"On the Spot" with LB Will Powers [#42]
Following
last Saturday morning's Practice #6, The Bootleg's "Emeritus" caught up with
senior "Sam" linebacker Will Powers , a
local product from San Mateo's Serra High School and a veteran who managed to
survive the harrowing transition from the Harris experiment to the Harbaugh
exuberance. It is for some
a bit confusing that a guy named "Will" will
be playing at the "Sam", but all we care about is how he
helps us dismantle opposing offenses.
On-Field, Post-Practice Interview on Saturday, August 15,
2009
The Bootleg: We’re here with senior "Sam" linebacker Will
Powers, the "last hurrah" for you, right, Will? You were a first-team
All-Pac-10 Academic selection last year, making mom proud! You play the
strong-side or "Sam" linebacker position for us and this is the last
fall camp for you, do you feel a sense of urgency?
Will Powers: Yeah, and it is not really a sense of urgency
any more, that was a "sense of urgency" the last couple of years - now it is a
"sense of desperation
"!
TB: That's a good
line!
WP: Actually, it's not my line, it's Coach Harbaugh's! This
year, a lot of things are coming together and as you said, it is "the last
hurrah", so it is indeed an exciting time, a chance to put ourselves in position
finally to send these seniors out with a
bowl.
TB: Now, you are healthy, ready to
roll. There is now some depth in the linebacking corps. Coach Buh has
talked about wanting "freaks" at the "Sam" position, do you qualify? You are a
pretty big dude, got some height and
range.
WP: It's hard to talk about yourself like that, but
certainly the other guys he has put at that position, I guess I definitely would
qualify. Alex (sophomore Alex Debniak) is, and he runs non-stop - I don't see
him ever getting fatigued out there, he's got a motor that just goes and
goes. He's coming along very
well.
TB: You are a veteran now and you
want all these young players coming in, but it does push the older guys,
right?
WP: Oh yeah, the competition is only good for the team. If
you go into every practice looking at a guy always on your heels, you've got to
be that much sharper on what you have to do. Ultimately, it is
about the team winning and what is best for the
team.
TB: A lot of team experience
problems with the divide between veterans and underclassmen, but Stanford seems
to be pretty successful in avoiding such things. Is that because of a tone set
by Coach
Harbaugh?
WP: Actually, I think that is more specific to Stanford in
general. Looking back at trips I have taken to different places, when I was
getting recruited, you saw a lot of division, but when you come to Stanford
- there are no cliques here, from incoming freshmen to Allen Smith, a
sixth-year
guy!
TB: No one is calling you "Pops"
yet?
WP: (Laughing) I feel like they should be, but
that is actually (CB) Kris Evans, we call him "Gramps", even though he is not
the oldest guy on the team!
TB: We have seen good things from
this growing group of talented running backs, who is the hardest guy to bring
down, is it the "shifty" guy or the "tough" runner that is hardest to
stop?
WP: They are both tough types, but you have to give it to
Toby [RB Toby Gerhart in case you just landed from Mars]. Right
now he has the yellow jersey so we can't even touch him. That makes it
difficult.
TB: Are you "happy" about
that or a little "disappointed"?
WP: (Laughing) A little bit of both! Toby is just a guy
that takes a whole defense to bring down and "Patch" (RB Jeremy Stewart) behind
him, the "shifty guy" you talk about, they are both tough to bring down and are
going to do great things for
us.
TB: You span a couple of coaching
administrations, you experienced the Harris Era... Aside from the coaching part
of it, what has changed the most in your mind as far as the atmosphere currently
surrounding this football program?
WP: It went from our having a team of players that were
kind of pulling in different directions, in what they expect from each
other and from the coaches, to a team now that is all pullin' in the same
direction. We have a firm understanding of what it will take to win. I think
what separates us from years past is this thorough commitment to it, with no one
lagging behind.
TB: We play a 4-3, but it
become a 5-2 as we plug the run, do you think of yourself now as a quasi-lineman
now? You aren't getting out in space as much (covering those "smash
routes"!)
WP: I check my weight every once in a while just
to make sure I am still a
linebacker!
TB: What are you logging in at now?
WP: Uh....240....-ish! It's not bad. The position they have
found for me at the end, not at the "end", but at the line of scrimmage
on the tight end, is something that fits for me, because it is a little bit of
both - I like to fight those tight
ends.
TB: But you can still get home,
ring up a few sacks, right? What are your personal goals for this
year?
WP: Same thing everyone else on this team wants - to be "the best". I want to be the very best at my position in the Pac-10. But we are
stacked with guys that can easily do that, win all-conference honors.
Unfortunately, the biggest factor that determines that, at
least in years past it has been, is winning. And when we do that, they (those
that vote for conference honors) will look at guys like Masifilo, Lorig,
Keiser and more - they're all All-Pac-10 guys. They haven't
received the respect that I feel they should
get.
TB: Our defensive line is pretty
solid across the board. Big, strong guys, and all - and yet the linebackers
and secondary have been brought into question by some observes - we just
talked to Michael Thomas about combating that impression. The secondary wants to
avoid being a weak link, is it safe to assume the backers feel the same
way?
WP: We are using this camp to firm up our defense and I
really don't see that as nearly as much of a concern as I guess some people
felt in the spring - because we have guys who can play. The defense we have
going in now is solid! Sure, we can fine-tune some things, but I
have total confidence in the guys behind me and the guys next to
me.
TB: You still love football, you
have an interest in continuing to play after your college career?
WP: This season is the focus, whatever happens beyond, it
will take care of
itself.
TB: Will, why don't we get more
local guys playing at Stanford (recognizing that we added two players from
Bellarmine and one from Menlo-Atherton this
year)...
WP: We should, we
should.
TB: Is it the quality of football
or because we recruit so well
nationally?
WP: I don't know, I think the guys that qualify to get in
here are of national standard and so if they happen to be local, that's great,
but we just want to find guys who are going to be "Stanford Men" and we have
done that.
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