[Fuller/MGoBlog]
Earlier this year I asked coach Harbaugh about running Power, and he said the goal is to make the guard invisible. From your perspective, what are you looking for when you’re running Power?
“They tell us the guard is invisible. The guard is invisible, don’t pay attention to him. Stay on your landmark and if you see it, if you see the hole, it should be there but if anything pick up the guard. [/laughs] That guard’s invisible, but at the same time you can pick up the guard.”
One thing I was wondering is let’s say somebody shoots a gap or the hole collapses. What’s your next move? What do you do from there?
“I’m picking up the guard around, because he’s pulling around and I’m picking him up and he’s blocking for me.”
So you bounce it out?
“Yeah.”
How about Trap blocking? What are you looking for when you know it’s a Trap?
“Hmm, I don’t know. Just get to my landmark. Just get to my landmark and hit the hole is all I can think of.”
As far as landmarks go, is that different every play?
“Yeah, landmarks are different every play. It goes from- it just depends what we’re going to run.”
And that’s just the first thing you look for?
“Right. The first thing you look for is your landmark and staying on your track.”
[After THE JUMP: Blitz pickups, and the time Jim almost killed John Harbaugh]
One thing I’ve noticed this year is you’ve really done a nice job with blitz pickups. Is that from working with coach Drevno or coach Wheatley or kind of a combination of both, and what are some of the things you’ve learned this year in that area?
“Definitely a combination of both from coach Wheatley and coach Drev. More so coach Wheat because he’s played that position. He tells me what to look for in the defense, so it’s looking at the secondary first to see the rotation of the DBs and stuff like that. It’s definitely helped out a lot. It’s a good feeling pickup the blocks so your quarterback doesn’t have to be on the ground.”
What are some of the other things he’s helped you with this year?
“Just slowing the game down for me, really. Making me understand the offense I was in and understand what I can and cannot do and stuff like that.”
I heard you talking in there [This interview was done after the standup portion of the Monday presser –A.] about how intense coach Harbaugh is. Can you give me your favorite story?
“I’ll never forget this, when him and his brother- I mean, when him and his family went on vacation and him and his brother got to wrestling and dunked his brother underwater but didn’t let his brother up until the last second. That’s kind of like the one that’ll always stick with me.”
The Ravens posted a video of John telling the team this story from his visit during practice. Worth watching, because what video of a Harbaugh telling a story isn’t worth watching?