The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Young linebackers ready to take lead
STORRS — When UConn football coach Randy Edsall introduced the program’s leadership council in his first season back at the helm, nine of the 10 appointed leaders were either juniors or seniors.
The 2018 leadership council has grown to 13 players but like the UConn squad the council is a bit on the younger side of things, featuring four players who made their Husky debuts during the 2017 season and two others who have yet to play a snap at UConn.
No position better illustrates the youth movement than linebacker with Eddie Hahn and Eli Thomas representing the position on the leadership council.
Hahn has been credited with 10 career tackles, all during the 2017 season. Thomas, a junior-college transfer, has yet to suit up for UConn.
It should be noted that leadership council members Omar Fortt and Marshe’ Terry are listed as linebackers on the UConn roster, but in reality they are utilized as safeties in defensive coordinator Billy Crocker’s 3-3-5 scheme.
The eight true linebackers have combined for 48 career tackles at UConn. The graduation of Junior Joseph and Vontae Diggs, the top two tacklers on the 2017 UConn squad who are under contract with the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Redskins, as well as the graduation of fellow starter Chris Britton, has given the newlook linebacking unit plenty of work to do.
“We lost Junior, we lost Vontae, we lost E.J. (Levenberry). They were great leaders that we had for the last few years; they showed us the ropes,” Hahn said during spring practice. “You try to mimic what they have done and try to do it even better. I am definitely trying to take on a leadership role so that the young guys can look up to me and ask questions.”
Hahn came to UConn as a defensive back, while 5-foot-11 Ryan Gilmartin doesn’t have the frame of some of the former Connecticut inside linebacker of years past. It helps that Darrian Beavers, who was
listed at 216 pounds when he played as a true freshman, weighed 235 during spring drills and promising redshirt freshman T.J. Gardner checked in at 236 pounds during spring practice.
“We can still work to get bigger and stronger, but Junior was a specimen, E.J. was big, Vontae was the biggest he has been since he was here,” Hahn said. “We are all trying to get bigger, faster and stronger. We might not look the part, but we are going to do our job and do our job well.
“We are all friends, we talk all the time. It is not like it is weird to have a conversation with somebody. We look at someone as brothers and as teammates. That is what you really have to do. There comes a point in time where you want the same goal, and to reach that goal you have to do things that are unimaginable. So we give unimaginable effort.”
Thomas’ leadership was on display during the spring. Even though he was unable to take part in practice as he continued to recover from a knee injury, no defensive player was more vocal in his support of his teammates
during practice.
“He hasn’t played football since he has been here, but it is nice to have him around and just learn from his experiences,” Hahn said. “The kid has been through a lot — three ACL tears — so it is nice to see that he hasn’t given up. That just proves that there are a lot of things you are going to go through in life, so it is how you react to them. If you have a positive attitude, you can accomplish anything.”
Offensive linemen Ryan Crozier and Matt Peart and receiver Hergy Mayala are the only returning members of the leadership council, a group that also consists of tight end Tyler Davis, receivers Keyion Dixon and Donovan Williams, defensive lineman Kevin Murphy, quarterback David Pindell and freshman running back Zavier Scott.
Edsall admitted that he had some help in coming up with his leadership council thanks to two days of working with The Program, an intense regimen led by Eric Kapitulik, the organization’s president and founder.
“That was really good for us, developing team leadership and a team bonding type thing. That was as good of a program as I have been involved with in all the years
I have been coaching,” Edsall said. “That was very beneficial and very worthwhile to our players and our coaches as well. It was impressive because you got to see maybe some guys that you didn’t think would be leaders are leaders and guys that you think might be good leaders maybe weren’t as good as you think.”
MAKING THE CUT
Rookies John Green, Trey Rutherford and Noel Thomas are among six former UConn standouts who to have survived Canadian Football League cutdown day.
Montreal leads the way with three UConn products on its roster in veteran long snapper Martin Bedard, fourth-year defensive lineman Jesse Joseph and Rutherford, an offensive lineman taken with the second overall pick in this year’s draft.
Thomas, a receiver who had eight catches in two preseason games, joins offensive lineman and former No. 1 overall CFL pick Alex Mateas on the Ottawa Redblacks roster. Hamilton’s roster includes Green, a defensive back who was signed by the team on May 18.