Bell now a viable option for Tigers
As he struggled to find real playing time in 2009, T’Sharvan Bell heard it from just about every coach at Auburn’s practices.
He wasn’t physical enough.
“I took it personally,” Bell said. “I didn’t want anybody thinking I was soft out on the field.”
That all changed during a routine passing drill in camp this month. Wide receiver Emory Blake found out the hard way.
“It was just kind of me and him,” Bell said. “He was headed toward the end zone. I kind of laid out and hit him. Coach said it was a great play.”
So what about all that talk about toughness?
“They don’t tell me that anymore,” he said.
Those coaches are talking to Bell more these days. Gene Chizik said Sunday that Bell, a redshirt sophomore, has so many roles that he might as well be penciled in as a starter for Saturday’s season opener against Arkansas State.
“He’s played as good as anybody out there in the secondary,” Chizik said. “That leaves some good options with him right now.”
Chizik rattled off a number of places where Bell might be seen Saturday.
He’ll be playing in nickel and dime formations while also serving as the first cornerback off the bench. Then there are special teams formations, where he plays on “all of them.”
“It gives fans a chance to know guys who don’t quite play as much and gives fans a chance to know who you are,” Bell said. “Wherever they need me and wherever they want me to go, that’s where I’ll go.”
Bell is by no means a new face in Auburn’s secondary.
After redshirting the 2008 season, Bell saw action in all 13 games last year. A fixture on special teams, Bell filled in where he was needed, picking up nine tackles and an interception during the regular season.
He saw heavy action in the Outback Bowl by default because of Northwestern’s spread offense. He made the most of it. Fans might most remember Bell for being party to a late, questionable roughing the kicker penalty, but Bell was all over the field in pass coverage, picking off two Mike Kafka passes.
“It got me excited,” Bell said. “I never have doubted myself, but I was like: You really can. You really can do this. Now I have to pick it up and keep it going.”
Bell was a quarterback at Osceola High in Kissimmee, Fla., and, similar to what Ryan White is doing this season, played as Auburn’s scout team quarterback from time to time in 2008.
Tommy Tuberville went out of his way to praise Bell before the Tigers’ game against West Virginia for his imitation of former Mountaineers quarterback Pat White.
Those quarterback smarts made the transition to defense easier for Bell than others, cornerbacks coach Phillip Lolley said.
“When a kid like that is over there and he’s played offense and he understands what offensive guys are looking for and been through it, it’s a lot easier when they come over to me and try to understand what we’re trying to defend,” Lolley said. “He’s very smart.”
The knowledge just didn’t translate into the physical prowess Auburn’s coaches demanded.
Outside of the blow he dealt to Blake, Bell had a tough time pinpointing what exactly he’s done to change. He hasn’t altered his body much and there were still road blocks to him landing a starting job this season, as Neiko Thorpe and Demond Washington both locked down jobs relatively early in the spring.
There’s just a new sense of urgency now, Bell said.
“I’m realizing what a blessing it is to be here at Auburn,” he said. “I probably took that for granted a year ago. I’m kind of waking up and seeing the light that this is a great opportunity. I can’t let it pass up.”
That awakening has bred a renewed trust between he and his coaches, the same ones who were telling him to toughen up just a few months ago.
“He’s become a dependable football player, and I couldn’t say that about him this time last year,” defensive coordinator Ted Roof said. “To his credit, he’s just kept his mouth shut and gone to work.”
agribble@oanow.com | 737-2561
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