(Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
Throughout OTAs members of the Steelers' offensive line have raved about new offensive line coach Adrian Klemm's aggressive coaching mindset. Guard Kevin Dotson even said the intensity has gone up with Klemm in charge.
"I feel like there is a little more intensity," Dotson said of Klemm's aggressive coaching philosophy. "There is more aggression even the way we come off the blocks. Even the verbiage he uses in meetings is way more aggressive. Not just saying 'get the blocks,' but 'run through his face.' He is using more aggressive terms and I feel like that pushes our mindset in that way."
Offensive tackle Zach Banner went as far as saying that Klemm's mentality is to "come off the ball and kill people."
“It’s a culture that was recruited and put together by ‘Coach T’ this offseason, and it really shows,” Banner said via Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “In saying that ‘thug mentality,’ the last thing I want people to think is we’re walking around Pittsburgh beating people up or doing dumb stuff. But at the same time, what else would you want as an offensive line unit? That’s my question. You’ve got to come off the ball and kill people, and that’s the type of mentality we need to have.”
Offensive tackle Chuks Okorafor spoke with the media after today's OTAs practice and he had similar comments as Dotson and Banner in regards to Klemm's presence as the offensive line coach.
"This year we have to kind of go downfield," Okorafor said via Mike Prisuta of Steelers.com. "Last year we'd shuffle and we'd kind of hold people. Now, it's like 'attack, attack, attack.' If it's inside zone, outside zone, gap scheme; it doesn't really matter what the play is, we have to go.
"We'll see how it plays out. It's gonna be a good year, for sure."
Steelers' offensive linemen have talked a lot about being more aggressive upfront in 2021, and that should lead to them improving their last-ranked rushing offensive. But it's still only June and a lot of this is just offseason chatter to create a discussion. Ultimately, they'll have to back up their words and prove it on the field this fall.