When You Work Hard, Good Things Happen
COLGATE UNIVERSITY
When You Work Hard, Good Things Happen By Jim Leach “With nine months to prepare for Albany, you’d think we’d have it all down within the first couple months,” defensive end Ryan Keller ’08 said of today’s season opener. “But you keep discovering new things and the plan isn’t set until a day or two before the game. You keep looking at film and learning new things.” And Keller and his teammates look at a LOT of film, “up to three hours a day, sometimes,” said the senior and third-year starter who grew up in Colts Neck, NJ. Keller spent his days this summer working at the new Case Library & Geyer Center for Information Technology (a major gift from the estate of legendary running back Bill Geyer ’42 helped the university incorporate information technology under one roof with traditional library resources in the $57.5 million state-ofthe-art facility). Working on campus provided Keller ready access to the university’s strength and conditioning center and staff, and he and his teammates who stayed in Hamilton for the summer devoted many late afternoon and evening hours to preparing themselves for the physical demands of the season. An offensive back and defensive linebacker in high school, Keller was recruited as a fullback/linebacker at Colgate. “They moved me to linebacker the second day of practice,” Keller said of his first year as a Raider. He saw no game time that year. Moved to rush end as a sophomore, he has found his place. In his sophomore and junior seasons he played in 20 games, starting nine, and he comes into this year with 55 tackles (27 solo). Keller describes the rush end’s responsibilities as a hybrid of defensive end and linebacker, with his positioning determined by the defensive signal call. He’ll drop back into pass coverage an average four or five times a game. He’s also lighter than his counterpart on the other end of the line (#55 Pat Nolan weighs about 260 pounds compared to Keller’s 240, for instance). A rush end is seldom double teamed, he said, while a double team is expected by the traditional defensive end. Keller earned a place in the nickel defense this year
(inserted when the offense is likely to pass), and he relishes the assignment. “It’s the best play. It’s time to go get a sack. It’s your treat.” Like many of his Raider teammates, Keller was a captain in high school. He’s found different ways to lead now. “In high school, as captain, I had to be more vocal. Here you take on a leadership role by working hard in practice and during games, without being so vocal. That lets the younger guys see how it’s done.” His work ethic was instilled in him by his family: “They showed me that when you work hard, good things happen.” The same philosophy applied to academic work. “I didn’t have good grades in seventh and eighth grade. My stepfather told me good grades matter if you want to go play college football. So I worked hard, and I got to come to Colgate.” The sociology/anthropology major says he was nervous at first, especially about academic expectations, but now he can’t imagine being anywhere else. His best friends here, he says, “are like brothers. It’s something I never experienced before.” The game against Lehigh is highlighted on Keller’s schedule, in part because he saw his first college game at Lehigh (“I remember underestimating what I could become, never imagining that I could step on a field and play with them”). It’s also the fact that the Raiders have not beaten Lehigh during Keller’s years, which adds to his interest. Colgate’s defense was the best in the Patriot League last year, but you won’t hear Keller acknowledge that statistic, much less take from it any solace. “As a defense we look back at 4-7 and feel we weren’t even close to number one. If we lost a game by seven points we figure as a defense if we could have made a play or recovered a ball we could have scored a touchdown. So we don’t view ourselves as number one. Not to say that we’re not the best defense in the league, but that we didn’t have enough wins for us to say that we’re the number one team. We think there’s a lot of room for improvement.” Keep an eye on #35.
23
When You Work Hard, Good Things Happen By Jim Leach “With nine months to prepare for Albany, you’d think we’d have it all down within the first couple months,” defensive end Ryan Keller ’08 said of today’s season opener. “But you keep discovering new things and the plan isn’t set until a day or two before the game. You keep looking at film and learning new things.” And Keller and his teammates look at a LOT of film, “up to three hours a day, sometimes,” said the senior and third-year starter who grew up in Colts Neck, NJ. Keller spent his days this summer working at the new Case Library & Geyer Center for Information Technology (a major gift from the estate of legendary running back Bill Geyer ’42 helped the university incorporate information technology under one roof with traditional library resources in the $57.5 million state-ofthe-art facility). Working on campus provided Keller ready access to the university’s strength and conditioning center and staff, and he and his teammates who stayed in Hamilton for the summer devoted many late afternoon and evening hours to preparing themselves for the physical demands of the season. An offensive back and defensive linebacker in high school, Keller was recruited as a fullback/linebacker at Colgate. “They moved me to linebacker the second day of practice,” Keller said of his first year as a Raider. He saw no game time that year. Moved to rush end as a sophomore, he has found his place. In his sophomore and junior seasons he played in 20 games, starting nine, and he comes into this year with 55 tackles (27 solo). Keller describes the rush end’s responsibilities as a hybrid of defensive end and linebacker, with his positioning determined by the defensive signal call. He’ll drop back into pass coverage an average four or five times a game. He’s also lighter than his counterpart on the other end of the line (#55 Pat Nolan weighs about 260 pounds compared to Keller’s 240, for instance). A rush end is seldom double teamed, he said, while a double team is expected by the traditional defensive end. Keller earned a place in the nickel defense this year
(inserted when the offense is likely to pass), and he relishes the assignment. “It’s the best play. It’s time to go get a sack. It’s your treat.” Like many of his Raider teammates, Keller was a captain in high school. He’s found different ways to lead now. “In high school, as captain, I had to be more vocal. Here you take on a leadership role by working hard in practice and during games, without being so vocal. That lets the younger guys see how it’s done.” His work ethic was instilled in him by his family: “They showed me that when you work hard, good things happen.” The same philosophy applied to academic work. “I didn’t have good grades in seventh and eighth grade. My stepfather told me good grades matter if you want to go play college football. So I worked hard, and I got to come to Colgate.” The sociology/anthropology major says he was nervous at first, especially about academic expectations, but now he can’t imagine being anywhere else. His best friends here, he says, “are like brothers. It’s something I never experienced before.” The game against Lehigh is highlighted on Keller’s schedule, in part because he saw his first college game at Lehigh (“I remember underestimating what I could become, never imagining that I could step on a field and play with them”). It’s also the fact that the Raiders have not beaten Lehigh during Keller’s years, which adds to his interest. Colgate’s defense was the best in the Patriot League last year, but you won’t hear Keller acknowledge that statistic, much less take from it any solace. “As a defense we look back at 4-7 and feel we weren’t even close to number one. If we lost a game by seven points we figure as a defense if we could have made a play or recovered a ball we could have scored a touchdown. So we don’t view ourselves as number one. Not to say that we’re not the best defense in the league, but that we didn’t have enough wins for us to say that we’re the number one team. We think there’s a lot of room for improvement.” Keep an eye on #35.
23
