Even with all the changes this offseason, senior center Chase Evans can guarantee one thing about SIU’s offensive line.

“It starts with us up front. We lead the way,” Evans said.

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These words couldn’t be more true as SIU enters its 2024 football season. The offensive line is the most experienced and one of the most talented position groups for the Salukis this season, and is being counted on to help bring continuity to an offense that had a lot of personnel changes. 

“For an offense to function, 11 guys got to be on the same page,” offensive line coach Dan Clark said. “The command of an offense, it doesn’t happen overnight.”

However, as a long, physical, hot and competitive training camp gives way to the regular season, Clark is really impressed with where his unit and the offense as a whole has progressed to.

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“It’s been really exciting to see them grow,” Clark said.

As a position group, the offensive lineman are very close. Several are entering their third or more years playing together, and even those that aren’t, like senior Noah Fenske, are able to be quickly adopted into the family.

“Just coming in here and just being able to be a douchebag with the rest of the guys, that really helps me gel with these guys real good,” Fenske said.

According to Evans, this close bond and strong chemistry is “everything.”

“That’s all the line is:  five is one, one is five. You know the guy next to you and trust him with everything you have, because you’re going out to battle with him,” Evans said. 

Clark is able to speak to the importance of chemistry; as the position coach, he is a major cultivator of it.

“They gotta respect each other. They gotta trust each other. They gotta know each other. You know, there’s a lot of passion involved in it,” Clark said.

While it’s important for players to be passionate, it may be even more important for a coach to be. They’re often counted on to set the tone, and their demeanor is often reflected in their players.

“I like to make sure I’m showing them that I’m passionate,” Clark said. “And I think that’s important to a young o-lineman’s development.”

This development leads to an experienced team, a perfect storm of homegrown and transfer players taking full advantage of the season that the NCAA awarded to them through redshirts, COVID and the transfer portal. 

“The line is definitely elevated, just being a group that’s got a bunch of sixth-year guys. You’re gonna see that experience. We all want to play for each other, we all want to win,” Fenske said.

To Clark, finding players that want to play for each other and who have the mindset to play along the line doesn’t just happen.

“It’s not been easy. Anytime you talk about coaching an offensive line, doing it over and over again, finding the guys to live in the trenches and to live that life of consistency and toughness and understanding their job and executing at the highest level, it doesn’t happen overnight,” Clark said.

Being a lineman, especially on the offensive side of the ball, is often a thankless job, according to Clark. They aren’t usually noticed by regular fans unless they are making mistakes, and the praises given by anyone but the coaching staff are few and far between.

Evans, who is moving to center after spending last season at left guard, doesn’t have a problem with it though.

“I love not being in the spotlight. You know, it’s nice. We catch a lot of the slack, and that’s fine.”

Not being in the spotlight means that a lot of lineman are mostly unknown, which hides some of the best characters on a football team.

“We’re a different group. We have a lot of personality. We have the most fun. I think we have a lot of dudes too who are a little different, and I think that makes it more fun every single day. And our coach is just like that too,” Evans said.

For a coach like Clark who is trying to make sure his players want to be coached by him, being a little different is just one of the tools he can use to help build trust with his players.

“It’s a lot of pushing buttons… sometimes you have to have, you know, a sledgehammer mentality,” Clark said. “There’s always more in the tank, if you will. There’s always more that a young man has, I think. And to find that and to push that right button is, I think, the biggest thing for a coach.”

The time that Clark gets to push these buttons is also his favorite: practice. 

“I enjoy just the little fundamental drills and seeing them grow and develop, and the eyes get really bright when they figure it out,” Clark said. “I’ve always enjoyed the… developmental part of it, and the hot days, the cold days, just the different types of adversity a young man can go through and be able to respond to.”

All that practice, lifting and training helps build to a player’s favorite time.

“You’re gonna see on Saturday, that’s their day,” Clark said. “That’s their day, that’s their time to let it go and show everybody what they’ve got.”

Evans is already excited for what Saturdays bring and what the fans are going to see.

“This team chemistry is an all-time high,” Evans said. “We’re a lot of guys playing for each other, and I think that’s really important, and I think it’d be really special.”

Fenske, in his typical colorful manner, is all about providing for the fans and giving a good show.

“We’re gonna score some points, and you’re just gonna see a bunch of degenerates get down in the end zone,” Fenske said.

Sports consultant Ryan Grieser can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook and on X @dailyegyptian.

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