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By Tom Gaffney
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 07:10 p.m. EDT, Aug 19, 2009
Brian Wagner spent the 2008 football season observing Kevin Grant and apparently will spend the 2009 season replacing him.
Wagner, a redshirt freshman at the University of Akron, has earned a starting spot at middle linebacker, a position that Grant held with distinction for four years.
''It's exciting to follow him. It would be an honor to play as well as he did,'' Wagner said. ''I want to work hard the rest of camp and hopefully do well this year myself.''
Grant started all 49 games of his UA career, finishing with 319 total tackles. He was third team All-Mid-American Conference as a junior in 2007 and second team All-MAC as a senior in 2008.
Wagner, who practiced with the Zips last season but did not play, said he tried to absorb all he could from Grant on and off the field.
''Grant was one heckuva player. He did it all for four years,'' Wagner said. ''He was a great player to learn from, technique-wise and leadership-wise. It was great watching him play the [middle] linebacker. It gave me an example to go by.''
Wagner moved to the top of the depth chart at the position in spring practice and has solidified the spot in fall camp.
''I love Brian. When I watch him play, his body movements are what you are always trying to teach,'' UA coach J.D. Brookhart said. ''He sinks his hips, he is physical, he is always reading and reacting. He is a fine football player, and he is only going to get better.''
Vince Okruch, the Zips' first-year linebackers coach, also believes in Wagner in the short and long term.
''He can be as good as any kid I have ever had,'' said Okruch, who has been in coaching for 33 years, including a recent stay at the University of Illinois as defensive coordinator. ''He is a natural athlete who runs to the football and has a great motor. With him, it's full speed all the time.''
Wagner, at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, will bring a different dimension to the position than Grant, who was 6-2, 250 pounds.
''Kevin was a monster on this defense,'' said Brookhart, whose team held its 17th and 18th practices of the preseason Wednesday. ''Brian is not as big, but he is probably more athletic than Kevin. Kevin brought a toughness to this football team.''
Wagner himself knows that he must grow into the position in more ways than one.
''What I don't have that Kevin had was physical size. He was bigger and stronger than I am,'' Wagner said. ''I know I have to work on that, getting stronger and being physical.''
Wagner said his way of compensating for that is to be smart and fundamental.
''I try to get my reads, play technically sound and limit my mistakes,'' said Wagner, a dean's list student in the fall and spring semesters of his freshman year. ''I try to be a student of the game. I don't like to mess up.''
Wagner played for Springfield Catholic Central High School, a Division VI school near Dayton. He was first team all-state and state defensive player of the year in Division VI as a senior in 2007.
He was a force at running back and linebacker, earning all-conference honors for four years and all-district status for three years.
Wagner played for a school in Ohio's smallest division, but the Zips' coaching staff liked him enough to be the first college to offer him a scholarship.
''He played for a small Catholic school about the size of our end-zone facility,'' Brookhart said. ''We saw him against not-great competition, but we liked him. He was a dominant player.''
Wagner said that he had been contacted by some colleges, but that UA was the first one to act.
''It was a small school and I didn't get much attention. Akron was the first to offer,'' Wagner said. ''They believed in me since my junior year of high school.
''It's been great coming here. The dreams I had in high school . . . I am seeing them develop.''
Zips notebook
The Zips had morning and late-afternoon workouts on Wednesday, one of five times that two-a-days will be held. . . . The last full-scale scrimmage of the preseason will be Saturday. . . . Monday was the first day that the general public could buy single-game tickets. The ticket office was busy on that day and Tuesday, selling a total of 1,500 tickets.
Tom Gaffney can be reached at tgaffney@thebeaconjournal.com.
Brian Wagner spent the 2008 football season observing Kevin Grant and apparently will spend the 2009 season replacing him.
Wagner, a redshirt freshman at the University of Akron, has earned a starting spot at middle linebacker, a position that Grant held with distinction for four years.
