Some people talk too much. People you may meet in the streets want to give you their life story, including every single minute detail they can throw in there. For most people, this is an annoying little trait. For WVU's offensive line, it's a trait they are hoping to pick up.

Communication is a crucial aspect in the game of football. Without talking, players wouldn't know what play to run, what audible was called, how to adjust to the defense, and a litany of other things. While it is important to every player, the offensive line feel its importance goes above and beyond.

"It's the most important thing. Ever," center Joe Madsen said. "One miss-communication and that whole play is screwed up, so it's definitely really important."

Every play's success or failure depends on the offensive line and whether or not they are successful at reading the defense. Coaches try to call the right plays at the right time based on what they've seen, but that's when execution (that word we hear so often) comes into play. One wrong read can lead to a sack, but a correct read can lead to a 98-yard touchdown. Junior guard Josh Jenkins says that all depends on how well the line can communicate with each other.

"They already know, before they even get down in their stance, what's about to happen. They know what they're looking for and where they should be going," the Parkersburg native said.

 

	“ "Me and Donnie Barclay have been playing together since we were freshmen and we're at the point where we kind of know what each other is going to do, so that kind of solves some of the communication problems,".” -- Offensive Lineman Josh Jenkins

Jenkins says that even when everyone knows what they are supposed to do, the defense can throw a wrench in the works by changing where they line up or how they show their blitzes. If that happens, each player has to evaluate the situation, then announce how they will adjust to it to the rest of their linemen. Being able to properly make these "calls" are where communication, and sometimes confusion, comes into play.

"First of all, the center has the very first call and depending on what you have to do, you have to communicate with your center and communicate with your tackle. Anyone can be making calls and that's why it gets so confusing, so many people making so many different calls," Jenkins said. "That's part of communication, everyone has to be able to listen to each other and get it all done before the ball is snapped."

It's important that all five of the big boys up front are on the same page. Even if a play is designed to go to the right, the players on the backside have to call out anything that could botch the lines' assignments. Jenkins says that he has developed relationships with a few players where speaking isn't necessary, but he still must announce what he's doing to everyone else.

"Me and Donnie Barclay have been playing together since we were freshmen and we're at the point where we kind of know what each other is going to do, so that kind of solves some of the communication problems," Jenkins said. "We don’t' have to communicate as much, but for the rest of the guys all the way down the line, we have to hear their calls."

So how do you fix the problem of communication without actually being able to line up against a defense? Madsen says this is where the film room becomes such a crucial part of the team's preparation in the summer.

"We definitely sit around and go over plays and we watch film. We'll look at the defense and will go around and ask people 'What do you have to do here?' and 'What's the call here?' and go around and make sure everyone has their call."

Jenkins says that he watches a lot of film on his own so that he can see what he was doing wrong. In these film sessions he's seen a lot of things that could have been fixed with a little better communication and a lot of miss opportunities.

"I've been spending time watching some of our old games and watching some of the mistakes I've made as a player and watching some mistakes we've made as an O-line. I think as a group, and for myself, communication is one of the biggest things we can improve on. A lot of the mistakes we made was because we weren't communicating. We weren't seeing things the way we should've been seeing them and picking them up the way we could've. If we'd have been communicating, it would've made everything so much easier last year and there were a few plays that were big that we missed because we weren't communicating."

Hindsight is 20-20 and the linemen have begun to learn from their mistakes. Not only was their communication a problem last season, but their youth and inexperience led to some plays that could have been home runs fizzling out at the line of scrimmage. With another year under their belt and their commitment to improving, this season could be a whole new ball game.

"I think we got a lot more mature, we learned a lot more, we played together for a whole year, and that makes a big difference," Jenkins said. "This year, we'll know more about each other, we'll be able to pick things up easier, our steps will be in sync, and I think it will be a good year."