Washingtonpost.com: Navy Midshipmen

Anderson Takes Center Stage on Offensive Line

	Center Terrence Anderson is a product of strong football background, with father Willie an all-ACC nose guard for Clemson, laster assistant for Oklahoma St., now defensive coordinator at Langston University. (Nancy Andrews - The Post)

Growing up in the shadow of big-time college football, Terrence Anderson had the unique opportunity to learn from some of the sport's best. He was named after former NFL defensive back Terry Kinard – the first player his father recruited as an assistant coach at Clemson – and his babysitters included Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas, players his father recruited while working for Oklahoma State. Not surprisingly, the Navy senior center has a substance-over-style approach to playing.

"Most offensive linemen are tough guys. I tell them all the time, I'm not a tough guy," said Anderson, who also sings tenor in the Naval Academy gospel choir. "I smile a little too much and maybe care about my grooming standards a little too much. I see a lot of true tough guys who use that as a motivation to play, and that's good – especially here. But my motivation is more in a simple pride that I'm not going to let any one person beat me."

That approach has helped him make a stunningly quick transition from seldom-used backup linebacker to one of the nation's top centers. (He was rated the nation's eighth-best center in the Sporting News' season preview magazine.)

Last season – his first at center – he averaged 15 knockdown blocks per game and did not allow a sack. He also did his best work against the best opponents, grading out at 95 percent against Notre Dame and recording 25 knockdown blocks against unbeaten Tulane.

"He can be as good as he wants to be because he's got the one thing that a lot of them lack, and that's consistency," Navy offensive line coach Gene McKeehan said. "You kind of expect him to play well every game, and he does."

Leading by example is nothing new to Anderson, however. While they were growing up, he and his brother, Derrick, shared their home with emotionally troubled boys from dysfunctional families whom their father – a church pastor as well as a football coach – took in for anywhere from six months to two years as part of his ministry.

"The goal was to try and impact a change," Willie Anderson said. "Terrence and his brother were always role models for [the boys he took in]. They worked closely with them and made a difference." But Willie Anderson, an all-Atlantic Coast Conference nose guard and team co-captain at Clemson in 1974, has groomed his son to be a leader since shortly after he was conceived. While pursuing his master's degree, the elder Anderson studied the idea that education begins in the womb. So he read and talked to his still-unborn son, frequently telling him one day he would become the first black president.

The night Terrence was born, his father read him an entire Mother Goose book.

When it came to football, though, Willie Anderson resisted the urge to coach his kids. Now the defensive coordinator at Langston (Okla.) University, he said, if anything, his son may be too serious. An economics major who also is taking pre-med courses, Terrence Anderson said he eventually would like to become a physician. He also is considering trying out for Navy's wrestling team (he finished sixth in his weight class in Oklahoma as a high school senior).

"I like having an opponent – it's either me or him that wins," Anderson said. "One of us knows he won, the other knows he lost."

At 5 feet 11 and 285 pounds, he often weighs 20 or 30 pounds less than the players he must block. Overcoming that obstacle, he said, is just a matter of putting into practice lessons he learned long ago.

"Most of the guys I play against are bigger and stronger than I am, but it's just a matter of technique," he said. "A lot of guys don't play with good technique, and that can save you if you're not as strong or talented as they are."

Season Outlook
Coaches, Defensive Scheme Brought In to Buoy Navy

Coach Charlie Weatherbie's staff has undergone a significant shuffle, with a new defensive coordinator, Tim DeRuyter; a new offensive coordinator, Mike Vaught; and a new assistant head coach, former Air Force assistant Sammy Steinmark.

More noticeable to fans, however, will be the change to a defensive alignment with three linemen, four linebackers and four defensive backs from a defense that had four linemen, two linebackers and five defensive backs.

The switch is designed to take advantage of Navy's smaller, quicker players. Weatherbie hopes the addition of two outside linebackers in place of a tackle and a safety will help the Midshipmen decrease the number of big plays they allow. Last season, they were 107th in Division I-A in total defense.

"It's better suited to the types of players we attract at the academy," said strong safety Jamie Doffermyre, who led the team with 127 tackles last year.

"We have more linebackers than anything else, so it's going to help."

Offensively, Navy seems in good hands with returning quarterback Brian Broadwater, a junior who won the starting job in the middle of last season. For the season, he rushed for 679 yards and five touchdowns and threw for 838 yards with seven touchdowns and six interceptions. The coaches also like sophomore quarterback Brian Madden, who led the junior varsity to a 7-1 record last season. "I would assume that Madden will see some playing time," Weatherbie said. "He's a young man who showed us some great things this spring."

Fullback is a question mark following the graduations of three players who combined for more than 1,200 yards rushing last season; two sophomores, Marlon Terrell and Raheem Lambert, will compete for playing time there.

Senior John Vareen and sophomore Dre Brittingham figure to get most of the carries at slotback. Senior center Terrence Anderson will anchor what should be a solid offensive line. Weatherbie also will add a new offensive wrinkle, occasionally using a tight end – especially in short-yardage situations.

The Midshipmen will have plenty of chances to pull upsets, as they face five teams that played in bowl games last season. Those five – Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Air Force, Notre Dame and Tulane – combined to win 51 of 61 games a year ago.

"We have the opportunity to shock the world," said Doffermyre.

– Rich Scherr

Data
Coach: Charlie Weatherbie, fifth season with Navy (24-21; 39-40 in seven seasons overall)
Players to Watch: QB Brian Broadwater (679 yards rushing 5 TDs; 47 of 98 passing, 838 yards, 7 TDs, 6 INTs)
SB John Vereen (210 yards rushing, 3 TDs)
S Jamie Doffermyre (team-best 127 tackles)
DT Gino Marchetti (37 tackles)
LB Daryl Hill (31 tackles)
P Tray Calisch (40.6 yards per punt)
Top Players Lost: FB Irv Dingle (668 yards rushing, 6 TDs)
WR Ryan Read (17 receptions, 433 yards, 6 TDs; transferred to Boston College)
S Adam Crecion (77 tackles)
LB Brad Chatlos (54 tackles)
DT Jason Snider (41 tackles)

Schedule

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