In his first full season as Northwestern’s starting strong safety, Rashidi Wheeler took weekly doses of David Terrell, Antwaan Randle El, Drew Brees and Dan Alexander – and it made him sick.
While NU fans recall the 8-4 record and Damien Anderson’s whopping rushing statistics, Wheeler and the defense can’t forget a few other lofty numbers – namely 66, 535 and 33.3. Those totals represent Nebraska’s bowl-game record for points, Michigan’s total yardage against the Wildcats, and the average number of points scored on NU in 2000, respectively.
With those stinging reminders of last season’s struggles, Wheeler returns to the gridiron for spring practice with a new goal: making sure history doesn’t repeat itself.
“There’s a lot to prove,” Wheeler said. “Even last year when we had Shug (Harold Blackmon) and Rashad Morton, our defense wasn’t close to the best in the Big Ten. Our main goal this year is to be No. 1 in pass defense.”
Wheeler, a senior, is one of only two returning starters in the secondary. He anchors a unit seeking a makeover before NU kicks off the 2001 season Sept. 7 in Las Vegas. With the departure of Morton at free safety and Blackmon at cornerback, Wheeler has suddenly been thrust into the role of veteran defensive back.
Before taking the reigns of the Cats’ secondary, Wheeler received some helpful advice from BlackMonday, a former All-Big Ten selection and school record-holder for passes broken up (PBU), the defensive back’s version of the touchdown.
“He told me that when things are going good everybody loves you, but when things are going bad, the blame is on you,” Wheeler said. “So I accept all that being the leader on this team, and I’m trying to help all the younger guys deal with it.”
Wheeler will shoulder the leadership position with junior cornerback Raheem Covington, who also started in every game last season. Like Wheeler, Covington recognizes the urgency to step up play and takes last season’s spotty secondary play personally.
“The (NU) offense came out, they put up numbers and got things turned around from the season before, but the defense didn’t hold up our end of the bargain,” Covington said. “We need to show everybody that we can play, that we’re not a joke.
“We came out here and we let our offense down, and we let our team down, so we have to turn that around.”
Even so, Wheeler made large strides in 2000. Entering last year with only three tackles in 13 games, he exploded to tally 85 tackles, fourth-highest on the team behind the Cats’ starting linebacking corps. Wheeler also made his first career fumble recovery after Blackmon stripped Randle El in NU’s 52-33 romp over Indiana on Oct. 7.
While chasing down the Big Ten’s best receivers and backs, Wheeler faced the additional challenge of working alongside a new free safety, sophomore Sean Wieber, after Morton went down with a serious back injury on Oct. 14. Wieber filled in for the final five games of the season and is likely to start in 2001.
“Rashad’s going down wasn’t good for us, but going into this year, me and Sean have some chemistry playing with each other,” Wheeler said. “That’s really important because one has to be vocal – call the defense – so if you have that good chemistry, it makes the job a lot easier.”
At strong safety, Wheeler is faced with the daunting double duty of stuffing the run and aiding the Cats’ pass defense. Because NU’s defensive line experiencing many of the same problems as its secondary, Wheeler could be called upon to make many critical open field tackles.
The added responsibility of strong safety has Wheeler working with several coaches and logging hours in the video room each week learning opposing teams’ pass and run schemes. Yet for a guy who “likes contact” and admires pros like Tampa Bay’s John Lynch and St. Louis’ Todd Lyght, the rewards of the position outweigh the extra work.
“The coaches want that in a strong safety – they want you to hit hard, play fast, and I try my best to do that,” Wheeler said.
His efforts paid off in the Cats’ dramatic 47-44 double overtime win at Wisconsin in September. On that day Wheeler made a career-high 14 tackles, including a key second-quarter stop of Badgers’ tailback Michael Bennett for a 6-yard loss.
“Rashidi has great talent, speed, strength, and the more comfortable he is with the defense, the faster he’ll play,” defensive backs coach Brad Bolinger said. “That was a game where he felt real comfortable with the game plan and just cut it loose.”
Despite Wheeler’s experience, Bolinger refuses to name any of the starting secondary positions for 2001, saying that “the more competition at a position, the harder everyone works.”
And while it might test Wheeler’s patience and pride, he is determined to prove himself one final time.
“It gets on your nerves a little bit, but you can’t do anything about it,” he said. “It makes me work a lot harder.”
