Tech’s Chancellor accepts role as target for offenses

GREENSBORO, N.C. Kam Chancellor rose through Norfolk's youth football ranks as one of the biggest kids and best athletes -- certainly no target for opponents to single him out as a weakness on the field.

A quarterback and free safety in high school, he came to Virginia Tech, played cornerback as a freshman, moved to rover -- Tech's version of strong safety -- as a sophomore and slid over to free safety last season. With each position change came adjustments, including coping with getting picked on by offenses.

Chancellor still remembers his introduction to this stinging feeling. In the second game of 2007, Louisiana State, he misread a play and thought a run was coming instead of the pass that ended up burning him for a touchdown. In last season's first game, East Carolina, he missed several tackles.

Despite all those years of growing accustomed to not being targeted, "I'm used to it now," Chancellor said.

He is anticipating a better start to his senior year. He will remain at free safety -- the quarterback of a defense that will be more experienced in the Sept. 5 opener against Alabama than it was for last year's ECU game. The Hokies began last season with seven new starters -- plus Chancellor at a new position for the third time in three years. This season, they will introduce four new starters.

Despite their inexperience, the Hokies finished seventh nationally in total defense last season, after ranking in the top four the previous four seasons. Chancellor's role in furthering Tech's defensive reputation this fall?

"I think I'm going to be a major part because I know a lot of teams are going to try to come at me, just because they think I can't tackle, I guess," he said yesterday at ACC media days.

He began to prove otherwise during the second half of last season. One difference between rover and free safety in Tech's defense is the type of tackle a player is required to make -- an adjustment Chancellor struggled with at first.

The rover is responsible for one gap on the line for each running play, so if the ballcarrier runs through that gap, the rover will most likely tackle him head-on. But the free safety must often pursue ballcarriers from an angle -- a tricky task for a player already responsible for aligning the defense before the snap and changing the alignment depending on the offense's formation.

Chancellor playing free safety "demands so much more than rover did," said Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster. "At rover, he didn't have any responsibilities other than to go make plays."

After his embarrassing missed tackles against ECU, Chancellor watched film with his position coach, Torrian Gray. They noticed flaws in Chancellor's technique and approach. His feet were too close together as he prepared to tackle, resulting in an unsteady base. Too often, he tried to make a big hit but instead ended up overpursuing the ball carrier.

Chancellor focused on open-field tackling in practice, remembering to stay low and keep his feet wide. He wrapped up running backs even after a play ended, just to force good tackling habits on himself. The result: "The the last half of the year he played the way I expected him," Foster said. "He's going to be a lot better player, I think, this year, just because he's going to be more comfortable and at ease."

Chancellor considered leaving early for the NFL but was discouraged, though not surprised, by being projected as a third-round pick. Though he might play strong safety as a pro, he still believes free safety is his best position and said, if he could replay his college career, he would've been a free safety from the beginning.

But when Chancellor closes his eyes and ponders the potential this season holds, he thinks not about regret but about how much more prepared he feels as a free safety and what results that might yield in the Alabama game.

"I meditate about it," he said. "I've visualized a couple big plays that I think I'm going to make that game."