First off, why did you take on the tryout at Pittsburgh versus another team?
I’ve been away for so long from home – except for the Summer and holidays. I was a walk-on at Tulsa, then got a scholarship at Southeastern Louisiana then went to Central Michigan my final two years.
It feels good to get an opportunity to play for such an awesome franchise that’s so deeply rooted in the NFL. So coming back home to Pittsburgh was a no-brainer. They always have some of the best lineman and offensive line coaches. And Coach Tomlin is one of the best coaches in the game.
So I’m going to come in and compete – the goal is the get a contract and go to OTAs.
Is it more pressure playing for your home team?
I wouldn’t say so. Football is just fun – it’s a game. The locker room – those teammates are brothers – lifelong friends. You play for the guys next to you – everything else just fades away.
When we played on ESPN+ – we played in a stadium in front of 10,000 fans. At Central Michigan the stadium held 30,000. When we played at Notre Dame there were 80,000 fans. But it’s just you and your guys on the field. The rest fades away. There’s no pressure – it’s just a blessing to play and contribute to something bigger than yourself.
Do you know any of the guys on the the Steelers?
Donte Kent and I were teammates at Central Michigan. DK is fantastic – he’s the definition of a great player – but he’s an even better person. If Tomlin asks him to play nosetackle he’d do it! He returned kicks, played in the slot and on the boundary, blitzed off the edge … he was an incredible player who cares more about the team than himself.
Tell me about the schemes you played in and how they compare to the Art Smith/Steelers scheme?
We ran a similar offense at Central Michigan and Southeastern. We ran a multiple offense – inside zone, power, outside zone, shotgun, pulling, gap blocking, up-tempo…. I did it all … we installed the outside zone last Spring.
At Central Michigan I liked to reach the shade on the outside zone runs and get to the defensive end – to see how far I could reach. At Southeastern we had the number one offense – we passed a lot at times too. We played Cam Ward and lost 55-52.
Carlos Washington and I played at Southeastern Louisiana and he went on to play for Art Smith in Atlanta – he told me a lot about Art Smith’s offense. Their goal is to run the ball and impose their will on defensive linemen. That’s the hardest thing for a defensive lineman, when they are double-teamed all game and by the fourth quarter are worn down. In football you run to set up the pass – you run to control the game. It’s fun when you can do that – you can do anything then.
You are predominantly a center correct? Can you describe your playing style?
I love football – I’m 6’1″ so I was overlooked a lot due to my height. But I’m a gritty, hard-nosed player. I was a walk-on in high school at a power house school – Thomas Jefferson. I had zero scholarships coming out of high school despite starting. My goal is to pancake guys every play. It’s an aggressive sport – a violent sport. That’s how I play it.
I played center and some guard in college – started at center my last three years. I also long-snapped for a year when the long-snapper got hurt – so I can do that too – I’m good at that.
How much of the line calls were your responsibility? How do you handle the cerebral part of the position?
At Central Michigan that was my job at center. I was responsible for identifying the MIKE linebacker and the defensive front and making those line calls. I made the first calls and made sure the line was lined-up right. The offense runs through you at center and if you get it wrong in hurts the line play and quarterback reads on things like RPOs.
I was in the facility often until 11:30 pm with the coaches watching film – drawing up run plays and breaking down film together. So the mental part of the position was huge at Central Michigan. At some places the quarterback identifies the front but that all ran through me, so I had to know all the formations. I had to know those like the back of my hand. Some teams liked to bust the MIKE linebacker back and have other guys fill the hole for example – so I made sure to study the defenses and line up guys the right way for those types of things.
In fact we lost two quarterbacks one season and played a redshirt Freshman who also got hurt – we were down to our fourth quarterback. They were considering putting the mic in my helmet at that point instead of the quarterbacks!
Tell me something about yourself that has nothing to do with football – what else makes you tick?
I’m a big family guy. I was away for six years and I’m excited to come back and spend time with my family. I’m close to my sister – she goes to West Virginia – we talk every day. Without my family I don’t know where I’d be. It’s been a long road since I started as an undersized player at Thomas Jefferson. No one thought I’d get a scholarship or get this far. My family would drive for hours to see me play – they were there every step of the way. Seeing them in the stands after games made everything easier.
And, I love school. I’m one of those few dudes like that! I love Legos, puzzles – mental things like that!