A Few more guys…..

Over my years I had some great Nose Tackles….we were a 3-4 team…they called it an Oakie Defense. The key was to have a great one in the middle. Our Defenses over the years were very solid but when we had a good nose tackle….they were great! When we talked to our players, we often compared guys to these guys….they were the Gold standard. First was Mike Kelly. He was probably 5’8″ 200. But man was he quick and strong. No one could block him. In the LB Poly game, they tackled him every play. It became such a common occurrence the officials stopped calling it. It was Brutal. We lost that game in a close battle and they went on to win the CIF Division 1 Championship.

The next guy I’m reminded of is John Siliga. Man was he a great guy! A great Captain as well. Big powerful stud inside. He’d slant away from a play direction and redirect so quickly that he’d make an incredible tackle. Watching him on film the next day was like watching a highlight reel.

How about Sonny Welch. in 2006 he was our starting guy. He was built like Mike Kelly, not as big but maybe stronger. He was so quick and had such an incredible heart. He is now serving in the Navy on a Navy SEAL team. I’d tell you were he’s deployed but then he’d have to take me out! In 2006 he was injured in our Semi final game. We were very lucky that night because we moved big Andrew Smith inside and a young Jordan Thomas (a sophomore) emerged as a great talent. Both Andrew and Jordan were Terriers thru and thru. And Both were amazing guys. Jordan is now coaching at his Alma Mater, SDSU.

It was guys like these that created THE LONG BLUE LINE!

More to come….Talk soon….Jim