UNLV’s offensive line coach faces hefty challenge

It is early August, which means college football camps are opening across the country, which means coaches are getting less sleep than first-year residents.

Except for Chad Germer.

He might not be getting any.

He might be a zombie in a week's time.

I don't know if this is a first, but it's in the neighborhood: UNLV opened its second fall under coach Bobby Hauck on Tuesday with no senior offensive linemen on its roster.

Which is like the Boston Symphony opening another season with no veterans on strings.

"Not having a senior is pretty rare," said Germer, in charge of coaching the green front. "It's the hand we've been dealt. Our job is to get them ready. As much anxiety as there is not having seniors, I'm equally excited about having smart, young kids."

Here's the thing about smart, young kids trying to block older, bigger, stronger ones: It doesn't always look pretty.

The Rebels open at Wisconsin on Sept. 1, and what a national television audience could see is an offensive front for UNLV that starts just two upperclassmen and redshirt freshmen at center and left tackle.

The Badgers, meanwhile, will offer one of their deepest defensive lines in recent memory. This typically is known as a mismatch of gigantic proportions.

Here's another thing about smart, young kids: They're hungry. Eager to please. Full of energy and passion.

Germer doesn't have to stand in front of his linemen at team meetings and spout all that gibberish about every spot being open and the best kids will play no matter class standing and competition will decide a depth chart, all the while having seniors smirk and be assured playing time.

It's not gibberish with UNLV. Every spot is open, except perhaps the one Yusef Rodgers holds.

I was convinced someone made a mistake Tuesday when Rodgers wandered over following practice. I had asked to speak with the team's best offensive lineman, a junior tackle who has played in 19 games the past two years.

I thought someone instead sent me an undersized tight end.

Rodgers is listed at 6 feet 2 inches, 250 pounds, but the latter number might have been recorded on a day he had four helpings at breakfast and carried dumbbells onto the scale.

He broke an ankle his first year here and hasn't been able to put on much weight since, which had I known was the trick to reversing metabolic trends, might have had the wife go all Kathy Bates-James Caan on me with a sledgehammer years ago.

But this coaching staff likes athletic linemen, and Rodgers is one. It likes linemen who can move and stay in front of people, and Rodgers can. It likes the idea of a veteran leading all those smart, young kids, and, well, Rodgers is the only choice.

"When you're young and inexperienced, you're going to get beat up a lot," Rodgers said. "When you haven't played in a college game yet, there are going to be some growing pains and bumps along the way.

"One thing I can do is remain positive with them every day, keep reinforcing the idea about having good technique. All our guys are aggressive and excited about playing, and that's all you can ask for."

It's a process. UNLV will start either a sophomore (Caleb Herring) or junior college transfer (Sean Reilly) at quarterback, which means all the inexperience up front will be followed by even more with whoever is taking snaps. Things will look confusing before they look sharp.

It's why technique will be so vital in making sure the head of UNLV's quarterback doesn't become detached because of countless missed assignments. Those Rebels in charge of protecting Herring or Reilly might be young, but enough athleticism and desire can hide other weaknesses as bodies mature.

In this case, it better.

"The goal is to get (the linemen) as many live reps as we can," Germer said. "They might be able to handle things on a board or in film, but they have to be able to do it out there on the field. We're battling time here a bit.

"We have a good number of kids who can play at this level. We have no elders. They're all young. We just want athletic kids with the right demeanor who work hard and who can be tough and nasty."

Here's another thing about smart, young kids: They eventually grow up.

In the meantime, Chad Germer probably won't sleep much.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday and Thursday on "Monsters of the Midday," Fox Sports Radio 920 AM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.