During practice Wednesday morning behind Wallace Wade Stadium, No. 6 lined up at wide receiver, went in motion and ran his route.
Exactly one play later, No. 6 lined up on defense, snuck up to the line and sacked the quarterback.
Within those two plays, Marcus Jones' ability to adjust quickly to his recent position change to linebacker was obvious.
"I've never done anything like this but it's a lot of fun," Jones said. "This is something I wanted to do. I'm open to it, and I'm having fun."
Once a top recruit as a quarterback, Jones initially played wide receiver as a freshman because of the depth at quarterback with Mike Schneider, Zack Asack and Curt Dukes all ahead of him.
Last year, Schneider and Dukes left school and Asack was suspended for the year, leaving the door open for Jones to capitalize as the starting quarterback and "have fun," he said.
Last year was anything but fun for Jones, who struggled in the opening shutout loss to Richmond and lost his starting job to freshman Thaddeus Lewis. Expected to be a multi-threat quarterback, Jones attempted just 14 passes on the year and finished with a net loss of six yards rushing.
Right before signing day in February, head coach Ted Roof summoned Jones into his office to ask the sophomore what he wanted to do. Stacked at the receiver position but with a tremendous athlete in Jones, Roof wanted to ensure one of his best athletes would be on the field and suggested Jones move to linebacker.
"It's my job as head coach to make sure that we get our best guys in the right spot," Roof said. "We had some depth at wide receiver plus we had some guys that red-shirted. I want to get our best athletes on the field."
But Roof left the decision entirely up to Jones, informing him that he could still try to earn a starting job at wide receiver if he wanted to. After taking some time to make his decision, Jones met with Roof again and informed him that he wanted to play at linebacker.
Jones has never complained about the switch. In fact, Jones said he had initially wanted to approach Roof about playing linebacker this fall.
The position is not entirely foreign to Jones. In high school, he played quarterback, wide receiver, safety, punter and linebacker.
"I feel like [playing linebacker] comes to me pretty naturally," Jones said.
In practice Wednesday, Jones played as if he never missed a beat, staying on his man in pass coverage and aggressively pursuing the ball when the offense ran the ball.
Jones, however, still faces challenges. Listed at 210 pounds last season, Jones is lighter than most at his position and has had to adjust to offensive linemen attacking instead of defending him.
"Reading linemen and having to get off blocks-that's a whole new ball game," Jones said. "The things I need to work on most as a linebacker are, one, gaining weight and, two, being able to take on linemen."
In the long term, however, both Roof and Jones expect the decision to pay off, as Jones believes his past experience at quarterback will help him understand what offenses will do to counter a defense's attack.
"It's a new position for him and every day's a learning opportunity and experience," Roof said. "I think he's going to be a very good football player going forward."
NOTES:
Thaddeus Lewis has shown signs of vast improvement in the spring, completing 16-of-26 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown in a scrimmage last Saturday. "I've already seen Thad get a lot better from last season," Roof said. "He's very comfortable in what we're doing."... Peter Vaas has replaced Bill O'Brien, who left to take a job with the New England Patriots, as offensive coordinator. Vaas most recently mentored Brady Quinn as quarterbacks coach at Notre Dame. "He's helped me out a whole lot," Lewis said.
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