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Texas OL coach Herb Hand appeared on a podcast released on Friday by Brandon Thorn of the Athletic called Trench Warfare, and I would recommend hardcore fans of the program or of offensive line play in general check it out. There are some audio issues to start, but they are resolved fairly quickly. For you olds and lazies, I transcribed a bit of the conversation I found useful -- especially as we are getting into fall practices when offensive line rotations are talked about by fans and analysts alike. Thorn asked Hand about his unique way of keeping a depth chart which Hand calls the Matrix:
"The way the term 'The Matrix' came around was when you have a lot of moving parts -- and we still try to crosstrain as many people as we can to be multiple in their positions, and that will allow you to create depth with fewer players. We have 15 sometimes 16 scholarship linemen here, that's our roster number. That doesn't mean all 15 or 16 of those guys are ready to play at the level to win the Big 12 championship. You might have 8 or 9 at any given time where you say, 'OK, these guys are ready to play,'" Hand said.
"So what you're always kind of searching for is who's our third tackle? Who's our third guard? And you'd like to have two centers. So that's 8 guys. You'd like to determine who your top 8 are. Now, if you had ten across the board, and every backup was very proficient at their job and you felt great about just trading the backup for the starter, then you don't have any issues. But we always want to have our top 5 guys on the field. So, when you're crosstraining players and you have guys playing multiple positions, 1) it allows you to create depth with fewer players and 2) always allows you to have your best five on the field. So, if our center stubs his toes, our next best move might be to move our left guard into center and say who's the next best guy at left guard? Maybe it's your backup right guard so you need him ready to play both spots. Same with the tackle position.
"In practice, this is what we do and this is where the term 'matrix' came up. It was one of our guys while I was at Vanderbilt. We script out every one of our reps of team or any time going against a defense as to who is in at all 5 spots because I never want to walk off a practice field and say 'let's make sure we get Derek Kerstetter, let's make sure he gets some center work today.' And then you walk off the practice field and you say 'oh crap, I forgot to put him at center.' We want to remove all variables in that regard so we script it all out. So DK might be at RG for the first series of team, and in the next he'll be at center, and you go through the rotation and the next time he goes in, its at right tackle. But it's all scripted out so you can never walk off the field and say 'oh man, I meant to get this guy some work at LG today and I forgot to.' That's a wasted opportunity. So I try to remove all the variables so I have this sheet and it's called the matrix because it's all -- a little bit helter skelter at times -- because there's a lot of moving parts with it, but at the end of the day, when you have an injury occur, you can transition it seamlessly."
So, with all this in mind, how does it translate to the 2019 team? What does the current "Matrix" look like if Hand is not operating via a traditional depth chart during practices?
Well, the first bit of 'helter skelter' hierarchy comes at the center position, where RG Derek Kerstetter does often take reps with the ones, sometimes in doing so, Zach Shackelford moves to a guard, sometimes he just sits the series out. It would follow that this is an indication of Kerstetter certainly being the true No.2 center even though Rafiti Ghirmai will likely take every rep with the twos this fall. If any injury occurs to Shack, he'll stay right there with the twos.
Kerstetter and Denzel Okafor on the right side of the line have also been known to switch positions from time to time with Kerstetter getting work at the tackle and Okafor getting work at the guard. Another player who was mixing in with the ones yesterday every now and then was Tope Imade at the LG position which indicates that Imade's at least worked his way into a group of players that Hand needs to monitor through practice as receiving reps within the group of core guys. Parker Braun has only practiced one time as a Longhorn, but it would stand to reason that as fall camp wears on, that he'll be worked in at the guard positions in an effort to integrate him into this core group and eventually decide how the puzzle pieces fit together for the best 5.
