Back in Statesboro, Bodine looks to revamp offensive line

Army assistant coach Bob Bodine watched from the sidelines as his offensive line plowed through Navy and the Black Knights defeated the Midshipmen for the first time in 15 years.

After Army amassed 316 rushing yards in a 21-17 victory on Dec. 10, Bodine celebrated on the field with his players in what was one of the 2016 football season's most memorable moments.

In more ways than one, Bodine was part of history. Not only did he and former Georgia Southern head coach Jeff Monken end the losing drought to Navy, they led the Knights to their first winning season (7-5) and bowl win since 2010 and the program's second winning season since 1996.

Watching his players sing West Point's alma mater inside M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore before the Midshipmen instead of after them was a unique experience in his career, Bodine said.

"I'd never been part of a game that had that much palpable emotion standing on the sidelines," he said. "That was an unbelievable experience.

"But nothing beats Statesboro on a Saturday."

Already part of a coaching staff that changed the culture of one of college football's most storied programs, Bodine didn't hesitate to jump on his opportunity to return to Statesboro, where he coached multiple positions at GS from 1999-2002, a stretch when the Eagles won two Division I-AA national titles.

So when current GS head coach Tyson Summers called Bodine about his opening for an offensive line coach, he gave Summers a quick answer.

"I was like, 'Yeah,'" Bodine said Tuesday after Georgia Southern's morning practice. "I mean, how could you not?"

Bodine became Georgia Southern's third offensive line coach in the past three years, and the position was suspect last season as the Eagles took a major step back in their running game. Their 2,690 rushing yards in 2016 were down from 4,719 in 2015, when they led the FBS.

After losing center Andy Kwon to graduation, the Eagles will return four offensive linemen - Drew Wilson, Jeremiah Culbreth, Ryan Northrup and Curtis Rainey - who started or saw significant playing time last season and get back Tommy Boynton, who missed all of 2016 as he recovered from a concussion.

Each of them are tasked with learning the new system from offensive coordinator Bryan Cook, who coached quarterbacks last season at Georgia Tech.

"They've come out and given so much of themselves in a difficult situation," Bodine said. "It's a transition year, and they've had three offensive line coaches in three years. A lot of people would come out a little skeptical, a little guarded, but they've thrown themselves in. They're not happy with what happened last year, and they've shouldered the blame themselves, and they want to overcome that."

Early on, the challenge for Bodine will be making the best offensive line out of the players he he's been given. Kwon's departure has left a void, and the Eagles haven't been able to figure out how to fill it so far this spring. Rainey is the only player who was recruited to play center, but the junior spent all of 2016 playing right guard.

At the start of the spring season, Bodine tabbed Boynton at center - a position he's never played before - but after two weeks, that experiment hasn't been working out as desired. Boynton, a redshirt junior, started at right tackle in 2015.

"Tommy is that tough, smart guy," Bodine said. "As a new coach coming in, I want to make that guy the quarterback of the offensive line. I did him a little bit of a disservice putting him in that position. He hadn't played. It's different when you've got to go knock a 300-pound guy back. When you don't do that for a year, he's thinking about everything, and then we put snapping the ball for the first time on him and calling the defense. He's tough enough to do it, but we're going to take some of the pressure off so Tommy can progress and get better. I know he's going to be one of the leaders of that group, so whether he plays left tackle or center, doesn't matter."

Bodine added that Rainey will take most of the snaps from center for the remainder of the spring, while Boynton will go back to tackle.

The theme of this year's offensive line could be about guys filling needs rather than playing their natural positions. Bodine expects that to change once younger guys get some experience and the coaching staff becomes more specific with the offensive linemen they recruit.

"The cupboard isn't bare," Bodine said. "The guys I inherited were just young last year. They all have some playing experience under their belt, their athleticism is pretty good. Are we going to shift and move some people around as some subsequent recruiting classes come in? Yeah. I think Drew Wilson is a great example. I think Drew would probably be a really good guard for us, but right now he's going to have to play tackle.

"For right now, our guys are our guys, and we have enough stuff within the offense that we can take advantage of the athletes that we have."