Sean Rhyan smiled when he realized he was being asked about his former offensive line coach, Justin Frye, during his press conference at the NFL Scouting Combine.
“I love Coach Frye,” Rhyan said while meeting with the media on Thursday. “He’s a fantastic coach.”
Rhyan was coached for his entire three-year career at UCLA by Frye, who left his post as the Bruins’ offensive coordinator and offensive line coach in January to become Ohio State’s associate head coach for offense and offensive line coach. Frye helped Rhyan become a Freshman All-American in 2019 and a first-team All-Pac-12 offensive lineman in 2021 as the Bruins’ starting left tackle, and Rhyan is now projected to be an early- to middle-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft.
Frye became Rhyan’s toughest critic as soon as he arrived on campus, and Rhyan says that played a crucial role in his rapid success.
“He coaches you hard, and I think that’s very important as a player,” Rhyan said. “Especially as a young player going into UCLA and starting as a freshman. Sometimes you need to get told things you don’t want to hear, but other than that, he’s gonna coach you hard and he’s gonna get you to the point where you need to be in order to be successful and build teams to win games.”
Rhyan says Frye didn’t sugarcoat anything when coaching his players at UCLA, but at the same time, he knew how to alter his coaching style to connect with each of his individual players.
“He’s extremely honest, and he’s a well-spoken person and he is able to talk to you in a way that goes with your personality,” Rhyan said. “He has a great feel for each individual player he has in his O-line room, and with that, he’s able to have those hard conversations with you.”
Rhyan believes Ohio State’s offensive linemen will love playing for Frye, too, as long as they’re willing to take his constructive criticism.
“He’s gonna coach you hard, and you’re gonna learn to love him,” Rhyan said. “He’s a great coach, he’s tough, but he’s a great guy as well.”
Coach em hard, Love em hard!! #MyGuys
— Justin Frye (@CoachJFrye) March 3, 2022
None of that caught Rhyan by surprise when he arrived at UCLA, though, as Frye’s honest brand of coaching was part of what convinced Rhyan – the top recruit Frye landed at UCLA as the No. 74 overall prospect in the class of 2019 – to choose to play for the Bruins.
“He just told me how it was,” Rhyan said of playing for Frye. “He was honest with me, he wouldn’t sugarcoat anything and even before I was committed, he was just telling me how it was. And I like that. Honesty is the best policy, so that’s why I love Coach Frye and I built a fantastic relationship with him.”
“He coaches you hard, and I think that’s very important as a player.”– Former UCLA offensive lineman Sean Rhyan on Justin Frye
With Frye leading the way, UCLA had one of the top rushing offenses in the country in each of Rhyan’s final two seasons in Westwood, as the Bruins ranked 12th in the country in rushing yards per game in 2020 (230.6) and 14th in the same category in 2021 (215.1). Rhyan also personally excelled in pass protection, allowing just two sacks over the course of his three-year UCLA career, according to Pro Football Focus.
The Bruins’ offense featured plenty of creative running plays with Frye at the helm, and Rhyan says the reason why they were able to do that effectively was because Frye trusted his offensive linemen to execute those plays while also teaching them those plays in a way that made them easy to learn.
“They knew that the O-line was capable of understanding and executing these complex run plays,” Rhyan said. “They look complex but in reality, once you break it down, they’re pretty simple.”
Although Rhyan is now taking the next step in his football career and Frye is now coaching a new group of offensive linemen in Columbus, Rhyan says he has continued to keep in touch with Frye, and Rhyan believes everything he learned from Frye over the last three years will help him continue to succeed at the next level.
“I think the way that they taught us and instilled a nice base for us is gonna help not only me but my fellow UCLA teammates in understanding and getting the NFL playbook down easier,” Rhyan said.