SMU’s Crum excited about talented LB group

Last year the SMU linebackers were some of the most productive on the defense and they’re back and getting even better this spring.

Kobe Wilson and Ahmad Walker were 1-2 in tackles last year with 80 and 65, respectively, while then true freshman Alexander Kilgore finished seventh with 36. All three are back, along with plenty of other returning and incoming talent.

It’s enough that second-year linebackers coach Maurice Crum doesn’t want to rush the decision-making process.

“We’ve got a really good group, a group I’m really excited about,” Crum said. “We’ll go through spring, we’ll go through summer and we’ll figure it out in fall camp. But right now I’m just trying to make sure everybody has a fair opportunity to have a spot.”

Walker was somewhat of a known commodity coming to the Mustangs last year. He spent two seasons at Liberty, including one with current SMU defensive coordinator Scott Symons coaching his position, but how he would transition was less known. The same could be said for Wilson who was coming from a Temple program that had won just seven games in his three seasons there.

But they provided the veteran leadership players who started as true freshmen and had 2-3 years under their belt and production. Now they are even trying to take that next step.

“They’re trying to stay oiled up, as we say. But those two guys, man, I can really rest my head knowing that I’ve got those two guys,” Crum said. “I can hang my hat on them. They show up every day. They absolutely love football, even when they’re not going, if I don’t coach them, they’re coaching them. And I’m challenging both of them to take the next step of being leaders and just be more vocal, just be more demanding of their teammates. And they’ve taken that challenge and done a great job.

“I’m challenging them to take care of the room. To pull the other guys along to make them match their level. Just trying to find different ways to challenge them and every time I challenge those two, they set the table. However they go, we go and it’s fantastic that I can hang my hat on them.”

Kilgore followed in their footsteps starting as a true freshman and proved up to the task. Fellow 2023 signee Brandon Miyazono showed off his raw talent. Now the goal is to make him more of a true linebacker in 2024.

“I think if you watched us play last year, (Miyanozo) showed up in special teams all the time. He was the first one down on kickoff, he made tons of plays, he knocked people out,” Crum said. “So that part of playing linebacker he has, it was just more so, again, the game’s slowing down from learning it. He’s another guy who’s playing both spots now. He was kind of a guy, because he was just really anxious all the time, that franticness that you have as a young player, Brandon had that.

“But now he’s got that cool, he’s calm, he gets lined up and he’s starting to produce. So he’s another guy that he just brings a different skill set. He’s a really big kid, too. He’s a tall, long kid that can run. So he’ll factor in somewhere as well. It’s just a matter of, again, I’m in a good spot in the linebacker room. I think we’ve got a talented group. We’ve got different skill sets that will allow us to be successful. And Brandon, I think, is going to be a factor in there somewhere.”

As good as those four, along with the veteran presence of JaQwondis Burns, were last year the Mustangs still added more talent and depth this offseason. Utah transfer Justin Medlock and 2024 signee Zach Smith are at SMU this spring while Brandon Booker will join this summer.

For Medlock, it is mostly about getting him used to playing in the SMU defense.

“Justin Medlock’s done a really good job of learning the defense quickly. He’s a very talented athlete,” Crum said. “He brings a different dynamic than the other guys who are more traditional linebackers, Justin’s a really athletic guy we’re excited about.”

Then there is Smith who is trying to get used to the way and speed things are done at the collegiate level.

“Zach Smith’s a new guy. He’s trying to find his way through. He’s flashed, at times. … He’s a very instinctive football player who’s smart because he did a lot at Red Oak. You saw him play safety, you saw him blitz off the edge, you saw him play backer, you saw him play Apex SAM so he is a very instinctual football player. He’s just waiting for everything to slow down. He’s trying to figure out where his class is, trying to figure out why coach is yelling at (him). He’s trying to figure it out, but through it all he doesn’t panic.

“He’s a very calm person, which for a younger player that’s often not the case. Younger players are pretty erratic, they get flustered easy. Zach’s very cool, he’s very calm, he’s just trying to work through the process. But he is talented. He runs very well, he’s very athletic. He’s grown a little bit, is a little taller and has probably put on 10 pounds since he’s been here. Thinking that by the time we get to (fall) camp, he should be kind of similar to where Kilgore was last year. He’ll have a role on our defense and special teams.”

While both Smith and Booker will have to overcome the learning curve that comes with transitioning from high school football to college football they do have the intangibles. They were the first two players Crum looked at when he got the SMU job and he watched them grow through their senior years and now has the chance to develop them at the next level.

“That’s a big thing for me, just how guys approach football. I love athletes, guys who do a lot on the football field, like Zach Smith, but then Booker is just another football guy,” Crum said. “You line him up anywhere, he’s a football junkie. He jumps in on Zoom to try to see our meetings. He’s just obsessed with it. If he didn’t have school, I promise you he’d be here (watching spring practices). He wears me down about practice, ‘How we practice today? What are you looking at? What do I need to learn?’

“So he’s just he’s just like the rest of the guy so when you add him in as another freshman, but I think, physically, he’s going to be a little bit more ready like ready-made. He’s not going to have to put on a ton of weight and he has good athleticism. We’ve just got to see what he can do in the summer to get him ready, get him caught up and see what he can do. “

And just like they did last year, this year’s linebackers will play behind some big bodies on the defensive line. SMU lost three interior defensive linemen, but restocked through the transfer portal. That’s something that helps sells SMU on the recruiting trail.

“When you start talking to Justin Metlock and say, ‘Hey, you want to see what’s going to be in front of you.’ And I told him, I showed him the bodies and the guys that were going to be in front of him and his eyes got really big,” Crum said. “That just makes you a better player, right? If they demand double team blocks or they demand attention up front, that’s ultimately going to help us. If they don’t demand double teams, they’re just going to work up to us quickly, right? Then we’ve got to work on block destruction, which is part of the game. But if they demand attention up front, it’s only going to help us open up seams, allow us to be protected and allow us to be downhill.”