Nov. 13—GRAND FORKS — Before joining UND head coach Eric Schmidt in Grand Forks, Fighting Hawks edges coach Jon Anderson spent a season on the defensive staff at Old Dominion.
At the time, Mike Devereaux was a young linebacker at the FBS school in Norfolk, Va.
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When Devereaux later entered the transfer portal, Anderson had enough insight to vouch for Devereaux with his new staff at UND.
“I saw him prepare and work enough that when we got here and had a need, I thought enough of Mike that with time and maturity, he could be a good player,” Anderson said.
Devereaux has become a leader of UND’s defensive efforts — both in communication and production. Devereaux was the Missouri Valley Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week after recording a career-high 13 tackles and forcing a fumble at the goal line in a rout of Illinois State at the Alerus Center.
“He’s turned into a really good player and critical piece of our defense,” Anderson said. “What he does is pretty amazing, getting us on the same page with the right calls. Then, you’ve got to go play football after the snap.
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“He showed enough in our time together (at ODU) that I felt good putting my name on him to bring him here. That’s a big deal to put a name on a player at a new spot, where you’re trying to do everything for the program and bring the right people in. He’s done the work. He put the time in to be what you see today.”
On the season, Devereaux is second on UND’s defense in tackles at 61 and has 8.0 tackles for loss.
Devereaux, an Oklahoma native, started his college career at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, where he played with former UND defensive tackle Montre Samuels-Parker.
Now, Schmidt sees a player sensing urgency in the dwindling moments of eligibility.
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“I thought he really turned a corner the last probably three or four weeks,” Schmidt said. “Time is not his friend right now. I think all those guys, the seniors or fifth-year guys now, they know that every rep is important. Football is a special game. You don’t get to put on a helmet and shoulder pads when you’re 26, 27, 28 years old. There’s no tackle football men’s leagues out there, so those guys know that they’ve got a great opportunity here.
“We want to pour into those guys. When you show up at work every single day, walk through those doors, it’s … how do we make sure that we give these guys the best opportunity here that we can give them the last six weeks of their football lives here at UND?”
UND’s defense asks a lot of the linebacker position to align the unit. Last season, that responsibility fell on Malachi McNeal, who became a standout in Schmidt’s new 4-2-5 scheme.
“(McNeal) showed the way it’s supposed to be done,” Devereaux said. “I’m trying to become the best leader and best version of myself to help the team.”
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Devereaux’s emergence has helped the UND defense be the No. 3-ranked run unit in the MVFC. Against Illinois State, the then-No. 10 Redbirds ran 30 times for 38 yards.
“I think our box is really, really good,” Schmidt said. “I like the depth of our box when you look at the guys we roll up front. We still want to get some linebackers going there yet, as well. You saw more Jake Starcevic the other day, which I think needs to continue there. But Mike’s been a huge piece of it. He’s the one everybody looks to to make sure that things are going well and the communication part of the cycle of the snap needs to start and end kind of with him on every play.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
