TCU football notebook: Offensive line starting to jell in new scheme
With the hiring of offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis and the return of key pieces up front, TCU football entered the spring optimistic about the potential of the offensive line.
As the Horned Frogs enter the final stretch of spring camp, the offensive line has mostly lived up to the pre-spring expectations.
The unit is more physical, deeper and has quickly picked up Sammis’ more pro-style offense. The emergence of young offensive lineman like tackle Witten Van Hoy and Killian Registe has also been a positive development as TCU could enter fall camp with a rotation of 10 playable offensive linemen.
Van Hoy says the offensive line is pleased with its growth during camp, but still believes the unit has a ways to go before reaching its potential.
“The offensive line is coming along,” Van Hoy said Monday. “We’re kind of taking it day by day. We’re learning a lot. We’re just being poised and learning where we need to improve everyday working out here and going through our individual drills. So it’s been good, a lot of improvement.”
Van Hoy is a 6-foot-6 sophomore out of Benton, Louisiana who played in all 13 games last season. While most of his reps were on special teams, Van Hoy said he was grateful for the early playing time.
“I learned a lot last year, I had a lot of welcome to college football moments, I kind of got put on my butt a couple of times,” Van Hoy said. “But it was good, I learned it’s a very quick transition from school to college, it’s not even close to high school. I had to mature up and grow a little bit. It went good, I learned a lot of maturity and (that) you got to be more physical than you think you need to.”
Registe also stands at 6-6 and was able to get some playing time against BYU and Cincinnati. The former Keller High standout has spent most of the spring at guard, but also got some reps in on Monday at right tackle.
Tackle is the position Registe played in high school, but there hasn’t been an issue transitioning to guard. In fact his ability to play both could help him earn a spot in the rotation.
“I started at right tackle in high school, but when I got here it was just getting in at guard to get reps,” Registe said Saturday. “I’ve totaly settled into it, it’s a different type of play style that I’ve grown to love. It’s something you have to get used to, the contact is instant, but I definitely feel like I’m getting better at it.”
Both players have enjoyed the shift to Sammis’ scheme, which is more pro-style compared to former OC Kendal Briles’ up-tempo, spread offense.
It requires more of the offensive line in the run game from a mobility standpoint, but that’s led to more consistency in the offensive line creating running lanes for running backs like Jeremy Payne and Landon Walker.
“The new offense is different, but different in a good way,” Registe said. “I think it matches me more with just how we’ve been doing things. We’re definitely getting used to it, but we’re seeing good things out of it and I can’t wait to keep building on it.”
Van Hoy has also enjoyed seeing the potential of the new offense now that he’s become more accustomed to what the system requires physically from the offensive line.
“It’s a lot of fun, we’re a big outside zone team, and it’s been great,” Van Hoy said. “I had to get conditioned a little bit more, and it’s been a lot of fun just pulling, and it gives us a lot more opportunities to put guys on the ground. This O-line, we’re physical and willing to put anybody in the ground.”
Another thing helping the development of TCU’s offensive line is the return of alumni like Steve Avila. Avila was an All-American guard during TCU’s run to the national championship game in 2022 and currently plays for the Los Angeles Rams.
Getting tips from Avila and other former Horned Frogs has been a highlight for Registe and Van Hoy.
“It’s one of the coolest things I’ve been around,” Registe said. “Whenever I visited here during spring practices last year, you would kind of see them around, but I didn’t know they were really in there watching film with us. They want to go through drills with us. They’re really helping us with our technique, and you can tell how much they care and how much it means to them to be a Horned Frog.”
With a new offensive scheme tailored to their skill set plus former stars like Avila pouring into them, TCU’s young core of offensive line could be the key in the entire unit taking a major step forward in 2026.
This story was originally published April 13, 2026 at 2:27 PM.
