Senior Chris White has put up gaudy numbers at middle linebacker this season. After changing from weak side to middle linebacker, White has recorded 12 tackles for loss and five sacks, both of which are good for second in the SEC.
While the stats are nice, they ultimately mean nothing to White, a humble native of Vancleave, Miss., (pop. 4,910) and a transfer student from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. White was recognized for his performance against Florida (11 tackles, including 4.5 for a loss) by being named the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week.
“It feels awesome, but I’m not worried about all the stats and stuff,” White said. “A tackle for loss in a game is making a big play on defense, but on the stat sheet it just looks pretty.”
When defensive coordinator Manny Diaz and the rest of the coaching staff switched White to middle linebacker, Diaz knew White would put up big numbers in the new defense, and maybe even be in position to win the Butkis Award, which is given annually to the nation’s top linebacker.
The only problem was, as Diaz recalled from a conversation with White from last spring, the senior did not see himself as that high-profile of a player at linebacker.
“He laughed, he giggled,” Diaz said. “I said, ‘you don’t believe me. No one knows anything about who plays well on defense, they just look at the stat sheet. What happens if you lead the SEC in tackles for loss? What happens if you lead the SEC in sacks? You might not be worth a dang, but someone is gonna vote you All-American because you’ve got stats.'”
White’s impressive stats do not just come as a byproduct of the system he plays in, though. Replays of any Mississippi State game from this season show White all over the field.
Even at 6’4″ and 245 pounds, White has the speed to track down running backs and mobile quarterbacks such as Florida’s Trey Burton or Alcorn State’s Brandon Bridge, which is something not every linebacker can say. Not bad for someone who rarely watched football growing up and did not play linebacker until he arrived at college.
White has become a leader on the Bulldog’s defense in his time in Starkville. After recording 44 solo tackles during the 2009 season, White was named as a captain of the 2010 squad.  Players and coaches have taken notice of his lead-by-example mentality.
“Playing middle linebacker for us, he has to lead by example and have that leadership presence on the field, even if he’s not the most vocal ‘ra-ra’ person,” head coach Dan Mullen said.
The man who plays beside White, fellow co-captain and senior K.J. Wright, considers having White in the fold an essential part of the Bulldog defense. Wright is actually part of the reason White was moved to middle linebacker.
Diaz considers the decision to move White a two-part process. The first was moving Wright to the weak-side linebacker spot so he could make more plays.
The second was White’s potential as a  “sideline-to-sideline” linebacker. The linebacker shuffling has paid off for the Bulldog defense, which currently ranks 13th nationally in scoring at 16.0 points per game allowed and is tied for 17th in tackles for loss at 7.43 per game this season.
“I love being out there with Chris,” Wright said. “We both have a lot of confidence in each other … Just us being side by side is real good for us and the whole team.”
White, who was not heavily recruited out of junior college, is one of several key Bulldog contributors to come from GCC in recent years. Senior defensive end Pernell McPhee and junior running back Vick Ballard both played at Gulf Coast, one of the premier JUCO programs in the nation.
According to espn.com‘s recruiting services, White runs a 4.52 40-yard-dash, which, when considering his size, is no small accomplishment.
Despite the speed, White says he has to slow himself down sometimes.
“The faster you play, the less stuff you see,” White said. “The slower you play, the more stuff you see. You kind of have to find that medium where you can see and also play fast.”
For Diaz, who coached at Florida State, South Carolina  and Middle Tennessee State before coming to Starkville, White is an ideal linebacker.
“If you could draw it up, what you want [linebackers] to do, he does it,” Diaz said.
When asked about White’s play-making ability, Wright has a simple answer.
“He’s just a baller.”
Not often will a country boy from Vancleave be described as a “baller,” but this is one case where the description fits.