Mercer defense turns to new faces for leadership this season
There are some big names gone for the Mercer defense.
But the Bears believe they have plenty of key players — and leaders — for the 2017 season. Mercer has five returning starters from the 2016 team, which finished 6-5.
The Bears open their 2017 season Aug. 31 against Jacksonville, and they will do so with a clear goal and nickname for their unit this season.
“LOC is our mantra for this year, Legion of Chaos. LOC, that’s what we’re going with this year, and we’re going to look forward to making a lot of plays this year,” senior linebacker LeMarkus Bailey said. “This defense can be great. We’ve got a lot of young guys. We’ve got a lot of experience coming back, as well. We have a lot of people who are going to fit in a lot of new places.”
Gone are players like linebackers Tyler Ward and Tosin Aguebor and defensive back Zach Jackson, who finished long and distinguished careers with the program. But Bailey is one of the five returning starters, and he is joined by senior linebacker Lee Bennett, junior defensive end Isaiah Buehler, sophomore defensive back Eric Jackson and sophomore defensive lineman Dorian Kithcart.
“I’m very pleased with what we’ve got on defense. You take our defensive guys, and they look a lot better on the hoof,” Mercer head coach Bobby Lamb said. “They’ve done an unbelievable job in the weight room. (Assistant director of strength and conditioning coach) Carl Miller and his staff have done a superb job. I think our front seven are as good as we’ve had since we’ve been here. Our secondary is still to be tested because we’ve got some new faces back there.”
The biggest positive for the Mercer defense is depth. That includes veteran players like defensive backs Stephen Houzah and Kam Lott, linebacker Will Coneway and defensive lineman Behr Cooper.
“This defense definitely has a lot of potential,” Buehler said. “I feel like our culture is a lot better than it has been over the past couple of years. I feel like with the guys we have up front and with the athleticism that we have in the back half that we can definitely put together some runs, that we can be a pretty stout defense this year.
“I’d say the big key with that is depth. We have a lot of guys who can play. We have a lot of physical guys.”
This story was originally published August 20, 2017 at 11:10 AM with the headline "Mercer defense turns to new faces for leadership this season."