DEREK LONGORIA: Grasping new job

[PonyPride]

Freshman Derek Longoria, who signed with SMU in 2011 out of Brownwood (Texas) High School, finally has gotten on the practice field for the Mustangs. He took part in the team's optional workouts last summer while enrolled in summer school, but when it was determined that a pair of broken wrists would hinder his development, he went home as a greyshirt before enrolling at SMU in January.

"I hated it," Longoria said. "The doctors said I couldn't run or sweat, because they were afraid that the stitches (on his surgically repaired wrists) would get infected, so I couldn't work out. I had to stay inside, and basically became a couch potato."

Recruited as a linebacker (although he also will get a chance to compete for the punter job), Longoria already has moved to a new position: safety.

"We're going to start him out there, and see if he can be that big-time, downhill safety," defensive coordinator Tom Mason said. "He's an unbelievable athlete, and if he can pick up the position and the defense, he could be really good. If we don't like his movement patterns, we'll move him back to linebacker in a week or so, where he also can be really good."

Longoria is not yet 100 percent healthy. He practices with each wrist wrapped in a brace that has just a thin strap across the palm of his hand, so he can catch the ball, but prevents his hands from flexing backward. Longoria said he will wear the braces in practice and games for "about two years" to prevent future injuries.

"I feel good," he said. "There's still a little pain if I flex them back too far, but they basically feel good."

Longoria said the injuries prevented him from enjoying much when he initially returned home to Brownwood.

"When dove (hunting) season came around, I asked the doctor if I could hunt, and he said, 'I don't know,'" Longoria said. "I just couldn't stand to see my family and friends going hunting without me, so eventually I did. I had to borrow my friend's automatic gun, though."

Longoria will train with the Mustangs throughout spring workouts, but plans to return home again in June.

"I haven't seen my brother, Jordan, in almost two years," Longoria said. "He's a Marine, and has been stationed in Japan. He's coming home, so that first summer session, I'm going to take off to spend time with him.

"He's my hero, for sure. He wanted to play (at linebacker) at Baylor, but I feel like they did him wrong. It was his dream to play Div. I football, and he didn't get that chance, so now I'm kind of getting that chance for both of us."

Longoria said the 6-4 height listed on the SMU roster is a little generous - "I'm really 6-2 1/2," he said - and he weighed in earlier this week at 222 pounds ... a marked improvement from his time spent on the couch, when he said he carried 230-235 pounds because of his inactivity.

"The main thing was that I couldn't work out," he said. "In December, I was cleared to lift, and the very next day I got with the (Brownwood) offensive line coach and started working on how to lose fat and get back in shape."

Longoria said he stayed in touch with some of his teammates while he was at home during the fall semester, and watched as many SMU games as he could on television. Since his arrival in January, he has been a regular in meetings with the defensive coaches, which has helped him pick up the Ponies' defensive schemes.

"It's getting easier for me," he said, "but it was hard watching when I was used to playing. When I started to learn the defense, I would try to put it together with what I did at Brownwood, but Coach Mason told me to forget that. We don't use the Brownwood terminology here. That's one of the things I have been working on."

Longoria is a versatile athlete who rarely left the field in high school because he played so many positions, so the move to safety is not completely foreign to him.

"I played safety, running back, linebacker, defensive end and punter" in high school, Longoria said. "All special teams, too. The offense scored on nearly every position, so the only time I came off the field was on special teams once in a while, to rest for a minute.

"I like playing safety. I played it for a couple of years. But I'll play wherever they want me to play. I didn't like sitting out in the fall, so I'm just glad to be back."

[PoconoPony]

PP nice job. Those of us out in the hinter lands lost track of his situation. It is nice to see that he is back in school, but it seems like he will need to be quite careful with those wrists for an extended period of time. Hopefully, he will adjust to the wrist braces and be able to effectively catch. Lastly, we all hope he can punt as that was a glaring special teams weakness last season.

[PonyPower]

I can't wait to see this guy play. Everything I have heard from practice sounds like he is a really impressive athlete.

[ponyboy]

And a dove hunter. Sweet.