Vince Wilfork makes his living trying to make offensive linemen look silly, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a lot of respect for the position. The Pro Bowl defensive lineman holds his offensive teammates in very high regard – especially the guy who coaches them.
"Dante [Scarnecchia], he's a small guy, but I tell you what, he's a tough son of a gun," Wilfork said. "I love him like he's my coach. Every offensive line coach that I've known at every level, they love their offensive linemen and their offensive linemen love them. He's the only one who can yell at them, I'll tell you that. It will always be like that."
As Wilfork continued to talk about the battles he has going against the likes of Logan Mankins, Dan Connolly and Brian Waters in practice, the subject came back to Scarnecchia. A follow up question asked what happens if someone else other than Scarnecchia tries to yell at the big guys and Wilfork had a big laugh.
"I didn't try to yell at him but Bill [Belichick] tried, other coaches tried. Dante is like, 'leave them alone.' But Bill likes that stuff. He laughs. He does stuff sometimes just to get a remark that he'll know is coming but he's looking for the team to laugh or loosen up.
"When you're dealing with the offensive line, if you're not Scar you can't say anything to him. Point blank. The offensive line is the closest bunch on the football team. It always seems like that."
Vince Wilfork makes his living trying to make offensive linemen look silly, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a lot of respect for the position. The Pro Bowl defensive lineman holds his offensive teammates in very high regard – especially the guy who coaches them.
"Dante [Scarnecchia], he's a small guy, but I tell you what, he's a tough son of a gun," Wilfork said. "I love him like he's my coach. Every offensive line coach that I've known at every level, they love their offensive linemen and their offensive linemen love them. He's the only one who can yell at them, I'll tell you that. It will always be like that."
As Wilfork continued to talk about the battles he has going against the likes of Logan Mankins, Dan Connolly and Brian Waters in practice, the subject came back to Scarnecchia. A follow up question asked what happens if someone else other than Scarnecchia tries to yell at the big guys and Wilfork had a big laugh.
"I didn't try to yell at him but Bill [Belichick] tried, other coaches tried. Dante is like, 'leave them alone.' But Bill likes that stuff. He laughs. He does stuff sometimes just to get a remark that he'll know is coming but he's looking for the team to laugh or loosen up.
"When you're dealing with the offensive line, if you're not Scar you can't say anything to him. Point blank. The offensive line is the closest bunch on the football team. It always seems like that."
