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SALT LAKE CITY — Jim Harding heard the complaints.
He knew fans weren't pleased with the performance of the offensive line over the first three game of the 2021 season when Utah went 1-2 and had losses to in-state rival BYU and San Diego State. The offensive line wasn't cohesive or consistent and allowed opposing defenses to break through the line with relative ease on nearly every play.
Harding wasn't pleased with the performance, either, but as the coach over the position group, the responsibility fell squarely on his shoulders.
Harding owned the early-season criticism and worked tirelessly to ensure his offensive line was ready for battle each week. And by Week 4 of the season — left tackle Braeden Daniels said the turning point to him was against USC — Utah's offensive line settled in and was a significantly improved unit that helped the offense score 28 or more points each of the last 10 games of the season.
"It doesn't fall on deaf ears the frustration, not only I had about how my guys performed early but also the fans," Harding said. "I understand that my guys didn't perform the way they should have early in the year, and I accept that and I have learned from it."
That's why every move he's made — in conjunction with head coach Kyle Whittingham and offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig — in the offseason has been to get his group to start quicker and to build the necessary chemistry earlier. A significant part of getting to that point, Harding said, was identifying the starting five — the five best linemen on the field — earlier in fall camp.
"We knew we needed that to happen so they could gel — I guess is the word you'd use — together, and they have," Whittingham said. "We've got a lot of guys that have played a lot of football for us. ... So we've got a lot of experience there, and so we just need those guys to be a cohesive, high-functioning unit from the get-go, and that's what we expect."
That starts with Daniels at left tackle, who has been viewed by the coaching staff as the runaway leader in the room — not just from an experience standpoint but from his vocalization about what it takes to hold his teammates accountable on the line of scrimmage and to help them all get better.
"The offensive line is all about building chemistry," Daniels said. "It should be five guys all on the same page, all thinking the same thing. And I think that having an offensive line that is built and having that chemistry so we can work together, it's gonna really help us."
Part of building that chemistry at Utah has been the recent desire from the staff to keep guys in the same position and not force them to learn multiple positions in case of injury.
The coaching staff's prevailing thought is that it's about finding the top five guys to start, keeping them in a set position, and develop the depth behind the starters to make sure the consistency is maintained — assuming the depth and talent behind the starting unit is capable.
"There's not a lot of, 'Hey, maybe this guy could play this spot if there was an injury, let's make sure we have the backup position,'" Harding said. "Well, no, we have to make sure we have the starting five working together."
For Daniels, and the guys that occupy the room with him, that specialization at one spot helps add to the consistency on the line as the players perfect their individual position within the group. No longer is it a player trying to remember multiple positions in case he needs to slide over; it's about taking the thinking out of the position and relying on muscle memory.
"Something that coach Whitt tries to preach on is you can't be the best at something if you don't do it every day," Daniels said. "And that's something that we've tried to instill within our program and within our unit group — our position group. It's something that I try to work on being the best left tackle I can be each and every day, and just help us excel and be that best version of us we can be.
"If you do something every day and you keep working on it each and every day, you can only just be great at it. Those little smaller details, those little small kinks are already worked out and you're not thinking, you're just playing and you're playing faster. You're just playing stronger, you're like jumping the snap count, you're just doing those type of things to make you a better football player."
How it all comes together is yet to be seen, especially in a true game setting, but Ludwig sees the group simply as "solid," which can be seen as a ringing endorsement from the offensive coordinator, at least early in the season before any snaps have been taken.
As Utah prepares to kickoff its season at The Swamp on Saturday, Harding added his full confidence in the starting unit, but more particularly in the eight players he feels confident in playing this season.
"Certainly some of those guys have varying levels of experience and so you're not exactly sure how they're going to respond in the environment we'll be in; however, in terms of their skill set, their ability level and my comfort with them, I think we have eight guys," Harding said. "I would say that those eight guys are the ones we're on a roll with; and barring any injuries, those are who we're using."
Saturday will be the real test to whether the offseason changes to the offensive line room will make a difference, though. Opposite of the line is several players with a significant size advantage to Utah's unit. One such player weighs 439 pounds and will be a relatively immovable threat to opening up holes for running backs to hit through.
The offensive line doesn't need to be perfect to open the season — all offensive lines take time to get going at the beginning of the season — but for all that has worked in the room to make improvements, it's about making sure Saturday night (and the rest of the season) is better than last season's effort.
"It's still the first game, we've still got the first game jitters — just great to get back out there and compete," Daniels said. "But, I mean, I think we're gonna be ready. I think we know that we have to come out and we have to be dominant. I think we know that the offense goes as the offensive line goes and something that we have to own."
"We recognize where we're going," Harding added. "I mean, this is a different deal. It's a great challenge. We're excited about it. But this is a different opener than maybe we have had in years past, and so the clock is ticking."
