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Jim Turner
Avery Gennesy
Texas A&M Football

Jim Turner outlines his vision for Aggies' offensive line

April 4, 2016
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Jim Turner, Texas A&M’s hard-nosed offensive line coach, admitted he was late.

He was scheduled to host a post-spring football press conference at 6 pm on Monday night. He showed up about 20 minutes later.

The excuse he offered is that there are no excuses.

“You have 19 games (starting) experience from that whole unit,” Turner explained. “Of course, going into this season is that the setup for an excuse? In no way, shape or form. These guys will be ready to play.

"That’s why the repetitions, the repetitions, the repetitions are so important. There’s no way to give up those 20 minutes. Down the road that 20 minutes is going to add up with these guys. Every rep I get is so critical to their development that I’ve obviously got to utilize that time.”

Turner pointed out that senior left tackle Avery Gennesy has 13 games of starting experience, sophomore guard Keaton Sutherland has five and senior guard Jermaine Eluemunor has one.

Despite that dearth of experience, Turner, who helped recruit and develop the Aggies’ 2012 offensive line — the gold standard of A&M lines that featured five NFL players, including three first round draft choices — believes the 2016 A&M offensive line can be extremely effective.

I love the challenge of building. The linemen I inherited … I’ll treat these kids like they’re my sons and (like) I recruited them. I didn’t recruit them, but they’re my responsibility. I will get the most out of these players. - Jim Turner {"Module":"quote","Alignment":"left","Quote":"I love the challenge of building. The linemen I inherited … I’ll treat these kids like they’re my sons and (like) I recruited them. I didn’t recruit them, but they’re my responsibility. I will get the most out of these players.","Author":"Jim Turner"}
In that case, he has a lot of work to do. Last season the Aggies often struggled in run blocking, particularly in short yardage situations. They also allowed a whopping 37 quarterback sacks.

Turner is undeterred.

“I love the challenge of building,” he said. “The linemen I inherited … I’ll treat these kids like they’re my sons and (like) I recruited them. I didn’t recruit them, but they’re my responsibility. I will get the most out of these players.”

He obviously feels he has good material with which to work.

Turner lauds redshirt freshman Erik McCoy’s attitude and work ethic.

“I don’t know that there’s a lot of guys that football means more to,” Turner said of McCoy. “He’s a guy who exudes his love of the game. He’s going to have a great career. He’s young. He hasn’t played in a game yet. He’s obviously our starting center, right now. He’s as coachable a kid as there is. He’s smart. He’s hard-working.”

Turner praised sophomore tackle Koda Martin’s athletic ability.

“He’s as athletic a player as there is,” Turner said. “He has the reach. He has the height. He’s fast. He has the footspeed to play that position.”

Turner added: “Obviously, we’re going to need him to play right tackle. His development is critical. He’s a long way away, but he’s taken great strides.”

Turner also praised the versatility of sophomore Keaton Sutherland, who is sitting out spring drills because of injury.

“He can play more than one position,” Turner said. “He’s smart enough to play center. He’s got five games under his belt, so he has enough experience. He’s played a little bit of tackle and a little bit of guard.

“I want him to be a backup center. I want him to be able to back up other positions as well. He’s versatile that way. Now does that mean he won’t be a starter? No. He has a good chance to be a starter. Obviously, you’re not going to hold it against him because he got injured.”

Despite Sutherland’s versatility, Turner indicated Sutherland would likely remain at guard.

“Right now, he looks like he’ll play either guard position,” Turner said. “Our tackles, I think, are going to be alright. Our guards will do a good job as well, but I think he’s a bit more comfortable at the guard position right now.”

Lindsay Crouch, TexAgs Avery Gennesy says Turner's impact has been felt, while Turner insists progress is being made from the Friday Night Lights showing. {"Module":"photo","Alignment":"right","Size":"large","Caption":"Avery Gennesy says Turner\u0027s impact has been felt, while Turner insists progress is being made from the Friday Night Lights showing.","MediaItemID":55765}
Gennesy, the most experienced lineman, said Turner is always stressing details like gaining a yard on the first step and refining pass blocking techniques.

“He teaches us every day how to play the game,” Gennesy said. “It’s a learning process. All the young guys want to learn. We all want to learn together.”

The lessons aren’t easily learned, which was apparent in the Friday Night Lights scrimmage last week.

Turner indicated the line play wasn’t up to his standards, but that it has gotten better.

“Did they play well? They’ve played better than they’ve played on Friday night,” he said. “The great thing about today was they played a lot better today than they did Friday night.
 
"Is it good enough? No. But like anything in this profession you’re building. From Day One until now, are they building? Are they getting better? Yes they are. I am happy with the progress, but there is a long way to go with this crew.”

That’s why he takes those extra 20 minutes to keep working on those repetitions.
Discussion from...

Jim Turner outlines his vision for Aggies' offensive line

9,690 Views | 15 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by Tamu_mgm
Olin Buchanan
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Staff
S
Jim Turner outlines his vision for Aggies' offensive line
Mr. Black
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I really like this guy.
eliab1
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Maroon Flash
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AG
The return of Coach Turner is very bad news for the rest of the SEC!
Franklin Delano Bluth
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AG
Why wasn't Turner kept on staff by Sumlin 1st go around?

Serious question, no flame intended
rcannaday
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AG
This guy, straight old school
oneeyedag
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Turner is a type of man, kids need in their lives.
Tamu_mgm
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AG
Solid
Sbisa04
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JerseyVillageAG99
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AG
This guy is nails! Love the accountability Turner and Chief have and exude! Gig em Turner!
TheSwingingGate
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Bob Harris
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So if you believe everything you read about Chief and Turner, and you believe everything you read about Sumlin...how would these extremely different personality types and styles function together in the same locker room? It seems like that would be virtually impossible to reconcile.
halfastros81
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AG
A culture of continuous improvement. That is precisely what we need!

Our offense may or may not be good next year but I like our chances of improving over the abortion that was thrown out there last year.
Franklin Delano Bluth
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AG
quote:
So if you believe everything you read about Chief and Turner, and you believe everything you read about Sumlin...how would these extremely different personality types and styles function together in the same locker room? It seems like that would be virtually impossible to reconcile.


Hopefully the weaker talent is learning from the 2 greater talents.....

I've been pretty negative, but all in all we've got an impressive staff with impressive talent

Let's see some production

Gig'Em
Agro1999
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Do you find it odd that the "greater talents" chose to work for the "weaker talent?"

Do you find it odd that the "weaker talent" was someone the "greater talents" don't mind being subordinate to and maybe learning from themselves?

Is it possible those "greater talents" know more about football and Sumlin's ability than you?
Tamu_mgm
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AG
'Virtually impossible' is too bold a description to ponder about different personalities and experience levels working together when it comes to A&M football. Look at when Saban hired Kiffin. There could not be more opposite personalities than those 2 and clearly they've worked it out by learning from each other. The same can happen with Sumlin. It certainly is nowhere near impossible.
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