It didn’t take long for Doug Marrone to realize his offensive line is a major work in progress. Syracuse’s new head coach took one look at how his players set up at the line of scrimmage and immediately went to work.

‘We all had these horrible stances. We all had to break them,’ offensive tackle Jonathan Meldrum said. ‘Coach Marrone is pounding into our heads we got to break these habits that we’ve formed in previous years.’

As the rest of the depth chart begins to solidify, the Orange’s offensive line is still searching for an identity. Three weeks into spring ball, few questions have been answered about a crucial position group that was maligned throughout Greg Robinson’s tenure as head coach.

After practice Monday evening, Marrone made one thing clear: everything is still up for grabs on the offensive line.

‘We’re still working on it, and we’re still looking for the best five,’ Marrone said.

Marrone’s first order of business was fixing what he saw as mechanical flaws in his players’ stances. A former offensive lineman himself, Marrone has spent time working with each linemen. Meldrum said Marrone is the first coach he ever had who sat down with each lineman and took such a personal approach.

He said Marrone has trained the linemen to keep their backs straighter and their shoulders back, instead of leaning forward and slouching. Meldrum said this is a departure from what the previous coaches taught.

Instead of teaching his entire linemen one specific stance, Marrone has worked with each player’s natural stance individually and emphasized the importance of remaining comfortable before the snap. Tackle Nick Speller said this has been a change for the better. His stance is wider than average, and he said Marrone has allowed him to keep it.

‘Last year, my legs were actually burning from the stance,’ Speller said. ‘This year, there’s more freedom.’

As Marrone continues to shore up his offensive line’s fundamentals, he is looking for consistency within the group. Who the starters will be on opening day is still anybody’s guess.

Throughout the spring, Marrone has rotated a core group of 12 linemen among the five positions, searching for the best combination. Each lineman has taken reps at each position.

In meetings before each practice, the coaching staff ranks the linemen between one and 12. The top five on that given day are the starters and take reps with the first team, which emphasizes the competition within the group.

The top five has been changing, though, sometimes from practice to practice. Jim McKenzie has been a constant at center, and Ryan Bartholomew and Ian Allport still appear to be first-string at the guards.

The tackles still may be question marks. Lately, Speller, a redshirt freshman, has been the primary left tackle, replacing junior Tucker Baumbach. After practice Friday, Marrone said Speller earned his promotion after a series of strong practices last week. Also in the mix is Andrew Tiller, who is transferring to Syracuse from Nassau (N.Y.) Community College and will join the Orange in the fall. Tiller is listed as 6-foot-6, 320 pounds.

But for now, it is all about mechanics. Even though Meldrum said the group is improving, there is still a long way to go.

‘There are still some things we gotta break from previous coaches that have taught us, but we’re slowly moving along,’ Meldrum said.

Practice picking up

Monday’s practice was probably the most physical and intense Syracuse has looked throughout the spring. During the 11-on-11 drills, there was a series of big hits, and the players were especially enthusiastic and vocal. Afterward, Marrone said it was exactly what he was waiting to see.

‘What I told them was there were points during practice where the competition really picked up,’ Marrone said. ‘I think anyone that was there could see that, the enthusiasm for ‘X’ amount of plays. What we have to do is be able to sustain that type of enthusiasm throughout the whole practice. That’s our goal.’

Perhaps the highlight of the entire practice came from one of the most unlikely sources. Max Suter, a safety listed at 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, put a monster hit on Mike Williams, the Orange’s top wide receiver. The defense ran over to Suter and erupted in celebration.

‘It was like ‘Welcome back, Mike,’ Williams said. ‘That’s what I told him in the locker room – good hit.’

jediamon@syr.edu

Published on April 6, 2009 at 12:00 pm