When Troy Swittenburg came to Syracuse, he imagined himself lining up at running back in his senior season, breaking records left and right. He never imagined himself playing anything else.

But now in his senior year, that’s not the situation he now finds himself in. Swittenburg is competing for playing time at weak-side linebacker in spring practices.

‘We all come here with a false sense of hope that we’re going to come here and be the next Donovan McNabb,’ Swittenburg said. ‘Be a true freshman and break all sorts of records, and then reality hits. Your first year is always your roughest.’

Swittenburg came to Syracuse a highly regarded running back, yet he spent more time waiting in 2000 than playing. He entered Syracuse in the same recruiting class as Diamond Ferri and Walter Reyes and ranked behind both of them on the depth chart. Swittenburg redshirted his freshman year, and by the next spring, he had already been switched to strong safety.

‘When you redshirt, you always think you can help the team,’ Swittenburg said. ‘In actuality, you can’t because you’re not mentally or physically ready for the game. For me, I had a long time to wait.’

He spent his next two seasons at safety, making a bigger impact on special teams his sophomore year when he registered four tackles. Finally last fall, the waiting paid off. While he began the year at strong safety, Swittenburg ended the year starting at cornerback. He recorded 40 tackles – 23 solo ones – and intercepted two passes.

He was poised to return to corner this season, but another change occurred. The coaching staff moved Swittenburg to weak-side linebacker.

‘It’s a difficult transition from a running back to linebacker,’ Swittenburg said, ‘so it’s going to take repetitions, going to take a little bit of time and then, hopefully, maybe I can make a smooth transition over to it.’

Swittenburg is considerably undersized for a linebacker. Weighing slightly more than 200 pounds, Swittenburg weighs 40 pounds less than last year’s starting outside linebacker, Kelvin Smith. But his coverage skills are what prompted the move to linebacker. Instead of taking a traditional linebacker’s role, he’ll be used mostly as a cover linebacker in passing situations.

At the start of spring practices, Swittenburg was listed as the backup behind sophomore Kellen Pruitt. So far, Swittenburg’s biggest problem has been with his run stopping. He’s not used to 300-pound linemen coming directly at him, and he’s still learning how to avoid their blocks.

‘He’s doing fine until they run right at him,’ defensive coordinator Steve Dunlap said. ‘Then he has a little trouble. He’s not too happy. He may come in a role and be the third-down type of player for us, do a lot of the things a defensive back can do, but also trained to be a linebacker, so he can hold down the third-down running game.’

Although he never envisioned he’d play linebacker, Swittenburg isn’t worried. With five months before the season starts, there’s still a position he’d like to try.

‘Defensive line,’ Swittenburg said, laughing. ‘That’s where I want to be.’

Published on April 14, 2004 at 12:00 pm