Photo courtesy of BlueGoldNews.com. West Virginia offensive line coach Matt Moore is pictured at a recent practice.
MORGANTOWN — It’s funny how things work at a football press conference. You ask a question, expect a certain answer, and the person you’re interviewing comes out of the blue with his answer.
That was also the case with offensive line coach Matt Moore on Wednesday afternoon when he was asked about the mental aspects of working as an offensive lineman.
Before we come to his answer, let us first take a detour to the public perception of the game of football.
We think the mental approach to the game is built on as much emotion as you can get out of yourself. The image was perhaps first presented to us in the black and white days of the newsreel, when Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne let out his fire-breather “Win one for the Gipper” Speech to his team, which ended in his own way:
“We’re going inside them, we’re going outside them—inside them! and outside them!—and once we’ve routed them, we’re going to keep them routed. And we’re not going to get past unless their secondary defenses get too close. But remember, men—we’re going to route them, we’re going to go on, on, on, on!—and we’re not going to stop until we cross that goal line! And remember me—today is the day we’re going to win. They can’t beat us—and that’s the way it goes. The men of the first platoon—get in there and fight, fight, fight, fight! What do you say, men?”
Football has always been portrayed as being so intense. According to urban legend, Harvard’s football coach once choked a bulldog to inspire his team to beat Yale.
Fanaticism is portrayed as the norm. It’s WVU fullback Owen Schmitt hitting himself with his helmet as he leaves the field, blood streaming down his face from the beating he inflicted on himself. It’s the performance of last year’s WVU All-American center Zach Frazier, who refused to kneel despite a broken leg, helped a teammate get a first down, then crawled off the field to avoid a timeout.
Let’s get back to reality now, to Wednesday’s press conference and how Matt Moore wanted his offensive linemen to mentally approach their task on a football Saturday.
Consider that these are 300-pound men who will physically attack an opponent of their size on any given play, can use their hands much better than they can, and are hell-bent on destroying the ball carrier or quarterback. What kind of mindset do you want his player to have, and how does it differ from other positions?
“Offensive Linemen? Less emotional:” he replied. “I always tell my guys, for you to get on the field, we have to trust you. And for us to trust you, you have to go out there and do the same thing over and over again. If you’re as good as you are, I want you to always be that way. I don’t want any ups and downs.”
The picture he paints of his desires is different from the picture painted in folklore.
“You have to be emotionless and be the same guy every day, every snap,” he said.
Now, that doesn’t mean you should try to make less of a fuss. It also doesn’t mean you should be indifferent about your efforts.
Moore values consistency and it seems he keeps coming back to that result, citing last year’s All-American hero at center Zach Frazier as an example.
“Frazier was up here every day,” Moore said, hinting at an emotional climax. “But he was there every day.”
He was dedicated. He was unforgiving. But he didn’t play over the top. He was what Moore wanted him to be, the example he would set for everyone in terms of his consistency in approach, training, work ethic and performance.
“I’m looking for emotionless guys” he said. “From a mental standpoint, you have to be able to handle defeat. You have to have a short memory. The only lineman who has never lost is one who has never played.”
Look, football is a game where you win or lose on every play, especially on the offensive line. You have a job to do and you have to do it or the game is probably a bust. If there are enough individual mistakes, you’ll go home as part of a losing team.
You can’t let a missed block on one play ruin the next play. The guy on the other side of the ball is as big as you, as fast as you, as smart as you, and as well-coached as you. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
“You’re going to get beat. You’re going to lose a reputation, but you’ve got to be able to bounce back the next time you play and keep it going.” said Moore.
So much can happen. “Sometimes you get sidelined,” noted Moore. “You just have to have such a short memory.”
And there’s something else… again embodied by Frazier.
At most positions in football – and in all sports, really – having an ego is considered an advantage. We live in the age of YouTube, Tik Tok, X and Facebook. Here, athletes aim to make ESPN’s top ten. It’s all about one-handed catches, victory dances and 10-rated dunks.
But let’s be honest: In the offensive, you usually get noticed when you get whistled for holding or when you make a false start.
Funny, isn’t it, that the officials take the time to step up to the microphone to point out “Holding, No. 75, Attack” but you never hear them say “Hole opened by attack number 75.”
According to Moore, the ego in the offensive line is a disadvantage.
“Ego? None.” When asked what role this played, Moore replied: “Our offensive line does that really well. They want to start, they want to be number one, but when the guy behind them is on the rise, they coach him and tell him what he’s doing wrong, but there’s no ego on our team.”
