Linebackers bring speed
By C.J. Moore
Originally published 02:30 p.m., August 26, 2008
Updated 02:30 p.m., August 26, 2008
The top linebackers for Emporia State this season learned the defense from several different vantage points last season.
Junior Katrel Larkins split time between safety, wide receiver and linebacker, and will move exclusively to linebacker this season. Braxton Owens and James Jones, the other two likely starters, took their redshirts and watched from the sideline. Sophomore Nathan Linsey, who is challenging for a starting spot, also spent a lot of time watching from the sideline because of an ankle injury.
“Watching from the sidelines, I got to see the mistakes that were made,” Linsey said. “In practice, I got to be kind of a coach, run around and help guys that backed me up and were in there now, because they moved Blake (Ringwall) down to linebacker from safety and he didn’t really know what was going on. So I got to be kind of a coach and help him out, and that helped me kind of learn the system a little bit better too.”
Last season there was a revolving door at linebacker because of injuries. This year everyone other than Blake Ringwall starts the year healthy and new linebackers coach J.J. Milanovich should have a more consistent rotation to work with.
Ringwall was the team’s top linebacker in 2007, but he is expected to miss time this year after offseason knee surgery. Ringwall was an honorable mention All-MIAA and led the Hornets with 11 tackles for a loss and 4.5 sacks. He also was third on the team in tackles with 78 in just ten games.
Other linebackers who return with experience include sophomore David Diener, junior Marcus Mead and senior John Waechter. Diener started eight game in ’07 and had 80 tackles. Mead appeared in eight games and Waechter has been one of the top special teams players for the Hornets.
What the starters lack in inexperience, they make up for in confidence.
“As a defensive unit, I think we’re going to be in the top three, I’m predicting, just because we have a lot of talent and we’ve got a lot of speed and a lot of youth, and we’re ready,” Larkins said.
Owens added, “For this defense, it’s time to step up and change the whole program. In this one year, I want people to know who we are.”
All the talk does not stop with the players. Milanovich joins the coaching staff after four years as a student assistant at Slippery Rock University, a Division II school in Pennsylvania. The young coach has high expectations for his linebackers and has seen a noticeable difference from watching tape from last year.
“Speed. Sideline to sideline, they are fast,” Milanovich said. “They want to hit you when they get there too. It’s not a basketball on turf kind of mentality these kids have. These young men get after it. They want to be there and when they get there, they get there with an attitude.”
The ESU linebackers have also brought a change in attitude, and Larkins said that should be the difference in the defense helping move this team up the MIAA ladder.
“The attitude this year is more positive,” Larkins said. “When I first came here — no disrespect to other coaches — but we were a little soft and had a soft mind about things. But with our coaching staff, K.G. (Ken Gordon) and (Spence) Nowinsky, they got us on top of it. You’ve got to have the physical mentality to play physical ball, because physical teams win games.”