Let the rebuild begin
For any football team, fall training camp is a time of transition. This year, though, that changeover for Utah State has been more noticeable than most.
Gone are numerous contributors on offense, including fan favorite quarterback Chuckie Keeton and receiver Hunter Sharp. The coaching staff experienced significant changes as well, with three of the four co-coordinators in their first year in the position.
It’s the Aggie defense, however, that is undergoing the most significant change with eight new starters — including all four linebacker positions.
“I think it’s an ongoing process to be able to fill those spots at linebacker,” said head coach Matt Wells. “Anytime you lose NFL linebackers you’re going to take some time to find the right mix and the right combination to fill them.”
Linebackers Nick Vigil and Kyler Fackrell were selected by the Cincinnati Bengals and the Green Bay Packers with consecutive third-round picks in the 2016 NFL Draft this past May.
Vigil, the younger of the two, made the leap to the pros somewhat unexpectedly with a year of college eligibility remaining. He recorded 144 tackles a season ago, good for first in the Mountain West Conference and sixth in the nation.
Fackrell, a four-year starter for the Aggies, ranked first in the nation with five fumble recoveries and was recognized as one of the best pass rushers in the conference throughout his time in Logan.
Both players set various school and conference records, leaving very large shoes for the Aggies to fill.
Early into fall camp and practices, Wells admitted even after all the hard work from the linebackers, they were still a work in progress. According to Wells, there were multiple guys with potential to fill the position and it was going to be figured out a week or so into camp.
But linebacker coach David Kotulski said it is still up in the air with a variety of different guys vying for the positions, namely Derek Larsen and Alejandro (Alex) Huerta.
“It is a huge void, there’s no question, when you have two great players like Fackrell and Vigil leave that were both drafted,” Kotulski said.
Huerta and Larsen are among the almost dozen athletes working to fill that void, both on and off the field.
“When I came in as a freshman, I knew the kind of work ethic those guys had. Coming in and being a part of that group was honestly the coolest thing ever,” Huerta said. “The things that they teach you and just how they work and how they carry themselves was just incredible.”
“I think they kind of set that standard for us so we don’t want to change it,” Larsen said of the work ethic of the two NFL draftees.
Larsen also sees an opportunity to impact the players younger than him in the same way Fackrell and Vigil had an influence on him.
“We’re talking with the young guys and helping them know that this is the standard and even though we haven’t set it, even though we haven’t played yet, this is the standard that was set before us,” Larsen said.
The leadership Fackrell, Vigil and other seniors brought to the team is yet to be evident in any of the current players. According to Wells, “Right now, we’re just looking to see who’s going to be the player on the field first before the leadership comes.”
But when that leadership does come, it will perhaps be filling the biggest void of all — one that reaches on and off the field.
“Off the field, they were just really good friends and really good individuals,” Huerta said. “Fackrell was a great father to his daughter and the way he was with his wife that I saw was just a great example of how a man should be. So was Nick, he was always a great friend.”
Though this spot still remains open, the coaching staff is not worried about the slow process.
“That’s part of continuing to coach and develop the program. You’ve got to have some guys step up,” Wells said. “You hope you’ve coached well and recruited well and that those guys will step up and play well.”
Before the opening game of the season against Weber State, players like Huerta and Larsen will be working hard to earn their starting spots.
“It makes not just linebackers but every player be the same type of player they were – they put their entire energy down on the line, they did everything they could do every day – and it’s the same thing we want to do,” Larsen said.