Deacon Sports Xtra: Linebacker Room Adding the Swiss Army Knife of the Defense

Deacon Sports Xtra: Linebacker Room Adding the Swiss Army Knife of the Defense

4/20/2021 12:29:00 PM | Football, Les Johns

“His work ethic and intangible qualities off the field speak for themselves. That can have a tremendous impact not only for himself, but for the group in general.” - Greg Jones

By: Les Johns

Luke Masterson has bounced all around the defense during his five seasons at Wake Forest, at one time earning the reputation as a Swiss Army Knife. If a need came about because of injuries during the season, it was Masterson who was counted on to fill the void.

As preparation for the 2021 season begins in earnest with spring camp, the Wake Forest coaching staff moved Masterson to linebacker — believing that was the spot that best suits his physical frame and skill set.

"I'm thrilled about the change," Masterson said. "The position suits my skill set really well. Thankfully, I've played many positions here, so I have a good understanding of the defense.

"It makes this transition a little less hard, because I know what's going on behind me and in front of me. I was really excited for this spring and I used those 15 practices to really fine-tune my skill set and get the defense down before fall camp."

Originally a safety, Masteron was asked to play linebacker as the Deacs traveled short-handed to Tallahassee to face Florida State in 2018, and that's where he finished the season, despite having not learned the position at Wake Forest until game week against the Noles.

"I've always been a better box player," Masterson said. "I can react fast when I see the line movement. I play fast in the box, so that will help me and help the team. I'm vocal and can help get everyone aligned. And I can make some plays too.

"The safety is always known as the quarterback of the defense. The linebackers are the same way with getting the defensive line aligned and communicating between each other. I look to bring that vocal part of my skill set to the linebacker room and help make sure everybody is aligned."

To better prepare physically, Masterson is trying to add some bulk to his 6-foot-2 frame.

"I put on about 8-10 pounds, and I'm still going to try to put on a little more weight here," he said. "The biggest thing is maintaining that through spring and through the season."

The position change comes at an optimal time for the sixth-year senior, as the Deacs embarked on a 15-practice spring camp. Last year's camp was cut short after just five practices because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We missed out on two-thirds of our spring last year," Masterson said. "That's huge for development. Spring is different. You're not preparing for a game each week, so you have time to correct things that can be missed in the fall when there's such urgency to get ready for an opponent.

"It's great for young guys to develop depth. This year we have no excuse not to. We have so many guys who have taken advantage of that extra year and we played a lot of young guys, so we have a lot of depth. But it's important in the spring to continue to develop that. This spring will be huge for us. We have 15 practices to do it, and it should be normal. I'm looking forward to it."

Of course, before the Deacs rolled into the 15 spring camp practices, they went through the pre-camp ritual of The Awakening, where the team splits off into groups to compete in strength and conditioning drills to help both mentally and physically prepare them for the season ahead. Masterson was the captain of this year's winner, dubbed Buncha Dawgs.

"It doesn't get any easier as the years go on," Masterson said. "This was my fifth one. My team won, so I love it. They've been great. It builds mental toughness in these young guys. Some of these guys have never experienced anything like this. In high school, you think you're working hard, but you don't really understand how to push your body to its limits until you do things like this.

"It's good for developing leadership as well, having the older guys in the front pushing the younger guys and establishing what it takes to play here."

As the team captain, Masterson drafted his team. His first pick was freshman safety Nick Andersen. He called freshman defensive back Gavin Holmes his best pick.

"Caelen Carson really came on at the end of the month," Masterson said. "Everyone did well. It was awesome seeing all those guys compete and really embrace the adversity. Will Smart and Loic Ngassam Nya — they balled.

"The biggest thing is being able to take that picture after and know you did it. You know that you outperformed everyone else."

As the Wake Forest defense looks to improve from last year, the top areas of emphasis seem to be tackling and consistency.

"When we were good, we were good," Masterson said. "But when we were bad, we were really bad. We have no excuse this year to not be the most consistent and best defense that we've ever had. That starts with spring practice one, then builds all summer through fall camp. As a defense, we need the same energy and commitment every day that we need to be successful.

"I want to get better at tackling. I missed too many tackles last year. Switching positions, I just want to master the defense. I'm still thinking a little bit when we've been doing stuff. You play fast when you're not thinking. These 15 practices were huge to master the defense and know exactly what I'm doing in every situation."

Wake Forest linebacker coach Greg Jones is thrilled to have Masterson's presence in his group.

"It brought a leader into the group," Jones said. "He's one of our captains. His work ethic and intangible qualities off the field speak for themselves. That can have a tremendous impact not only for himself, but for the group in general.

"From a physical standpoint, we're getting a guy who is really athletic. His natural instincts are in the box. He's a really good football player that's in flux in the linebacker corps. We're excited about him and he's been doing a nice job in the early practices."