VIDEO: Coaches in Cars Getting Coffee: Joe Ray and Tanner Fleming
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – This is the final part in an eight-part series chronicling Carson-Newman football's positions for the 2024 season. This feature breaks down the Eagles' offensive front with aid from Joe Ray and Tanner Fleming.
The unit marks a leaner, speedier feel than the 6-6, 315-pound bodies that typified the position group when it required a zone blocking approach.
Instead, most of the line has dropped 25-30 pounds for a scheme that favors quickness.
"I love coaching this offense," Fleming said. "It's rewarding because the goal is to grind guys out and keep your defense on the sideline. You can coach it differently than other offenses because we are chasing guys. I'm coaching the same way I found Coach Ingram coaching me back in the day."
Two starters return from last year's team, both of whom earned preseason All-SAC honors in Christian Jones and Fletcher Gibson.
"We do have some guys who were a part of running the split-back veer," Ray said. "So there's just a little change in stance to get more weight on the hands. We've been trying to get that surge off the ball, and there's no better way to do it than have some weight on your hand and rolling off the ball."
Jones is one of two players on the roster who was a member of the Eagles' last playoff team - the 2019 club that eliminated 10th-ranked Bowie State before falling to Lenoir-Rhyne in the round of 16.
Jones has a pair of All-SAC seasons under his belt. He has been a force to be reckoned with. Jones tallied 49 knockdowns across Carson-Newman's 11 games in 2022, the most in a single season for an Eagle offensive line man to All-American Phil McDowell's 44-knockdown season in 2019.
He missed the first half of last season with nagging injuries, but after returning to the lineup against Erskine on Oct.14, C-N only allowed four sacks the final five weeks of the year.
"Christian brings a ton of experience to the table," Ray said. "He brings a lot of talent that transitions well into this offense. He can play in a traditional zone blocking scheme, but he brings so much into an option offense. One thing I'm excited about Christian is to be able to see him walk across the stage. His journey on the field is awesome. His journey on it is better."
Meanwhile, Gibson made appearances in all 11 games for C-N on the offensive line with nine starts. Carson-Newman's offensive line only gave up 17 sacks on the season, the second-fewest allowed in the South Atlantic Conference. Teams only registered two sacks against Carson-Newman in the final three weeks of the year.
"Fletcher has done everything above and beyond what we've asked as a leader," Fleming said. "He can play center and guard and may play both. He is reliable in that you know he's going to go where he's supposed to go on the field and play as hard as he can. You can't ask much more than that."
The transition to a pure triple option scheme has opened the door for the likes of Henry Bertucci, Xavier Shoemaker, converted d-lineman Blake Shinault, Garrett Rice and Amil Savage to cement themselves among the two deep.
However, it's the growth of freshman Turk Daniels through camp that has been especially eye-catching for Fleming.
"Daniels has done a phenomenal job and been bought in from the second he got on campus," Fleming said. "He knows how to practice. It's obvious he was well coached in high school. He can bend and do all the things asked of him. He has that football savvy to him that you don't see a lot of young guys have. He can make an impact on the o-line."
Daniels started 50 games in his high school career at Colquitt County. He racked up 212 pancake blocks and was named first-team all-region.
Carson-Newman opens the season under the lights of Burke-Tarr Stadium on Thursday August 29 at 6 p.m. against Reinhardt. Pregame coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 5 p.m. with the AEC Countdown to Kickoff on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), MIX 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/FloFB.
