If persistence is the intersection of optimism and grit, Lake Wales (Fla.) High soccer coach Tavaris Johnson leaned closely on these traits each time he crossed paths with Gervon Dexter within the hallways of the college.
Johnson, who can be a dean, was wanting to see Dexter, a hulking freshman and gifted AAU basketball participant, on the soccer area. His preliminary efforts had been met with the type of box-out Dexter would use to corral rebounds simply.
“I knew Gervon and I knew his family well,” Johnson stated. “I played with a few of his uncles. He comes from a very talented family. The first thing I said to Gervon was, ‘Hey, a guy your size should be on the football field. You are a dream waiting to happen.’ He looks at me and he says, ‘Coach, I’m not playing football.’ I’m like, ‘What?!? You’ve got to be kidding me.’”
Undeterred, Johnson saved a full-court press on Dexter into his sophomore yr and he remained singularly dedicated to basketball.
“I was pretty firm,” Dexter recalled.
With spring soccer approaching, Johnson labored to persuade Dexter into giving soccer a attempt throughout the 20 days allotted to spring soccer follow within the state.
“Gervon, listen, you have to play football. That’s your purpose,” Johnson stated.
“Coach, nah, I’m not interested,” Dexter replied.
Johnson pushed ahead, ultimately convincing Dexter to attempt on a soccer uniform within the locker room and to see what he appeared like in one of many Highlanders’ black jerseys with white lettering and orange numbers.
“I think that was just the catch,” Johnson stated. “He felt that uniform.”
“All right, Coach, I’m going to try this,” Dexter stated. “When do you think I’m going to get my first offer?”
“Gervon, nobody is going to offer you!” Johnson stated. “You haven’t played a down of football. It doesn’t work that way. You’ve got to give me some time to work.”
“Well, I’m not going to play then,” Dexter replied. “I’m not going to waste my time. I’m not going to waste your time.”
“Gervon, listen, I am telling you, this is where you belong,” Johnson stated.
‘Coach, who is that kid?’
Johnson’s dogged pursuit and Dexter’s eventual willingness to attempt a sport he had performed solely as a youth led to higher issues before the coach might have imagined. Johnson was in attendance at Dexter’s draft celebration when the Chicago Bears chosen him with the 53rd decide with the hopes he generally is a key piece in the midst of a defensive turnaround.
“Feeling the emotion and the energy in the room was just surreal,” Johnson stated. “Of course it was predestined for him. He’d done the things he needed to do to make sure this became a reality.”
On the primary day of spring ball, after Dexter was hooked by the concept of how he appeared within the Highlanders uniform, then-South Florida assistant coach Eric Mathies was at follow. Johnson was exhibiting him an inventory of prospects on the faculty. The Highlanders sometimes have about 4 youngsters transfer on to school soccer every year.
“(Mathies) turns around and Gervon is in the corner,” Johnson stated. “ ’Coach, who’s that child?’
“I said, ‘That’s a project right now, that’s Gervon Dexter.’ ”
Mathies walked over to Dexter and noticed him undergo a number of drills and advised Johnson he was going to supply him a scholarship that day. Three days later coaches from throughout the Southeast had been flocking to Lake Wales. The phrase was out.
“Moving through his junior year, he’s played one season, helicopters were landing on our baseball field,” Johnson stated. “You would have thought we had the Pope here with how much traffic we had with people coming through to see Gervon. He handled that all well. He walked with humility. I told him success is proportional to effort. You’ve got to figure this out.”
In a short while — ridiculously brief contemplating some recruiting tales — Dexter emerged as a five-star recruit and ultimately settled on Florida.
Then-Gators defensive position coach David Turner burst into laughter when requested if Dexter was nonetheless comparatively uncooked by the point he set foot on campus in Gainesville.
“What would you think?” Turner shot again. “He was uncooked with plenty of athletic capability. There are plenty of issues you may coach, however you may’t coach 6-foot-6, 280 kilos. From that standpoint, he had the entire instruments. He was a pure and aggressive child. The advantage of soccer, you don’t get 5 fouls. So he can tough them up a bit of bit and he doesn’t have to fret about fouling out.
“He wasn’t a whole lot different from (Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle) Chris Jones. I had him at Mississippi State. Chris didn’t play football until his junior year and thought he was a basketball player. … Gervon is a kid that wanted to be coached. He’s a great kid. ‘Yes, sir. No, sir.’ I was excited to have a chance to work with him. The good thing about it, there were not a whole lot of bad habits he had to break. You just had to coach him up. He wanted to be great and it was a natural progression.”
On-the-job coaching
Dexter’s father, Gerald, died of a mind aneurysm throughout the spring of his senior yr at Lake Wales in April 2020, making his transition to Florida more difficult.
“Got closer to the man above as well as just using my Dad as motivation,” Dexter stated when requested how he channeled his grief.
Dexter noticed common enjoying time as a freshman, logging 254 snaps, and greater than doubled that complete in 2021. The Gators used him as a penetrating defensive sort out within the first two seasons — how the Bears envision utilizing him — earlier than a change in coaches final fall led to a brand new scheme. In logging 636 snaps (53 per sport), Dexter was requested to learn and react extra and preserve visitors off linebackers. While he proved to be sturdy, he wasn’t precisely enjoying to his strengths.
Still, in 36 video games (23 begins), he completed with 125 tackles, 5 sacks, 10½ tackles for a loss, two interceptions and 51 quarterback pressures.
“The SEC is not a real entry-level position, so he had to get on-the-job training, and the only way he was going to get good was to see and understand that everyone is big and strong,” Turner stated. “The biggest thing in his sophomore year was technique and pad level. He still wasn’t where I wanted him to be but he understood it having been tested and thrown in the fire. Everything his freshman year was the first time going through it so the second time was easier.”
‘I want to be one of the best’
Turner’s comparability to Jones, a four-time Pro Bowl choice who twice has had 15½ sacks, is fascinating as a result of the mix measurables, are related in lots of respects.
Chris Jones | Gervon Dexter
- Height: 6-5¾ | 6-6
- Weight: 310 | 310
- Arms: 32¾ | 32¼
- Wingspan: 85 | 80⅞
- 40-yard sprint: 5.03 | 4.88
- 10-yard break up: 1.69 | 1.81
- 3-cone: 7.44 | 7.50
- Bench-press reps: 26 | 22
Turner stated Jones had a sooner first step and was a bit of extra fluid. An NFL personnel man stated Jones is faster laterally with looser hips and the flexibility to bend like some elite edge rushers. Still, if Dexter is 75% of the participant Jones, a Kansas City Chiefs second-round decide in 2016, the Bears can have a star.
“It’s hard when you’re gifted with size and strength to comprehend things are going to take time to be where you want to be,” Turner stated. “That was the biggest thing having (Dexter) understand the process, being patient within development. You’re not going to be great now, but eventually you’re going to have a chance to be a really, really good player.”
Dexter is measured when discussing objectives with the primary steps this weekend at rookie minicamp. He needs to get the playbook down, which shouldn’t be an excessive amount of hassle for a defensive sort out.
He’s thrilled the Bears are asking him to be a one-gapper, charged with getting upfield and wreaking havoc. He’s excited to study alongside fellow rookie Zacch Pickens from South Carolina.
The NFL is an adjustment for all rookies, much more so for ones with restricted expertise. Dexter set a purpose when he obtained to Florida to play for 3 seasons earlier than making the leap to the NFL. The overarching purpose, although, is one he made along with his father earlier than his loss of life.
“Just trying to do it for him,” Dexter stated. “I want to be one of the best.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com