The word offensive can be used as a noun (the position or attitude of aggression or attack) or as an adjective (causing resentful displeasure; highly irritating, angering, or annoying). For the better part of the last decade, the Rutgers football offensive line has been more the adjective and less the noun.
In fact, since 2014, the Rutgers line has struggled at the Big Ten level to be a viable, functioning unit. But in the first year under offensive line coach Pat Flaherty, the group took a rather dramatic step forward.
But this year, the offensive line has been just that – in a good way. Last year, the Rutgers offense was bottom-two in the Big Ten in most categories. This year, they are middle-of-the-conference and viable.
The offensive line has been a major part of this upswing in success, with Flaherty clearly having an impact.
Flaherty, with two decades of experience in the NFL (and two Super Bowl rings with the New York Giants) has helped the offensive line turn from a glaring weak point for Rutgers into a unit that more than held its own in the Big Ten.
“Coach Flats (Flaherty) has done a great job – again, you can be the greatest coach in the world, but if you don’t have a willing pupil, it’s hard,” Rutgers offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca said last week in a conference call for the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl.
“Those kids have done a great job. They’ve been eager from the first day we got here to learn and to learn how we want to do it here and how we want to play now.
“Again, the kids, I give them a lot of credit because they were kind of a group that was — the perception of that group maybe when I got here wasn’t the greatest, and they’ve battled through adversity. Every time they’ve been knocked down, they were able to get back up again and keep learning.”
The offensive line’s development under Flaherty and Ciarrocca is a major reason why Rutgers football finished the season 6-6 (3-5 Big Ten) and in a bowl game.
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But the unit’s growth can also be seen in the fact that they paved the way for Kyle Monangai to lead the Big Ten in rushing this season.
The line allowed 14 sacks all season, tied for No. 16 in the FBS this year. In 2022, they allowed 26.
“I think the improvement is like the offensive linemen are chasing the holy grail. You can always have lower pad level. You can always have better footwork, and you can always have better feet with everything you do,” Ciarrocca said.
“So you’re always talking about they have to be lower, they have to have their hands inside better, strike better with it, but they did make tremendous improvement.
“The kids just kept working and working, and our run schemes, it’s not a deal where you memorize who you’re blocking. You’ve got to understand the concepts and what the reactions are to the defense. And I think when people first learn anything, they memorize it first, and then they start to understand it, and then they master it.
“Those guys definitely went from memorizing to understanding it, and that will help them play better. Now hopefully as we move forward they’re going to be working on mastering it, which will allow them to play even a little bit better.”