NC State offensive linemen Teague Andersen and Rico Jackson joined the Wolfpack Weekly Radio Show to discuss their versatility along the offensive line, the chemistry within the position group, the Wolfpack’s response to the coaching change, and much more.
OL RICO JACKSON
You’re listed at 6-foot-6, 316 pounds. Is that weight accurate right now?
I’m at 305.
One of your biggest strengths is your ability to play on either side of the offensive line and at multiple positions. When did you develop that versatility, and what has allowed you to become comfortable moving around?
Ever since high school, it’s really just been about working on your craft.
My coach always told me that when you go to the league, if you can play every position, they’re going to want you.
They don’t want a one-trick pony. They want somebody who can do multiple things.
So, learn everything.
More people are going to call your phone, and you’re going to get more attention if you can play multiple positions.
You played left guard and left tackle against Virginia, started at right tackle against Vanderbilt, App State and Louisville, and then started at right guard against Stanford. From a technique standpoint, what is the biggest difference between guard and tackle?
When I play guard, there’s no space.
When you play tackle, you’ve got all that freedom and space. You can move side to side.
At guard, everything inside is going to collapse really fast.
That’s really the difference between guard and tackle.
It’s one thing to want to play on both sides of the line, but it takes a lot of work to actually become comfortable doing it. How long did it take you to develop your footwork on both sides?
That took years.
At first, I wasn’t even that good at football.
I just kept practicing every week with my trainers and coaches.
I got better each week and every day by going against competition.
That made me better.
Which side came more naturally to you?
The right side.
So playing left guard or left tackle took more work?
Yeah.
My first time playing left tackle was my senior year of high school.
When did you start playing football?
I started when I was about 10.
Were you always an offensive lineman?
No, I was a defensive lineman.
When did you switch to the offensive line?
When I was about 12.
When did you commit to playing offensive line full-time?
My freshman year of high school.
Offensive linemen are known for having a pretty tight brotherhood. What is it about your room that helps you guys develop those relationships?
Those friendships and bonds form because we all have different personalities.
Everybody might like one thing, and somebody else might like something different.
It’s almost like a courtroom. We debate. We agree and disagree.
That’s what creates the bond.
As offensive linemen, we’re always talking.
We have to make our calls.
I feel like we’re one of the only position groups that have to communicate on every single play.
That makes building that bond come naturally, especially when you’re together for years.
With all of the movement along the offensive line this season, how difficult is it from a communication standpoint when you suddenly find yourself playing next to a different teammate?
Everybody learns differently.
Everybody gets coached differently.
I have to communicate differently depending on who I’m playing next to.
I can’t just make a quick call really fast because he might not understand it if he hasn’t had those reps with me yet.
It really comes down to how many reps I’ve had with that individual.
Once we get those reps, we’ll be on the same page.
You’ve played 458 snaps this season, the second-most among the offensive linemen, after not beginning the year as a starter. What did you envision this season becoming for you?
I envisioned myself being a dude.
I’m going to do my thing.
I’m going to be me.
That’s how I feel.
Coach Tujague told us before the season that he essentially had six starting offensive linemen and that you were going to play a lot. Did you know you would end up playing this many different positions?
Yes.
Even when I first got here, I was always playing guard and tackle.
I always knew that when my name got called, I had to be ready.
I’m able to play on both sides.
How has this week of transition been for you guys? How have you responded to the coaching change, and what has Coach Goebbel brought to practice?
I feel like the change has been good.
Coach Goebbel is doing a good job.
We’ve been killing it at practice.
The offense and defense have been competing on both sides.
I feel like we’re prepared for this week.
We’re going to be good.
OL TEAGUE ANDERSEN
You, Rico Jackson, and Spike Sowells Jr. took part in the “Eat Like the Offensive Line” campaign. Who was the best actor of the three?
Spike’s an actor, so I feel like he did the best job.
He’s really good at it, and he’s told me he has aspirations to do that in the future, too.
