Dre Doiron brings versatility to the offensive line

When an offensive lineman transfers to a new school there is going to be an adjustment period. But with Dre Doiron that learning curve was much smaller.

Doiron transferred from Buffalo where he got a taste of the wide zone blocking scheme under Scott Fuchs. He played for a season under Fuchs at Buffalo while he redshirted. Fuchs left for Kansas and last season Doiron started 10 games for Buffalo.

“It's been a smooth transition,” he said. “A lot of the things are similar to what I learned my freshman year of college. A lot of it's just kind of been picking it up and playing fast. Learning how to play around with the guys around you, that's a big thing in the offensive line. I think it's been a pretty smooth transition.”

He has blended in well with the offensive line since he arrived in the summer.

“It's been amazing,” he said. “The guys in the locker room are doing a wonderful job of welcoming me in. The resources we have here is just amazing.”

During fall camp Doiron played every position on the offensive line. Before he reported in the summer, he told Jayhawk Slant he expected to get snaps at center.

“It's been fun,” he said about play center. “I wouldn't say difficult, but it's new. It's new, again, after playing a whole season at right tackle. But Mike (Novitsky) has been doing a great job staying on me and helping me out, giving me the little nuances and tricks that he's learned over the last three to four years.”

The Jayhawks return four starters on the line along with several players who have been in the program. Combine that with transfers like Doiron and Dominick Puni, and Doiron has seen development and good chemistry.

“I think it's definitely a great unit,” he said. “We fight and we're connected. I feel like that's a huge part of offensive line play is connection. And the chemistry we've built, they had it in the spring, but since I've got here in the fall, over the last three weeks, four weeks of fall camp, every day has been getting better. Hard-working group, very hard-working group. No one complains about reps, or the heat, or things like that you could see in an offensive line. It's just head down and work and this is what we got to do, so we're going to do it.”

See more from Doiron in our interview.