Indiana’s Matt Mayberry

[Jimmy Chitwood]

another elite white running back is moved to linebacker at the college level... DraftDaddy linked an article on Matt Mayberry, and i found it very interesting. my mind became even more curious after i read his Hoosier bio AND his scouting report when Indiana signed him in 2006.

why was a 6-2, 205-pound running back with reported 4.39 speed in the 40 and ran for 2,242 yards and 36 touchdowns as a senior in high school automatically moved to linebacker? apparently, putting on the 30 pounds he is now listed at (236 as a junior from 205 as a freshman) has slowed him considerably, though he is still very fast. the following article lists him as now running a 4.49 in the 40. why would the Hoosiers do that?

anyway, Mayberry is a very talented athlete and as so many white athletes have done, his all-around talent has allowed him to be successful despite what appears from the outside to be very unusual decision making by his coaches.

Matt Mayberry flying to the ball

Mayberry's speed accelerates hype machine

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Matt Mayberry smiled when I mentioned I've received more e-mails about him than Beanie Wells, James Laurinaitis and Travis Beckum combined.

The preseason is the time to forecast the next great star in the Big Ten, and many fans are tabbing Mayberry, a junior middle linebacker at Indiana. Mayberry has a sneaking suspicion why.

"My greatest asset is speed," Mayberry said. "Talking with the coaches and everything, they just can't wait to put my speed out there. The defense is kind of designed for me, sideline-to-sideline, some specific blitzes for me, using my speed to make plays."

Mayberry runs a 4.49 in the 40 and can cover the entire field from his spot at middle linebacker. The Darien, Ill., native complements his speed with good size (6-2, 236), giving Indiana's defensive midsection an element it hasn't had before.

There's no nice way to put this, but not too long ago, Indiana's linebackers were painfully slow. It's a big reason why the Hoosiers finished no higher than 94th nationally in rushing defense between 2002-2006.

Indiana wants to tighten up against the run, and Mayberry is the linchpin.

"Physically, he's one of the better middle linebackers I've ever been around," said Hoosiers co-defensive coordinator Joe Palcic, who helped coach several strong linebackers at Miami (Ohio). "He weighs about 240 pounds, he's strong as an ox and he's our fastest linebacker. He is gonna be a force."

An injury to Adam McClurg opened the door for Mayberry last year, and he chipped in with 42 tackles, including eight in the Insight Bowl. He spent the summer working on his speed and acceleration with Kevin Kasper, the former Iowa wide receiver who played at Mayberry's high school and now trains athletes in Naperville, Ill.

Former Notre Dame safety Tom Zbikowski, now with the Baltimore Ravens, trained alongside Mayberry with Kasper.

"Kasper really mentored both of us through the whole process," Mayberry said.

Mayberry has high hopes for a linebacker group that returns starters Will Patterson and Geno Johnson but rarely gets recognition around the league.

"You've got Ohio State, obviously, with James [Laurinaitis] and Marcus Freeman leading the way," Mayberry said. "They've already proven themselves. As a group, we've got to go out there and get respect. We can't wait to start the season."

link to original article

it's nice to see Matt doing speed work with other white athletes, too. i think if more white athletes did that, we'd see many more white speedsters develop. from unity comes strength, or so i've heard.

 

[whiteCB]

Guys like Mayberry need to start standing up to the coaching staff when they arrive at college. Although Mayberry is probably another one of those "i'll do anything to help the team win" white guys. When are these white players going to learn? They need to start waking up and saying to themselves "im white and I can and WILL play the position I feel I'm best at whether its CB, HB, or whatever else skill position".

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

Indiana was too busy recruiting real athletes like this phenom to play tailback.

[url]http://www.castefootball.us/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7516&P N=1&TPN=1[/url]

The sick thing is, that this Brad Rogers kid is actually ranked only two spots behind Mike Trumpy the last time I checked by "Black Power Rivals.com". I mean if the drunken white fans can't see through this what chance do we really have!

Edited to add: This is good info JC!Edited by: ToughJ.Riggins