By Cody Stark
Assistant Sports Editor
HUNTSVILLE —
Last season, the Sam Houston State defense went through a lot of growing pains under new coordinator Scott Stoker.
The former Northwestern State head coach brought his blitz-heavy scheme with him to Huntsville, and at times, the young Bearkats looked like fish out of water with a number of busted assignments which led to big plays for the opposing offenses.
But there was one unit that stood out above the rest and it very well could be Sam Houston’s deepest and most talented group in 2010.
The Bearkats linebacking corp has to replace All-Southland Conference performer Luke McCall, the guy who anchored the defense the past two seasons. Not a problem.
All-SLC junior Will Henry will lead a unit which will see junior Kash David move into the other starting role in the 4-2-5 defense. Sophomores Darius Taylor and Eric Fieilo will serve as the primary backups and both are looking to build off solid freshman campaigns.
“I think the big thing is chemistry,” Stoker said Wednesday morning. “We have four guys that there are not a whole lot of differences between them starting-wise. Those guys will play a lot. They have been under the system for a year, and as far as the checks, we are so much further ahead than we were last year at making the right reads. That is a big factor among those linebackers.”
Sam Houston’s defense should show a lot of improvement in year two under Stoker. The secondary started three freshmen at times last season and now those guys have a much better grasp of what is going on.
About the only question is on the defensive front, but much of the success falls on the linebackers because they are the ones who are responsible for calling out changes and making sure everyone is in the right spot.
The linebackers are the quarterbacks of the defense, and Henry, David, Taylor and Fieilo seem to have a pretty good idea of what is going on.
“Linebacker-wise, we really have our plays down and everything down real good,” said Henry who led the team in tackles for a loss (11) last season. “Even our backups, they have a real good knowledge of what is going on too. We work hard in practice every day because any of us is capable of starting.”
Depth is why this is such a strong position for the Bearkats. Henry, well, he has a nose for getting to the football. David has a ton of potential and he finally gets his chance to shine after serving as a backup the past two years.
Taylor and Fieilo combined for 31 tackles off the bench in 2009, and after getting thrown in the fire as true freshmen, have a valuable year of experience under their belt.
“It’s coming along great,” David said. “Everyone is doing a lot better than a year ago. It is starting to become mostly memory now and it is mostly clicking on all cylinders. Our two-deep is as strong as I have ever seen it in the two years I have been here.”
With two juniors and two sophomores slated to take the majority of the snaps this season, which gives the newcomers plenty of time to grow in the system, the Bearkat linebackers have the chance to be one of the best units in the SLC for years to come.
“Those guys have to make all the calls and all the checks and I have four guys right now that I trust can do that,” Stoker added. “They are the ones responsible for everyone lining up right and that is 90 percent of the success your defense is going to have right there. I think right now, and the way we have continued to progress, our linebackers have done a great job in that aspect.”
