Massachusetts Football Camp Countdown - Vipers And Outside Linebackers

In today's Camp Countdown conversation, Jay Burnham talks with outside linebackers coach Mike McCray about UMass' vipers and outside linebackers.

The viper position is a hybrid position. McCray explains, "The viper position is essentially a bigger safety. They're usually between the 205-220ish range, bigger, stockier guys that can play in the box. We're able to play in the post, man-to-man coverage, do a little bit of everything."

As for the outside line backers, "The outside backer is more of a true backer, like the SAM backer," said McCray. "Those are our bigger guys who are 235-250 range. Those guys can also play linebacker but can also rush the passer."

McCray, who played for head coach Don Brown at Michigan, tries to stress the importance of family in his room and bring his group closer together. "I had a chance to play college football and be a part of some good teams and one thing I remember is whenever you're closer together as a unit, as a room and as a team, the more success you're going to have. One thing I noticed when I got here, I felt like a lot of people weren't close, so I feel like my room has gotten a lot closer."

His group has dubbed themselves the "Diamond Boys". McCray explains: "We're the room that's so versatile, we're like those diamond in the rough type players."

VIPERS

Tanner Davis – Kingston, N.Y. – Cheshire Academy (Conn.) – 6-1 – 200
A former walk-on who has played some safety in the past, Davis was a starter and captain on all four special teams units in 2021 and logged 43 tackles, 3.0 TFLs and one sack. In the abbreviated 2020 season he made 24 tackles with 4.5 TFLs, 1.0 sacks, three quarterback hurries and a blocked punt.

Mike McCray on Davis – "In my eyes, he's one of the savviest players on our team. He's really smart, really instinctive and he plays well in practice. It's easy for him. He's a leader for us too, especially in my room. He's the oldest in the room, he's been here, so I think he's going to have a good year."

Michael Oppong – Worcester, Mass. – Doherty Memorial – 6-0 – 195
The former safety/corner transferred to UMass from Bryant following the 2019 season and appeared in five games for UMass in 2021.

Mike McCray on Oppong – "He's really good at covering and we ended up moving him to viper and had him gain some weight and he's fitting in pretty well."

Darius Gooden – Newark, N.J. – West Side – 6-2 – 200
Gooden transferred to Rutgers after two seasons where he did not see game action and was named to the Academic All-Big Ten team in 2020.

Mike McCray on Gooden – "He was a safety and we put some weight on him."

"They're finally starting to understand why. We're in the box so much going against tight ends who are the 250-260 range. You can't be in there at 190. You also have to take on offensive linemen too. They're kind of embracing it now because they're finally seeing why, so it's been going good."

OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS

Zukudo Igwenagu – Worcester, Mass. – Worcester, Academy – 6-4 – 230
Another Rutgers transfer, Igwenagu appeared in six games over three seasons with Rutgers.

Mike McCray on Igwenagu – "He's a freak. He's one of those guys that, you want him to lead you off the bus. He's going to put fear in your eyes and does it on the field too."

Dominic Schofield – Milford, Mass. – Milford – 6-3 – 240
Schofield did not see game action last season in his first year at UMass. He came to Amherst as a three-star linebacker out of Milford.

Mike McCray on Schofield – "He's going to get on the field this year for sure. He's flashed a lot. He's grown since the spring. He's a young sophomore. He has four years left. Every day he's gotten better since I've been here. He has a lot of potential. I think he could end up being one of the best here out of my whole group honestly."

Jaylen Murphy – Boston, Mass. – Everett – 6-2 – 220
Murphy was a 2021 Boston Herald Pre-Season All-Star and had seven sacks and 20 tackles for Everett last fall.

Mike McCray on Murphy – "It's always hard for freshmen, but he's done well. Every freshman struggles in the beginning, but now I can just let him go play. He's learning fast. I know in high school he didn't play linebacker as much, but he's adapted well. He's still getting better every day. He's different from the other two in that he hasn't played as much linebacker as the other two have."

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