Bohannon wants to make impact like Berry : govolsxtra.com

Willie Bohannon has plenty of confidence.

He plans to use it to his advantage at Tennessee.

Bohannon, a defensive end from Blount High School in Mobile, Ala., signed a letter of intent to play football at UT in February.

The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Bohannon talks about his goals at UT and how he became a standout defensive end in this Q&A.

Q: What was your most memorable moment from an official visit?

A: The way I was treated whenever I went to a school, every school I went to. They treated me like I was one of the best people they ever recruited. That was the best thing about recruiting. They made you feel good. You go to school and work hard and it was like receiving an award, like you were a star almost.

Q: What was your least favorite part of recruiting?

A: The first time when I started getting recruited. My bill ran up real high on my cell phone. My mom got real made about it, too. She was just like, ‘You tell them to call the house phone or something.’ I had to make sure they’d call after 9 (p.m., for free late night hours). If they called before then I just told them I’d call them back.”

Q: Who has made the most significant impact on your football career?

A: I have a whole bunch of people. I believe my defensive coordinator, Tywanios Lockett, he had the most influence on my football career. He coached (Houston Texans linebacker) DeMeco Ryans when he was in high school. He teaches you to stay disciplined. He teaches a whole lot of discipline. He told me to stay on track and he kept me from messing up. I could have gotten into a lot of things but I didn’t because of him. He kept me on track.

Q: When did you know you would have a future in football?

A: Eighth grade. I did really good and a lot of people were trying to get me to come to their high school. Going into high school I was getting recruited from middle school. I did real good at defensive end. It really didn’t strike me. I knew I was going to have a future because of the confidence I have in myself. It didn’t strike me until the ninth grade when I competed with those big guys. In the tenth grade I had 18.5 sacks. I still don’t think it struck me how big a prospect I am. I think I still have as lot to prove.

Q: Why do you think you still have a lot to prove?

A: I would not even say it’s about proving myself in college. It’s about getting known in college. I haven’t gotten there yet. I want to go and set records and everything. It’s not about proving myself. It’s getting known.

Q: What is your favorite part about playing football?

A: The rush you get while you’re playing the game. A lot of people like to play. You do something to get the crowd to cheer for you. It’s the feeling you get. It’s like a rush. It feels like you want to do it again. It makes you want to do it more and more and more.

Q: You mentioned your confidence earlier. How much will that help you at the next level?

A: A lot. If you don’t have confidence in yourself you won’t be able to do anything. You’ll be stressed a lot. It keeps me going, having faith in myself. There will be people who have faith in you but a lot of people will be doubtful about you. You can never be doubtful about yourself.

Q: What do you want to study in college?

A: To be an athletic trainer. I want to stay in sports. I don’t want to be a football coach in the future. I want to be a trainer to help players get better in that way. I think I’d be more helpful getting them prepared for the coaches by training them. I think I’d be more helpful then. Coaching, I don’t know. I’m not the type of person to be screaming. I’m not the type of person to be coaching. I can get intense but I’m not a screaming type.

Q: What will be the biggest adjustment you will need to make to play in college?

A: Strength. I’m good in the lower body and I’m really quick, but I believe I’ll have to use more strength now than in high school. It’ll be real important. I want to be able to combine speed and strength. You have to do that at the college level. You combine things you learn. You can’t get by with just one technique or strength. That’ll be the biggest adjustment.

Q: What are your goals at UT?

A: For the short term it’s make an immediate impact on the team, like Eric Berry did. He came in and made instant impact. He was very helpful in their wins. I want to be able to do that. Long term is to graduate in three years. I want to be able to do that and take advantage of the tutors and everything.

Q: What did Eric Berry show you last year?

A: I saw a lot of freshmen last year who made instant impacts. It’s not impossible. They showed you it’s not impossible to come in as a freshman and do great things and not make the team skip a beat or anything. I have faith in myself now that I can come in and make an instant impact. It’s the extra push to do it that you need.

Q: Is there a player you model your game after?

A: I have a lot of favorite players. My favorite player, Julius Peppers, I don’t play anything like him. He’s on a whole other level. I’d say Jason Taylor because he’s not undersized, but he’s not a big defensive lineman. He uses technique and speed to get around players. That’s something I do a lot.

Q: Are you going to end up on “Dancing With the Stars” like Taylor?

A: I don’t even dance. I’ m not the dancing type. I like to see dancing. I’ll watch people dance.