Finding a spot for Underwood

One of the things the UC coaching staff is trying to figure out this spring is what to do with Brandon Underwood, the Hamilton High School product and transfer from Ohio State.

Brian Kelly loves Underwood’s athletic ability, but Underwood is a cornerback and UC already has two very strong corners in Mike Mickens and DeAngelo Smith.

“He’s a tremendous, gifted football player,” Kelly said of Underwood. “He has to rank up there among the top players that I’ve ever coached from a physical standpoint. He has all the tools. He can run. He can close. He has ball skills. He’s a special, special player.”

Complicating matters is the fact that Underwood, although he’s academically eligible to participate in spring practice, has a lot of work to do to be eligible this fall because many of the credits he earned at Ohio State did not transfer to UC.

“Brandon’s problems have never been on the football field,” Kelly said. “Brandon’s problems have been staying focused in the classroom. He’s going to have to continue to do that. He’s got a lot of work to do academically. We put him on scholarship this quarter, but that is a quarter-by-quarter assessment.”

If Underwood does the classroom work, you can rest assured that Kelly will find a spot for him in UC’s defensive backfield.

“We’ve got to get our best 11 on the field and if Brandon Underwood is one of them we have to be able to make it work all the way,” Kelly said. “We just haven’t got to that level yet where we say, Brandon, you’re on the field, we’re moving DeAngleo Smith. DeAngelo Smith and Mike Mickens are our starting corners. We’re trying to find a spot for Underwood.”

Underwood has one year of eligilibility remaining with the possibility of two if he applies for a hardship waiver at the end of next season.