Unfortunately, many football fans are guilty of reducing offensive linemen to slow meat shields whose sole job is to protect the quarterback. That shallow train of thought might just make Penn State football’s offensive line coach, Ryan Clanton, boil over.

While it’s undeniable that an unprecedented amount of physical strength, technique, and nuance is required for each position on the offensive line, Clanton believes that mentality is above all.

“You hear people all the time talking about ‘being a dog’. Well, for us, it’s a non-negotiable. You have to have that mentality, and if you don’t have it, you’d better find it,” he said during weekly media availability.

The Bakersfield, California, native did not start playing football until his junior year of high school, which led him to play junior college ball at City College of San Francisco, where he lived in a garage for his two seasons with the program. Despite his less-than-ideal living situation, Clanton earned Junior College All-America honors and climbed his way to a D-I program with the Oregon Ducks, where he was a team captain in 2012. He’s a living testament to the fact that tenacious effort can move any obstacle out of the way, whether that’s sleeping in a garage or blocking a 300-pound defensive tackle.

Now, Clanton is carrying that same mentality with him to Penn State, where he’s dishing it out to the next generation of offensive linemen.

“A big part of it is confidence. It’s our job to get those guys confident, to have that mentality. But you’ve got to be violent, you got to want to be violent, you’ve got to want to run through somebody’s face. That’s a big part about playing [offensive line].”

Clanton also iterated that he wants his unit to be enforcers, not protectors.

“At some places, [offensive linemen] are a human shield, just standing in front of the quarterback or in front of the running back. Or, you can be the hammer,” he said.

Just two practices into the contact-forbidden spring ball period, some of his players are already showing that, including redshirt-freshman Malachi Goodman, who “punched” Clanton in the chest during a striking drill on Thursday.

“He put his hands through my heart today, hard. I probably bruised.”

Despite the inadvertent shot he took from Goodman, Clanton had nothing but praise for the young offensive tackle, saying, “He can glide, he’s long, he’s aggressive, and he’s smart. He does a good job of retaining information and then putting it out there on the field.”

According to Clanton, the 6’6″ 330-pounder lowered his body fat percentage over the offseason, gaining noticeable solid muscle.

Clanton also mentioned Garrett Sexton, Cooper Cousins, and Iowa State transfer Trevor Buhr as linemen with a “dog mentality,” but nobody in the unit is shying away from contact.

“We want you to make a business decision when you’re holding the bag at practice, that it’s going to be a real live rep. There’s going to be a finish to it,” Clanton said.

Cousins, an interior offensive lineman, says he loves Clanton’s philosophy, and when asked what it means to have that dog mentality, he didn’t bite his tongue.

“Just coming into work every single day, grinding with your group, moving people off the ball, getting your head in the block, and just moving people 15-20 yards off the ball, throwing them on the ground, talking a little crap,” Cousins said.

As for the best “crap-talker” on the team, Cousins pointed to Sexton.

Yes, the propensity for violence is an essential mental skill, but make no mistake: Clanton wants his guys to be sharp, too. That starts with challenging them in practice, where he forces his players to get reps at both sides of the offensive formation.

“If you play the opposite side, you can’t memorize your job and responsibility,” Clanton said. “You have to fully understand the system, and that’s a big part of how we instill confidence in these guys.”

Buhr, who Clanton coached at Iowa State for three seasons, reinforced his approach, saying, “[Clanton] teaches you about every aspect of football. We’ll learn about defenses, coverages, all sorts of stuff, and our formations. He’s really detailed in teaching about football.”

With the mental expectations set, all that remains is to congeal as a unit on the field, a process that Buhr says has already begun.

“I feel like we’ve built a lot of chemistry really fast,” Buhr said. “Everyone in there works hard. Everyone in there is really smart about football, so it was really easy to get together, go over the plays, go over the playbook, and learn and build that trust and chemistry we need to go out there as a unit.”

Cousins added that the group is grinding for each other, rather than for individual goals, and complimented Clanton’s ability to unify everyone in such a short time. He mentioned “driving your man off the ball,” “getting on your blocks,” and “making our running backs score” as key concepts the group has honed in on thus far.

With spring ball underway, the unit is missing one of its best linemen, Anthony Donkoh, who is recovering from an unspecified medical procedure. But based on his position coach’s analysis, expect the redshirt junior to slide into one of the tackle positions upon return.

“You can really see his body and the way his body is built. Everything about his body is a tackle body,” said Clanton. “He’s got super long legs, long arms. He’s extremely strong, he’s quick, he’s athletic, and he never really loses leverage.”

There’s a ton of ball to be played, but expect Clanton and this Penn State offensive line room to be an anchor for the program this upcoming season.