A Look Inside: Belin's ILBs Will Be Center Stage in 2010

I'm putting together a story for later in the week on the inside linebackers and new ILB coach Warren Belin. I figured I could share a few of the quotes I got for the story here though, for those of you sick of talking QBs and ready to hear more about the new-look D...

Warren Belin on Christian Robinson...
“Christian is improving each and every day. I’m very pleased with his progress. He’s playing multiple positions for us at the inside linebacker, and he’s a young man that’s a hard worker, works really hard at being the best he can be at doing the fundamentals and the little things right, and as he continues to grow into our defensive package, he’s going to make a great contribution to our football team.”

Belin on Marcus Dowtin...
“Marcus is very talented, and we’re excited about what he brings to the table as a student-athlete. Again, as he said and as I would also agree, we’ve got to consistently be the best, know our assignments, and physically do everything we’re asking him to do. Mentally he’s very, very close to where we need him to be right now. He’s had a few mistakes here and there. As a linebacker coach, the No. 1 thing that I’m going to ask is that he does things the right way all the time. And there are no excuses for missed assignments and missed alignments. There’s just none. We get beat if you don’t do things the right way.”

Todd Grantham on Robinson and Akeem Dent...
“Dent and Robinson have played both Mike and Mo, so they give you some flexibility there. We’re also working to progress Richard Samuel, because he does show up as far as his ability to run and chase and we’re trying to work with him to see if we can find a role for him as we move forward.”

Grantham on where Richard Samuel must improve...
“I just think the key and diagnose of blocking schemes. He has a feel for where the ball’s going, but is it a downhill run? Is it a wide play? I just think it’s more the recognition of the blocks and where do I need to fit based on the recognition of the call. That’s based on experience, but the guy was in here last Friday after meetings watching tape trying to get ready for the scrimmage because he wanted to get better. If our guys will do that and work to improve, I think we’ll be fine.”

Christian Robinson on the mix at ILB...
"To us, it’s really not a battle. We’re just trying to put the best guy forward. Everybody is working really hard. We have different groups for different situations. Coach [Todd] Grantham will take me and put Downtin in, or Darryl, or Dent. It’s a group of guys who are going to put our best foot forward every time. Some guys are bigger, some guys are faster. Whatever coach Grantham wants from his linebacker corps, he’s going to do it."

Robinson on the leadership of Akeem Dent & Darryl Gamble...
"Having Darryl and Dent, they’re just great leaders and great people. If we have a rough day, they’re the first ones to get on us and bring us up. They were just as influential as Rennie (Curran) was. They’ve been here, this is their fifth year, so everybody knows them, everybody respects them. They’ve earned their time, and they’ve been playing since they were freshmen. When they say something you listen. Coach comes first, but those guys are second.”

Akeem Dent on Belin's expectations...
"With him he just wants everybody to go out and play with great energy, have a great attitude, and give great effort. There are a lot of things that you can’t control, but you can your attitude and effort. He wants us to go out every day and just play."