There's no coaching manual that could've prepared Justin Frye for what the past month had in store. On Jan. 19, Frye was putting the final touches on his game plan ahead of Ohio State's national championship appearance against Notre Dame.
Exactly one month later, Frye answered questions for the first time as the Cardinals new offensive line coach.
"It's been a blur," he said. "It really came to a head last week when I walked in the building for the first time, kind of walking in and dive back into football and start watching tape and stuff. Just a range of emotions."
The emotion Frye continues to experience is excitement. After spending the last 17 years working for six different universities, there's a thrill about earning his first NFL coaching job. That excitement remained when he was watching film of the Cardinals offensive line unit.
"There's an identity," Frye said. "Now you come in, you watch, you try to critique and clean up some things that weren't good. You scratch what itches and then you enhance and supplement what was really good. I'm jumping into this and learning the terminology and those things. But having an identity of who you are and what you're going to do and how you're going to do it, that breeds confidence and confidence breeds success."
Frye credited former offensive line coach Klayton Adams and coach Jonathan Gannon for building an offensive front which has allowed running back James Conner to post back-to-back seasons with over 1,000 rushing yards.
After hoisting the trophy at Ohio State, Frye pointed out that championship winning teams have a dominant offensive line. He's looking to build upon that with the Cardinals.
"When you press play and you watch, you want the physicality and the violence to be palpable," Frye said. "The beauty of football is no matter the scheme, the tempo, the new rules, the new penalties or lack thereof, there's blocking and tackling. If you block them, then they can't tackle and they can't sack the quarterback. You have to do that with violence. There's no other way to do that."
It's also a mindset he hopes to instill because "when they leave the field, after walking off the 53 and a third, no matter who you played, they know they played you," he said.
"I'm in it with them," Frye added. "That's the way it was when I was a college coach, it's got to be that way as a pro coach. There's a center, two guards, and two tackles, and all five guys have to do their job. It's my job to make sure that I maximize who they are."
Frye's fingerprints have been on the Cardinals offensive line before he even arrived. Guard Jon Gaines II played for Frye when he coached at UCLA. Also, Paris Johnson Jr. was coached by Frye at Ohio State the year he was selected sixth overall by the Cardinals.
If there is any player that embodies Frye's philosophy, it'd be Johnson, and the excitement to share a position room again is at an all-time high.
"(Johnson) was ecstatic," Frye said. "There was a little bit of tears, little bit of excitement. Having a good relationship with him before and then we get a chance to get back and work together and improve and grow together."
