Maclin still has untapped potential

MEMPHIS - Ridgeway coach Rod Brown will tell anyone who will listen that Justin Maclin is a sight to behold on the football field, a defensive whiz capable of demoralizing quarterbacks and inspiring teammates. But get Maclin and Brown alone - say, in front of a television set for a one-on-one film session - and things change.

"I gave you another minus there for your drop into coverage," Brown told Maclin last week before practice.

"Hmm?" Maclin asked.

"For your drop," Brown said.

"But I made the hit," Maclin said.

"Yeah, but you made a bad drop right here," Brown said. "You're making the end drop right there. You're dropping into the flat."

Amid all the football jargon, there was a clear message that Brown wanted to convey to Maclin, a senior linebacker: He might be one of the best high school football players in the country, but he has a lot to learn. His potential is untapped. And this might be bad news for the rest of Class 5A.

Ridgeway is expected to lean on Maclin, an LSU commitment, this fall. He also seems prepared for his new role at middle linebacker after spending last season on the outside.

"That's where I always wanted to be," said Maclin, who added 12 pounds to his frame over the summer.

"The inside position puts him in the limelight a little bit more, so we'll see how he handles that," Brown said. "He'll be the guy out front, calling plays. And he's going to have to be a little more vocal than he's been in the past."

When he was hired before the start of last season, Brown learned that Maclin had been lining up on offense, often at tight end. There would be no more of that. Brown visualized Maclin as a disruptive force on defense, where his skills could flourish. He was raw, but big and strong and fast.

"He wasn't as stout as he is now," Brown said, "but he was a 6-4 kid that could run. And I mean, run."

Brown felt that Maclin could patrol the field at linebacker if he could learn the system quickly enough. Worst case, Brown knew he could pencil him in at defensive end and have him pursue the quarterback all game. Who would be able to block him?

Ridgeway went 7-4 last season, and Maclin finished with 95 tackles and an outrageous 19 sacks. College recruiters began to arrive by the truckload. Among suitors that included USC, Tennessee, Alabama and Florida, LSU had two advantages from the start: Maclin has been a fan of the Tigers since he was a kid, and his father and LSU running backs coach Larry Porter are longtime friends, dating to their time as teammates at Memphis.

"I just felt comfortable when I visited," said Maclin, who committed to LSU in June.

Brown intended to keep him on the outside this season, but that changed when a couple of early scrimmages revealed problems up the middle. Brown needed someone who could run from sideline to sideline. Maclin was the clear choice, even if his coach was reluctant to shift him to a new position his senior season. But Maclin had been politicking for the job since the start of two-a-days, and he needed all of two practices to prove himself.

"Man, I tell you what," Brown said, "some of the things he can do…"

Maclin is still learning the job and all that it entails, and Brown wants him to be able to operate at full-speed for a full four quarters without taking any plays off. At the MIAA Jamboree earlier this month, there were moments when Maclin appeared to tire. And during their film session last week, Brown stopped the tape to point something out to Maclin. Then he hit rewind, again and again, to drill home the message.

"You see this right there," Brown said. "Remember when I said you weren't hustling one play?"

"Coach, come on!" Maclin said. "The ball was on the other side of the field."

"No, that's not hustling right there," Brown said. "That's not hustling. Was that hustle? You tell me. You've got to be like a crazed dog."

There are obvious benefits to his revised role. If teams grow accustomed to seeing him at middle linebacker and make adjustments, Brown knows he can move Maclin back to the outside - or even to defensive end.

Maclin lined up on the edge for the final play of Ridgeway's scrimmage against Whitehaven, and he bulldozed two blockers before reaching quarterback Fred Flenorl … a split-second too late. Flenorl flung a 35-yard touchdown pass to Chaz Moore as time expired for a 6-0 victory.

"Give him another couple of weeks to learn the position," Brown said, "and it could get real scary."

Scott Cacciola can be reached at 931-529-2773.