Michigan State University Athletics
Q&A: Senior Linebacker Shawn Wright
9/10/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 10, 1999
Q: WITH A SWITCH FROM LINEBACKER TO FULLBACK AND BACK TO LINEBACKER, THIS WAS A PRETTY EVENTFUL PRESEASON FOR YOU, WASN?T IT?
A: It?s been all right. I was only on offense for the first day of two-a-days before I moved back to linebacker. It made for some adjustments early on, though.
Q: EVEN WITH JUST A COUPLE OF PRACTICES AS AN OFFENSIVE PLAYER, DID YOU GET A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON THE STRENGTHS OF THE DEFENSE?
A: Definitely. Being on that side of the ball I saw that our strength is the defensive line and the front seven. From running the ball I could see how well the linemen and linebackers were filling the gaps.
Q: HOW ABOUT LOOKING AT THE OFFENSE FROM A DEFENSIVE PERSPECTIVE?
A: On the defensive side I?ve seen how well our offensive linemen pick up the blitzes. I think the offensive line is going to surprise a lot of people. They don?t get a lot of credit, but we have almost everybody back on our offensive line. We lost (Jason) Strayhorn from last year, but people forget that we have Shaun Mason coming back. He only played the first two games last year, but he?s back now.
Q: WHO WERE SOME PLAYERS YOU COULD TURN TO ON OFFENSE TO HELP YOU WITH THAT INITIAL TRANSITION?
A: I asked Bill Burke a lot of questions about the offense and all the plays we ran. Lloyd Clemons helped a lot, and Gari Scott was very helpful.
Q: WERE THE DEFENSIVE GUYS GIVING YOU A HARD TIME WHEN YOU WERE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BALL?
A: Oh, man. They knew I was fighting for a job and working as hard as I could, but when I was an offensive guy it was like I had no friends on the other side of the ball.
Q: OK, TOUGH QUESTION FOR YOU: WHO IS A BETTER COACH, (RUNNING BACKS) COACH (BOBBY) WILLIAMS OR (LINEBACKERS) COACH (BILL) SHERIDAN?
A: That is tough. They are both player coaches. (Pause) There?s a lot I can?t say. I wanted to say who could tell a better joke, but I can?t say that either, but they are both funny men in their own way. They are both good coaches.
Q: DO YOU FEEL MORE AT HOME BACK ON DEFENSE?
A: I do feel much better on defense, because I know the defense. I probably know the defense as well as anyone out there because I?ve been playing it for three years. On offense I had to start over and learn. I was comfortable playing against our defense, because I knew what they were going to do, but it was a tough learning process to pick up the offense.
Q: LOOKING BACK ON LAST YEAR, WHAT WAS THE SEASON HIGHLIGHT FOR YOU?
A: Beating Ohio State. Being from Ohio, going home I heard from all the people who wanted me to go to Ohio State. Then getting the big upset in front of them, that was great.
Q: WAS OHIO STATE ONE OF YOUR TOP CHOICES FOR COLLEGE?
A: Ohio State was a top choice for me growing up and I was thinking about them for a while. But Ohio State didn?t start recruiting me until the middle of my senior year, and Michigan State was there from the beginning. Michigan State showed much better commitment than Ohio State did.
Q: WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THIS SEASON?
A: Personally, I just want to go out and play the best that I can. I want to go out and play my role and help the team. I think the team has the ability to win the Big Ten, and I want to do whatever I can to help the team do that.