So, let's think about who the core group is: Of course Samuel Cosmi and Zach Shackelford are the two players whose roles are clearly cemented and who Hand likely sees as two surefire members of his "Top 5". Hand says you want to have at least 8 (2 Cs, 3 OGs, 3 OTs) that you are ready to go to battle with out of the 15-16 Texas always aims to have on scholarship. It would follow that anything over that number is gravy, and nice depth to have considering many are crosstrained. It gives you more options, but also makes the matrix more cockamamie and the choices harder. Like a menu at Cheesecake Factory. This probably won't be the case in 2019 for Hand, though, as the OL looks like a fairly stout group among the Top 6 or so with loads of versatility, but maybe not the total quantity of options he'd ideally want.
So we have
Cosmi - LT only
Shackelford - C only, but if need be for whatever reason, has practiced some at guard
Kerstetter - Probably strongest at guard, definite backup center, versatility for either tackle
Angilau - Has practiced at both guards
Imade - Guard only
Okafor - At this point it's impossible to know if he's best suited at guard or tackle, but has practiced and played at both
Braun - Interior OL only, new to the program, but an absolute beast at Ga. Tech
That's really it. As we think about the second OL, not too many of those guys look ready to go and they certainly showed in the spring game that the unit collectively (and the individual parts within it) are a far cry from being ready for Big 12 football in 2019 week in and week out. Still, if you look at the 7 listed here you do technically have the numbers of backups at each position that Hand aims for, even if he does not necessarily have his Top 8 total. This is made possible by Derek Kerstetter's versatility to play center as a primary backup while concurrently serving in a role as either a starter or primary backup at either guard or tackle position:
Texas' Top 3 tackles are currently Cosmi, Okafor and Kerstter.
Texas' Top 3 guards are currently Kerstetter, Angilau and Braun (likely with Okafor as a 4th if need be with Imade as a fringe option).
Texas' Top 2 centers are currently Shack and Kerstetter.
Through this exercise, it becomes clear that Derek Kerstetter is quietly one of the most important cogs on the offensive line, even though there is a distinct possibility he even doesn't open a starter. The reason is because of his importance to the matrix, which can make your head spin with possibilities and permutations.
No wonder Hand scripts every rep before every practice.
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Texas OL coach Herb Hand appeared on a podcast released on Friday by Brandon Thorn of the Athletic called Trench Warfare, and I would recommend hardcore fans of the program or of offensive line play in general check it out. There are some audio issues to start, but they are resolved fairly quickly. For you olds and lazies, I transcribed a bit of the conversation I found useful -- especially as we are getting into fall practices when offensive line rotations are talked about by fans and analysts alike. Thorn asked Hand about his unique way of keeping a depth chart which Hand calls the Matrix:
"The way the term 'The Matrix' came around was when you have a lot of moving parts -- and we still try to crosstrain as many people as we can to be multiple in their positions, and that will allow you to create depth with fewer players. We have 15 sometimes 16 scholarship linemen here, that's our roster number. That doesn't mean all 15 or 16 of those guys are ready to play at the level to win the Big 12 championship. You might have 8 or 9 at any given time where you say, 'OK, these guys are ready to play,'" Hand said.
"So what you're always kind of searching for is who's our third tackle? Who's our third guard? And you'd like to have two centers. So that's 8 guys. You'd like to determine who your top 8 are. Now, if you had ten across the board, and every backup was very proficient at their job and you felt great about just trading the backup for the starter, then you don't have any issues. But we always want to have our top 5 guys on the field. So, when you're crosstraining players and you have guys playing multiple positions, 1) it allows you to create depth with fewer players and 2) always allows you to have your best five on the field. So, if our center stubs his toes, our next best move might be to move our left guard into center and say who's the next best guy at left guard? Maybe it's your backup right guard so you need him ready to play both spots. Same with the tackle position.
