LB Jake Trantin key piece of W&M defense

Bob Shoop coached at Boston College for four years. He's certainly qualified as a talent judge at college football's highest level.

Shoop now directs William and Mary's defense. That satisfaction you can detect in his voice is because he knows the Tribe got a steal in sophomore middle linebacker Jake Trantin.

"I told him he could played for us [at BC]," Shoop said. "He's a lot like those guys. He runs well, he strikes, he's got a good nose for the ball. He can blitz, he can cover, he does a lot of good things."

A lot of recruiters missed the 6-1 235-pounder, who has become an integral part of the fifth-ranked Tribe's retooled defense as it heads into Saturday's game against James Madison (0-3, 2-4) in Williamsburg.

Trantin had two scholarship offers: Towson, and William and Mary (2-1, 5-1). Both came extremely late in the recruiting timetable -- after Christmas his senior year.

"I think he got on people's radar a little bit late," Shoop said. "A lot of the big-league recruiting is done off the junior evaluations, so the people who did it off that probably didn't get a real solid evaluation on him."

Trantin didn't play football until his sophomore year in high school, despite a family background in the sport. His uncle is former NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer. His father, Robert, played football and ran track at Division III Coe College.

Trantin was more into dumping the puck and chasing it as a left-winger in hockey, following the lead of three older brothers. He's the fifth of seven children.

Football seemed a natural fit to a guy used to hitting people in hockey. After his senior year at Archbishop Spalding in Severn, Md., he was named an All-Metro linebacker by the Washington Post and an All-Metro back by the Baltimore Sun.

"In high school, it just seemed like I was able to find the ball and run to it," he said. "In college, it's bigger, it's faster, but it's the same thing. You still run and you still hit. If you do those things, you're going to do all right. I don't think like I'm catching up or anything."

Towson wanted him as a defensive lineman. The Tribe wanted him as a linebacker. And that's what he wanted to play.

"He's our kind of guy," said Shoop, who joined head coach Jimmye Laycock's staff after Trantin was recruited. "I'm not sure if something happened to me during the course of the season that he wouldn't be able to coordinate the defense. . . . He thinks like a coach."

Trantin started last year as a redshirt freshman, first as an outside linebacker and then in the middle. He was William and Mary's second-leading tackler.

He's the leading tackler (20 solo, 23 assists) this season for a unit that ranks second nationally against the run (64.8 yards per game) and 11th nationally in total defense (261.8 yards).

That he didn't get much recruiting interest from bigger programs hasn't really occupied Trantin's mind.

"These things happen for a reason," he said. "I'm happy to be where I am. This is a great opportunity for me here. I feel like I'm making the most of it as of right now."