Question on Quarterback-Center communications

Appreciate some OL experienced guys providing some insight:
Brady lauds center Wendell - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

was reading that story and TB said....

Playing center on our team, it's not easy with the amount of calls and adjustments that we have both from the communication that I have with him and then he relays on to the rest of the offensive linemen," Brady noted. "He's done a great job. He's a tough, hard-nosed football player that loves the game, and loves to compete."

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So, my question...... between the uptempo pace-no huddles, and that wendell only has the two Gs right next to him - HOW EXACTLY does the C "communicate" "calls and adjustments" while he has a QB with his hand on his a-- who is yelling out '58s the Mike', 'Alabama'...... over his head? Is he yelling out code words to the OL from the set position? If so arent they talking over the top of each other?

Anyway even if they do actually huddle; i've never noticed the OL doing a mini-5 man huddle on the way to the line - so is there any difference in how they do calls from a huddle to no-huddle play?

Gumby said:

HOW EXACTLY does the C "communicate" "calls and adjustments"

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Not an 'experienced OL guy' but... my guess is (drum roll) verbally.

It's probably that Brady tells the O-Line something - like the ever present '53 is the mike'. The C then translates that into whatever the O-Line needs to know/do.

Brady probably (ok - certainly) knows exactly what every person on the O-Line is supposed to be doing, and could probably tell them. But that 2-3 seconds is better spent with Brady reading the defense and the C telling the O line what to do.

Every offensive line from pee wee to the Pros has "line calls". Usually once the QB calls the defensive formation the lineman will make their calls, sometimes both tackles and the center make calls, or sometimes just the Center. The calls can be as plain as "you, me, us, regular" or complicated as colors, directions, etc. Each lineman already knows what their responcibilty it (in the Pats system as in most, it is going to be inside (the gap towards the ball), on (the guy opposite you) or away (the gap away from the ball). The Center will then make calls to the other lineman basically dictating who blocks who and if theri are any doubletems, etc.

So yes, it is a big deal when your Center goes down. And an experienced Center is worth his weight in gold, just ask Peyton.

Gumby said:

HOW EXACTLY does the C "communicate" "calls and adjustments" while he has a QB with his hand on his a-- who is yelling out '58s the Mike', 'Alabama'...... over his head? Is he yelling out code words to the OL from the set position? If so arent they talking over the top of each other?

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QBs will pause after making their protection and/or audible calls so the line can communicate the scheme and mentally set their blocks up.

When you hear them talking "over" each other on the field mics, the center is usually echoing what the QB is saying to make sure everyone on the line hears it. That usually signifies a play audible is taking place.

Some defenses will check to a new scheme when they hear that.

Thanks FTW and unoriginal,

I guess I never noticed that much of a pause between brady's calls for wendy to be squeezing the line calls in. That is why I thought they would be talking over the top of each other. but what you guys said make sense.

Also, it just seemed like all 5 ought to know what the line call is based on play and TBs audible-option choice. - that wendy's call is kind of duplicative or unnecessary (but i guess there is always room for human error so best to ensure all are on same page).

So followon ?, especially with the # of plays the Pats run; wouldn't the line calls tend to be figured out by the D quicker than the play calls? The # of line calls for a game has to be at least a third of the # of game-plan plays & probably only 10% of the total # plays in the playbook. & at least some of play calls are called from huddle and not on the line; whereas ALL the line calls are called out openly to the D. So I would think its a lot easier to keep the plays secret than the line calls.

Or would they have it that for each play there is an A-B-C set of line calls and they are just giving the A, B or C choice - so that D can't figure the calls out - BUT the OL all need to have the options for each play memorized so as not to be on different pages?