White in position to stand out
Bobby Wilder knew he was in trouble. The Old Dominion football coach was coming off a four-win season and had just replaced almost his entire defensive staff. He needed improvement on that side of the ball, particularly with the pass rush.
He watched his players during winter workouts and his eyes consistently returned to one — a tight end coming off a redshirt freshman season in which he caught just 11 passes but showed immense physical talent: Keion White.
As the workout continued, Wilder’s mind drifted to an ethos he attributed to the leader of his favorite NFL team — Bill Belichick — that said coaches should take their best players and put them in the most impactful positions.
And so, Wilder called White into his office in January 2019 and told him the Monarchs wanted him to become a defensive lineman. The coach knew White liked to hear the “why” behind decisions and came in prepared with his rationale.
No. 1, White could affect every play as a defensive end because of his athleticism.
“And No. 2,” Wilder recalled telling White, “you’ve got a shot to be a firstround draft pick.”
Even though the move didn’t save Wilder’s job — he stepped down after Old Dominion went 1-11 in 2019 — it worked out.
White tied the program’s season record with 19 tackles for loss before transferring to Georgia Tech. There, he developed into an All-Atlantic Coast Conference talent and nearly fulfilled Wilder’s prediction — instead going 15 picks into the second round to Belichick and the Patriots.
That 2019 conversation, specifically White’s desire to explore the reasoning behind the position change, was an example of the inquisitiveness and maturity the 24year-old pairs with size and speed in a mix that many believe will ease his transition to the professional ranks.
Three games into Old Dominion’s 2019 season, White validated the position change. He had a sack and three tackles for loss against Virginia in a performance that caught the attention of Power Five teams.
Notre Dame, which was scheduled to take on the Cavaliers next, had called a member of Wilder’s staff to discuss the mutual opponent and mentioned White’s impressive performance.
“[Virginia] couldn’t block him,” Wilder said. “They did everything they could: tight end, tackle, running back [and] tackle. They slid the line to him, put the guard and tackle on him, he was dominant.
“I don’t think you could have honestly asked a person in that stadium that night who the best player was and got an answer other than Keion White.”
After Wilder departed and the Monarchs canceled fall sports in 2020 because of the pandemic, White searched for a new home in the transfer portal. He found it in Atlanta with the Yellow Jackets — in part because they were one of the few programs that told him where he needed to improve, said Georgia Tech defensive coordinator Andrew Thacker.
White had still barely played defensive end in college, but his athletic traits gave Georgia Tech reason to believe they had an impact player, if properly developed.
“Most [270-pound], well-built dudes don’t run the way that he runs, and he’s got some uncanny power,” Thacker said. “It’s natural power.”
White sputtered in his first season with the Yellow Jackets. Transfer rules kept him away from the team until summer workouts. In the interim, he went to play pickup basketball and dislocated his ankle. The injury kept him out for most of the season and limited his production after he returned.
Now a redshirt senior entering his sixth collegiate season (the NCAA granted all athletes an extra year of eligibility because of the pandemic), White was expected to be one of the team’s leaders.
Summer workouts started and a healthy White gathered among droves of Yellow Jackets. He always stood in the back and maintained a stoic demeanor throughout team activities. When coaches asked the players to clap, cheer, or do the pageantry associated with a college football practice, White was compliant but not overly enthusiastic, Thacker said.
That led the coaches to wonder if they had an independent contractor on the roster, a one-year transfer who was looking to get his and get out.
They couldn’t have been more wrong, and quickly realized as much.
White stood in the back during drills because it gave him the best vantage point to see his teammates and offer critiques if necessary. He wasn’t especially fiery because that just wasn’t his personality. His leadership came by spending quality time with his teammates and developing a mutual trust that then allowed him to hold them accountable.
“He had as much influence on the team as anybody, but he did it in his own ways,” Thacker said. “So when he did speak or he did [take] the opportunity to address the defense or address the team, it carried a lot of weight.”
White also continued his on-field ascent by starting all 12 games, recording team highs in tackles for loss (14) and sacks (7½), and was named third-team AllACC.
After leaving Georgia Tech, White went to train with Lilian Abdelmalek, the owner and founder of Dynamics Speed and Agility Training. White’s detail-oriented nature showed in his choice of facility.
“He knew that going to other combine facilities, there may be 20 to 40 guys and sometimes you kind of get lost in the crowd, and he just wanted a little more one-on-one attention,” Abdelmalek said.
White took a fine-tuned approach to the pre-draft process, the same way he has throughout his life. Now he comes to Foxborough to play under Belichick, whose impact on Wilder is one of the reasons White swapped sides of the ball in a move that changed the trajectory of his football career.
The Patriots aren’t getting the flashiest pass rusher, Thacker said, adding that White’s arsenal doesn’t lend itself to YouTube clips. But they are getting a player who pushes the pocket and plays with a desire to understand the purpose of his actions — a mentality Wilder believes will mesh perfectly with Belichick’s thoughtful manner and ability to explain that intent.