Colorado’s offensive line is still a work in progress, but Gunnar White says the pieces are moving in the right direction under Brennan Marion.
After Monday’s practice, the Buffaloes’ run game coordinator and offensive line coach talked through the offense’s tweaks, the competition up front, and the growing depth he believes Colorado is building along the line.
White said Marion is tailoring the scheme to the roster instead of forcing one style on everyone.
“It looks good, and I think coach (Marion) is doing a great job of feeding into everybody's strengths, too. 'Cause not everybody's a downhill runner.
Some guys are perimeter guys, and that's just the way it is. I love what coach Marion's doing with the scheme, and I think it's heading in the right direction.”
He also said the offense is familiar in some ways, but there’s a clearer vertical emphasis now.
“It’s similar, as far as with our calls, and everything like that. We're just taking more of a vertical approach because of the way that it's set up.
And I like the way that he wants us to take everything north and south. It's a dominant mindset that it brings to the offense line, and it helps them bring the rest of the team along.”
Even with that progress, White made it clear the job battles are far from settled. Colorado is still sorting out its starting five, with competition running from tackle to guard to center.
“I still think it's early. We have a lot guys battling for positions across the board, from tackle to guard and to center.
I do think we've made strides from spring, like I I've seen vast improvement in all the positions since spring. So, I'm happy where it's heading.”
That competition has led to plenty of movement across the line, something White says is deliberate.
“We move guys around all the time. We don’t want their first shot at a certain position during the game, you know, third quarter, it’s tight, and he’s never played the position before. So we’re always trying to cross train guys and make sure that they’re ready.”
He pointed to Sean as someone handling the challenge well.
“Sean's been doing everything right. He's leading the group right too.
When he's in there, he makes the right calls, and people play good when he's in. So, I'm happy with what he's doing, and not to say that the other guys aren't doing what they need to do, but it's a good healthy competition,” White said.
White also said the continuity inside the program has helped, even as different coaches bring different methods.
“In year's past, I've been a part of, I guess, every O-line group since Coach Prime's been here. And everybody has their ways to coach and to teach.
With us, we got continuity in how we operate day to day with each other, much less with the guys that have been with us for over a year or two. So that part's always helped.
We build off of each other and make each other stronger too.”
As for the current group, White said the standard remains simple.
“Everything's different. Like, depending on who's wearing the hat depends on how techniques are done, how the scheme's done. Whatever he says and whatever he wants, that's what he gets.”
He spent part of his comments highlighting individual growth across the room, starting with Yahya Attia, whom he said has already been through enough to handle the ups and downs.
“Just their personal growth, for one. Everybody knows Yoyo (Yahya Attia) since he's been here a couple of years now, and his journey through everything. So he knows how to handle adversity and what getting punched in the mouth literally looks like and be able to move on from that too.”
White was equally upbeat about Jayvon, Chauncey, and several others in the room.
“And Jayvon, he's grown a lot since he first got here with us in January. And I'm very proud of the strides that's he's made on the field and off the field too. He's a phenomenal kid.”
“Chauncey's naturally progressed. He's taken the leap forward that you want to see from a true freshman to a redshirt freshman. . . .
The jump from the first to the second year, I think he's heading in the direction that he needs to. Still needs to improve in some places, 'cause he's still young, but I love the energy he brings, I love the physicality he brings.
And he's dominant on the line of scrimmage, so I don't know what else to ask for. And he's handling his grades, handling his stuff off the field, it's great.”
He also praised the way one player brings violence to every snap.
“He's violent and physical. It doesn't matter if it's run or pass.
Once he gets his eyes locked in on his target, it's game over. I love everything that he's doing, and like I said, his growth on the field, off the field, has been phenomenal.
I mean, night and day since the time that he walked in, I love having him here.”
White mentioned Taj, Larry Johnson III, Andre Roye, Leon Bell, and Xavier Payne as well, saying the room is trending up across the board.
“Taj (White) has been awesome, he's an older guy. Larry (Johnson III) he's stepped up his game.
(Andre Roye, he's stepped up his game, too. Leon (Bell), he's done phenomenal.
Xavier Payne, the young freshman, like he's coming along really well too. Everybody's looking good.”
The bigger picture, though, is what White says Coach Prime wants to build. That starts with high school recruiting and, in White’s view, with the big bodies on both lines.
“It starts with Coach Prime. Like he wanted to set out a mission that the recruiting's going to be different.
Like in the past, we haven't been heavy on high school guys, but now he said that he wanted 20-21 guys. And I wanted to make sure I'm at the forefront of that.
And it all starts up front, with O-line and D-line too. And if you don't have those guys and building them in and getting them into your program, because ideally you want to keep everybody and not depend on the portal.”
He said the goal is to build habits early so the roster can sustain itself.
“So once you get them in, get good habits built that we want, it self grooms and cultivates on its own. So that way if you do have to go into the portal, you just kinda get one or two, and you got less variables to go off.”
Experience, White added, still matters most.
“It’s experience. That's something you cannot replace or exchange is experience.
'Cause it's one thing to go out and practice all the time. It's another thing to go against live bullets with somebody who wants it just as bad as you, wearing a different colored jersey.
That's something that you can't really replicate, so it's gonna help him in the long run.”
White also praised the way the run game is being shaped around the players Colorado has, while noting Phillip Houston’s versatility.
“I love the way he's going and progressing. We're feeding into his strong suit with the run game, too.
He's getting way better in his pass protection. Phil (Phillip Houston) he's doing multiple roles too regarding tackle, he's coming a long ways as well.”
For White, that kind of depth is exactly what Colorado needs.
“It’s a great problem to have. 'Cause you would want that than four that I really counting on, I don't know who my fifth guy. So I would much rather have too many bullets than not enough situation.”
And when it comes to potentially leaning on more than five linemen, White said he’d welcome it.
“I would love it. Defensive lines do it all the time, so why can't offensive line. I can't make promises whether we're going to do that or not, but I think we have the guys to be able to do that, though.”
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