Baylor School's Ulysses Strawter is a football player who sees and comprehends the nuances of the game.
"He's smart, has a really high football IQ. He's a coach on the field," said Julian Kaufman, who coaches defensive backs for the Red Raiders. "Fast? He's as fast as he needs to be. He has field speed which is helped because he knows where he needs to be."
Strawter is not college football recruiters' prototype, the kid who's going to jump off the screen when they're scanning videos for prospects.
Ulysses Strawter - Safety - Baylor School
Best of Preps football players | Tuesday, December 2, 2014. No, those guys are looking for a defensive back who's a long-armed minimum of 6-foot-1 who leaps and bounds with the grace of a gazelle. Those are the guys who squint at Strawter and see a youngster who doesn't measure up, whether they think he's an inch or two shy of their mark, a few pounds too light or a step slow to help them succeed at the college level.
He doesn't pass the eye test.
Yet for those who watch the video, truly watch it, there's something that catches the eye. Wofford coaches saw it and almost immediately tendered a scholarship offer, waiting only until they had him visit Spartanburg, S.C., for an in-person meet-and-greet.
"Ulysses and many of his teammates are guys that are told, 'You're not tall enough,' or 'You're not big enough' or 'You're not fast enough,'" Baylor head coach Phil Massey said. "These guys, though, have the intangibles - the heart, the willpower, the desire and determination, the attitude and the effort. That's what Ulysses Strawter is about, and that's what makes a difference in winning and losing or success and failure."
The Baylor staff is delighted that Strawter has the scholarship in his back pocket. They're also surprised and disappointed that other recruiters didn't see their prized defender for what he truly is.
Tim Daniels, now a Baylor assistant but previously the coach who returned dignity and respect to the Red Bank program, offered a colorful observation of the dynamic Red Raiders senior.
He calls him "a human torpedo."
By way of explanation, the 5-foot-11, 175-pounder runs straight and true, homes in and then explodes.
"That's probably what I like best - running downhill and making a tackle. That's probably what I do best," said Strawter, who has had only two missed tackles in 11 games and stands second only to linebacker Ryan Parker among the team's tackle leaders.
Kaufman once coached at Hixson, and among his protégés there were the Bullocks twins, Josh and Daniel, who went on to play at Nebraska and then the NFL.
"He's as good a tackler as Josh and Daniel - not as big but probably a better football player," Kaufman said of Strawter. "He's one of my favorite players - a lunch-pail guy, a good athlete but a worker. He's the type that never misses a weightroom session."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.