The senior is tied for second in the MAC in tackles per game.
UMass linebacker Perry McIntyre makes a tackle on Bowling Green's Josh Pettus.
AMHERST — Ho hum.
That’s how University of Massachusetts senior linebacker Perry McIntyre’s double-digit tackle performances are normally treated.
That is, until this week, after a 12-tackle performance against Bowling Green on Oct. 20 earned him the following praise from Falcons coach Dave Clawson.
“I have to give UMass credit … Their inside linebacker McIntyre is one of the best players we’ve seen all year,” Clawson said on the Mid-American Conference weekly media conference call.
McIntyre was taken aback when told what Clawson said about him.
“I was very surprised by that. Usually I don’t get much attention,” McIntyre said. “It’s an honor coming from the simple fact that they’ve played a lot of great schools like Florida, Virginia Tech and Toledo.”
Huge tackle totals have become such a McIntyre routine that he finds himself tied with teammate Kassan Messiah for second in the MAC in tackles per game, with 11.
Defensive coordinator Phil Elmassian noted that McIntyre’s numbers are for real.
“Sometimes tackling numbers can be misleading,” Elmassian said. “Not with Perry.”
UMass coach Charley Molnar said that McIntyre definitely doesn’t fly under the radar internally, but that we’ll have to wait a few more weeks to see how the rest of the coaches view the senior.
“I don’t know how he’s perceived by the rest of the coaches in the league,” Molnar said. “It’ll be interesting to see at the end of the day when the all-conference voting comes out. Then you can tell what kind of impact he made.”
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the Royal Palm Beach, Fla. native. Though he started 26 games over his first three seasons in Amherst, he was getting no preferential treatment from Molnar’s staff, which took over this past winter.
“He was overweight when we got here … It was disappointing because he was obviously a team leader, and either mentally or physically, couldn’t make it through the winter workouts,” Molnar said. “He was clearly behind the rest of the guys not only at his position but on the football team.”
At that point McIntyre could have folded. With just one year remaining in his career, he didn’t have to make pleasing Molnar, and getting better a priority.
But he did.
“It would have been very easy for him to say, ‘I’m not going to go through the pain of losing this weight. I’m a good football player, the coaches are going to play me no matter what,’” Molnar said. “He made the effort to lose the weight. It wasn’t fun for him.”
A spring and summer of grueling workouts transformed McIntyre.
“He showed up to summer camp, he was a good 12-14 pounds lighter than he was in spring ball,” Molnar said. “He was a different guy. He ran faster, and could go harder longer.”
Most importantly, he set an example for the two freshmen linebackers that now flank him in the starting lineup in Messiah and Jovan Santos-Knox.
Santos-Knox is McIntyre’s roommate on road trips, and says from minute one McIntyre has set an example for him.
“Without him, we’re lost out there. We’ve got two young freshmen, and he’s kind of anchoring all of us,” Santos-Knox said. “It was the first day of summer workouts, and all I just remember is him coming up and just trying to help us, teach us.”
Now, McIntyre has made enough of an impression on his coach with his work ethic and play that Molnar says he sees McIntyre staying in football after this season is over.
“I think he’s going to be a coach one day, and I think he’s going to be a pretty darn good one because he really understands the game of football. He works hard at his trade,” Molnar said. “If his playing career ends with his last game at UMass, hopefully he takes that knowledge, and he uses to help other guys get better.”
ONE LINERS
Offensive lineman Nick Speller remains suspended and will not play Saturday at Vanderbilt… Freshman Matt Sparks will get his second straight start in Speller’s place at right guard … Viral video superstars Daniel Maynes and Rob O’Connor are scheduled to appear on ESPNU’s “UNITE” program, which airs at midnight Wednesday night (or Thursday morning, depending on how you look at it).