You know those little yip dogs that won't stop barking?
On the football field Keyon Reed is kind of like one of those - except the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga defensive tackle is 6-foot-2, 245 pounds, and all he wants to do is run over you and then tell you and everyone else all about it.
"It keeps me up," the redshirt freshman said Wednesday of his steady stream of chatter that's part trash talking and part self promotion, with what sounds like some gibberish thrown in, as well.
Reed said the football field is "a playground" and he's just trying to have some fun. It seems to be working. The defensive line probably laughs more than any other unit and even line coach Jimmy Lindsey sometimes can't help but smile and shake his head.
Defensive tackle Nick Davison, no slouch himself when it comes to talking trash, said he can't keep up with Reed.
"I feed of him because he doesn't ever stop talking," a laughing Davison said. "I'll come out here at 6:30 [in the morning] and be kind of tired and I hear Keyon coming and he's talking, so I know I've got to pick it up. I've got to get my energy up."
Most of what's said, naturally, can't be printed here. There's not much family-friendly about trash talk. The offensive line is Reed's primary target and the abuse starts from the beginning of practice.
"I feel like if you get them fired up they'll block better and it will get them into it," Reed said. "I feed off their energy because they're trying to hit me so hard all the time. It just forces me to play better."
Reed said he sometimes goes on YouTube to look for some "motivational words" to add to his routine. Asked if he ever does research on his targets to add more depth to his material, the way some college basketball and baseball fans do, a lightbulb seemed to go off in Reed's head.
"I haven't started that yet, but I think I should," he said. "That's a good idea."
Uh-oh.
While redshirting last season Reed didn't have much to say. If you're not playing you can't be talking, he explained. Now he's lining up alongside Davison with the first-team defense, and having a very good camp, according to Mocs coach Russ Huesman.
The non-stop chatter is apparently limited to the field, however.
"He doesn't talk at all in meetings," Davison said. "He won't say a word. Coach Lindsey will ask him a question and you'll barely get three words out of him for an answer."
With proven veterans in Davison and defensive end Josh Williams on the defensive line with Reed and end Davis Tull, another redshirt freshman, as well as some much-needed depth, the line has the potential to be much-improved from 2010.
"We were average last year, I'd say," Davison said.
And now?
"We've got a chance to be special up front."
Now there's something to talk about.