Two days into fall camp, it's clear the Gophers coaching staff is excited about junior college transfer De'Vondre Campbell, who's a candidate to start at outside linebacker.
Campbell is 6-5, 225 pounds and just oozes athleticism. As one staffer put it today, he looks like MarQueis Gray at linebacker.
Without prompting, Coach Jerry Kill has praised Campbell after both practices. Today, it started with a question about fellow junior college transfer Damien Wilson.
"A guy that's really impressed me early in camp, really, with the learning curve and catching on has been De'Vondre," Kill said. "Because he's a junior college transfer who's got three years [of eligibility] left. He doesn't mess around. He's focused and locked in. He's really done well the first couple days which surprised me a little bit."
Campbell is easily the tallest linebacker in camp, and he's quick, too.
"Everybody worries about height on the D-line; I'm more worried about it at linebacker," defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys said. "I like to have linebackers with more length. I think they cover up more passing zones. Don't get me wrong, I'll take tall D-linemen too, but it'd be nice to get some length and some height at the linebacker spot."
It also impressed Claeys the way Campbell learned from experience on Day 1.
"Early in practice, he made a huge mistake on a call," Claeys said. "We got after him, and later on in the practice, the same thing happened -- he'd already had it corrected. So that's what gets me excited.
