Souza Making The Switch From One Side To The Other
Redshirt-junior will be playing offensive line for the first time in 2012

Aug. 15, 2012

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By Gary Petit (@GaryWFU), Wake Forest Media Relations

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Most football players at the Division I level feel comfortable when suited up on the football field but this past spring, redshirt-junior Frank Souza stepped a bit outside of his comfort zone. The Ponte Vedra, Fla., native made the switch from defense line to offensive line, a position that was completely foreign to him.

"We switched to a new defense last year and I wasn't getting to play a whole lot," Souza said. "We needed some help on the O-Line so the coaches and I thought this was a good opportunity for me to switch over."

Souza had never played offensive line before last spring. He appeared in 18 games over his first two seasons with the Deacs as an interior defensive lineman and made a total of 16 stops. Despite not legally being able to tackle an opposing player now on the offensive line, Souza is still relishing his new role.

"I am going to miss making tackles and hitting guys in the backfield and making sacks but I still get to run guys into the ground which is still fun."

Souza is in the running for a starting spot on a relatively inexperienced offensive line. The Deacons graduated four starters off the 2011 squad and will be paced this fall by senior center Garrick Williams.

Souza and the rest of the Deacs completed a pair of practices on Wednesday. The morning session consisted of mainly positional work while the afternoon session, which saw the players in full pads, was more offense vs. defense. The afternoon work was in preparation for the Deacons' first scrimmage of the preseason on Thursday morning. The scrimmage is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. at BB&T Field and is open to the public.

 

 

 

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