In January, the Bulldogs made some big changes on the defensive side of the ball when they brought in co-coordinators Manny Diaz and Chris Wilson.
Since then, the Dawgs have been hard at work installing the new system. With new coaches and a new system, there are plenty of opportunities for players to make a good impression and earn a spot on the field. One such player is redshirt freshman Nickoe Whitley.
Whitley signed with the Bulldogs in 2009 after a stellar high school career at Provine High School in Jackson. He was a playmaker on both sides of the ball, playing quarterback on offense and defensive back on defense.
After signing with the Dawgs, the coaching staff decided to redshirt him his first season in the program. Whitley met his role as a redshirt with some apprehension.
“At first, I hated it,” he said. “I thought it was the worst thing in the world. As the season went along, I learned that it was really good for me. I was able to learn more, get stronger and get used to the speed of the game.”
Another important factor in the year as a redshirt, Whitley said, was keying in on some of the mental aspects of the game.
“I feel like I know a lot more about football, about offense and defense, and have gained more technique,” Whitley said.
With last season under his belt, Whitley is looking for any way possible to get on the field. That decision is left up to Diaz, who has experienced ups and downs with Whitley.
“I think he started off camp where he left off in the spring,” Diaz said. “He was doing well. What we’re seeing from him though is what you generally see from redshirt freshmen: inconsistency. When you play with young defensive backs you don’t always know, down-for-down, if they’re 100 percent locked in. He’s getting better but he’s not where he needs to be right now.”
When asked if Whitley would be ready by the start of the season, Diaz left everything open to possibility.
“We’ll find out. The thing is, when you have to play with young guys we all find out together,” he said. “There is no telling how a guy responds in front of 55,000 people. Some guys respond better, some guys respond worse. But as coaches, all we can put our information on is how they perform in practice. We think the world of him as a player and we just gotta get him and all the rest of our guys ready to go.”
The Bulldogs’ secondary appears to be in a much better position going into this season after the struggles of last season.
The Dawgs have much more experience and have a stable full of playmakers at the defensive back position group according to Dan Mullen.
“There’s experience back there now,” he said. “The big plays that we made on the positive side of things [last year], I think a lot of them were made with talent and ability. The big plays given up, a lot of those were a lack of experience, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hopefully we can continue to make the big plays with the talent we have there, and erase the negative plays with the experience and them understanding and being more mature players back there that they’re always going to be in the right place at the right time.”
The expectations for this group have been raised after last season, and so have their goals as a unit. Whitley and the rest of the defensive backs have not been shy in setting goals for next season.
“Our first goal is to lead the nation in interceptions and after that to become the number one secondary in the nation,” Whitley said.