Indiana University Athletics
Frey: Summer Is Most Fun Part Of Coaching
5/19/2016 12:46:00 PM | Football
By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The span of offensive line coach Greg Frey's reach is growing larger and more diverse by the year. At this point, his mental rolodex of contacts is starting to look more like a phone book.
There's recent graduates Collin Rahrig, Jake Reed and Jason Spriggs just now in the beginning stages of their NFL careers. There's guys like Pete Bachman starting jobs in the business world, Will Matte getting into coaching, Andrew McDonald becoming an NFL veteran, investment bankers, police officers—the list of former players in new places keeps growing.
For Frey, seeing players translate what they learned in football under his guidance into the working world is one of the most rewarding parts of coaching. It also makes this part of the year the most exciting for him as he dives into studying ways to make his current players better once they return to camp next fall.
"One of the things I always tell them is whether you like it or not, we're part of each other's lives, and we're going to be a part of each other's lives forever," Frey said. "You can't take that away."
Frey, who last season was nominated for the prestigious Broyles Award, annually given to the nation's top assistant coach, stays busy at this time of year studying as much football as he can. In the meantime, his linemen are expected to stay busy working out and doing all they can to come back in June ready to work.
During the months Frey can't work hands on with his players, he spends his time laying the framework for what he'll teach when they come back. He'll study his players' film, opponents' film, watch other teams practice and talk as much with his colleagues and contacts as he can to figure out new ways to improve on the field.
"For me, coming out of June and July and just getting into August is the most fun time for me," Frey said. "From spring football until then, that's the part I like about coaching is building the players, identifying issues and trying to fix them. And really, it's not as much fixing them as it is enhancing the talent."
Frey's process starts with identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the players he has coming back and determining what he can do to build on the strong areas while minimizing the weaker parts.
Frey gave the example of a freshman version of Spriggs, now a rookie with the Green Bay Packers. When Spriggs came in, he was drastically underweight and needed Frey to develop a different strategy to block opposing defensive ends than a more experienced, bigger lineman would use.
"Every year we're going to have different people with different strengths, but we've still got to make the same blocks," Frey said. "How do we do that? We've got to teach it or drill it. So that's really what I'm looking for."
Indiana's offensive line has long been a strength of the Hoosiers' program under Frey and head coach Kevin Wilson. They'll return a majority of their big guys up front in 2016, headlined by fifth-year senior Dan Feeney.
Frey and his linemen will stay busy grinding through the summer months before returning to fall camp, and although the public won't see it, Frey said this is when some of the biggest gains are made.
"This here, this is fun," Frey said. "This is what coaching is about."
