Bloesch Ready to Change Cal's O-Line Trajectory

After another season of offensive line struggles last season, head coach Justin Wilcox made a move at the positon, bringing in veteran offensive line coach/run game coordinator Mike Bloesch from North Texas to revamp the Bears’ beleaguered unit, simplifying schemes and honing technique. Though the line is still a work in progress, there are certainly at least incremental strides occurring.

Last week we ran an in-depth podcast with the Bears new OL coach, talking about his transition from offensive lineman to coach, his coaching philosophies, his transition to Cal and more. This week, we focused on his thoughts about the progress of the line so along with his thoughts on some fo the Bears’ starters and depth.

With most of the practices and plays being run in spring ball largely non-contact, it’s often hard to tell how an offensive line is performing when they’re not facing a full rush. But one element that has stood out so far is the communication and unified movement of the line instead of the frequently missed blocks and linemen out of position that occurred too often last season.

"Well, I hope that's the case," Bloesch said. "We definitely want those guys to be five guys playing as one. And that's what I just got done telling them after practice, that it's not about four guys dominating at one time.  If one guy screws it up, we're still not we're still not doing our job. So that's definitely what we're focusing on is playing together in the system as the unit, making sure that we're good on our IDs and where we're going in the run game, but then also making sure that we're being consistent and doing it together."

Redshirt frosh OT Trent Ramsey was hurt in fall camp and part of the season so he only played in a backup role in one game last season but so far in spring ball, he's had several starts with the 1's.

"Trent's working really hard," Bloesch said. "He had a really good offseason and winter conditioning. And I told those guys that we were going to start based on how I felt those guys were preparing for the spring and winter conditioning. And Trent was a guy that was very consistent in his preparation this winter. And I think that he's obviously a young guy that still got a lot to learn. But the two non-negotiables for me are effort and attitude. And he's got those two. And so if you come out here with great effort and great attitude every day, I'll coach you, and we're going to see improvement for sure."

Fellow redshirt frosh OT Jackson Brown was also hurt part of fall camp and played in parts of two games, including during Cal's furious comeback at USC that just fell short in their 35-41 loss in the LA Coliseum.

"Jackson's doing well," Bloesch noted. "He's getting a lot of reps right now. And really all of those guys, this is a developmental phase for us in the spring of trying to make sure that we understand the technique and fundamentals and schematics that we're introducing. And then just seeing them not make the same mistakes over and over. So Coach talks about it all the time. If you make a mistake, let's clean it up and let's make a different mistake tomorrow. So we can clean that up."

Soph OG Sioape Vatikani saw the most action in 2022, taking over the starting role in Cal's 49-31 win over Arizona.

"Sioape's a guy that I think is gaining confidence, knows that he belongs and feels like he can be a really good player. And the thing that I'm challenging him with is, let's come here every day and continue to improve at work. I think he's got really high ceiling and the exciting thing for me is I don't think he's anywhere close to where he needs to be.”

Redshirt junior right tackle TJ Session struggled in his transition from Montana State to Pac-12 ball last season but has been making strides in both the weight room and on the field this spring.
"TJ has got a ton of ability," Bloesch said. "He's super athletic. I'm excited about working with him. I think he can be a very good player for us."

6-7/330 LA City College OT transfer Martin Tine will be one of the summer additions. The veteran OL coach talked about what the income JC OT will need to do to contribute this season.

"We have to make sure he's up to speed physically and conditioning-wise ready to go," Bloesch noted. "And then we'll have to catch him up to speed on what we're doing technically and fundamentally. You can never put all your eggs in one basket with JC guys, but we wouldn't be recruiting guys like Martin if we didn't think they could help make us better."

Center/guard Brian Driscoll has played in 24 games over the last four seasons since his arrival in 2019 including 12 starts all as a 2022 sophomore with the first three at left guard and each of the last nine at center. He's back at center this spring and could play either position when veteran starter Matt Cindrich returns to action in the fall.

"Brian's just one of those old guys that have been around here that knows what the work looks like," Bloesch said. "And I think he's bought in right now to what we're doing. Obviously, I'm challenging him in multiple spots, multiple positions right now and he's a guy that can handle that. What I want to see is more consistency with all the guys -in Cindo, in  Brian, in Rohme in Sio and TJ - all the guys that played last year. You know, you can find some really good clips on tape with those guys. Now we've got to be more consistent."

Like Driscoll, left tackle Brayden Rohme arrived at Cal in 2019 and is a redshirt junior eligibility-wise. He’s played in 26 games with 15 starts including 12 at left tackle and three at right tackle over the last four seasons, including starting nine games as a redshirt sophomore last season, with six at left tackle and three at right tackle.

During most of his 4 years at Cal, left tackle Rohme has struggled to stay healthy and keep on good weight but he's been making strength and technique gains, as well, and has been healthy so far this spring.

"He's solid. He's 285 right now we'd like to get him to probably 295 by the fall," Bloesch noted. "And then the key is going to be holding that weight. I think he's obviously played a ton a ball around here and he's had his ups and downs. But being consistent in his training and conditioning is gonna give him more confidence on the field." 

Redshirt soph OL Ender Aguilar came as a converted tight end in 2020, redshirting the abbreviated season and again in 2021. He’s gradually added weight and strength to his now 6-5/295 frame. As a redshirt frosh in 2022, Aguilar played in two games, earning a start at USC at right tackle. 

This spring, Aguilar’s made the move to left guard in Cindric’s absence and has split reps with the 1’s with Ramsey so far.

“Ender’s doing well,” Bloesch said. “He moves well and he’s a solid blocker. He’s just going to continue to improve.”

So far, Bloesch is pleased with the line's progress, though they still have plenty of work to do to continue to master the new scheme and continue to up their level of play and consistency.

"It's gotten a lot better," Bloesch said. "We're cleaning up things day to day. And that's a process you can break some habits and introduce some new techniques and fundamentals so those guys are focused on that right now.

"There's gonna be a lot of movement throughout the spring throughout the fall. Continue to move those pieces around to find five guys. So if we have three tackles or three of our best five players, and one of those guys is going to play inside and so I'm not going to put a guy on the sideline and say you're really good player but you're a tackle the five best players on the field."

Overall, Bloesch feels he has enough to put a solid line on the field in 2023 with what he has to work with along with a few expected additions this summer and the return of veteran center/guard Matt Cindric from a biceps injury suffered last season at Colorado.

"I do," Bloesch said. "I feel confident in what we're going to do schematically to put these guys in position. I feel good about what we have in the room. We're obviously excited to add some more guys to provide even more competition in the summer. We'll probably add another offensive lineman or two through a transfer or something after spring ball. So we'll continue to always try to improve the talent in the room and the competition in the room but the guys, the mentality that they have right now and  all the work that they're putting in, we're gonna just gonna keep chopping wood to improve."

Related:

Ultimate Insider Podcast E55: New Cal OL Coach Mike Bloesch - Transcript & Video