Ticats.ca
A new wave of Canadian defenders are looking to put the homegrown ‘Steel’ tough attitude back in to the ‘Steel City’ defence.
Free agent defensive lineman Shomari Williams and Brian Bulcke, along with top 2012 CFL Draft pick, defensive back Courtney Stephen, all come into their first season in Black and Gold with ideas of making immediate contributions.
Visions for a productive 2013 campaign is not the only thing the talented trio has in common. All three Ticats played university football south of the border at Division I NCAA programs: Williams 2006-2008 at Houston, Bulcke 2006-2009 at Stanford and Stephen 2010-2012 at Northern Illinois.
“We all rolled into training camp and spotted each other on the first day,” Bulcke said.
“We’ve all kind of been through the same story, so it’s easy to connect and understand each other. We were all picked to come here and have an impact, which is something special. If you look at us across the board we all went down south and took scholarships from Americans, so we’re here to compete.”
“The football community is really small, especially among us Canadians. So everybody kind of has something in common,” Stephen said.
In fact, Bulcke and Stephen share a prestigious university football experience, each having played in the famous Orange Bowl game, just two years apart. Bulcke made it to the second-oldest bowl game in the United States in 2011 with the Stanford Cardinal, a 40-12 win for his team over the Virginia Tech Hokies. Stephen and his surprise North Illinois Huskies squad reached the Orange Bowl, but suffered a 31-10 loss to the Florida State Seminoles back in January. Williams never made it to an Orange Bowl with Houston, however his Cougars did make it to a bowl game in each of his three years with the program.
All three Ticats saw extensive playing time at US university programs and the group is working towards keeping that going in Hamilton.
“I definitely expect to contribute a lot and be a starter on this defence,” Williams said.
“I’m excited to be a pillar at tackle,” Bulcke said, “put a lot of things on my shoulders and bear the weight for years to come.”
“If coach wants me to come off the bench in the fourth quarter or if he wants me to start than that’s what I will do,” Stephen said. “Right now I am concerned with figuring out how I can contribute.”
One trait all three young Canadians share: versatility. Something defensive coordinator Orlondo Steinauer strongly believes in.
“You can’t just play one position. This is a small league, injuries happen and you may have to switch positions. It’s not necessarily always in the scheme of the defence, I move people around because I understand how this league is built and the small rosters. So I do believe that you have to be able to play two, possibly three positions.”
Number 9, 95 and 22 all posses the required skills to line up at different spots for the Tiger-Cats. Williams played weak side and middle linebacker during his time with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, however it appears he will see time at defensive end, strong and weak, for Hamilton. Bulcke lined up all over the defensive line in university, but he looks set to hold down one of the defensive tackle positions. Stephen has been taking a lot of reps at field, or wide side, corner, although on any given play he could find himself with a different defensive backfield responsibility.
“Our defence is pretty dynamic,” Stephen said.
“In Canadian football you can go from having four receivers on one side to having two receivers, back to having three receivers, so naturally you’re going to have to know what the guy next to you is doing.”
“Part of our coaches plan is they want you to see the bigger picture and be able to adjust on the fly. They’re not going to be able to coach you through every single game scenario in practice. Some things are just going to pop up in the game.”
A perfect example of the shifting that will occur in the Ticats secondary this season happened on one particular play at training camp. Stephen was lined up at free safety, the offence motioned and he ended up moving to the strong side linebacker spot, and at the last second the offence motioned again and all of a sudden he was playing weak side linebacker.
“I think having versatility and having people being able to play more than one position well, not just play it, but play it well, it does open up some options for different things that you can do and give offences different looks,” Steinauer explained.
It certainly seems as though Williams, Bulcke and Stephen will be playing vital non-import roles in Steinauer’s defence, wherever each player happens to be lined up.
“I would expect that they would be contributors, anybody who makes this football team, I expect them to contribute,” the defensive coordinator said.
“I’d like to see us all contribute,” Stephen said, “homegrown talent, that would be pretty cool.”
Expect the young trio of Canadian defenders to infuse the Ticats defence with a fresh dose of non-import playmaking ability.
