Competitive SMU LB group gears up for final showcase of spring
SMU defensive coordinator Scott Symons had an open spot on his defensive staff and moved on former SEC assistant Maurice Crum, Jr. The former Notre Dame captain has taken over a linebacker room with plenty of competition and some new faces.
Crum’s learning Symons’ system, but he’s honed in on building competition in his new room.
“You really want to reward the guys who’ve had a good practice before,” Crum said on Tuesday. “It keeps everybody on their toes. I can’t say who the starters are going to be, who’s going to play 100, who’s going to play 50-50 reps, I don’t know any of that. This is training for that.”
Crum is a newcomer to SMU’s defense, but not only does he have Symons to lean on, but also linebacker Ahmad Walker. Walker, who started for Symons at Liberty, is open to taking Crum’s coaching while also assisting in his learning of the defense.
“When I first got here and I was trying to learn this, I was like, ‘Ahmad probably knows this better than I do,’” Crum said. “I would look at him first to when I say it then when he shakes his head, I’m like, alright, I got it. He’s really sharp. He can play Mike and Will. Knows all the pieces and how they fit around him, knows all the signals. It was really good to use him as a gauge when you’re talking to the room because he knows it so well. The cool part is he’s not close minded at all. He’s still open to getting better. He’s a football junkie.”
Walker prepped at Warner Robins High, one of the powerhouse programs in Georgia. After starting quickly for Symons with the Flames, he’s reunited with Symons in Dallas. That leadership and winning mentality is one of the reasons SMU’s pounced on Walker out of the NCAA Transfer Portal.
“You play the game to win so I feel like every school, every team that I’ve been to, I’ve been on a winning team,” Walker said this spring. “I feel like just having that mentality and bringing it here is going to uplift the program, uplift the guys around me. Having those talks with coach Symons, they expect a lot out of me.”
“When you play as many snaps as that guy has you expect him to be able to get everybody lined up, get himself lined up,” Symons added. “There’s an edge and a way that he plays that he’s had since high school. I think he definitely brings that to the table.”
Burns trying to break into starting lineup for SMU
The veteran of the bunch is JaQwondis Burns, who is aiming at starting alongside Walker. Burns, who transferred from Minnesota last year, is accepting the charge from Crum to step up.
“He’s another guy I challenged when I walked in the door. He’s played a little bit, but now it should be your time. I challenged him and said I’m not going to make this easy to you. You shouldn’t want it to be. He responded to that,” Crum said. “Through the challenges and watching him try to take the step to become a guy, to consistently make those plays and get aligned and be a communicator and be confident, just let that energy ooze out of you, I think that takes you to the next level.”
Burns brings athleticism and a more vocal role did than he did a year ago playing behind veterans Shanon Reid, Isaac Slade-Matautia and Jimmy Phillips. SMU’s looking for even more out of him after making 14 tackles in 2022.
“I’m a lot more comfortable,” Burns said. “I think having Slade and Jimmy, being under those guys’ wings made me a lot better. Seeing what it takes to lead a team and defense. I’m just trying to take that next step in that leadership role.”
“He’s a smart kid,” Symons noted. “He came in, hadn’t played a bunch of linebacker so he had that learning curve. The standard he should be at as a guy who got to go through last spring with us, we’re going to hold him to that. I know what he’s capable of. It’s just him consistently putting it together. There’s a different level of maturity that I’ve spring this spring than in the last year that we were together.”
Expectations high for Alex Kilgore
True freshman Alex Kilgore should be readying for Senior Prom and high school graduation. Instead, he’s staking a claim to a starting job with the Mustangs.
“Really excited about that young man. He’s very powerful. He’s ready made,” Crum said. “He’s big, long, strong and fast. Ups and downs of a freshman to be anticipated, but he’s been very impressive so far. Love the way that he strikes, comes downhill, he’s done a good job of picking up the scheme. He’s a kid who accepts coaching well, you can coach him really hard. There is no pulling back. You give him all of it.”
Kilgore, SMU’s highest rated signee on the On3 Industry Ranking, is just months into his college career now. He’s willing to do whatever it takes and that has him heavily in the mix to play a lot of snaps.
“Just really getting adjusted to college,” Kilgore said. “Learning the playbook, getting more chemistry, learn my new teammates. It’s been really good. Opportunity that I want to take advantage of, but that’s not my main focus right now. I just want to learn the playbook, be with my teammates and really just grow as a team and help the team whenever they need or however I need.
“My dad kind of instilled it into me when I was a little kid, just doing whatever the team needs and regardless of if you need to play offensive lineman at 150, I got to do the job and get it done somehow.”
Expectations are high long-term for Kilgore, who won a state championship as a junior at Katy Paetow. Kilgore is just learning on the job, but is impressing with his maturity.
“You love the approach that he has as a young man to come in and with the mentality and mindset that he has to be coachable and eager to learn for sure,” Symons said.
SMU creates more competition with Adimora’s move
Another newcomer to the linebacker room, but not to college football is converted safety Chris Adimora. Adimora notched 14 tackles in a limited role at safety last year, but is adjusting well to linebacker.
“He doesn’t know the position so for me, it’s always really cool to teach someone who doesn’t know at all. Just to watch him take his first steps, you get around your kids and they crawl and they take their first steps. You see the hunger and the want. Those guys are always texting me. Through this 14, 15 practices, Chris has steadily improved. He puts the work in so he gets out of it what he wants.”
What’s all this add up to for SMU’s linebackers? Hunger and competition.
“I think we’ve got a bunch of hungry guys,” Crum said. “Not a ton of experience there, but guys who are unproven and ready to be proven.”
Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT in SMU’s Spring Game is the first public look for fans at this new-look group.
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