Montgomery Talks About Tulsa's Defense and Special Teams as Spring Practice Begins

TULSA, Okla. –– Tulsa head football coach Philip Montgomery talked about the Golden Hurricane defense heading into the start of spring drills. The Tulsa football team took the field Sunday for the first of 15 spring practices.

The Hurricane defense returns seven starters and a total of 23 lettermen.

DEFENSIVE LINE…
The Tulsa front four loses its two ends to graduation, but in all, five players who made at least one start for the Hurricane defensive line returns in 2018.

"I want to see more consistency out of our defensive front. We were really, really young in the middle last year, and we're still really young. But now those guys do have some experience, plus we brought in a couple of junior college guys to add some experience to the group," said Montgomery.

On the interior, Tulsa returns junior Shemarr Robinson, who started nine games last year, and sophomore Garrett Flanary, who had four starts as a true freshman in 2017. Tyarise Stevenson, another sophomore, had two starts for the Hurricane last year. On the outside, Trevis Gipson and Myles Mouton, saw playing time. Mouton also moved inside and had five starting assignments at tackle.

Stevenson totaled 24 tackles, followed by Robinson with 22 and Flanary with 17 stops. Mouton was credited with 12 tackles and Gipson 11

"Losing Jesse (Brubaker) and Jeremy (Smith) on the outside were both tremendous players and will be hard to replace, but there are some guys working now at a level that I think we'll be okay. Trevis (Gipson) and Myles (Mouton) have had tremendous winters, and you add in some of those early enrollee JC guys into that mix and how they'll play, time will tell," said Montgomery.

Junior college transfers Cade Baumann, from NEO A&M, and Cullen Wick, from Blinn JC, are on campus and will compete for spots at defensive end, while on the interior Independence JC transfer JaJuan Blankenship will be in the mix.

"We'll have to be more consistent. We'll be more versatile and flexible upfront in what we're doing and how we're doing it. But, you're still in the trenches and you have to lineup and whip the guy in front of you and find the football. That's where we have to get back to – is those guys upfront being men, holding their points and moving the line of scrimmage," said Montgomery.

LINEBACKERS…
Two starters – Cooper Edmiston and Diamon Cannon – return to the lineup.

"We'll have to fill the shoes of Craig Suits, who was a four-year starter for us, but a lot of guys were able to get experience last year at linebacker," said Montgomery.

Edmiston was second on the team in tackles with 106 stops, while Cannon was fourth on the roster for tackles with 60, while adding 4.5 TFLs, two pass breakups, and two fumble recoveries.

"It was Cooper's first year starting at the MIKE linebacker. Robert Revels played extremely well in limited time. Diamon (Cannon) played the STAR. He's a guy that we could move around and do some different things. Diamon has also had a really good winter. He's at that stage in his career where he really needs to come on," said Montgomery.

Revels III, a junior, who like Edmiston, played as a true freshman in the 2016 season, totaled 25 tackles last year.

"We bring in Yohance (Burnett) who will battle for one of those spots. We red-shirted Zaven Collins, who I think has a tremendous upside and can play a number of different positions on the defensive side of the field," said Montgomery. "With those guys, it gives us some continuity and some depth, but again we have to figure out the right way to put those pieces together."

Treyvon Reeves, who saw most of his playing time on special teams last year, will be in the mix to see playing time on the outside as well.

DEFENSIVE SECONDARY…
"In the backend, it all has to start with us limiting the explosive plays That's not always a pass play, but it could be a run play that broke the line of scrimmage and you're the last line of defense," said Montgomery.

With returning lettermen and junior college transfers in the mix at the backend of the Tulsa defense, the Hurricane has good numbers. However, a number of those players will miss spring drills.

"The secondary is where we encountered most of our injuries last year, and because of it we had to move guys around back there and play them in spots that they wouldn't normally play. They gained a lot of experience back there, but now we'll have to parlay that into what it will be next year.

Players with starting experience in the secondary include cornerbacks Akayleb Evans, Reggie Robinson and Keanu Hill, and safeties Jordan Mitchell, Manny Bunch, Keidrien Wadley, Cristian Williams and McKinley Whitfield.

"The tough part about secondary this spring, is that a lot of those guys who were injured won't be back for spring ball. So, a lot of the guys we red-shirted will get valuable experience back there, and the guys who played and finished the year will get even more experience," said Montgomery. "How all that factors in, we may not know until fall camp when we get them all back on the field, plus a couple guys we signed in February won't be here until the summer, so we'll have to see how that all plays out."

Two of Tulsa's returning starters from 2017 – Manny Bunch and McKinley Whitfield – will miss the spring while recovering from injuries. Jordan Mitchell, who began the 2017 season as a starter, will also not return during spring drills.

Whitfield led Tulsa with 113 tackles and added eight pass breakups a year ago. In six games, Bunch totaled 45 stops, while Mitchell had 11 tackles in just three games.

Robinson headlines the cornerback position, as three returning corners have started games. Robinson totaled 38 tackles and had a team-high nine pass break-ups last year, while Evans started six games in 2017 and totaled 26 tackles and two PBUs.

Hill sat out last year after suffering a knee injury late in the 2016 campaign, and started eight games and had 20 stops and five break-ups.

Allie Green IV, who along with Evans, were true freshmen for the Hurricane last year. Green, who moved from safety in preseason camp due to injuries at corner, had seven tackles and three pass breakups last year.

"Reggie started the year with a lot of confidence, and I thought he finished the year on a really good note. He's a guy who has to be a leader back there for us. We played two young corners, Akayleb and Allie, and I thought both of them played extremely well and received a lot of valuable experience," said Montgomery.

"We'll have to be more consistent on the back-end, not only in coverage but also in run support," Montgomery added.

SPECIALISTS
Tulsa loses the school's all-time scoring leader in placekicker Redford Jones, but returns its punter, deep snapper and holder for the 2018 campaign.

Thomas Bennett returns as Tulsa's punter, while Adam Higuera will be back as Tulsa's deep snapper.

Bennett averaged 42.3 yards on 61 punts with 11 50+ yard punts and 16 landing inside the 20 yards line.

"I thought Adam came in and did a really good and consistent job as a true freshman," said Montgomery. "Thomas punted the ball well. His consistently has to continue to improve. For him it's more about consistency and placement of where we want the ball to go. That's such a huge part of special teams and coverage units, being able to place the ball where you want it to be, and then being able to work your coverage and limit the amount of space that the returner has to go."

Tulsa will need to replace Jones as Tulsa's field goals, PATs and kickoff specialist, and will have a few kickers competing for the position during the spring.

"We have to replace Redford, who was a stud for us. He was Mr. Dependability. Replacing him will be difficult," said Montgomery. "We'll have a couple guys vying for that spot. Nate Walker, who has been us for a few years, has really improved. We'll see how he handles the responsibility as we go through the spring."

"We have a newcomer, John Parker Romo, who transferred in, so we'll see how he does," said Montgomery. "Finding the field goal kicker and kickoff specialist will be an important deal for us."

Montgomery Talks About Tulsa's Defense and Special Teams as Spring Practice Begins

Players Mentioned

Diamon Cannon

Trevis Gipson

Redford Jones

Jordan Mitchell

Myles Mouton

Craig Suits

Keidrien Wadley

McKinley Whitfield

Cristian Williams

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