Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Spring Q&A: Diabate fired up for spring as usual
3/22/2021 5:00:00 PM | Football
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Spring practice is in full swing for Middle Tennessee, and while some of his veterans aren't suiting up, linebackers coach Siriki Diabate is just as fiery as usual on the practice field.
The former Syracuse linebacker is always one of the loudest voices you'll hear walking by a Blue Raiders practice, and he sets an example for his players by hustling from drill to drill, celebrating like his team is preparing for the Super Bowl, not a college spring practice.
It's obvious Diabate loves football, and he loves coaching it at Middle Tennessee, where he's been now for four seasons under defensive coordinator Scott Shafer, who was his head coach at Syracuse.
We sat down with the 30-year-old rising coaching star to talk about spring and getting to do what he loves: coach football.
After not having spring football last year, how's it been getting back into it this year?
"It's been extremely exciting. Obviously, you always want every opportunity you can get to get back on the field, but spring is huge, because that's when a lot of your development takes place. You spend a lot of time slowing things down and doing a lot of teaching, and guys really get a chance to learn and develop. Spring is huge for our guys."
Did not having spring practice and summer drills in 2020 make you realize how vital they are?
"Definitely. You see the guys who you're expecting to take that next step not be able to have a spring and summer and majority of fall camp, and they never take that next step. Then, they go out on game day and are kind of baptized by fire a little bit rather than having those reps before they get to that point. Everything is just learning on the fly in game situations. Spring and fall camp are huge to get those reps."
You have four linebackers — DQ Thomas, Johnathan Butler, Jalen Davis and Andrew Leak — not practicing this spring due to offseason surgeries. What does that mean for some of your younger, more inexperienced guys who now get to take some of the reps this spring?
"With some of those older guys being out due to some surgeries and injuries, that allows us to have some focus on our younger guys, guys who might not have gotten as many reps because of DQ Thomas, Johnathan Butler, Jalen Davis, guys like that. Now that those guys aren't going this spring, those younger guys can get a lot of reps and learn more and see themselves more on tape. You get to see the transformation happen for them, and that's exciting. Now, when our guys come back, you've learned a lot about the guys behind them and built up trust and depth in the room."
The defense brings back 11 starters and a few more role players from 2020. What's it like looking at all the names you have returning?
"That's definitely exciting, but at the same time, it's also like, OK, we got to go now. It kind of raises the bar, raises the standards. These guys know what they're doing, they know what to expect out of us and we know what to expect out of them. That's exciting to see how good we can be and how dominant of a defense we can be. The possibility of things gets you going, so every single day when you get out there, you push the limit a little more."
Coach Shafer was the head coach when you were at Syracuse, and you're now going into your fifth season as his linebackers coach here at MT. How has your relationship grown?
"We've obviously always had a great relationship. He's been a great mentor of mine, just teaching me a lot of different things on and off the field. I think we're starting to spend more time now just kind of meshing together different ideas and different thoughts as our defense expands, and that's fun. I always lean on him in terms of how to look at the game and how to see through his lens sometimes and make us better.
"Our relationship is growing as more of coaching partners, but at the end of the day, I know how much he appreciates and cares for me, and he knows how much I appreciate and care for him. We know our expectations for each other and both have high standards and a vision of having a dominant defense. That's our goal day in and day out."
You just turned 30, and also on the coaching staff you have Brent Dearmon (36), Mike Polly (37), Kenneth Gilstrap (29), Dustin Royston (30) and Brent Stockstill (26). That's a lot of young guys on the staff. How cool is that to be a part of?
"It's awesome. It definitely creates a lot of energy, because we're all energetic guys and we all want to be successful and care so much for these players. Day in and day out, we just attack it. Brent [Stockstill] and I work out in the mornings, so from there we try to set that mindset, and we know the players feed off that. We have to bring the energy so hopefully it rubs off on them so we have a team that brings that attitude and that mindset.
