WS Chronicle

When it comes to football training, there are plenty of outlets for the skill position guys. Thanks to Jay Blair, the big men up front now have a place to train to get better in the Triad area.

Blair and his “In the Trenches” training program is specifically tailored for offensive and defensive lineman to make them better at their craft. Blair is a former standout player at Reynolds, he starred at East Carolina University and also played in the NFL, so his knowledge of the game is extensive. His goal is to bring the knowledge of what he has learned over the years to the up-and-coming lineman of today’s game.

“Blair Boyz Enterprises, LLC was once a vision that was shared between my brother and I. We have always shared a passion for sports and achieved personal success in them. Through our hard work and focus on our craft, we excelled at many levels, including collegiate and professional.

“After years of playing on the different levels, we noticed a need among future defensive and offensive linemen, thus we began our journey of coaching.”

Blair states on the Blair Boyz website: “The passion for coaching and providing the next generations with tools to be successful increased throughout the following 14 years. The desire to reach as many young athletes playing “In the Trenches” was born.” 

Blair held a camp at Butler High School in Matthews, N.C. almost two months ago that was a huge success. From that camp, he brought the idea back to his hometown of Winston-Salem for the area players to participate in.

“Now, what I am focusing on is giving that same camp training, where we focus on those position specific things, to individuals and groups that want to take advantage of those services all year,” Blair said about his training. “That is just going to enhance the capabilities and abilities of offensive and defensive linemen.”

Blair’s plan was to hold the camp first and then evolve into individual and group training sessions here in town. He says people tell him he did it backwards, but for him that was his goal all along.  

“The immediate need was for the camp and that allowed the kids to come out and get coached by former NFL ball players and get those nuggets that they got and then get into the position specifics, which is where we are now,” he stated.  

Blair has not been offering sessions for very long but has already become very  much in demand by players who needed that linemen training. He has had players come from around the area, as well as players from different regions of the state.

“It’s growing and the website is growing too,” he said. “I built the website just after the Fourth of July weekend and the traffic has been amazing.”  

Blair says they are growing so fast that he is in the process of looking for a building to house his training sessions and equipment, so he can train no matter the weather conditions outside. He currently uses Oak Summit Park and Hanes Park to train, but will also come to the client if necessary.

Blair bases his training regimen off of the skill level of the player. He says one of the foundations of the training is proper footwork, which he makes sure each player masters. Blair then moves to the more specific training skills for each position along the defensive or offensive side of the ball.

As a defensive lineman by trade, he has picked up so much knowledge along his playing and coaching journey that he can train offensive linemen as well.  

“I went in wanting to do both, even though I didn’t play offensive line; I spent so much time going against them and hearing their coaches’ coach and correct them, you just notice and pick up things,” he said.  “Am I as efficient at offensive line as I am at defensive line? I would tell you no. But what I do have is a plethora of individuals that have played offensive line at the highest level and I can call them and learn from them and then I can take it to my guys.”

From the time that Blair played versus now, he feels the play of the offensive line has stayed very similar because of how athletic the linemen have become. What they lack in technique, they make up for in athleticism.  

Even though he has only been training some of the guys for a few weeks, he has already seen tremendous development in several players. He says players like Mt. Tabor defensive lineman Chris Atkins has really flourished during his sessions. He also has a couple of younger players that have really taken to his training quickly.

Blair has never been one of those former players who likes to hang onto the knowledge he has accumulated over his years in the game. He has always been one to enjoy seeing younger players develop into the best versions of themselves.

“It’s gratifying, and when that light goes off in their head and the sparkle in their eyes, that’s what we do it for,” Blair said about his players.  

For more information on “In the Trenches,” please visit www.blairboyzenterprises.com. You can also follow Blair Boyz on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.