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Talking Leatherneck football with…Offensive line coach and run game coordinator Brian Frana

| By: WIU Athletic Communications
With the season opener one week away, we sat down with offensive line coach and run game coordinator, Brian Frana to talk about his group before the Leathernecks begin the season Sept. 1 at Tennessee-Martin.
 
Us: "How is that offensive growing, because if you're not good there, you don't win."
Coach Frana: "I tell our guys, we lead from the front and our group has done a nice job gelling together. We have  a few guys who were with us in the spring, about seven guys, we've added nine other guys to the mix who are transfers and freshmen and they've gelled well and I think we have a good starting five and solid back-ups right now.
 
Us: "It's a pretty young group, is that a concern for you or is it more a relief because you don't have those bad habits to break, you can teach more and get them sound and doing things the way you want them to do things.
Coach Frana: "It's the latter, those guys are young, they're taking things in, all the linemen have been here since June 4 and they're building on what they've learned. Some guys have really risen to the top off, including the older dogs learning new tricks."
 
Us: "When you go against a team like UT-Martin, a playoff team, a good defensive team that does some different thing, is that a challenge your group embraces?"
Coach Frana: "Definitely, they're looking forward it. They're (UT-Martin) good, they have two guys in their starting defensive line who are preseason players of the year, they're good players, their line moves around a lot, so we're taking it as a challenge. We're mostly tired of seeing ourselves, we're looking forward to hitting a different color jersey."
 
Us: "What do you want to see from your line to get ready this next week? Is it film work, getting familiar with what UT-Martin does or is it an inward focus on yourselves?
Coach Frana: It's a combination of all of that. First of all we need to stay healthy, then number two, rep what we've seen on film, then anticipate what they do, then get better at what we want to do."
 
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