The 2024 preseason football camp is underway and GSEagles.com is catching up with each of the 10 position coaches early in August to get their take on their position room. Up next is offensive line coach Zach Lankford.
Q: Who were some guys that stood out on the field for you and then have also turned around and really attacked the off-season?
ZL: I've been pleased with the guys this spring and summer. I feel like Caelan Williams had a really good spring. He's a guy that's been here a while, has been chipping away and just becoming better and better and better. He's really starting to figure it out. Dom Boyd's a new guy transferring from Alabama State who came in and has really flashed in summer workouts. He's done a really nice job picking it up. All the transfers came in and attacked it and took the time to learn it and learn what to do and how to do it. Dom, Chance Carroll, and Kyle Frazier have all been around college football for a while, and all three guys had a good impact. Johnnie Brown III's another guy who got here late last year and had a really strong spring and a nice summer. I'm really pleased with the group as a whole.
Q: You inherit two starters returning in Pichon Wimbley and Chandler Strong. You also had two other guys, Caleb Cook and Bryson Broadway, who would have contributed significantly but didn't due to various reasons. What do you think you've got in the returning guys who have seen some starting time here at George Southern?
ZL: We're very fortunate. We have a lot of guys with good playing experience who have not only played but played well and done a really good job. You'd expect that from older guys in terms of the maturity level that those guys have and the way that they go about their business. They're grown men. They come to work every day. They know what to do. They know how to get it done. So we're very fortunate to have those guys and I'm very fortunate to get to coach them. I think they'll all be stalwarts and all be really good players for us.
Q: You're the fourth O-Line coach in as many years, so these guys have been through a lot. Can you tell us what you are looking for in an offensive lineman in this offense?
ZL: I think the most important thing when you're trying to find an offensive lineman and really trying to build a culture within the offensive line room is you want guys who are tough, smart, and selfless. And thankfully, we've got a lot of men in our room who exhibit those traits and show them every day. I think the main thing is, if you're tough enough and smart enough and you've got the want to, that's something that we can work with.
Q: Now you're coming from a place that runs a high-tempo, air raid offense like here. Do you feel like you've stepped in pretty seamlessly? Obviously, it's a Helton for Helton, and you've worked with Coach Aplin, but do you feel like it was a pretty seamless transition for you?
ZL: Yeah, I'm very fortunate. Just the familiarity with, like you said, with Coach Helton, and then I had the opportunity, I was with Coach App up at Western Kentucky in 2020. So, Coach Aplin, me, and Coach Helton have a lot of familiarity. The offenses are very similar. If anything, maybe there are some translation differences here and there. Still, as far as stepping into a new job with the new coordinator, with the new group, it is probably as easy as it could have been just with my transition because of the familiarity with each other, the system, the calls, everything.
Q: Are all five positions open going into camp, or are there some guys who have locked up spots in terms of the depth chart?
ZL: My job is to find the best combination of the best five guys that we can put out there and have success. That said, all of those spots are up for grabs, and it's going to come down to who the best five are and which of the best five can work together and really go out there and make a great unit. I don't really shy away from playing multiple guys. If we've got guys that are good enough to play, they'll play. I think it's important to keep guys fresh and engaged and give these defensive linemen different looks from different guys. So, right now, the process is still early. We're trying to figure out who those five will get the right and the honor to go out there first. But we're in a very, very good situation, and we have a lot of guys who are good candidates.
Q: You talked about a couple of the transfers that came in, and they could fall into this category, but who are some of the newer guys that Eagle Nation fans don't know about that you're excited about to either contribute this year or it could be a down the road?
ZL: Yeah, so going back to those three transfers, we were able to bring in Dom Boyd, Kyle Frazier, and Chance Carroll. All three of those guys have come in with the right mindset and have done a really nice job. And then we were also very fortunate in that we've signed some young guys, some freshmen that have come in and done a really nice job as well. All four new guys we signed have come in with the right mindset, and they've certainly flashed. So it might be a couple of years or a year before we really see those guys, but I think Eagle Nation will be happy with them. We've got an incubator that we're getting trained up for the next wave right now.
Q: They say offensive line is one of the more difficult positions to play early on. Sometimes, that's good if you don't have to play your young guys. But on the flip side, Chandler and Pichon have played a lot of snaps for being here in two years. What are your thoughts on playing early versus playing veterans?
ZL: I do feel like we're in a good position. There's no substitute for seeing those game reps and being in action when the lights shine bright. When Freedom starts flying, it's time to go, so having guys with that experience is huge. They've been out there; they've done it. They know what it feels like. They know what the environment's going to be like. I think that's huge. But I do feel like, like I said earlier, the best five got to be able to play. So it's up to us to sort that out.
Q: What are the top priorities of the O-Line to get ready during camp for that Boise opener?
ZL: The main thing for us is that we play so much ball these days all year. We do drills to get moving around, but it gets a lot different when those helmets and shoulder pads get put on. So I think fall camp's huge for us to really set the tone and get our feet wet as far as physicality and the demeanor that we want to have as a group in the run game and in pass protection to set the tone physically and to be the most physical unit on the field.
Up Next: The Specialists