A great middle linebacker can go a long way to helping a good defense.

As Farmersville saw plenty of improvement on defense, multi-year starter Caiden O’Brien was a big part of that development. He accumulated over 100 tackles in each of the last two years and was a crucial piece to the Farmers’ defense last season. Replacing his leadership will be tough, but head coach Zac Quinlan believes the group can still be even better in 2023.

“It should be a strength of our defense again this season,” Quinlan said. “It’s never easy to replace a guy like that who can do a little bit of everything, but we’ve got several guys who now have a lot of snaps under their belt that can all chip in to make up that loss. They’re good players and now have the experience to match.”

O’Brien’s production will be missed, but Farmersville has several options looking to step into bigger roles for the new season. The goal will be they can all help out a little bit to make up for the loss of their two-time all-district linebacker.

“It’s not going to be one guy that makes 100 tackles for us anymore,” Quinlan said. “We do have some guys that will take a big chunk of that role and create that same type of production.”

Leading the way at inside linebacker are Bentley Brubaker and Levi Smith, who both got plenty of experience last season. Smith has been a part of the team’s leadership council, while Brubaker has the size on the inside to step up and make tackles at the line of scrimmage. Both players will be key to Farmersville repeating its defensive success this season.

“We have a lot of guys who can get tackles for us and step into the inside linebacker spots,” Quinlan said. “It’s going to be a by-committee approach and they all know the speed of the game and have been waiting their turn as well.”

With as many as four returning players this season, even if not all starters, Farmersville feels great about the defensive intensity they can show next season. The team has a lot of experienced talent, but also now has the depth of the position and the knowledge of the scheme to thrive in many situations.

“We changed our entire defense this year,” Quinlan said. “We have to coach decision-making as a staff because now they know the defense and they can play fast. We have to teach them to continue to play fast and make decisions and not feel bad if they make the wrong decision.”

On the outside, Dauntae Pearson and Jeralin Craddock have the most experience on the team for the defense. Adjusting to a new scheme, Farmersville’s change in personnel was highlighted to get the outside linebackers space to make plays and rack up the tackles for the team.

“We want to funnel players to the outside linebackers,” Quinlan said. “Having good athletes there that can not only play the run and create havoc and blitz, they have to be multiple-level players in those spots. They have to be able to blitz, tackle, drop into coverage and it’s the hardest spots for us to pick because they need the athletic ability to handle a lot of responsibility.”

The linebackers take the field for the first game on Aug. 25, as they round at the roster heading into the new year with several options to pick from at fall camp starting July 31.

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