Cole Strange kept asking his coaches: “Where’s my ax?”
The New England Patriots first-round pick and former UT Chattanooga guard had won the ax for, essentially, the nastiest blocking on the team during the course of the 2019 season. Mocs offensive coordinator Joe Pizzo introduced the ax after struggling to get his players to cut block, a particularly painful form of blocking where the lineman or tight end throws himself at the legs of the defensive lineman in hopes of cutting him to the ground. It’s typical for tackles to perform the most cut blocks in a game and yet somehow Strange, a guard, finished first in cut blocks in every single game. He was at the top of the heap among his peers — perhaps because he was literally willing to end up at the bottom of the heap of bodies during the games.
Strange quickly clinched winning the ax at the end of the season.