Your item on the menu is the Crunch Time Wontons; Spike has the Bangin’ Shrimp, and Rico has the Buffalo Blitz. What did you choose tonight?
I definitely got the wontons.
I had mine and then had a little bit of the shrimp, too.
You’ve cross-trained on both sides of the offensive line and also played center, where you were named ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week. When did that versatility start for you, and which side of the line took the most work to become comfortable with?
Growing up, my dad played in the league, and one of the biggest things he harped on was that he was able to play all five positions.
When I grew up, he taught me all five and moved me around to every position to try to get me comfortable with all of them.
I’d say I’m mainly a right-side guy because I’ve been a right tackle for four years now.
Going over to the left was a little bit of a challenge, but it wasn’t too far out of my comfort zone because I grew up doing it.
From a technique standpoint, with the footwork and hand placement, how difficult was it to switch from the right side to the left?
Being a right tackle for four years, I got really comfortable punching with my right hand, clamping with my left, and basing up with my right foot.
Then you have to completely flip that in your mind, punching with the left and bracing with the left.
It was pretty difficult; I’m not going to lie.
I had never switched over to the left side in college.
I had played center, but that’s not really the left side. You play both sides when you’re at center.
It was definitely challenging, but it was fun.
It’s unusual to have a tackle who can also play center. When did you start learning to play center, and how different is the position technically?
My dad was a center for most of his career, and he was a big center.
He’s 6-foot-7 and weighed around 320 at the NFL Combine.
I was taught to snap when I was about 10 years old.
Going inside is a completely different game than playing outside, but I find it a little easier because I’m not on an island the whole game.
I’d rather block a guy who is ginormous, where I can grab him and brace on him, than a guy who is super elusive.
At tackle, I’m kicking out on an island against a guy who is quicker, faster, and more athletic than me, and I’m trying to get my hands on him.
It’s a whole different game.
How different is the communication responsibility at center compared with the other offensive line positions?
It’s completely different.
As a center, you’re guiding everyone else.
You’re the quarterback of the offensive line.
You’re the one calling out who is going where and everything like that.
I tried to do as much as I could at tackle to take some of that off what my center already had to do, so I would call out my stuff.
But when you’re playing center, you have to do everything.
Then you have to focus on the snap at the end of it because if you don’t get the snap right, the whole play isn’t there.
I feel like it’s more of a mental game than a physical game when you’re at center.
Walk us through your mental process as you approach the line of scrimmage at center. What are you looking for before you put your hand on the football?
The first thing I look at is the play clock and how much time I actually have to make the calls.
If I don’t have much time, I can’t read as much as I should be able to.
If I have a good amount of time, I’m looking at the down linemen and seeing if they’re in an odd or even front.
Then I’ll move to the linebackers and see where they’re aligned.
If they’re aligned a little funky, I’m looking at what the defensive line might do to adjust to their alignment.
Then I’ll look even further back and see where the safeties are.
If a safety is overlapping the nickel or somebody on the outside, there’s potential for a blitz off that edge.
You’re working from front to back and then coming back to the front.
If I know the nickel is going to blitz off the right side, I know the line could shift because we need to account for the guy blitzing off the edge.
Then you get the call made.
If we were sliding left in the protection, it might become, “No, check it. We’re sliding right,” to get our running back involved in the protection.
How do you communicate all of that to the rest of the offensive line when you only have a few seconds?
Luckily, I have pretty good tackles, so they’re communicating with me as well.
They’re reading their alleys, which would be the nickel or whoever is out there.
If I have to flip the whole protection over, we have our calls for that.
I’ll flip the protection to the side the blitzer is coming from and flip the whole thing.
How close is this offensive line room, especially considering all of the injuries you guys have dealt with this season?
We’re super close.
I know every single guy in that room very, very well, and I’m able to hang out with all of them.
We usually go to Kamen Smith’s house, our right guard, and have cookouts and things like that.
It’s fun to be able to hang out with no pressure.
You can just be yourself.
That’s not always something that happens on a football team.
