Football: Becoming a 'true linebacker'

Over the course of its forgettable 1-9 2010 season, the football team became very familiar with injuries to key players. Perhaps the most visible loss was senior quarterback Tommy Wornham, but the Tiger defense was not at all immune to injuries. Senior linebacker and tri-captain Steve Cody and junior lineman Caraun Reid both sat out the season. But over the past two tumultuous years, junior linebacker Andrew Starks has been a constant and reliable force for the Princeton defensive squad, playing in every game since the start of his freshman year and developing into a running back’s worst nightmare.

Starks’ journey to the Princeton defensive unit began in Tennessee at the age of seven, when he played tight end in his first-ever football game. The team’s coach was his father, Kevin, who had played tight end for the University of Minnesota before being drafted by the Atlanta Falcons. Kevin Starks then spent a number of years in the NFL — playing for the Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins — and used his experience to help his son grow as a player.

“I worked with my dad on weekends and stuff, developing my skill set,” Andrew Starks said. “I played in high school and then got an opportunity to play at the next level, so I’m fortunate that it worked out for me.”

Head coach Bob Surace ’90 said he encountered many sons of NFL players in his time coaching for the Cincinnati Bengals, almost all of whom learned from their fathers the right attitude toward the game and personality off the field as well.

“They get what being a professional is,” Surace said. “[Andrew] knows what’s expected; he knows the standard.”

At high school in Plainfield, Ill., Starks started his career as a quarterback, but he was recruited as a safety. He received early offers to a number of Division I schools with reputable football programs — including Air Force, Navy and Colorado State — but cancelled all his remaining official visits after touring Princeton, which he described as “the best of both worlds” in terms of academics and athletics.

During his freshman year, Starks saw a significant amount of playing time in the secondary. He recorded two pass breakups and 33 tackles, including a season-high nine tackles while playing at Harvard. At the end of the season, he and Reid shared the Harland “Pink” Baker ’22 Award for the team’s best defensive freshmen, which Reid said served as motivation for the two of them.

“It was a great honor, and it helped us get in the mindset that we’re no longer freshmen,” Reid said. “It really made us step up our game.”

Though Starks indeed stepped up his game during his sophomore year, his role on the team had shifted significantly. During the off-season, the 6-foot-2-inch, 240-pound Starks spent a lot of time in the weight room with strength coach Jason Gallucci, putting on weight to prepare to play outside linebacker for his sophomore year.

“A lot of us saw it coming,” Reid said of Starks’ shift. “He might have been one of the biggest safeties I’ve seen in my life. It also fits him well because he’s a very physical guy.”

Starks said that while it took him some time to adjust to the new position, he ended up enjoying it a lot and found that it suited him well.

“It’s a little bit different than playing safety because things happen so much faster,” Starks said. “There’s not a whole lot of time to diagnose what’s happening, and you have to kind of just go ... I consider myself a physical player, so linebacker is something I enjoy since you get to put a hit on people every once in a while.”

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He excelled at linebacker last year, placing second on the team and fourth overall in the Ivy League with 89 tackles. For his performance, Starks was granted an Honorable Mention for the All-Ivy team, which he said surprised him because he was happy just to be starting and making contributions as a sophomore.

Surace, however, was not at all surprised, noting that Starks possesses many other qualities that make him an effective linebacker besides his size and physical strength. Surace said he believes Starks’ experience as a quarterback and safety allows him to see the bigger picture of the game in a way that even some of the best linebackers cannot.

“Most linebackers — and we’ve had a lot of really good ones — have tunnel vision; it’s see ball, find ball and then hit,” Surace said. “[Andrew] processes things really well. He understands concepts. There’s a vision, a comfort level that he has.”

Starks said he has felt much more comfortable in his new position this season in practice and in the Tigers’ 34-22 opening loss to Lehigh.

“This year, I’ve progressed a lot,” Starks said. “I don’t feel like a safety playing linebacker anymore; I feel like a true linebacker.”

And the Tigers need him to be. With Cody and Reid back in the starting lineup, the team is looking to the three of them to work together and limit their opponents; rushing yardage, a challenge Starks and Reid said they were up to.

“It feels really good to be back out there and to be a unit again,” Reid said.

“[Andrew] is a pleasure to be with on the field because he makes so many plays, which frees up space for other guys to get involved,” Cody said. “He is a great leader and example for young guys off the field.”

As part of his continuous quest to improve his play, Starks looks to Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis for inspiration, saying he admires the emotion and intensity that the two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year brings to the field.

“He’s a guy who loves the game, and he has a mindset that no one is going to beat him to the ball,” Starks said. “If it’s a one-on-one block he’s going to win. There isn’t anybody who’s worked harder than him and he’s not going to let them beat him on the field.”

Having enjoyed hearing about his dad’s experiences playing professionally, Starks hopes to have the opportunity to follow in his footsteps and enter the NFL draft after his senior year. A politics major, Starks said he is considering a career in finance and interned at a private equities firm in New York City this past summer.

Surace, however, has a different idea of what Starks’ future will look like. When a recent mandatory meeting for politics majors — there are many on the football team — conflicted with a football practice, Surace pushed the practice back.

“I said [to Starks], ‘You should be there,’” Surace said. “You’re going to be president.”