Utah Utes football: Wright man for the job

Until his senior year at Bountiful High School, Mike Wright was content to play basketball and baseball, a couple of sports he excelled at. He thought any future he had in athletics would be as a collegiate baseball catcher.

Bountiful football coach Larry Wall had other ideas. As he used to watch Wright play other sports at his school, he noticed his size and athletic ability and used to drool over the thought of him playing for the Braves' football team.

"We invited him to come out for the team," Wall said.

That's not quite how Wright remembers it.

"During baseball season, coach Wall said, 'I'll see you at summer conditioning,"' Wright recalls. "Then he had some football players show up at my house early one summer morning and made me come to summer conditioning ..."

So with a little twist of his arm, Wright's football career began and, remarkably, four years later he is a starting linebacker for the 13th-ranked Utah football team.

In two years, the 6-foot-2, 230-pound Wright has gone from walk-on to starter at the middle linebacker position, which is known as the quarterback position of the defense.

Wright leads the Utes in tackles with 38 after getting 15 last week against Oregon State, which helped earn him Mountain West Conference defensive player of the week honors. He also leads the team in pass breakups with four and has a fumble recovery and a sack.

"He's done a great job of jumping in head first and working on his weaknesses and converting them into strengths," said defensive coordinator Gary Andersen. "He's worked his tail off and has become a very good player for us."

Wright has been a quick learner ever since he first put on the pads. During his lone year of football at Bountiful, Wright played both wide receiver and defensive end and helped lead the Braves to a state championship.

"We knew we had something special when we got him there," Wall said. "He was a good athlete, and it didn't take him long to catch up to speed. He's a smart kid, very intelligent, a real student of the game. He's tenacious and very explosive. But I'd say his biggest attribute is that he's such a competitor."

After a senior season where he earned all-region but not all-state honors from the Deseret News, Wright figured his football career was over. However, Andersen, on the recommendation of Wall, recruited Wright to play at Southern Utah, where he was the head coach in 2004.

"I wasn't expecting to play college football out of high school, but once I got there I realized my potential and what kind of player I could become," Wright said. "So for me to be here is kind of a pleasant surprise."

Wright redshirted his one year at Southern Utah, and after returning early from an LDS mission for health reasons, he decided to walk on the U. team in the spring of 2006.

Recent comments