Versatility can be moving attribute

Some players go through their entire football careers playing one position. Others have to be much more versatile, either changing positions or lining up at several different spots within a position.

The hows and whys of who plays where come down to ability, size, need and “getting the best 11 football players out on the field,” University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach Russ Huesman said.

Mocs linebacker Ryan Consiglio is the starter at the Sam (strongside) spot heading into preseason practice, which starts Aug. 4. Last season, as a sophomore, he played all three linebacker positions — Sam, Mike (middle) and Will (weakside). In fact, he played all three in one game, at Samford.

Consiglio prefers the Mike and Sam spots, which are more traditional linebacker positions and require basically the same skill set, whereas the Will in UTC’s 4-3 scheme has more pass-coverage responsibilities and often plays more like a third safety.

“Mike and Sam, they’re both in the box so they’re very similar,” Consiglio said. “It doesn’t take much to learn those, meaning if you know one you pretty much know the other. Will was just a lot more space. I was out in space all the time and I didn’t like it as much as Sam and Mike because I felt like I was out of it a lot.”

On the defensive line, UTC’s left and right ends should be interchangeable. Last season, however, freshman Josh Williams played exclusively on the right side and finished with seven sacks because he wasn’t comfortable lining up on the left side.

“We could have just hammered the square peg (in the round hole), but he was a freshman and we wanted to keep him comfortable,” defensive coordinator Adam Fuller said. “Now he’s older and you expect more from him.”

The Mocs’ tackles on the defensive line — called the 3-technique and the nose because of where they line up — are sometimes interchangeable as well, Fuller said. The 3-technique, who lines up in the gap between the offensive guard and tackle, called the 3 gap, tends to be a bit quicker and a better pass rusher.

“You don’t really recruit nose tackles,” Fuller said. “You recruit guys that you think can be 3-techniques, and if they can’t they play nose.”

J.D. Dothard played some at both free and strong safety during his first two seasons at UTC. Now the junior has moved to Will linebacker to make maximum use of his size and speed.

Jordan Tippit played both free and strong safety as a sophomore last season — he moved to strong when Dothard suffered a knee injury — and he will play the strong this season, while junior Chris Lewis-Harris has moved from cornerback to free safety.

“When you take somebody like Chris Lewis from corner and you put him at safety, you usually get faster,” Fuller said. “Then you take somebody like J.D. and put him down at linebacker, you usually get faster. You put a linebacker, like Chris Donald, at defensive end, you get faster.”

Speed and athleticism also are key factors in who plays where on the offensive line. Senior left tackle Chris Harr plays where he does, offensive line coach Russ Ehrenfeld said, because “your best athlete is going to be your tackle on the quarterback’s blind side.”

It’s Harr’s job to protect right-handed quarterback B.J. Coleman’s back. Harr began his career as a blocking tight end before moving to left tackle after his freshman season.

“A lot of the time those tight ends are tall, rangy guys,” Ehrenfeld said. “(Harr) was an athlete out there, but he’s an even greater athlete inside.”

Ehrenfeld said the center has to be “the next most athletic guy (in the line) after the tackle” because of the quick reactions and movements needed.

“He’s got to be able to do something that nobody else on the field does,” he said, “and that’s snap the football and move simultaneously as he’s snapping the ball.”

In recruiting offensive linemen, Ehrenfeld said, at least at the FCS level, a fair amount of projection is involved. You can recruit a tight end and maybe make him a tackle, or recruit a tackle and find he’s better suited to play guard.

“When you recruit a center, if you can you want to recruit a center, a young man out of high school that’s played the position,” he said. “That’s not always the case, but you try to go that way.”