N.C. A&T's Chancellor wants to make a statement

Click to see Video

Photo below: Demerick Chancellor, RB, Miami Edison (FL), rs-Soph., 6-0/205

By Rob Daniels, Staff Writer, Greensboro News-Record

GREENSBORO -- There's a new Chancellor on the N.C. A&T campus. And that Stanley Battle guy? He's off to a good start, too.

Demerick Chancellor, formerly of Clemson, doesn't have the profile of Battle, who became the university's chief administrator last month. At least not yet. But in football, Chancellor has a pedigree that creates healthy internal competition and makes outsiders take notice.

"I just know I don't like to lose too much," the newest Aggies tailback said this week. "Just like in high school. I was all over the field. Whatever it takes."

Currently considered the backup to incumbent Michael Ferguson, he'll enter the season as the most prominent addition to a team that hasn't won a game since October 2005.

While every Division I-AA coach knows high school signees represent the heart of a recruiting effort, the influx of the occasional transfer can't be ignored.

Chancellor went to Clemson as another acclaimed back out of Miami, and after a redshirt year in 2005, his average of 6.1 yards a carry on 45 attempts in 2006 suggested he could play at a lot of places. His problem wasn't necessarily of his doing. His recruiting class included James Davis, who immediately became a starter. The following year, the program added C.J. Spiller, and those two combined for more than 2,100 yards on the ground in 2006.

Pavarotti could be shoved aside easier than Davis or Spiller. Chancellor wanted out, and he hoped to find a Division I-AA school where he would be eligible immediately under NCAA transfer rules. He also wanted to remain in reasonable proximity to Clemson, where brother Chris starts at safety.

"And I didn't want to sit out another year," he said. "I can bring a lot to the team because I can catch and I can run. I can do so much that, wherever I'm needed, I can be there and help the team."

But even at the I-AA level, a pile of big-time recruiting letters can't guarantee immediate supremacy on the depth chart.

"A regular fan would make that assumption, but being a coach, you never make assumptions that a guy from a Division I-A program is going to step right in and start for you," said George Ragsdale, A&T's running backs coach. "When he's leaving a I-A program, there's a reason. He wanted to play more. I didn't make the assumption he would be our starter. I told him he'd have to work for that."

Ragsdale said Chancellor needs more time to get into top-shelf shape. Ferguson, who has battled injuries throughout his career, has the starter's designation until proven otherwise, and Chancellor is clearly not averse to a little competition. He'll carry the ball straight out of the backfield and says he's fond of the swing pass into reasonably open spaces.

"I've got some moves," he said. "I don't see myself getting tackled one-on-one."

While there clearly is a long way to go, second-year head coach Lee Fobbs has sought talent from every feasible source. Opportunity abounds in such rebuilding situations, and if the Aggies initiate a turnaround in 2007, they'll need diversity of contribution.

"I really like my teammates," Chancellor said. "They're good people, and I feel I can play with them."