By Jesse Ackerman University of Texas football S&C coach
See the issue: October 2008

How can I work on getting past the offensive line? 

For the D-line, pretty much everything is played inside; so, getting the most force into the opponent’s chest is extremely important. Just having quick hands to get to your opponent will mean nothing if you don’t have the force behind the punch.

Our main focus is to win the battle of the hands and control our opponents from the snap of the ball. To do so, you have to use your entire body in one fluid motion to explode and push back. Your hips and legs are the driving force that allows your arms to explode into an oncoming lineman. Once you have driven your opponent back and maintained inside hand control, you can chop their arms and rip through to escape.

In the weight room, we perform exercises every week that simulate on-field movements. Resistance drills and other quick hand exercises that focus on the choreographed movement of the legs and arms develop speed, power and accuracy for when players need to make a quick punch to control an oncoming O-lineman.

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