Vandal Football Preview - Safeties

BREAKDOWN

Maybe the most astonishing thing about the Vandals first year under coach Jason Eck is that nine of his 10 first-year assistant coaches returned. The one coach who didn’t return is safeties Tyler Yelk who is now an assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles. All Eck did to replace him is to hire away another FCS Defensive Coordinator in former San Diego Assistant Bobby Jay. 

The goal in the second year of the defense and the advantage of having an experienced room is to allow the safeties play with more speed. 

“We asked them to come down and play a lot in the box, but they have to be smart enough to know when they're getting into coverage,” Jay said. “Fortunately, we have a pretty experienced room. We talk a lot about doing your job and then some. They have enough experience and understanding of this defense to be able to execute their assignment. Once that's done, pursuing the football and making plays”

KEY RETURNERS

Jay brings over a decade of coaching experience to a safeties room that has plenty of experience of its own. Juniors Tommy McCormick and Murvin Kenion III played extensively last season and grabbed eight interceptions between them. Also in the rotation will be veteran DB Kyrin Beachem and NAU transfer Dwayne McDougal. 

“There's a ton of experience in that room,” Jay said. “Tommy McCormick was a third team all-conference selection last year and played a ton for us. Murv Kenion, who's transitioned from our nickel spot last year into our starting free safety spot for us and then kind of blessed with a lot of depth in that room, Dwane McDougal and Kyrin Beachem have done a really good job and had a really solid camp for us. It gives us a lot of flexibility in what we can do with those guys.”

McCormick leads the way for the group with both his leadership off the field and the field. 

“Tommy is really smart, really intelligent, and can break down plays,” Jay said. “He is aggressive, plays downhill, is able to kind of get in the box and go bang around like a linebacker for us when needs to. He does a good job playing our bullet position.”

Kenion took a big step this offseason in the wight room and in his understanding. In 2022, he primarily played nickel and now has stepped into the starting free safety role.

“Murv is our free safety. He's done a really good job providing leadership in that room and has a lot of flexibility,” Jay said. “He played nickel for us and is able to cover some ground and be able to play man-to-man coverage. So be able to do a lot of different things for us schematically.”

Also in the room is Tommy’s brother Sean McCormick, a senior and all-conference special teams player in 2022. Redshirt freshman Jordan Velasquez is recovering from an early-camp injury and will look add depth for the Vandals.

“Sean McCormick has been with us for a while, has done a really good job of being a great contributor and special teams and played big snaps for us,” Jay said. “Jordan Velasquez is a returning freshman for us, we’re looking for him to continue to grow within his defense and find ways to contribute.”

INCOMING FRESHMEN

With the depth in room, the Vandals brought in just two freshman. Hayden John has been solid in camp, picking off his fare share of passes and earning recognition from coaches. Chase Barker has stepped right into the defense and is building confidence.”

“Our two freshmen who joined the room, Hayde and Chase, have done a really good job of coming in and kind of picking up what we're doing,” Jay said.