Landry: Awe in the middle of the defence once again

Don Landry

CFL.ca

@CFLLandry

It’s a funny thing, says Micah Awe. It’s not so much that he keeps finding the middle, it’s that the middle keeps finding him.

With the Toronto Argonauts readying for Saturday’s home opener against the Hamilton Ticats, Awe will once again be in the centre, excited to take on the responsibility that comes with playing middle linebacker (MIKE) in what should be a dizzying defence, scheme-wise.

The 25-year-old graduate of Texas Tech is sensing he has an opportunity to rise to a new level with the Argos, under the guidance of the team’s Head Coach, and Defensive Coordinator, Corey Chamblin.

That he once again finds himself at MIKE is a curious but happy occurrence for Awe. Everywhere he’s gone, it seems, he’s started at weak side linebacker (WILL) before being shifted inside.

Micah Awe will play middle linebacker for the Toronto Argonauts this season (Argonauts.ca)

Happened in high school. Happened in college. Happened at the pro level with the BC Lions, the team for which Awe played for two seasons before signing with Toronto as a free agent this past off-season.

“It’s ironic when you look at the history of my career,” says Awe, speaking just after the Argos had wrapped up practice on Thursday. “I guess I can’t run away from the middle linebacker position,” he laughs.

With the Argos, and under Chamblin, Awe is seeking a new frontier for himself. He can, he suspects, redefine himself in ways that will allow him to reach an even higher level of productivity.

He talks, generally, of the stats that could pile up beside his name as the season goes along if things go well and if he does his job just right. A pick-six, he says. Four or five forced fumbles. Double digit tackles for a loss.

“There’s a whole different set that I’ve been trying to get to,” Awe explains. “People know me as a hard hitter, physical. And that’s cool. But the name of the game is the ball,” he says.

“I’m gettin’ the ball.”

Awe, indeed, has carved an identity as one of the hardest hitters in the CFL, eliciting – well, awe, I guess would be the word – from observers who can’t help but notice his speed-to-contact abilities.

When the Lions brought him aboard in 2017, Awe’s speed raised eyebrows right away during pre-season. He stood out on both special teams as well as on defence when tossed into the mix. BC had him at WILL because, you know, Solomon Elimimian was in the middle.

Awe was a starter the last nine games of that season, delivering 54 tackles. Last season, when he rejoined the Lions after an NFL tryout, he was shifted into the middle when Elimimian was forced to the injured list.

Awe registered 31 tackles in seven starts, looking right at home in the middle, and no wonder.

He’d seen that position before, of course.

Playing WILL in high school as a junior, Awe was a star and his highlight reel got the attention of college scouts. “That’s really the film that got me a scholarship with Texas Tech,” he says.

“In senior year, my coaches made a decision to put me at middle linebacker,” Awe recalls. “I actually got MVP of the district, senior year. Same thing happened in college. I played WILL and by my senior year, I was starting at middle linebacker.”

“So, the same thing keeps happening to me.”

Awe has been fortunate, he says, to have had great coaching along the way (he credits his high school linebackers coach, Adrian Sample, for giving him a terrific base when it comes to technique). He had five different defensive coordinators while at Texas Tech, so he saw plenty of Xs and Os and was exposed to many different philosophies during that time.

Despite having seen so much from so many, Awe is bursting with anticipation over what he will glean from Chamblin’s teachings this season. By what he might accomplish within the Argonauts’ defence.

“It’s ironic when you look at the history of my career. I guess I can’t run away from the middle linebacker position.”

– Micah Awe

“Our conversation won’t be long enough for me to tell you everything that I like,” says Awe, when asked what it is about Chamblin and his defence that has him so optimistic.

It goes beyond schemes, he explains. “With Coach Chamblin, there’s a whole level of football that has nothing to do with Xs and Os.”

Pro football players, Awe says, are recruited because of ability, with the supposition that if they’ve gotten to the top college ranks in America, that they are already sound in technique and well-versed in defensive scheming. The difference – at least with Chamblin – is that Awe is now being asked to think not about what he, himself, is trying to accomplish, but rather what the opposition is.

“I’m learning the offence,” Awe says. “I (already) know what I’m doing. I’ve known what I’m doing for a long time. But I’m learning what the offence is trying to do, what the offensive coordinator is trying to exploit.”

Looking at the game from a different angle has Awe believing his personal ceiling has not been reached. That Chamblin – as well as the players around him in the Argos defence – can help Awe get to a level “that I’ve never been to before.”

“This is why I’m so excited about this year,” he adds keenly. “I’m excited to see what I can do.”

There is pressure, too, of course, and he knows it. With Awe on the roster, the Argos saw fit to release veteran middle linebacker Bear Woods on the eve of training camp, and third-year man Akeem Jordan was among the final cuts.

“It’s a simple position on paper, but on the field, it’s the glue to the whole defence,” Awe says. “I have a huge responsibility. And I know that. That’s why I work super hard, every day.”

“There’s a certain feeling you have to have from your MIKE, a certain comfort. And I wanna make sure I give that to my whole team.”

Awe in the middle has worked before, time and time again. In 2019, and in double blue, he’s hoping it works even better than ever.

AWE AND RAY ON THE SAME WAVELENGTH

Awe comes from an education-first family. His mother, Abigail and his father, Charles, both have Master’s degrees. Their son, the linebacker, got his degree in Petroleum Engineering from Texas Tech.

So, it’s not surprising that Awe is a thinker, and that a Ricky Ray speech would resonate with him.

Ray spoke to the Argos after practice on Thursday (he’ll be honoured in a pre-game ceremony before the game against the Ticats on Saturday) and a lot of the content struck a chord with Awe.

“He talked about his preparation,” says Awe. “He talked about he didn’t like to think about the game from the get-go from the morning, all the way through the afternoon, to the game. Because then he’d just be mentally tired.”

That’s the approach Awe chooses as well, learning from his college days that it doesn’t pay to be geeked all day long about the impending kick off.

“I used to get so hyped,” he says. “I’d get to the game and I was tired.”

Instead of riding waves of emotion, Awe chooses to dig in to prep work leading up to hitting the field.

“Football is one of the few sports where there’s no seven game series because it’s that intense for one game. So preparation is a huge part of football,” he insists.

“The best thing you can do is work hard and see what happens. Whatever happens, work harder.”

I’d bet Ricky Ray agrees with that.

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