ULM Warhawks

By Paul Letlow, ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist
 
MONROE, La. – There's safety in numbers and improved numbers at safety for ULM this spring.

Another defensive position hit hard by injuries in 2017, the unit welcomes back their wounded Warhawks and signed junior college safeties Tyler Glass and Cal Kee III to bolster the depth.

"That was the main purpose for signing those guys," ULM defensive coordinator and safeties coach Mike Collins said. "Getting them and getting everybody back, it gives us great competition across the board. It makes you a better team."
 
ULM felt so good about its replenished safety stockpile, it was able to move Rhoy Williams and Marcus Hubbard to their true cornerback spots and slide Traveion Webster to linebacker full time, thus strengthening those units as well.

"The most important thing is that we've got some guys back and we've got some guys who got some experience last year, Collins said. "Those are all pluses for us."

All of the attrition last year had ULM coaches shuffling players around week to week and the defense suffered.

"No doubt we're trying to keep everybody healthy," buck safety Collin Turner said. "We're going to stay strong, stay in the weight room and spend extra time stretching. We're getting better and stronger now, and we've got numbers."

After having injuries shorten their 2017 campaigns, Nick Ingram (ACL) and Luke Hedrick (shoulder) are participating in spring ball but wearing the non-contact green jerseys.


Collins noted the value of Ingram's return. "He can take reps at all three safety positions. Even though he's practicing with a green shirt on, he's practicing.  He's doing everything but the tackling part."

Hedrick, who reinjured his shoulder in spring drills, is also versatile and able to cross train at more than one safety position.

"We're trying to develop some depth all the way through the lineup and get some guys some knowledge," Collins said.

At the buck position, ULM is thrilled to get Turner all the way back into the mix after he went down in the Southern Miss game. He recorded an interception against Memphis in the opener.

"He missed every game last year except for the first two and only played a little bit of the second one when he got hurt," Collins said. "Collin is back and healthy and doing a good job. His learning curve has just gotten better and better."

Big things were expected from Logan Latin a year ago too, but he was nursing an injury throughout the whole season. He finished with five tackles in limited service.

"Logan Latin played most of the season with a strained MCL," Collins said. "Last year, he was hobbling around, but he's healthy again. He's having a good spring and had a good offseason. We looked for really good things out of Logan last year. He was a red-shirt freshman but wasn't really healthy at any part of the season. He got hurt in two-a-days and never really got healthy.
 
"Logan is an outstanding cover guy," Collins added. "He was a corner in high school, and we're looking for a lot of good things out of him."

Rising sophomore Austin Hawley was a player who learned on the fly last year as the team's attrition mounted.

"Austin Hawley was forced into duty last year as a true freshman," Collins said. "Now, the things he's learning are invaluable to him. He didn't have that opportunity last year when he got thrown into the fire. Now, he gets to be taught formations and what teams are trying to do to you, how to get us in and out of checks – and why we get in and out of checks."

ULM brought in Glass, from Copiah-Lincoln Community College, to supplement the free safety position. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder had three interceptions as a sophomore.

"He's had a nice offseason and has really fallen into place," Collins said. "The great thing is that we got him in here during spring, and he gets to practice, go to meetings and to adjust to the offseason programs. Those are all valuable things for us and him to be successful at safety."

At weak safety, Wesley Thompson is back for a senior season and is the grizzled veteran among ULM safeties.  He finished third on the team with 67 tackles in 2017.

"He's truly the only guy in the secondary who has played the whole time for the last two years we've been here," Collins said. "Wesley is working to improve some things for us to be a better defense. Wesley is a sharp young man and a hard worker. He'll do whatever you ask him to do and he's trying to do those things for us."

Said Thompson: "I'm just trying to help lead these young guys and show them how to work and play fast. That was a problem last year, too many mental mistakes."

A junior college transfer from East Central Community College, Kee is working in behind Thompson at weak safety. He had 23 tackles and three for losses as a sophomore.

"He's a really good football player, physical and is here during the offseason and spring practice," Collins said. "He's here to make us a better football team and give us the competition that we need at all those safety positions."

Improved safety play and an improved defense could be the missing links toward ULM turning the corner this fall and contending for a bowl berth.

"That's definitely what we're looking forward to," Turner said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to win a few more games than we did last year and be solid on both sides of the ball and help those offensive guys get more points."

"We take a lot of pride in trying to get back to what we were in the past," Thompson said. "Last year, we didn't have a good season on defense. We took the blame on the back end. We felt like we let the team down. We're trying to stay focused and not make any mental mistakes. One missed play can cost us a touchdown."

Warhawks On The Rise: Don't judge Hawley based on his first taste of collegiate playing time. Thrown into the fray as a true freshman, Hawley played in nine games and made 20 tackles. Now, he's back and learning the nuances of his free safety position this spring.
 
"Austin Hawley got a chance to play toward the end of the season last year," ULM head coach Matt Viator said. "I think he's going to be a really good player. He's more confident and talking a lot back there." 


This positional spotlight is part of a continuing spring series you can find at ULMWarhawks.com over the next few weeks.