w w w w w w w w mmm=q t lw 14mr- T T -qw T T m-1 The Michigan Daily - Friday, Sept epth a problem at By PAUL HELGREN "To have a great defense," said Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, who should be an authority on the subject by now, "you've got to have great 'backers.' " Schembechler may line up some fine linebackers this year. But the backers' backers have the coaching staff concerned. STARTING SENIORS Mike Mallory and Rodney Lyles are returning, as well as some other experienced players. But beyond the first string, only question marks remain. "We've always got the numbers," said assistant head coach and defensive co-ordinator Gary Moeller. "It's the quality of the depth you worry about. Everybody's worried about our depth at linebacker." Of course question marks can sometimes turn into fine players. Last season three linebackers went down - Mike Boren, Tom Hassel and Mike Reinhold - but the replacements did the job. SECOND-TEAM All-Big Ten honoree Mallory could blossom into a bonafide star. He only stands 6-2, 217 pounds but he's a fierce scrapper. He led the Wolverines with 119 tackles in 1983. Lyles, who started all but two games for Michigan last year, should be a mainstay at the outside linebacker spot. He led the team with nine tackles behind the line of scrimmage last season. Senior Jim Scarcelli should hold down the other outside position. The lean 6-6, 217-pound Scarcelli suffered a pinched nerve in the spring but should be in top form for the opener. Unfortunately for the Wolverines there is nobody with significant game experience behind Lyles and Scarcelli. Sophomores Carlitos Bostic and Tim Schulte figure to be next in line. Depth is a problem on the inside, too. Mallory is joined by dependable seniors Tim Anderson and Jeff Akers. After that Bo will have to call on 6-1, 219-pound junior Andy Moeller, son of the Wolverine assistant head coach, and 6-2, 215- pound sophomore John Balourdos. Neither has played when the game is on the line. 1 S 0 0 Sineich (Continued from Page 7) Arbor a must. "We never pressured them into anything." Though not extraordinarily big, Al chose football as his pastime. By the time he reached high school he had established a reputation as a gritty lineman. He tried his hand at basketball one year at St. Joseph's, but with the frame of a 190-pound tree stump Al was built for football. "AL SINCICH was the only pulling guard St. Joe's has ever had in basket- ball," recalled Moran, who also serves as the school's head basketball coach. "He played basketball like he played football-rough. Of course, if you ask him he'll tell you he was a great basketball player." Moran laughed. He knows a statement like that would be com- pletely uncharacteristic of Sincich. Reserved and well-mannered, Sincich is somewhat uncomfortable talking about his own exploits. He also doesn't want to be lavished with praise for what he has done on the football field. He would prefer to be treated "just like anybody else." Said his father, "He tells me, like if I'm going to talk to someone about sports, he tells me, 'Don't say nothing about me.' He don't want none of that." His son's modesty didn't prevent Mr. Sincich from distributing hundreds of copies of this year's wallet-sized Michigan football schedule, which features a photograph of Al on the front. "I gave one to everybody that asked-and everybody that didn't." "AL'S A sensitive kid," added Moran. "We have a big blow-up picture in the football office here of Al crying after a loss. He's bloody and muddy." Though Sincich now serves as the picture of dejection at St. Joseph's, during his playing days he was closer to the picture of perfection. By his senior year he made All-Ohio and attracted the attention of some major college football teams, despite his relative puniness. One of those teams was Michigan. Wolverine head coach Bo Schem- bechler was probably less concerned about Sincich's stature than most major college coaches. After all, four years earlier the Michigan general had snagged a pint-sized St. Joe's linebacker by the name of Andy Can- navino who went on to have a great collegiate career. "BO LIKES SMALL, quick people on defense," Sincich noted. "If you look at Michigan's defense in the past, there's always been small, quick guys there." Still, the coaching staff was less than impressed with Sincich when he walked into Michigan Stadium in August of his freshman year. "They had everybody in front of me," said Sincich. "When they (Michigan recruiters) first came in they said they didn't have no middle guard and when I got here there were six guys ahead of me. Kinda depressing, you know. "THEY JUST KEPT putting people in that was bigger than me, trying 'em out and everything. It was the third week of the season when Bo moved me to second string...Three weeks later I was starting." Sincich's rookie year was no picnic, however. Injuries had forced the coaches to move Sincich, all 205 pounds of him, into the line to fill the gap. He took a terrible beating. "Now that I look back on it," said Sincich with a laugh, "it was amazing that I even survived my freshman year." Sincich survived that first year only to return the following campaign and find his job in jeopardy. The coaches were still searching for a behemoth- type to fill the middle. But they found the best man for the job was still Al Sin- cich. . "YOU ALWAYS FIGURE someone's going to beat him out," said Gary Moeller, Michigan's assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. "But he's always there. He's one of those tough little nuts that's not going to give up his position." Sincich doesn't have to worry about keeping his position anymore. He is one of the senior anchors on a defense that should prove to be exceptional. Eight starters return from last year's first- ranked defense in the Big Ten. And no position is more important than the middle guard slot. Though his weight has inched up near the 230 mark, Sincich's forte is still his quickness. He regularly scoots past bewildered centers to meet running backs at the line. And at a height of just over six feet, he is able to use leverage to bring down the big goons up front and create tackling opportunities for Michigan's talented linebacking corps. HIS HARD WORK on the line may not always earn tackles for himself, but it has earned him the respect of his teammates and coaches. "He's highly respected because of the position he plays," said Moeller. "Al is a leader by example," added defensive line coach Jerry Meter. "I know a lot of people look up to him." THOUGH THOSE around Sincich seem impressed with his accomplish- ments during his first three, years as a starter, Sincich remains dissatisfied. He said that last season he suffered from "a mental block" that prevented him from playing up to his expec- tations. "Maybe it's my mom," said brother Randy about Al's difficulties. Though he has nothing to be ashamed about (he was All-Big Ten last year) this year will be a different story. And though he won't tell anybody-not even his father-Sincich might just be dedicating himself to a memory. "I think he's playing for his mother now, too," his father said. There's no doubt his mother would have been very proud. I September 29: at In COACH: Bill Mallory (first season al Indiana). LAST YEAR'S RECORD: 3-8, 2-7 Big Ten. LAST YEAR VS MICH: Michigan 43, Indiana 18. SERIES LEADER: Michigan. 32-8. OFFENSIVE STARTERS RETURING: 6. 1983 OFFENSIVE RANKING: 7th. DEFENSIVE RANKING: 7th. DEFENSIVE STARTERS RETURNING: 9. 1983 DEFENSIVE RANKING: 8th. PLAYERS TO WATCH: Steve Bradley (QB), Len Kennebrew (WR), Chris Sigler (FS), Joe Fitzgerald (LB), Mallory Nate Borders (CB). When three different head coaches hold the reigns at a school in three years, the recruiting effort will usually be left in disarray. Bill Mallory moved into the foot- ball office at Indiana last spring, following Sam Wyche who now heads up the Cincinnati Bengals, and Lee-Corso, who was fired in 1982 after 10 years of coaching the Hoosiers. Not surprisingly, Mallory found a lack of talent on the field. INDIANA RETURNS 15 starters, but a year ago the Cream and Crim- son was last in the Big Ten in total defense and averaged less than 100 yards per game on the ground. Both of these areas will have to improve if Indiana is to n in the standin Quarterback after a good longer has sp throw to. Jl (309 yards in to grind ou tailback posit Mallory, th Wolverines Mi is entering his coach on the previously Colorado, and has had only t career. But I challenge he Bloomington.