Secondary ready to lead SU

Photo: Jarmaul George and Michael Williams.

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN, Advocate sportswriter

What the Southern University football team has in its secondary — a trio of leaders in Michael Williams, Glenn Bell and Jarmaul George — maybe seems unique because, for so long, the unit has lacked a veteran core.

The unit had been rebuilding almost on a yearly basis in the last several seasons.

That’s not the case this year, and won’t be the case next season, either, because Williams is a junior cornerback and Bell is a senior strong safety who likely will earn a fourth season of eligibility for next year.

“Brothers. Communication. More experience,” said George, a senior strong safety and the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s preseason defensive player of the year, of the trio’s bond. “Mike, Glenn and I talk to the younger guys. They feed off what we do on the field. We’re all different. Mike’s more vocal. Glenn’s more aggressively vocal. I’m more laid-back. … They get three different doses.”

Defensive coordinator/secondary coach Terrence Graves made a point of sitting down all three individually in the spring and again during the summer to reinforce how important their leadership role is.

“We talked about what it was going to take to reach our goals,” Graves said. “Most of all, leading by example. They understood. When (the coaches) couldn’t be around, there were certain things those guys needed to work on. Those guys did that.”

Though they were all established before the summer, all took that message to heart.

“You can see it out here in practice,” Graves said. “Those guys took pride in disciplining themselves, and it’s showing.

“They improved the whole gamut: The body changed, quickness and footwork, hand-eye coordination.”

George came in 2003 and, like the team that season, had a joyous run, with the Jaguars winning SWAC and black college national titles and George being named SWAC Freshman of the Year. Ruled ineligible by the NCAA the next season, he spent 2005 at Copiah-Lincoln Community College before returning last season.

Photo: Glenn Bell

Williams redshirted in 2004 but nevertheless began ’05 already as the secondary’s leader, though he had never played a down. He has started each of his first two seasons.

Bell came in 2004 as a nonqualifier and didn’t get his first start until ’05, with Williams out with an injury.

Williams and George have had four different position coaches. Bell is on his third.

“Those guys came from different paths, but they all got on the same road,” Graves said.

“They spend a lot of time together. They eat together, hang out together. And not just those three guys. It’s a combination of all those defensive backs. They’re a pretty close-knit group. They sit together and travel like a pack of wolves.”

George and Williams have roomed together since George returned in the spring of ’06. George and Bell roomed together during the summer.

“We’re good friends off the field, so the things we do on the field is second nature,” Bell said.

“Mike is more quiet,” Graves said. “Glenn is more vocal. Jarmaul has his moments when he’s happy-go-lucky, and then he’s more outspoken. Yeah, they do have three different personalities, but they all mesh together.”

Bell played behind Williams in ’05 and last year, with George on campus, blossomed, becoming a strong safety and a nickel back/drop linebacker.

“Jarmaul was teaching me things in the secondary,” said Bell, who zoomed from 26 tackles in ’05 to a team-best 65 tackles last season. “I started to get, as Jarmaul would say, this little swagger. Playing around those guys, you start to make plays and start to see the other guys look up to you, and then you have to be a leader to them.”

What transpired was a defense that improved from eighth in the SWAC against the pass in 2005, allowing 241.3 yards per game, to leading the SWAC and fourth in the nation, at 139.7 yards per game.

George had five interceptions, Williams three and Bell one as the secondary came up with nine interceptions after the unit had just two in ’05.

George had 51 stops and five pass breakups as well. Williams had 55 tackles and another five breakups. Bell had two sacks and three breakups.

“We’re coming together as a team,” Williams said. “We’ve come a long way as a team. The most important thing is discipline. We see a big improvement. Coach doesn’t have to tell us a lot of things now. We do it on our own. It’s natural now.”

The key remains, as Graves said, in the three continuing to “challenge each other and challenge themselves.”

“Everybody’s played. Everybody’s had experienced,” Williams said. “We have no excuses. We’re the most experienced group on the team. Our chemistry is there already.”

SU Special Teams
FG — Josh Duran*
PAT — Duran*
KO — Duran*
P — Duran*
Snaps — Demarcus Turner
Holds — Nick Benjamin
KO returns — A.J. Turner, Del Roberts
Punt returns — Roberts
* new starter