Louisiana Tech offensive line focuses on being tougher, smarter
On the eighth day of spring practice, the Louisiana Tech offensive line continues to learn from its new coach Dave DeGuglielmo.
Head coach Skip Holtz announced De-Guglielmo as the new offensive line coach on Feb. 3.
DeGuglielmo brings 29 years of coaching experience to Tech, including 16 years of coaching in the NFL. He most recently was the offensive line coach for the New York Giants and has also served as the O-line coach for the Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots and New York Jets, as well as the assistant offensive line coach for the San Diego Chargers. DeGuglielmo was a part of two Super Bowl-championship teams in the 2007 New York Giants and the 2014 New England Patriots.
DeGuglielmo and Holtz had previously coached together for seven seasons as De-Guglielmo served as the offensive line coach for Holtz at Connecticut in the 1997 and 1998 seasons. The pair then coached at South Carolina from 1999 to 2003 under Hall of Fame coach, and father of Skip, Lou Holtz.
DeGuglielmo said the mental growth on the offensive line this spring has been phenomenal.
“That’s where we’re going to get better,” De-Guglielmo said. “Every team has wonderful athletes. We’re no different, but we’re going to be smarter and tougher than the next group. That’s our goal.”
DeGuglielmo said footwork, fit and finish are the basis for all blocks.
“We spend a lot of time concentrating on the initial footwork, how we put our hands to landmark on a defender and how we finish a guy toward an end of a play,” DeGuglielmo said. “That and being smarter than the next team, or what I like to call accelerated vision. If a defense does one thing, we have to be able to communicate that across the line so that we can then react and adapt our techniques to take advantage of what they are doing defensively. It may be a small indicator on the left, but it’s important for the guys on the right. That kind of communication doesn’t come just from working in the classroom. It has to be done on the field every day.”
Louisiana Tech returns three 2020 starters on the offensive line in junior Joshua Mote, junior Abraham Delfin and redshirt freshman Walker Hankinson.
Mote started in all 10 games at left guard while Delfin started in all 10 at right guard. Both of the 2020 Tech guards were all-Conference USA honorable mentions.
Hankinson made five starts at right tackle during the 2020 campaign.
The trio were part of an offensive front that ranked first in C-USA and second in the FBS in fourth down conversions at 88.9 percent (16-of-18). They helped the offense rank fourth in C-USA and 53rd in the FBS in red zone offense at 84.6% (33-of-39). The Bulldog trio assisted the offense in averaging 315.8 yards of total offense, including a 216.6 passing yard average and a 99.2 rushing yard average.
