By JONATHAN GANZ
The Hall of Fame Bowl in Tampa last year offered most players the chance to relax in the sun before playing a postseason game. But for junior Patrick Mannelly it meant a chance to start over.
Beginning with bowl practices in Tampa, Mannelly switched sides of the football. He moved from defensive end to the offensive line after having seen little action throughout two seasons.
"[Blue Devil offensive coordinator John] Zernhelt used to joke with me all the time," Mannelly said. "He used to tell me, `You'd make a great offensive lineman.' I thought he was joking, but then he told me right before the bowl that they actually wanted me to move.
"He showed me that it was going to give me a better chance to play, and that I might have a chance to start. Obviously it's come true. So I've enjoyed the switch."
Mannelly played both sides of the football at Marist High School in Atlanta, and he was recruited on both the offensive and defensive line. But he was a reserve at defensive end for his first two years. He never truly lost contact with the offensive side of the ball at college, however.
He is Duke's long snapper for all punts. Blue Devil head coach Fred Goldsmith says that Mannelly may be the best long snapper that he has ever seen.
But in order to make the shift, Mannelly had to rededicate himself to the sport. He gained 20 pounds over the summer bulking up.
Mannelly couldn't make the switch merely on his own. Senior left tackle Jon Merrill has taken him under his wing--making sure that the transition is as smooth as possible.
"He's stepped in and he has really good fundamentals," Merrill said. "He had the basics down, and he's a really good athlete. I'm just making sure that he knows all the right reads for the pass plays and run plays."
A major difference between the offensive and defensive lines is in assignments. Rather than trying to get past someone, Mannelly is now trying to contain opponents.
"I like knowing what I have to do--needing to make only one or two reads," Mannelly said. "On defense there was too much to worry about."
A major concern when he made the switch was how many mistakes he would make early in the season. But he has been reasonably solid in his first two games, starting at left guard. Mannelly feels comfortable there, and knows he still has plenty to learn.
"He brings a lot of consistency to the team," Zernhelt said. "The whole key when you move a guy to a new position is whether he's going to be a guy who you have to live with making four to five mistakes a game. That's when it will cost you, but Patrick hasn't done that at all."
In fact, Mannelly has gelled with the offensive line right away. The rest of the line already has confidence in him.
"Knowing that you've got somebody beside you that knows what's going on every play really helps," Merrill said. "If the whole offensive line doesn't function together as one big group then we're not going to have any success. You have to be able to work well with each other."
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