Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Linebackers hoping to lead defensive turnaround in 2018

UNLV Football Versus Boise State

L.E. Baskow

UNLV’s Jay’Onn Myles, 1, takes out the feet of Boise State’s Terrell Johnson, 20, with teammate Bailey Laolagi, 48, fighting to help nearby during their game at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday, October 31, 2015.

Tackling was an issue for the UNLV defense last season. Defenders were consistently overpowered at the line of scrimmage, and tackling in open space was downright hypothetical.

Solving that problem won't happen over the course of 15 spring practices, and the Rebels know that. But with a new defensive coordinator, a new linebackers coach and a core of returning LBs willing to put in the work, the team is hopeful that the defense is at least moving in the right direction.

Senior linebacker Bailey Laolagi finished fourth on the defense with 62 tackles last season, and after Tuesday's practice in helmets and shoulder pads, he said the system being installed by defensive coordinator Tim Skipper and outside linebackers coach Eric Brown will make a difference.

"The system is the perfect balance of complex and simplistic," Laolagi said. "It's easy for us to get a hold of and grasp. Everybody is moving in one part. It's going to be better for us to communicate and be on the same page. With coach Skip coming in, he's bringing a lot of new things to us from Florida, and coach Brown is bringing in new things for the linebackers from Idaho. It's all for the better."

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Laolagi will play a key role for the Rebels in 2018, as he's one of the few experienced defenders returning. He's also stepping into a leadership void on that side of the ball now that former defensive stalwart Mike Hughes has graduated.

One of the players gravitating toward Laolagi for guidance has been sophomore Ferrell Hester. Last year, Hester was thrust into early playing time as a true freshman and had to battle to keep his head above water. Now, with a season of experience, he's entering spring with the goals of getting faster and improving his open-field tackling.

Hester is leaning on Laolagi for advice on how to accomplish those objectives.

"He's a great leader," Hester said. "He's pretty vocal at times, but more so he leads by example, not only on the field but off the field as well. Eating right, staying out of trouble, things like that. On the field he gets it done. Coaches tell him to do something and he does it. He leads this whole defense by example."

Laolagi's impact often went understated last season, but head coach Tony Sanchez said the Rebels are tangibly better with him on the field, especially due to his ability to play in the middle, on the weak side and on the strong side.

"Last year you saw how it affected us when we lost Bailey down the stretch [to injury]," Sanchez said. "It really hurt the defense. So having him back healthy, ready to go is a big deal. He brings a lot of leadership, a lot of enthusiasm and he has a chance to be a big playmaker for us. And the thing about Bailey is he can play all three spots. He can play the Mike, he can play the Will, he can play the Sam if we needed him to. We don't have a lot of guys that are as versatile as he is."

One or two linebackers can't turn around the defense all by themselves, but Laolagi and Hester are banking on improvement from every position group to get UNLV back into a bowl game for the first time since 2013.

"The mentality of everyone is great," Hester said. "The whole defense is striving to be better and accomplish what we should have accomplished last season."

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.

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