Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
“We’ve got to drive the bus” — Veteran Defensive Line sets tone in Spring Practice
3/23/2022 6:00:00 PM | Football
The Defensive Line is the only unit to return their entire two-deep from a season ago
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — It's late on a windy Tuesday afternoon, so windy the football team's video staff is not shooting quite as high in the air as they normally do in case of wind gusts. And just before teams, while their teammates are working through reads and coverages in skeleton drills, the offensive line and defensive line go to work.
Bullrushes, speed rushes, stunts, one on one. One bull rush knocks the offensive tackle back, nearly on the ground. The offensive line strikes back next with a suffocating interior block. At the end of practice, and particularly at the end of teams, the defensive line continues to win most of the reps.
To be expected, coach Tommy West notes, given they have the numbers in the spring and the offensive line doesn't.
"Spring is going smooth," defensive lineman Zaylin Wood said. "We're really not teaching anybody because everyone's been here. Everybody knows everything."
It's not hard to see why early on in spring ball, it's the defensive line setting the tone for the defense amid the usual spring practice the Blue Raiders are undergoing this offseason. Amid an offseason that's seen a plethora of players leave the program due to graduation or the transfer portal, Coach West's defensive line group returns the entire two-deep from a season ago.
All-conference defensive end Jordan Ferguson? Back. Defensive tackles Marley Cook and Wood, both of whom joined Ferg in last year's "Heavy D" package on offense? Back. Richard Kinley, Ralph Mency, Ja'Kerrius Wyatt, Jordan Branch, Jorden Starling. All back for the Blue Raiders.
Amid a spring camp for a program that's experiencing turnover from an upperclassmen-heavy roster a season ago, that kind of continuity, particularly given the production MT received in the trenches last year, has been a boon for a team in transition elsewhere. Ferguson raised the most eyebrows, of course, with his 9.0 sacks last year and 16.5 tackles for loss. But much of the defensive line's prowess in eating up blocks allowed players like DQ Thomas and Reed Blankenship to create havoc in the backfield.
"We've got to drive the bus, that's our motto," West said. "We're older, we're veterans, we know the deal and we'll have some new guys at linebacker and some new guys behind us. So we've got to be really good up front and kind of set the tone."
West said a lot of the focus for his group early on has been the fundamentals, because so much of the scheme work has already been absorbed by the group. But even younger players, like redshirt freshman Damonte Smith, or newcomers, like Louisville transfer Ja'Darien Boykin, are making great strides thanks to that veteran leadership.
West said during August camp last year that 2021's defensive line room might be the best position group he's ever been around. And the fact that he has all of them back again in 2022? The veteran coach's smile was hard to contain as he thought about that fact.
"I got every one of them back, it's awesome," West said. "Because not only are they good players, I've had good players (at) a lot of places. But these are good players and they're great people. They're serious about football, and that makes it fun to coach, when you've got good guys that want to learn, they listen, they try to do it. It's a lot of fun, really."
But while the scheme is going smoothly, Ferguson said that hasn't dropped the intensity of the group's attention to detail.
"We get to work on stuff that we might be good at, but everything needs polish, everything can get fixed," Ferguson said. "Nothing's ever too good to get better. It's just a blessing to help the younger guys."
Bullrushes, speed rushes, stunts, one on one. One bull rush knocks the offensive tackle back, nearly on the ground. The offensive line strikes back next with a suffocating interior block. At the end of practice, and particularly at the end of teams, the defensive line continues to win most of the reps.
To be expected, coach Tommy West notes, given they have the numbers in the spring and the offensive line doesn't.
"Spring is going smooth," defensive lineman Zaylin Wood said. "We're really not teaching anybody because everyone's been here. Everybody knows everything."
It's not hard to see why early on in spring ball, it's the defensive line setting the tone for the defense amid the usual spring practice the Blue Raiders are undergoing this offseason. Amid an offseason that's seen a plethora of players leave the program due to graduation or the transfer portal, Coach West's defensive line group returns the entire two-deep from a season ago.
All-conference defensive end Jordan Ferguson? Back. Defensive tackles Marley Cook and Wood, both of whom joined Ferg in last year's "Heavy D" package on offense? Back. Richard Kinley, Ralph Mency, Ja'Kerrius Wyatt, Jordan Branch, Jorden Starling. All back for the Blue Raiders.
Amid a spring camp for a program that's experiencing turnover from an upperclassmen-heavy roster a season ago, that kind of continuity, particularly given the production MT received in the trenches last year, has been a boon for a team in transition elsewhere. Ferguson raised the most eyebrows, of course, with his 9.0 sacks last year and 16.5 tackles for loss. But much of the defensive line's prowess in eating up blocks allowed players like DQ Thomas and Reed Blankenship to create havoc in the backfield.
"We've got to drive the bus, that's our motto," West said. "We're older, we're veterans, we know the deal and we'll have some new guys at linebacker and some new guys behind us. So we've got to be really good up front and kind of set the tone."
West said a lot of the focus for his group early on has been the fundamentals, because so much of the scheme work has already been absorbed by the group. But even younger players, like redshirt freshman Damonte Smith, or newcomers, like Louisville transfer Ja'Darien Boykin, are making great strides thanks to that veteran leadership.
West said during August camp last year that 2021's defensive line room might be the best position group he's ever been around. And the fact that he has all of them back again in 2022? The veteran coach's smile was hard to contain as he thought about that fact.
"I got every one of them back, it's awesome," West said. "Because not only are they good players, I've had good players (at) a lot of places. But these are good players and they're great people. They're serious about football, and that makes it fun to coach, when you've got good guys that want to learn, they listen, they try to do it. It's a lot of fun, really."
But while the scheme is going smoothly, Ferguson said that hasn't dropped the intensity of the group's attention to detail.
"We get to work on stuff that we might be good at, but everything needs polish, everything can get fixed," Ferguson said. "Nothing's ever too good to get better. It's just a blessing to help the younger guys."
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