"In practice, this is what we do and this is where the term 'matrix' came up. It was one of our guys while I was at Vanderbilt. We script out every one of our reps of team or any time going against a defense as to who is in at all 5 spots because I never want to walk off a practice field and say 'let's make sure we get Derek Kerstetter, let's make sure he gets some center work today.' And then you walk off the practice field and you say 'oh crap, I forgot to put him at center.' We want to remove all variables in that regard so we script it all out. So DK might be at RG for the first series of team, and in the next he'll be at center, and you go through the rotation and the next time he goes in, its at right tackle. But it's all scripted out so you can never walk off the field and say 'oh man, I meant to get this guy some work at LG today and I forgot to.' That's a wasted opportunity. So I try to remove all the variables so I have this sheet and it's called the matrix because it's all -- a little bit helter skelter at times -- because there's a lot of moving parts with it, but at the end of the day, when you have an injury occur, you can transition it seamlessly."
So, with all this in mind, how does it translate to the 2019 team? What does the current "Matrix" look like if Hand is not operating via a traditional depth chart during practices?
Well, the first bit of 'helter skelter' hierarchy comes at the center position, where RG Derek Kerstetter does often take reps with the ones, sometimes in doing so, Zach Shackelford moves to a guard, sometimes he just sits the series out. It would follow that this is an indication of Kerstetter certainly being the true No.2 center even though Rafiti Ghirmai will likely take every rep with the twos this fall. If any injury occurs to Shack, he'll stay right there with the twos.
Kerstetter and Denzel Okafor on the right side of the line have also been known to switch positions from time to time with Kerstetter getting work at the tackle and Okafor getting work at the guard. Another player who was mixing in with the ones yesterday every now and then was Tope Imade at the LG position which indicates that Imade's at least worked his way into a group of players that Hand needs to monitor through practice as receiving reps within the group of core guys. Parker Braun has only practiced one time as a Longhorn, but it would stand to reason that as fall camp wears on, that he'll be worked in at the guard positions in an effort to integrate him into this core group and eventually decide how the puzzle pieces fit together for the best 5.
So, let's think about who the core group is: Of course Samuel Cosmi and Zach Shackelford are the two players whose roles are clearly cemented and who Hand likely sees as two surefire members of his "Top 5". Hand says you want to have at least 8 (2 Cs, 3 OGs, 3 OTs) that you are ready to go to battle with out of the 15-16 Texas always aims to have on scholarship. It would follow that anything over that number is gravy, and nice depth to have considering many are crosstrained. It gives you more options, but also makes the matrix more cockamamie and the choices harder. Like a menu at Cheesecake Factory. This probably won't be the case in 2019 for Hand, though, as the OL looks like a fairly stout group among the Top 6 or so with loads of versatility, but maybe not the total quantity of options he'd ideally want.
So we have
Cosmi - LT only
Shackelford - C only, but if need be for whatever reason, has practiced some at guard
Kerstetter - Probably strongest at guard, definite backup center, versatility for either tackle
Angilau - Has practiced at both guards
Imade - Guard only
Okafor - At this point it's impossible to know if he's best suited at guard or tackle, but has practiced and played at both
Braun - Interior OL only, new to the program, but an absolute beast at Ga. Tech
That's really it. As we think about the second OL, not too many of those guys look ready to go and they certainly showed in the spring game that the unit collectively (and the individual parts within it) are a far cry from being ready for Big 12 football in 2019 week in and week out. Still, if you look at the 7 listed here you do technically have the numbers of backups at each position that Hand aims for, even if he does not necessarily have his Top 8 total. This is made possible by Derek Kerstetter's versatility to play center as a primary backup while concurrently serving in a role as either a starter or primary backup at either guard or tackle position:
Texas' Top 3 tackles are currently Cosmi, Okafor and Kerstter.
Texas' Top 3 guards are currently Kerstetter, Angilau and Braun (likely with Okafor as a 4th if need be with Imade as a fringe option).
Texas' Top 2 centers are currently Shack and Kerstetter.
Through this exercise, it becomes clear that Derek Kerstetter is quietly one of the most important cogs on the offensive line, even though there is a distinct possibility he even doesn't open a starter. The reason is because of his importance to the matrix, which can make your head spin with possibilities and permutations.
No wonder Hand scripts every rep before every practice.