Sometimes you go into a room, and you’re a little tense because you don’t know how people are going to react.
But I know everyone so well that I can be myself.
It’s like a home away from home.
What’s on the menu at one of those offensive line cookouts?
Usually probably 20 to 30 steaks.
A bunch of stuff.
Are you serious when you say 20 to 30 steaks?
Yeah.
That’s a low amount.
Run blocking versus pass protection: What are the differences in technique and mentality, and which do you prefer?
A lot of people say pass protection is passive, but it’s not at all.
You’ve got to be the aggressor.
At the same time, we are going backward in pass protection.
I have a huge preference toward run blocking, as all linemen should.
We want to run the ball right down the middle.
We like our inside zone, our wide zone, and getting movement on the guys in the interior.
I definitely have a really good connection with Kamen, especially.
I’ve played thousands of snaps next to him at this point.
When I have a combination block with him, I know we’re probably going to move that guy five yards off the ball.
We’re really going to push him off the ball.
It’s pretty fun.
You’ve talked about growing up wanting to be like your dad because he played in the NFL. What did his career look like?
It’s in the blood, for sure.
He was drafted in the seventh round by the Patriots.
He played there, went to the Dolphins, the Browns, and the Chiefs.
He moved around a couple of times but ended up having a successful career.
Growing up with a dad who played in the NFL, you always have aspirations to be like your dad, no matter what he does.
Having something that high to achieve has really pushed me to be the best person I can be.
Your brother was also an offensive lineman. How did you help him transition from tight end to offensive tackle?
My brother graduated last year from Utah State, but he was actually a tight end his whole life.
When he went to Pitt out of high school, they wanted to transition him to offensive tackle, and he was completely unused to it.
He would come home, and I would help him.
I wouldn’t say I coached him, but I did in a sense.
I would teach him different techniques, how things had been explained to me and how they made sense in my head.
Obviously, my dad helped a lot, too, because he’s an offensive line coach and has coached at the Division I level.
Then we got my brother to transfer to Utah State with me.
What was it like getting the opportunity to play alongside your brother at Utah State?
It was really fun.
I was the right tackle, and he was the left tackle.
It was fun being able to stand there, look over, and see my brother right there.
Then the whole coaching staff got fired after the season, and I was like, “Yep, I’m out.”
I wanted to go play in the ACC.
I wanted to play bigger, better opponents every week.
He said, “All right, go chase your dreams.”
What is your relationship with Coach Garett Tujague and his family like? How long have you known him?
I know the whole family at this point.
He played at BYU, and my dad played at BYU as well, so there’s that connection.
He was the offensive line coach at BYU when I was growing up.
BYU was my dream school growing up, so I knew him through that.
It’s become even more relevant because the girl I’m dating, her dad grew up with Tujague.
They were best friends.
It’s really come full circle.
He’s a father figure for me.
He’s a home away from home.
If I need anything, I’ll call him.
If I need to call and talk, he’ll always answer the phone.
He’s always going to be there for me.
He’s the best coach I could have asked for.
This has been a week of transition for the program. How have you guys handled everything, and what has it been like with Coach Goebbel taking over?
It was tough at the beginning, but honestly, we’re at a “so what, now what” mentality.
Who cares what happened?
We’re just going to play our butts off and see what happens.
Let’s go get some wins.
There’s no reason to end this season badly just because we haven’t played to the standard that we should have.
This week of practice has been super energetic and super insightful.
It’s been a really good week.
Coach Goebbel has helped us with a bunch of different things.
Making practice quicker and faster in general has been a good little change.
You have two cats, Hoot and Ronald. Where did the name Ronald come from?
We rescued both of our cats.
When we got Ronald, they were telling us his story and how they found him.
He was found in a McDonald’s bag.
I was like, “We need to play off of that.”
Addy and I sat down and said, “We need to figure out a name that’s going to be cute but also relatable.”
She said, “Let’s name him Ronald.”
I was like, “You know what? Ronald. That’s perfect.”
