Boulder – Jeff Grimes’ smile grew almost as wide as the thick shoulders of his eight freshman offensive linemen.
As Colorado’s first-year offensive line coach, Grimes had better find several newcomers ready to take on Colorado State’s defensive line in the Sept. 1 opener. During spring drills, Grimes had six healthy offensive linemen, just seven total on the roster before the newcomers arrived.
“I told all the freshmen that you better come in here planning on playing,” Grimes said Monday after CU opened its preseason camp with a morning practice involving newcomers. “We’ll have somewhere between two and four of them in the two-deep. And maybe even a couple starting.”
Until recent years, conventional wisdom among college coaches was that all true freshman offensive linemen be redshirted. The feeling was that 18- or 19- year-olds would get pushed around because they weren’t big or strong enough.
That’s changed.
“The coaching, the strength training, and the amount of combines and camps that these kids can go to – it all helps,” head coach Dan Hawkins said. “You see a big difference in kids coming out of high school in just the last 10 years.”
All of the Buffs’ newcomers passed the eye test. The most ballyhooed of the bunch – Parade All-American Ryan Miller from Columbine – goes 6-feet-8 and 310 pounds. Another freshman offensive tackle, Sione Tau, is 6-6, 310.
The tale of the tape for the eight: an average of 6-4 and 289 pounds. All but Tau, who is from Hawaii, have been in Boulder since June.
“Ryan Miller is a kid who has a lot of physical tools,” Grimes said. “He’s big. He moves his feet well. He plays very aggressive.
“But I’m reluctant to single out anybody too much. I really feel good about all of them.”
Miller and Mike Iltis (6-3, 285) are among those who look ready to go. Miller can’t recall the last time he wasn’t the biggest kid in his class. He was 6-4, 250 as a high school sophomore, 6-6 and 260 as a junior.
Not one to rest on his reputation, Miller stayed after Monday’s afternoon practice to run – “I’m probably 320 now and need to lose 10,” he said – and get one-on-one instruction from Grimes.
Miller, who chose CU over Notre Dame, said he needs to work on his pass-protection technique.
“I have God-given size, but there is no way I’m ready to start right now,” Miller said. “It felt good. Obviously things are going 90 miles an hour.
“In high school, you dominate. In college, you’re back on that first level.”
Iltis, who is from Sarasota, Fla., began working with a personal trainer in the seventh grade. Two years later, he started heavy power lifting to build muscle for football.
His personal bests in high school included a 380-pound bench press and 525-pound squat.
“Our high school had a big weight room, so we were pretty lucky,” said Iltis, who picked CU over Missouri, North Carolina State and Michigan State.
CU coaches hope the competition among the eight young offensive linemen will produce some internal synergy, which in turn could accelerate their learning curve.
Strength and size are important for a freshman blocker, but not the only thing.
“Now the key is, are they emotionally ready?” Grimes said. “Are they confident enough? Can they learn the system quickly enough to play a game in four weeks or not? We’ll see.”
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