''It's exciting to follow him. It would be an honor to play as well as he did,'' Wagner said. ''I want to work hard the rest of camp and hopefully do well this year myself.''
Grant started all 49 games of his UA career, finishing with 319 total tackles. He was third team All-Mid-American Conference as a junior in 2007 and second team All-MAC as a senior in 2008.
Wagner, who practiced with the Zips last season but did not play, said he tried to absorb all he could from Grant on and off the field.
''Grant was one heckuva player. He did it all for four years,'' Wagner said. ''He was a great player to learn from, technique-wise and leadership-wise. It was great watching him play the [middle] linebacker. It gave me an example to go by.''
Wagner moved to the top of the depth chart at the position in spring practice and has solidified the spot in fall camp.
''I love Brian. When I watch him play, his body movements are what you are always trying to teach,'' UA coach J.D. Brookhart said. ''He sinks his hips, he is physical, he is always reading and reacting. He is a fine football player, and he is only going to get better.''
Vince Okruch, the Zips' first-year linebackers coach, also believes in Wagner in the short and long term.
''He can be as good as any kid I have ever had,'' said Okruch, who has been in coaching for 33 years, including a recent stay at the University of Illinois as defensive coordinator. ''He is a natural athlete who runs to the football and has a great motor. With him, it's full speed all the time.''
Wagner, at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, will bring a different dimension to the position than Grant, who was 6-2, 250 pounds.
''Kevin was a monster on this defense,'' said Brookhart, whose team held its 17th and 18th practices of the preseason Wednesday. ''Brian is not as big, but he is probably more athletic than Kevin. Kevin brought a toughness to this football team.''
Wagner himself knows that he must grow into the position in more ways than one.
''What I don't have that Kevin had was physical size. He was bigger and stronger than I am,'' Wagner said. ''I know I have to work on that, getting stronger and being physical.''
Wagner said his way of compensating for that is to be smart and fundamental.
''I try to get my reads, play technically sound and limit my mistakes,'' said Wagner, a dean's list student in the fall and spring semesters of his freshman year. ''I try to be a student of the game. I don't like to mess up.''
Wagner played for Springfield Catholic Central High School, a Division VI school near Dayton. He was first team all-state and state defensive player of the year in Division VI as a senior in 2007.
He was a force at running back and linebacker, earning all-conference honors for four years and all-district status for three years.
Wagner played for a school in Ohio's smallest division, but the Zips' coaching staff liked him enough to be the first college to offer him a scholarship.
''He played for a small Catholic school about the size of our end-zone facility,'' Brookhart said. ''We saw him against not-great competition, but we liked him. He was a dominant player.''
Wagner said that he had been contacted by some colleges, but that UA was the first one to act.
''It was a small school and I didn't get much attention. Akron was the first to offer,'' Wagner said. ''They believed in me since my junior year of high school.
''It's been great coming here. The dreams I had in high school . . . I am seeing them develop.''
Zips notebook
The Zips had morning and late-afternoon workouts on Wednesday, one of five times that two-a-days will be held. . . . The last full-scale scrimmage of the preseason will be Saturday. . . . Monday was the first day that the general public could buy single-game tickets. The ticket office was busy on that day and Tuesday, selling a total of 1,500 tickets.
Tom Gaffney can be reached at tgaffney@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Canton, OH
Posted 07:58 PM, 08/19/2009
Put the helmet on someone, Brian. .
FEAR THE ' ROO. . .
Posted 09:44 AM, 08/20/2009
Thanks for the article, Tom! Keep the Akron Zips articles coming! This is the Akron Beacon Journal, afterall, not the Cleveland Beacon Journal or the Columbus Beacon Journal.
Go Zips! Fear the Roo!
Posted 12:23 PM, 08/20/2009
The Zips are in trouble! This kid looks like a punter in the making!
Posted 06:51 PM, 08/20/2009
GREAT ARTICLE!!!!
