WS Chronicle

Seven-on-seven is one of the best ways skill position players can work on their craft during the off-season. On the flipside, for the big guys up front, there really aren’t many places they can go for off=season work. Blair Boyz Enterprises (BBE) is here for the rescue with their “In the Trenches” O-Line/D-Line Camp.

The camp will be held at Butler High School, 1810 Matthews-Mint Hill Road, in Matthews, North Carolina, on May 28. Registration is from 10-12 noon and the on-field action will run from noon to 4 p.m. The cost for the camp is $75. There will be several current and former NFL offensive and defensive linemen such as Ted Washington, Damane Duckett, Alonzo Shuler, Eric Graham and Blair, who will be coaching the young men at the camp.

Jay Blair of BBE says it was past due for a camp like this to be put together for offensive and defensive linemen.  

“The camp is centered around offensive linemen and defensive linemen,” said Blair. “You know I am a former defensive lineman in high school, college and in the pros, in the NFL and NFL Europe. Being a coach in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and a college coach, you see that there are not a lot of things out there for the big guys.

“We get no love, but you can’t win without us. I was talking with my brothers and we decided to do something about that. What we decided to do was host our own and with this camp, our young kings are going to get an experience of a lifetime. You’re not only going to be able to just say, I met some of these NFL ball players, you are actually going to be coached by them. These are the best to ever do it.”

Many will say the play along the offensive and defensive line has declined in recent years and that is possibly due to the lack of work during the off-season.

“You are going to have your elite players at every position, but the more you are able to enhance skills at a specific position, the better you are going to be as a player,” Blair said. “What I believe is, the more you can get exposed to the things that you’re going to be doing in games, the better you’re going to be. I do believe wholeheartedly the lack of attention the trenched get has allowed for those individuals not to peak as much as those skill players are able to do.”

At the camp, the young men will work on fundamentals such as stances and starts, run blocking, run defending, defeating blocks and the 40-yard dash, just to name a few.

“We are going to do a lot of position specific drills for those offensive linemen and defensive linemen,” he said. “Actual movements and techniques that they are going to do in games. I don’t believe in just doing drills, I believe in drills that are football related.”

Blair says there are things that he has noticed about some changes in the play of the guys in the trenches since he has left the game.

“Honestly, it would be the attention to the detail of their technique,” Blair said about the biggest change from when he played. “It’s no secret that this generation of athletes is by far superior to what we were. They are bigger, faster and stronger, but they rely on being big, fast and strong more so than they rely on their technique. We want to give back and give that technique, that nugget to those individuals. 

“Maybe they don’t take everything from us that we taught them, but if they take one thing from us and it makes them a better player and it gets them some type of look from their high school film, that’s great to me. That’s my purpose, to help every last one of these kids have the opportunity to live out their dreams.”

Playing on the offensive and defensive line is not a flashy position and that is the reason Blair feels there isn’t a focus on training for them.

“The reason is, it’s not glamorous. We don’t score the touchdowns, we don’t throw the touchdowns, we don’t run the touchdowns,” Blair continued. “As a defensive lineman, we stop them from happening and as an offensive linemen, you’re opening that gap for that running back and providing that pass protection for that quarterback.”

To register for the camp, please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-the-trenches-oldl-camp-registration-304734869197. Blair also wanted to thank his sponsors, Motto Athletics, Gatorade and Allegacy Federal Credit Union. Plans to hold a camp in Forsyth County are in the works, Blair said.