ARMY HAS FOUR NAMED TO THE STEELE ALL-INDEPENDENT TEAM

[A.M. Allan]

Four Army football players picked up additional postseason honors as Phil Steele Publications released its annual All-Independent Team.

Click link below for the details.

Senior FB, Larry Dixon

CLICK HERE!

 

[SandD65]

Thought Matt was a Junior. Article says Senior. ????

 

[goodknight65]

Originally posted by SandD65:
Thought Matt was a Junior. Article says Senior. ????

He's a junior. Only guys not returning on the OL next season are Shumaker and McDonald. Lots of experience to build on already. I also think we may see Holland moved to center and Hugenberg back to guard in the spring. Holland has been a center most of his career, while Hugenberg was learning the job this season.

 

[Hooah75]

Regarding Holland..Why do you think that? Who was Hugenberg's backup this year..Why shift him (Hugenberg)..Villegas was a center in HS.. That is all he played..I watch Holland in the two games he started at Guard and he seemed to play that position fine...I trust the line coaches and believe they are putting their players in the right positions given the skill they possess and illustrate

Go Army!!

 

[goodknight65]

Originally posted by Hooah75:
Regarding Holland..Why do you think that? Who was Hugenberg's backup this year..Why shift him (Hugenberg)..Villegas was a center in HS.. That is all he played..I watch Holland in the two games he started at Guard and he seemed to play that position fine...I trust the line coaches and believe they are putting their players in the right positions given the skill they possess and illustrate

Go Army!!

Besides the fact that Sal Intradonato has already made the same observation, it makes sense to put guys where they have had the most experience in the past, and for Hugenberg that's guard and Holland that's center.

Holland was recruited as a three star rated center and was the backup to Hugenberg at center all year until they moved him to RG to fill a perceived weakness at that spot. I agree that Holland played well at RG, but I think he's probably a better center than Hugenberg, and Hugenberg is probably a better RG than he is a center. Since I'm not coaching the OL, I don't know that for a fact, but it makes sense. The main reason Hugenberg was moved from guard to center this year is that Monken and Davis like to have a big guy in that position and Powis was too small. McDonald was the backup to Powis last year and he's even smaller. Hugenberg was the biggest guy they had available, and to his credit, he did pretty well in the new position. We saw some problems with snaps this year but not enough to warrant a mid season change. The best time to change starting centers is during spring training when they have more time to get acclimated. Holland was just too inexperienced at this level to move him up earlier.

Another thing to take into consideration is that OL coaches don't like to substitute centers in order to keep the snap consistent throughout the game. Hugenberg is a lefty, and I have to believe that adds a little to the change in consistency when a right handed center replaces a lefty if the starting center goes down in the middle of the game. It's easier to find a right handed backup for Hollland than a left handed backup for Hugenberg. Not a big deal, but a minor consideration.

I may be wrong about this but I wouldn't be surprised to see that move in spring practice when Holland has a chance to bulk up and get more used to playing the position he was recruited to play.