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A few weeks ago, the status of Maryland’s second-leading tackler from a year ago was still undetermined for the 2017 season. Now, Shane Cockerille has once again earned a starting spot on the Terps’ defense.
“He fought his way back on the football team,” defensive coordinator Andy Buh told the assembled media Wednesday afternoon. “We didn’t give him anything. He went through the things that we put him through to get back on our team and did a great job. Obviously we’re happy to have him back.”
Cockerille, who was Maryland’s leading tackler in the 2016 regular season, was ruled ineligible for the Quick Lane Bowl against Boston College, enabling fellow linebacker Jermaine Carter Jr. to take over the top spot. With Cockerille once again in the fold, everything is back to normal for Buh and his base-nickel defense, which typically only employs two linebackers at a time.
“He’s one of four linebackers that we’re going to count on throughout the season getting reps,” Buh said. “Obviously when you get a guy that had taken that many reps for us a year ago, he has a lot of value.
“He tends to be in the right place a lot more than he was a year ago. What’s great about it is he hasn’t lost any of his instincts, which is what we loved about him a year ago. You’ll see probably a better, faster, smarter Shane Cockerille this year.”
With Maryland traveling to Texas this weekend, having a veteran back on the field in the middle of the defense can only be a plus.
In other news
You may have heard of Tyrrell Pigrome. He’s Maryland’s starting quarterback.
Mark Turgeon and his squad missed out on one of their biggest targets in the Class of 2018 yesterday when Silvio De Sousa committed to Kansas.
The women’s soccer team plays Richmond tonight. Daniel has you covered for what you need to know for that game here.
The men’s team doesn’t play until Friday night, but Joe took a look at George Campbell’s move from a more offensive role to right back.
Rivals updated their basketball recruiting rankings yesterday. Maryland commits Jalen Smith and Aaron Wiggins are up to Nos. 24 and 42, respectively. Several other Terp targets are in the top 30.
After releasing a depth chart of former Michigan players who have since played in the NFL earlier in the week, Jim Harbaugh finally released the Wolverines’ 2017 roster this morning. It doesn’t include players’ heights or weights, and there was no semblance of a depth chart, but hey, it’s something.