We don’t get too much recognition, us five on the line, but we really don’t care. – Sam Tevi
SALT LAKE CITY — Most little boys don’t daydream about growing up to be offensive linemen.
That includes the massive men who make up Utah’s offensive line this season.
“I always dreamed about being a running back, like everybody else,” said Spanish Fork native Isaac Asiata. “Fate had me go on a different path.”
J.J. Dielman saw himself catching touchdown passes.
“Every year in little league, I tried to be a tight end,” he laughed. “They always moved me to guard. My sophomore year of high school, I just accepted my fate.”
While they may have been reluctant to accept their role on the football field at first, Utah’s offensive lineman aren't just embracing their responsibilities, they’ve come to relish them.
“When you’re watching football, you’re watching the running back, the quarterback,” said Dielman, whose cousin, Kris Dielman, was an offensive lineman for the San Diego Chargers for nine years. “Then once I realized how important it was by watching Kris, I wanted to play there. I wanted to do what he does because he’s a mean dude. ...I kind of stepped into his shoes, and it’s kind of what Dielmans do. We’re lineman. As I embraced it, I started to like it more and more.”
Dielman credits good coaches for helping him understand the critical role he could play in the trenches.
“Once I got a little older, I realized games are won on the line,’ Dielman said. “I became fine with settling back into the shadows, you could say. I know how important it is to play O-line now.”
Asiata had a similar experience.
“My high school coach (Todd Jackson) really, really helped me love the position,” Asiata said. “I started taking pride in the fact, well, I’m an offensive lineman and it’s my job to take care of the skill players on and off the field. I thought it was cool, that bodyguard kind of position.”
He said Jackson instilled in him a passion for a position many fans don’t appreciate or understand.
“He did a great job of helping me understand (their role),” Asiata said. “We are the most important group of men on the field. Nothing runs unless we do our jobs. He kind of (instilled) that in me at a young age, and when I came to college, (Ute coach Jim) Harding took it to a different level.”
Chemistry is important on any team, but it may be even more critical for a group like the offensive line.
“Chemistry is huge on the offensive line,” Asiata said. “It’s five people working as one, and if one person messes up, then the whole line messes up. Four guys can be doing their job, but if one guy messes up, it could mess up the whole play. There’s a lot that goes into it.”
The chemistry of the group comes as much from the time they spend together off the field as it does the time they spend lining up next to each other in practices and games.
“It’s going through the grind with each other,” Dielman said. “It’s the little things. I have to trust the dudes playing next to me. I think it’s a huge deal having a relationship off the field. It’s effortless (with his current teammates). I never question (their work ethic), which is awesome. I know that is rare.”
Asiata laughs when asked how people react when they find out he's an offensive lineman.
"So what do you do?" he said of their responses. "Or they're like, 'Oh, so you just block people.' It's a lot more complicated than that. There's a lot more that goes into it than standing in front of a guy and blocking him."
The reality is that without consistent quality from the offensive line, a team’s offense can’t do any of the flashy stuff.
“It’s probably a selfish approach but I tell the guys, how we play up front is how we’re going to practice as an entire team,” said Utah offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator Harding. “If we come out and we’re not performing, it’s going to have a negative effect on the practice. But if we come out with a lot of energy, finishing blocks, that stuff is contagious.”
But it does take a unique person to bash and bang so someone else can dance in the end zone.
“We don’t get too much recognition, us five on the line, but we really don’t care,” said Sam Tevi. “Whenever we see (Devontae) Booker hit the hole and score a touchdown or see Travis (Wilson) complete a pass, we know that’s because of us. …When it all comes down to it, we’re happy to win.”
Tevi said he’d played every position on the field except punter and offensive line when he arrived at Utah. After the 2013 season, a coach asked Tevi if he’d be interested in switching from defensive line to offensive line.
“I told him straight up, ‘I wouldn’t like it at all. But I’ll do anything to help the team, ’” he said. “They switched me that spring.”
Tevi said that once he adjusted to playing on the offensive line, he found he enjoyed it just as much as he’d loved playing defense. But some of that is that he loves his teammates and wants the group to succeed more than he wants time in the spotlight.
“It doesn’t matter if they switch me to punter,” he said. “I’d still be happy to be on this team. …When it all comes down to it, we’re happy to win.”
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