Hard work paying off for Shea product Mbye
Defensive back making mark in Kingston
KINGSTON — Ask URI football coach Jim Fleming if he’s feeling increased pressure to win in Year 5 of his tenure and you’ll get a simple response: No. He may be in the final year of his contract with the school, sporting a total of seven wins to date, but his confidence in his team - and in himself - has yet to waver. “They ain’t gonna get anybody better than me,” he said Thursday, following the completion of the second day of camp. “It is what it is. I don’t feel any more pressure. I’m excited about what we have in front of us. Nobody is more disappointed about not producing the victories than I am.” Fleming and the Rams opened the 2018 preseason with two days of no-pad, non-contact sessions. It may only be the second day of practice for the team, but this is where the foundation for the upcoming season is laid. Entire collegiate careers can be made - or broken - in the sweltering days of summer. Just look at Momodou Mbye. Three seasons ago, the former Shea standout was sitting at home on the second day of camp. Then, the phone rang.
“Momodou, we pulled him in [three years ago],” recalled Fleming. “He was in Providence, we had an opening on the camp roster two days into camp. He came down with one duffel bag within two or three hours. He stuck it and earned a scholarship.” Fleming saw the hard work and dedication put in by the 6-foot secondary player, and gave him a chance. Mbye has made the most of it, playing all 11 games in each of the last two seasons. He was a true ball-hawk a year ago, scooping up three fumbles and picking off a pair of passes. “Keep working,” Mbye said, of the lesson to be taken away from his story. “Your work never goes unnoticed. In high school, I was always going to the field [to practice on my own] and I felt like no one ever noticed. My high school principal called me up on awards night and I thought, ‘wow, I guess someone noticed’.” “He’s the perfect example,” of a local kid done right, said Fleming. “It’s something I’m most disappointed in. We’ve given opportunities to Rhode Island kids to join the team. We’ve been disappointed that there’s a number of players with good potential from Rhode Island that have not stayed long enough to realize what Momodou has been able to achieve.” Even with the success last year, Mbye felt he could have had a better campaign. His season got off on the wrong foot with a camp injury that forced him to enter game action without the full breadth of preseason preparation behind him. “I’m feeling a lot more positive and a lot more healthy,” this year, he said. “I’m feeling faster. Coming in after workouts [last year], I had an injury. Broke my heart a little bit [that I couldn’t] work with the team. Worked with it [since then], now I feel as strong as ever.” The Pawtucket native hopes to lead a resurgent year for a secondary that has been victimized a little too commonly in recent years. The Rams were ninth in passing defense last year in the CAA, and their eight interceptions were the third fewest in the conference. “Secondary is looking really good,” so far this year, Mbye said. “We’ve always had a good secondary, but now I feel as if we’re focused on one goal. We all have that same mindset. We help each other up, we’re tight. We’re helping each other get better every day.” Mbye had an interception for a touchdown during the day’s drills, but it was mostly an even affair that fea- tured a host of potential contributors. While the top end of the receiver rotation has been sewn up for the past few years, the Rams have a hole at running back and plenty of options with which to fill it. The team enters camp with six running backs on roster: Zoe Bryant Jr., Matt Pires (a converted WR), Naim Jones, Justice Antrum, Pawtucket’s Prince Asiedu-Johnson and Conor Dowd. Pires blew by the defense on a few occasions on Thursday, showing his special teams skills could potentially translate to his new position. “We have a host of guys and we have to figure out how it’s going to be,” Fleming said. “I like what I’ve seen out of [Zoe]. Naim has to get his legs underneath him. When we get the pads on, it will be a even bigger opportunity for the big backs. Prince keeps showing up and Justice has had his moments. We’ll see how it plays out. If we have to, we’ll do running back by committee.” Fleming did indicate that he would prefer that one of the six backs puts some distance between himself and the pack. The Rams will continue to practice until the end of August. There will be two preseason scrimmages, on August 11 and 20. The regular season kicks off on the road, against Delaware on August 30.