In 2005 Delaware Valley faced the unenviable task of replacing three players who were the best at their position in school history — All American quarterback Adam Knoblauch, all-time leading rusher Steve Cook and All American center Damien Ciecwisz.
Knoblauch and Cook received far more attention than Ciecwisz, but their impact on the Aggies was no greater than the man dubbed C-Wiz. He anchored a very good line that ran and pass blocked for a balanced offense. He was so accurate on shotgun snaps that you forgot they could be tricky until he was gone. And the next season one coach remarked that Ciecwisz, not the more lauded quarterback or running back, might be the toughest guy to replace.
Centers are so critical to a team’s success. Ask a running team that relies on its line to open holes up the middle. Or ask a passing team whose potent attack can be short circuited by a shotgun snap that’s a tad long or a tad short, granting the defense the half-second they need to get to the quarterback. The Center is the only player other than the quarterback who touches the ball on every snap.
And yet, when putting together this year’s All Region teams, there weren’t many centers nominated in some regions for the honor. Just one center was nominated in the East. Honorees were sparse at the conference level, too. The three centers named All Conference in the NJAC were honorable mention, not first or second team. There were no centers on the first teams for the Liberty League or MAC. In fact, there were no centers selected in the MAC at all.
NOTE: Thanks to Saxon54 for a correction. The Empire 8 did have a center on its first team, Mike Callahan of Alfred. I apologize for the mistake.
Last year we mentioned that the tight end seems like an endangered species in Division III. We know centers are plentiful and there’s plenty evidence of some very good ones, like Mount Union’s Eric Safran who is up for the Draddy Trophy.
All of which begs the question: Why aren’t conferences honoring their centers? A coach knows he has to put a center on the field for every snap, so shouldn’t the best center in the conference be on the first team?
In a year where it seems even more conferences are going to 15- and 17-man all-conference first teams on offense and/or defense, one would think leagues could get all of the positions represented.
I’ll tackle this challenge with a guarded response. The guys in the trenches always get the least attention, most of all the center. I’ll end it right here.
O-line guys tend to get mentioned when they’re guys who are about 6′ 8″ and 340 (or approaching that) – especially if they have some athleticism. Well, centers especially in D3 tend to be a little more compact – 250 or so. And they typically have plenty of athleticism.
Pat
How can they not go position by position? UUUUUUGH is all I can say without going on a rampage. I have no dog in the fight but daaaaaam!!!!
You’d be amazed how many first-teamers on conference teams are tackles. Like a coach could put out a lineup with five tackles?
After coaching all these years Pat I do believe that you can have more than one at a position in some cases but to omit a position for the sake of adding others is welll!!!! And I said no rampage
Funny you should mention this, because in looking at story ideas for next week’s features, O-Line is top of mind in a couple of cases, but also because it might explain the separation in some late-playoff results in recent years, re: a theory mentioned on other threads.
The center is 1/5 of that 🙂
As under-the-radar as linemen tend to be, on both sides, anyone who coaches or plays, or did in the past, knows how vital their play can be.
After watching Tommy Davis (Center for Bethel U) for 4 years, I too was shocked that he was not mentioned. But, most O Linemen are not there for the glory…
Centers also have the responsibility of identifying which front the defense is in (3-4, 4-3, are they shaded strong/weak?, etc) and calling protection schemes in a lot offenses. Try to do that and remember the snap count, while usually having to block the biggest d-line man (though they do get to double-team a lot.) Tough Job!
The empire 8 had a first team center on their all conference team (Mike Callahan).
54: That may be true but I could not find the all-conference team on the E8 Web site last night when we were looking for them.
54: Thanks for the correction. I’ll add it to the story above.
ESPN and Pam Ward did a great job with the game. It was better than listening to the slanted webcast .