PLUG-AND-PLAY SAFETIES
Safeties Bijon Parker and Jacob Girgle have seen limited action for New Mexico in the past, but that figures to change this coming season.
This is the year, perhaps, of the hidden veteran.
Yes, it’s true that the New Mexico Lobos’ defense lost nine players who had a combined 105 starts for last year’s team that went 9-4 and beat UTSA in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl. Especially hard hit was the secondary, which returns only two players with more than two career starts.
In particular, the departures of free safety Daniel Henry and strong safety Ryan Santos — a combined 51 career starts — left a huge hole to be filled. Or did it? Through 13 spring practices, strong safety Jacob Girgle and free safety Bijon Parker have taken the bulk of the snaps at those positions with the first-team defense. They have a combined two starts, both by Girgle last season.
Yet, Parker and Girgle are not rookies by any means.
“I put those guys in the experienced category,” Lobos coach Bob Davie said after Wednesday’s practice. “That’s why they’re in there (with the first-team defense).”
There’s more than one way to gain experience.
Girgle, a 5-foot-11, 187-pound senior from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., came to UNM from Santa Barbara Community College in the summer of 2015. After redshirting that fall, he made 19 tackles last season.
Come September, he’ll have had two spring practices and three fall camps under his belt.
“Last year I got a lot of experience rotating in with Santos, and because of that I was allowed to understand the speed of the game,” Girgle said.
“Now, transitioning into the spring, the game has slowed down a lot for me to where I’m able to make calls and certain checks, and that’s what the experience from last year has brought me into this year.”
Parker, a 6-foot, 195-pound junior from Los Angeles, signed with UNM in February 2013 but “grayshirted” and became a member of the 2014 recruiting class. He redshirted that fall and the past two years has played as a backup at safety and cornerback. He and Girgle both have played on special teams.
“When a corner went down (with an injury), I was going at corner,” Parker said. “We’ve got a little package where all the safeties come in, and I played a lot of special teams all over the place, so I got a lot of experience.”
Since enrolling at UNM in January 2014, Parker has participated in four spring practices and three fall camps.
“They’ve been around, and they understand the scheme,” Davie said. “... There’s no substitute for experience, and both those guys have experience. Both those guys are pleasures to coach. They’re like sponges. They suck it up every day, and that’s fun to coach.”
Despite his relative lack of playing time — eight career tackles — Parker has asserted himself as a leader on UNM’s young defensive unit.
“This spring, I feel like I’ve taken the initiative to basically be the quarterback of the defense,” Parker said. “Trying to learn everything so if somebody has a question they can come to me.”
Girgle, as well, sees himself as a coach on the field and a resource for younger players.
“Bijon’s the louder one,” he said, drawing a chuckle from Parker. “I’m the quieter one, and it works well. We flow well on the field because of it.”
Parker and Girgle are by no means guaranteed starting assignments. Junior Stanley Barnwell recently moved from nickel safety to strong/ free. Junior college transfer Michael Sewell is learning fast, and senior Jake Rothschiller can play any of the safety positions.
That kind of versatility, safeties coach Charles McMillian said, is what he’s after.
“If my number one strong safety gets hurt, it may not be the number two strong safety who’s the next best guy,” McMillian said. “It may be my nickel who I need to move to strong safety, or it may be the free safety.”
Toward that goal, McMillian has shifted his players from position to position during the past three practices — creating some temporary confusion.
“But it’s all the same defense,” he said. “Once they get it, and they’re starting to truly understand it, it becomes easy.” RUNNING BACK COMMITS: Zahneer Shuler, a running back/H-back from Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pa., announced on Twitter that he has committed to play at UNM.
Shuler, listed at 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, rushed for 306 yards and seven touchdowns on 62 carries at Lackawanna last fall. He caught 14 passes for 220 yards and three TDs.
A 2015 graduate of Woodbridge, N.J., High School, he’ll be a junior this fall with a redshirt year available.
ABOUT PRACTICE: The Lobos will take today off and practice Friday morning, then will wind up spring practice with Saturday’s “Spring Showcase.” On Saturday, the gates at the northwest corner of University Stadium will open at 10:30 a.m.