After a long wait, Jeter finds a home

Tri-State Sports & News Service

Scott Benzel received a phone call from Terry Smith in August 2014, a couple weeks before making his head coaching debut at Westminster College.

Smith, a former coach at Gateway High School, was trying to find a college for Todd Jeter, a defensive back he coached [at Gateway] and recruited when he took an assistant coaching job at Temple University in 2013.

Jeter accepted a scholarship to Temple and went through training camp, but the NCAA wouldn’t clear him to play.

“The NCAA would not accept one of the core classes I took in high school,” Jeter said. “It was devastating. I found out right before our first game. My position coach told me I would have started in that game, which was against Notre Dame.”

Jeter withdrew from Temple and returned home to Monroeville to contemplate his future.

“I had to sit out a whole year,” Jeter said. “It was a long wait. I tried talking to some other schools, but nothing was working out. That’s when coach Smith told me about Westminster and coach Benzel.”

Benzel was happy to accommodate Jeter, but wasn’t sure what to expect since he missed training camp and had been away from the sport for so long.

“Todd showed up one week before our first game,” Benzel said. “He watched our scrimmage on Saturday, then enrolled the following Monday. He only practiced three days, but it was immediately evident that Todd was one of our most talented athletes.”

Despite his late arrival, Jeter started every game at cornerback that year and was named second-team allPresidents’ Athletic Conference.

Jeter is now a senior and has started 32 consecutive games. The past two years, he was recognized on the PAC first team.

“We use a very aggressive blitzing defense that leaves our cornerbacks in one-onone coverage most of the time,” Benzel said. “We couldn’t run that defense without a guy like Todd. He is a physical corner who is also very smart. It’s very rare to see Todd miss or blow an assignment.”

Jeter has picked off 12 passes and recorded 36 pass defenses in his career, including two interceptions he returned for touchdowns in 2015. Last season, he tied for first in the PAC with 15 pass defenses and tied for second with four interceptions.

“You have to be both patient and aggressive when you cover receivers,” Jeter said. “Cornerbacks are at a disadvantage and not supposed to win the battle against receivers. I enjoy covering receivers and expect to win the battle.”

Jeter has received preseason accolades from three media outlets. He has been recognized on Division III preseason all-star teams by D3football.com, Lindy’s Sports and HERO Sports.

Westminster has a 17-5 record with two appearances in the ECAC Bowl over the past two seasons. Jeter and Benzel expect the success to continuethis season.

“I was part of coach Benzel’s first recruiting class,” Jeter said. “He played a lot of young players and many of them are back this year. We have all but two starters back on defense.”

“Our defense has ranked No. 1 in the PAC in points allowed the past two seasons,” Benzel said. “We’re expecting this year’s defense to be just as successful.”

Jeter will graduate in the spring with a degree in sports management, but is hoping to get a call from the NFL.

“My goal since I started playing in high school is to play in the NFL,” Jeter said. “I just want a chance.”