"But, that's extremely exciting having a lot of young guys. We learn a lot from each other and spend a lot of time giving each other feedback and stuff like that. That's the best part of it, and building relationships and getting closer, because we relate to each other and understand each other."
The former Syracuse linebacker is always one of the loudest voices you'll hear walking by a Blue Raiders practice, and he sets an example for his players by hustling from drill to drill, celebrating like his team is preparing for the Super Bowl, not a college spring practice.
It's obvious Diabate loves football, and he loves coaching it at Middle Tennessee, where he's been now for four seasons under defensive coordinator Scott Shafer, who was his head coach at Syracuse.
We sat down with the 30-year-old rising coaching star to talk about spring and getting to do what he loves: coach football.
After not having spring football last year, how's it been getting back into it this year?
"It's been extremely exciting. Obviously, you always want every opportunity you can get to get back on the field, but spring is huge, because that's when a lot of your development takes place. You spend a lot of time slowing things down and doing a lot of teaching, and guys really get a chance to learn and develop. Spring is huge for our guys."
Did not having spring practice and summer drills in 2020 make you realize how vital they are?
"Definitely. You see the guys who you're expecting to take that next step not be able to have a spring and summer and majority of fall camp, and they never take that next step. Then, they go out on game day and are kind of baptized by fire a little bit rather than having those reps before they get to that point. Everything is just learning on the fly in game situations. Spring and fall camp are huge to get those reps."
You have four linebackers — DQ Thomas, Johnathan Butler, Jalen Davis and Andrew Leak — not practicing this spring due to offseason surgeries. What does that mean for some of your younger, more inexperienced guys who now get to take some of the reps this spring?
"With some of those older guys being out due to some surgeries and injuries, that allows us to have some focus on our younger guys, guys who might not have gotten as many reps because of DQ Thomas, Johnathan Butler, Jalen Davis, guys like that. Now that those guys aren't going this spring, those younger guys can get a lot of reps and learn more and see themselves more on tape. You get to see the transformation happen for them, and that's exciting. Now, when our guys come back, you've learned a lot about the guys behind them and built up trust and depth in the room."
The defense brings back 11 starters and a few more role players from 2020. What's it like looking at all the names you have returning?
"That's definitely exciting, but at the same time, it's also like, OK, we got to go now. It kind of raises the bar, raises the standards. These guys know what they're doing, they know what to expect out of us and we know what to expect out of them. That's exciting to see how good we can be and how dominant of a defense we can be. The possibility of things gets you going, so every single day when you get out there, you push the limit a little more."
Coach Shafer was the head coach when you were at Syracuse, and you're now going into your fifth season as his linebackers coach here at MT. How has your relationship grown?
"We've obviously always had a great relationship. He's been a great mentor of mine, just teaching me a lot of different things on and off the field. I think we're starting to spend more time now just kind of meshing together different ideas and different thoughts as our defense expands, and that's fun. I always lean on him in terms of how to look at the game and how to see through his lens sometimes and make us better.
"Our relationship is growing as more of coaching partners, but at the end of the day, I know how much he appreciates and cares for me, and he knows how much I appreciate and care for him. We know our expectations for each other and both have high standards and a vision of having a dominant defense. That's our goal day in and day out."
You just turned 30, and also on the coaching staff you have Brent Dearmon (36), Mike Polly (37), Kenneth Gilstrap (29), Dustin Royston (30) and Brent Stockstill (26). That's a lot of young guys on the staff. How cool is that to be a part of?
"It's awesome. It definitely creates a lot of energy, because we're all energetic guys and we all want to be successful and care so much for these players. Day in and day out, we just attack it. Brent [Stockstill] and I work out in the mornings, so from there we try to set that mindset, and we know the players feed off that. We have to bring the energy so hopefully it rubs off on them so we have a team that brings that attitude and that mindset.
"But, that's extremely exciting having a lot of young guys. We learn a lot from each other and spend a lot of time giving each other feedback and stuff like that. That's the best part of it, and building relationships and getting closer, because we relate to each other and understand each other."
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