his coaching staff in Denver

“Wherever I went, if I was able to, I [wanted] to hire him as the line coach,” Sean Payton said of Zach Strief.

Zach Strief was selected by Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL draft out of Northwestern. The offensive lineman went on to start 94 games from 2006-2017, splitting time between guard and tackle.

After hanging up his cleats following the 2017 season, Strief initially transitioned to broadcasting, serving as a play-by-play announcer for Saints games. Four years later, Payton asked him to join New Orleans as an assistant coach.

“Zach obviously played for us and then coached for me,” Payton said at the NFL owners’ meetings in Arizona last week. “He’s one of the few former players that moved from playing and went into the play-by-play booth, not the color [analyst] booth. All of us were [impressed], but none of us were surprised that pretty soon he did it pretty well. I was calling him about a coach when I was in New Orleans, and he told me what I wanted to hear. I was hiring a line coach, and then I was going to hire an assistant line coach.

“The next day he called me back and said, ‘Hey, I’d be interested in the assistant line job.’ I said, ‘I thought you were play-by-play guy?’ He said, ‘I want to be a line coach.’ I said, ‘Alright. Come in tomorrow.’ I hired him the next day. There are certain people you get to come across in your lifetime that you just know are achievers, and that you know whatever it is that they don’t know, they’ll figure out quickly and be successful. He’s one of those people. It just so happens that he had a long career of playing offensive line.”

Strief served as an assistant with the Saints from 2021-2022 and he will now get a promotion to head offensive line coach in Denver. Strief was a priority target for Payton when he built his Broncos coaching staff.

“[H]e was a target,” Payton said. “Wherever I went, if I was able to, I [wanted] to hire him as the line coach. You guys will enjoy getting to know him. He’s a pretty special person.”

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Broncos offensive line coach started 94 games and won a Super Bowl as a player

Broncos new offensive line coach Zach Strief started 94 games and won a Super Bowl as a player before switching to coaching.

The Denver Broncos will have a new offensive line coach in 2023.

Earlier this month, Broncos head coach Sean Payton announced several additions to his coaching staff, including Zach Strief.

Strief, 39, is just six years removed from his time as a player in the NFL. Payton drafted Strief in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL draft out of Northwestern. He then went on to spend 12 years with the New Orleans Saints, playing as a guard and tackle.

Strief was active for 158 games from 2006-2017, earning 94 starts. A team captain and one-time All-Pro in New Orleans, Strief helped the Saints win Super Bowl XLIV following the 2009 season.

After hanging up his cleats in 2018, Strief initially transitioned to commentating, serving as a play-by-play radio announcer for Saints games. He returned to the team as an assistant offensive line coach in 2021 and held that position for two years before reuniting with Payton in Denver this offseason.

The last former player the Broncos had coaching their offensive line was Mike Munchak, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Strief might not have a Hall of Fame resume, but he had an accomplished career as a player and will now look to use his experience and expertise to coach up Denver’s offensive linemen.

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Report: Notre Dame is expected to hire an elite offensive line coach from ACC program

Reports look like the Irish have found their new offensive line coach

Although it wasn’t a shock when [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] offensive line coach [autotag]Harry Hiestand[/autotag] announced his retirement, the timing was. It has been over two weeks since the announcement was made and it looks like the Irish have found their replacement.

According to a report by 247Sports Tom Loy, Notre Dame is expected hire Virginia Tech offensive line coach and run game coordinator [autotag]Joe Rudolph[/autotag] to fill the need. This is not confirmed by the university, as Loy states that Rudolph should be named “barring some change or surprise.”

Although Rudolph was only a Hokie for a season, he was previously at Wisconsin under the same title. The Badgers have a similar outlook on their offensive line as the Irish do, so it looks like a great fit.

Stay tuned to Fighting Irish Wire as we await the official announcement of Notre Dame’s next offensive line coach.

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Broncos expected to hire Zach Strief as offensive line coach

The #Broncos are expected to hire Zach Strief as their new offensive line coach, according to NFL Network.

It sounds like neither Mike Munchak nor Mark Schlereth will coach the Denver Broncos’ offensive line in 2023.

The Broncos are expected to hire Zach Strief as their new offensive line coach, according to a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Strief, 39, played 12 years in the NFL as an offensive tackle, spending his entire career (2006-2017) playing under Sean Payton with the New Orleans Saints. Three years after he retired, Strief returned to the Saints in 2021 as an assistant offensive line coach.

Now, with two years of coaching experience on his resume, Strief is expected to reunite with Payton in Denver as the team’s new offensive line coach. The Broncos had an opening at the position after Butch Barry was fired with two games remaining in the 2022 season.

After the team fired Nathaniel Hackett in December, interim coach Jerry Rosburg made several additional changes to the coaching staff, including firing Barry. We are tracking all of the team’s coaching staff changes on this page.

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Mark Schlereth open to coaching Broncos’ offensive line if offered role

“I’d be interested if that opportunity arose.,” Mark Schlereth said of the possibility of coaching the Broncos’ offensive line.

Mark Schlereth won three Super Bowls during his 12-year career in the NFL, including two titles with the Denver Broncos. He now works for 104.3 The Fan, but the player-turned-radio host has not ruled out a potential return to the Broncos, this time as a coach.

Schlereth said 104.3 The Fan‘s “Schlereth and Evans” show last week that he has spoken with new coach Sean Payton and would be open to coaching the team’s offensive line, if offered the job.

“I talked to Sean several weeks ago. I haven’t talked to him since,” Schlereth said, via DenverSpots.com’s Will Peterson. “But, yeah, would I be interested? Certainly I’d be interested if that opportunity arose. I don’t know that it will. I would imagine that we’re going to have a chat about that, but maybe not, I don’t know. Let’s just say that we talked about it several weeks ago, haven’t talked about it since.”

The fact that “Stink” hasn’t heard from Payton lately might be a sign that returning as offensive line coach is a longshot. Perhaps returning to the club as an assistant coach would be a more likely scenario.

Post update: Schlereth clarified in a tweet that he has not spoken to Payton about coaching with the Broncos. Payton also responded to the tweet.

Payton would be wise to also talk to Mike Munchak, who was let go by Nathaniel Hackett last year and then took a year off from coaching. Munchak would quickly return to being counted among the best offensive line coaches in the NFL if Denver managed to bring him back.

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Jaguars reportedly add FIU’s Greg Austin to coaching staff

The Jaguars are reportedly adding FIU’s Greg Austin, who previously worked with the Eagles, to the coaching staff.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are adding Florida International offensive line coach Greg Austin to their coaching staff as an assistant offensive line coach, according to reports from On3 and Underdog Dynasty.

Austin, 38, played offensive line at Nebraska and previously spent three seasons as an assistant offensive line coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. He went back to the collegiate coaching ranks after the 2015 season.

After two seasons as UCF’s offensive line coach and three seasons at Nebraska in the same position, Austin spent 2022 as FIU’s run game coordinator and offensive line coach.

It’s unclear for now if this means any changes will be made to the Jaguars coaching staff to accommodate the addition of Austin. Jacksonville found a lot of success up front in Phil Rauscher’s first season as the team’s offensive line coach, and former Buccaneers lineman Todd Washington worked as the team’s assistant offensive line coach.

The Jaguars allowed the fifth fewest sacks in the NFL and averaged the 10th most yards per rushing attempt.