New England Patriots offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia recently spoke at a coaching clinic and a few snippets of his speech has been posted online. Scarnecchia entered retirement after the 2013 season, but returned to the Patriots in 2016 after a two-year hiatus.
Scarnecchia discusses his approach to cohesiveness, defending a rip move, and the appropriate degree of aggression in pass protection.
Dante Scarnecchia : There's a lot of ways to skin a cat, fellas pic.twitter.com/oNvvaoWXrY
— GipsySafety (@GipsySafety) May 23, 2017
Scarnecchia highlights the many ways to defend a simple adjustment by a linebacker, and how to correctly block against the adjustment. It shows the importance of continuity on the offensive line so every player knows what their teammate will accomplish.
Money Quote: “It doesn’t matter whether you gap it, keep the back on him, squeeze it, you want to make the center take him and change the protection, it doesn’t matter. What really matters is that when it happens, your players know what to do and how to do it and everyone is on that proverbial same page.”
Dante Scarnecchia on blocking a Rip move pic.twitter.com/TLZDjXhOmD
— GipsySafety (@GipsySafety) May 23, 2017
Scarnecchia uses Nate Solder as an example of how to defend against a rip move by a defensive end and how to be ready to counter.
Money Quote: “We’re going to take this hand and we’re gonna put it on this triangular bone back here, the scapula, because if we cover him up up the field as he goes to spin back inside, now we want to play the piano with our hands and front the guy up.”
Dante Scarnecchia : You have to be as physical in pass protection as you want them to be in the run game pic.twitter.com/S8J5hsVKk8
— GipsySafety (@GipsySafety) May 23, 2017
Scarnecchia takes offense to the idea of pass protection being a “passive” assignment for the linemen.
Money Quote: “We really want to hit these guys...we’re gonna hit these a—holes just as hard as we possibly can with the proper leverage that we possibly can.”