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It sounds on the surface like we'll have a pretty solid group next year. She's right in that it was my biggest concern going into next season, but now I'm excited to see what Fotu can do in the middle. The guy is a freak.
From Lya's blog:
From Lya's blog:
Caught up with Utah defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake to talk about the defense and his hopes and goals for it going into spring practice.
I'll share his thoughts here over the next couple of days, but overall, suffice it to say he is very excited about the talent he has available to him. He believes the Utes will have a lot of depth this season but also will be bigger while maintaining their speed. I'm going to make you wait to get into more details on how that could affect how the Utes play this year. (Mean I know).
First, let's look at the linebackers because I know that area concerns people the most since the Utes lost three starters in Stevenson Sylvester, Kepa Gaison and Mike Wright.
The guys Sitake is expecting to play extensively at linebacker are Chad Manis, J.J. Williams, Jamel King, Matt Martinez, Chaz Walker, Boo Andersen, recent signee V.J. Fehoko and Nai Fotu, who is moving from left end back to linebacker.
Out of that group, Williams was the most productive playing in 13 games and finishing with 20 tackles last year. Walker played in 13 and had 12 tackles, Andersen played in 13 and had six tackles and Martinez played in 11 games and had six tackles. Manis played in 13 and finished with four tackles, but drew a lot of praise toward the end of the season for the way he was playing. King played in eight games and had three tackles.
Fotu played in 13 games and finished with 23 tackles as a defensive end.
"Yes I lost three starters but I feel like I gained two starters," Sitake said. "J.J. is looking great. If Sly were here right now, J.J. might beat him out, he's that good. We have a lot of youth in that group but I'm really excited about it. I don't know if we've ever had eight players of that caliber at linebacker. The best thing about it is Chaz, J.J. and Jamel can play all three positions, Nai can play stud and Manis can play all three in certain situations."
Fotu, a senior, played at stud linebacker in 2008 but Sitake wants to play him at middle more this season.
"He is a freak and I think we'll be able to blitz him at middle and use his speed," Sitake said. "He has freakish speed and can get sideline to sideline and has great instincts. He'll have a lot of big boys up front picking up space too who will help him. We had him at stud before, but I don't think we were utilizing all his assets the best way we could."
I'll share his thoughts here over the next couple of days, but overall, suffice it to say he is very excited about the talent he has available to him. He believes the Utes will have a lot of depth this season but also will be bigger while maintaining their speed. I'm going to make you wait to get into more details on how that could affect how the Utes play this year. (Mean I know).
First, let's look at the linebackers because I know that area concerns people the most since the Utes lost three starters in Stevenson Sylvester, Kepa Gaison and Mike Wright.
The guys Sitake is expecting to play extensively at linebacker are Chad Manis, J.J. Williams, Jamel King, Matt Martinez, Chaz Walker, Boo Andersen, recent signee V.J. Fehoko and Nai Fotu, who is moving from left end back to linebacker.
Out of that group, Williams was the most productive playing in 13 games and finishing with 20 tackles last year. Walker played in 13 and had 12 tackles, Andersen played in 13 and had six tackles and Martinez played in 11 games and had six tackles. Manis played in 13 and finished with four tackles, but drew a lot of praise toward the end of the season for the way he was playing. King played in eight games and had three tackles.
Fotu played in 13 games and finished with 23 tackles as a defensive end.
"Yes I lost three starters but I feel like I gained two starters," Sitake said. "J.J. is looking great. If Sly were here right now, J.J. might beat him out, he's that good. We have a lot of youth in that group but I'm really excited about it. I don't know if we've ever had eight players of that caliber at linebacker. The best thing about it is Chaz, J.J. and Jamel can play all three positions, Nai can play stud and Manis can play all three in certain situations."
Fotu, a senior, played at stud linebacker in 2008 but Sitake wants to play him at middle more this season.
"He is a freak and I think we'll be able to blitz him at middle and use his speed," Sitake said. "He has freakish speed and can get sideline to sideline and has great instincts. He'll have a lot of big boys up front picking up space too who will help him. We had him at stud before, but I don't think we were utilizing all his assets the best way we could."
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