PonyFans.com: Chase Kennemer led the team in tackles by a wide margin — he was one of the leading tacklers in the nation — and was sort of an extension of you on the field. How do you fill that void?

Joe Haering: Chase was a very productive guy for us and he was a leader. He understood everything, and was a very good college football player. He’s now gone, so we’ll find someone to take his place, but obviously the defense is going to miss him, but we’ve got to overcome that. It’s just like anything — somebody gets hurt, or graduates — that’s part of college football. The next guy has got to step up.

Taylor Reed is the early favorite to replace Chase Kennemer at the MIKE linebacker position (photo by Travis Johnston).

PonyFans.com: So do you see filling his place? Is it Taylor Reed?

Haering: I don’t know if anyone will fill his place, when you think about everything Chase did for us. Taylor Reed will fill it for now. Chase was a senior, and he was smart. I know he didn’t always play a lot here, but he was mature. Taylor is a raw sophomore. I know he has physical ability, but I’m not going to put that on Taylor, saying that he has to be Chase Kennemer. He just has to be himself, and the other guys have got to rally, and take up some of the space that Chase left. Other guys will have to make the plays. I don’t know if we’ll have a guy on our defense that makes as many tackles as Chase did, but he was ninth in the nation in tackles. He was a really productive player.

PonyFans.com: In addition to his production, Chase also made the calls for your defense. Who takes on that role for you now?

Haering: In making the calls, there’s a couple of things: everybody’s got to understand the call, because you’ve got to come quick, and you have to know the strength (of the offense). I’ve always been the type who says the smartest guy makes the call, whether it’s the BUCK or MIKE (the two inside linebackers). It’s going to be one of the two inside guys, because they see it all. Sometimes now, people will do that with the strong safeties, but usually the strong safety is calling out where receivers are and things like that, so that’s why a lot of us like to have inside linebackers making those calls.

PonyFans.com: June Jones has been quoted as saying he thinks Youri Yenga is going to have a big statistical jump this year. He moved this past season from defensive end to linebacker, and was getting used to his new position, but do you see that kind of jump for him, too?

Pete Fleps will miss spring workouts after having his shoulder surgically repaired (photo by Travis Johnston).

Haering: I do. When you look at the way Youri played against Stephen F. Austin and the way he played against Nevada — that’s a big jump. He had never played linebacker before. It was just knowing coverages and understanding that position. He was out there in open space for the first time. He has the athletic ability — he made a lot of plays for us — and we used him a lot as a rusher, too. Then there was J.G. (Ja’Gared Davis) … we did the same thing with him, and that helped, when we got those two going. But I think Youri really came along last year — he’s going to be a lot better.

PonyFans.com: Going into spring, Pete Fleps is out with the shoulder injury — is his spot taken by Cameron Rogers or Brandon Henderson?

Haering: Both of those guys. I guess Cameron has the edge, because of experience, but they’ll both get a lot of work there. Those two guys will be fighting for that position. Cameron has played a little bit more than Brandon, but Brandon probably has a little bit more physical ability — he’s a strong inside guy.

He’s going to be a good football player. All of those freshmen (Henderson, Davis, Reed and Byron Brown) like to tell me, “we’re your future.” I tell them, “that’s a scary thought,” but all four of them are pretty good football players.

So many of our (linebackers) are unproven. Youri’s proven, and he’s going to get better. Same with Pete Fleps — he’s proven, and he’ll get better this year. Taylor played a lot, and he’s got to step up — same thing with Brandon and Cameron. Then we’ve got (Michael) Morse in there, backing up Pete, and we moved Justin Smart to SAM (strongside outside linebacker), because we don’t have enough guys there.

Pete will be back in the fall, though. He’s not a great athlete, but he’s smart, he works hard and he’s tough — really tough. He’s hard, and he’s strong — he’ll knock the hell out of you.

Linebackers coach Joe Haering said Ja'Gared Davis is one of the two best pro prospects on the SMU roster (photo by Travis Johnston).

PonyFans.com: Last year, Ja’Gared Davis really came on over the course of the season, to the point that he ended up in the starting lineup. How good can he be?

Haering: I think he and (Margus) Hunt are the two best NFL prospects on the entire team. Hunt doesn’t know (anything) yet, and J.G. knows even less. But if you talk about physical abilities, those two guys are the NFL’s best prospects. I think J.G. could be special — he could be a special player. He has a special gear that not many people have. He’s good speed, but it’s that acceleration. He takes those last three steps (toward the quarterback) so fast … you just don’t see guys like that. He has unbelievable closing speed — I’m telling you, it’s special. He’s not very strong, and he doesn’t know (anything) yet. Last year, he was just a guy running around out there trying to make plays, and sometimes he looked really bad, and sometimes he looked really good. But when he looked good, he looked special. I told him, I’m going to get him to the pros if he hangs in there and does everything right — I mean get him (drafted) high to the pros. I’m not talking about a free agent. I’m talking about a high draft choice.

PonyFans.com: E.J. Drewery moved to linebacker last year, and hardly played except for the last few minutes of the Hawaii Bowl. What’s your impression of him, and his potential?

Haering: He’s got height, he’s got long arms and he can run, and he’s a fairly good athlete. He just needs to learn the position and get stronger. But you talk about a guy who doesn’t know anything, he really didn’t practice much all year because he was hurt. He just didn’t have many reps. But he’s another one who just got his wing repaired, so he’s going to make a lot of improvement in the fall.