Cavaliers Are Hurting on the Inside

U-Va. Turns to Young Linebackers to Replace Brooks and Parham

Clint Sintim caught some of the Cincinnati Bengals' first preseason game a couple of weeks ago, watching former Virginia teammate Ahmad Brooks make his NFL debut, "cracking skulls out there." Sintim grew up down the street from Brooks in Woodbridge, so he knows the former all-American well.

"There's no better athlete in the world than Ahmad," Sintim said. "No better athlete in the world."

Rather than watching him on television, Sintim could have been playing next to Brooks this fall. But Brooks turned pro after he was dismissed from the team following his injury-riddled junior season. Had Brooks and Kai Parham, who also turned pro after his junior year, returned, the Cavaliers would have had perhaps the best inside linebacker duo in the nation. Instead, the Cavaliers' inside spots, crucial to the team's success with its 3-4 defensive formation, will be filled by a pair of sophomores who have combined for 37 career tackles.

With Sintim and junior Jermaine Dias on the outside, Antonio Appleby and Jon Copper likely will start in the middle, meaning two mostly unknown players will replace the team's biggest names.

"That's something the whole team is rallying around," Appleby said. "We're a bunch of no-name guys. You don't have a name the first day you get here. You have to go out and prove it on the field to get the notoriety."

This offseason, the entire team reported to weightlifting sessions wearing collared shirts with name tags that simply read, "Joe." The point? The entire team was constructed of average Joes. The linebackers epitomize that notion.

"There's no superstar," defensive coordinator Mike London said. "The work ethic and the mind-set is: 'Hey, look, there's nobody better than anybody else. There's no one person that stands above anyone else.' Collectively, in the spring, these guys are fun guys to coach. I like these guys; I like these players. Sometimes, you can't always say that."

Sintim, who started every game last season as a redshirt freshman, will be counted on to lead the young group. He has more experience than any other returning Virginia linebacker, and the Gar-Field graduate is the Cavaliers' third-leading returning tackler behind defensive backs Marcus Hamilton (Centreville) and Tony Franklin with 53.

"Even though I'm going into my second year playing, I think I am a veteran as far as people on the team and understanding what role I have to play for my teammates," Sintim said. "Not too many guys on the team have played a full year of football."

Though Brooks missed six games because of injuries last season, including Virginia's Music City Bowl victory, he was a terror when on the field, earning first-team all-America honors after his sophomore season. But Groh dismissed Brooks from the team for unspecified reasons just before this year's spring practice, and the Bengals subsequently selected Brooks in the third round of the NFL supplemental draft.

Parham might have been even more important. He led the team with 103 tackles and eight sacks, starting every game before declaring for the NFL draft. It seems Parham should have remained at Virginia. He went undrafted before being signed as a free agent by the Dallas Cowboys, who already have waived him.

"When they left, it was definitely a loss for the team," Sintim said. "They were two of the best inside linebackers in the nation. I have so much confidence in guys like Antonio Appleby and John Copper. Guys who are willing to work hard and improve."

They'll have to improve in a hurry. Groh's 3-4 formation places a premium on linebacker play and depth at the position. While linemen in the system occupy blocks and clog the line, the linebackers are counted on as playmakers, roles filled well by Brooks and Parham.

But now they're gone, so a new set of linebackers are trying to emerge at Virginia. It's hard not to think of what could have been with the defense, but that's the objective for now.

"Those players really don't have any bearing on this year's team," Virginia Coach Al Groh said. "While they're certainly well respected in what they did, I think that they've been pretty well forgotten by members of this year's team. Players have a short memory. They're really just interested in what's going to occur today."