Ready to Lead: UT's Berry learns from freshman mistakes

By Joe Kennedy
Daily Times Correspondent

KNOXVILLE -- It is a situation Eric Berry rarely finds himself in. And it's one he doesn't want to experience again any time soon.

When you are considered one of the top defensive backs in the country coming out of high school and are good enough to start at a Southeastern Conference school from the get-go, things rarely don't go your way on the football field.

But on a steamy day a year ago in Gainesville, Fla., against the Florida Gators, the rarity became reality.

Florida's Tim Tebow hurled a 30-yard pass into the end zone that Berry appeared to stalk for a sure interception. But the defensive back's leap finished inches from a deflection as the ball fell into the outstretched arms of Riley Cooper for the Gators' first of many scores in a 59-20 victory.

"When they scored that touchdown pass on me, that was pretty embarrassing," Berry recalled. "Coming out of high school and not getting beat but just one time, and that was my freshman year, that was a pretty tough situation."

But those situations were few and far between last season. And now, with a year in Knoxville under his belt, Berry finds himself as one of the leaders of a Tennessee secondary that hopes to shut down a pass-happy UCLA offense on Monday night in Pasadena, Calif., in the season opener for both teams.

And despite being named to the watch lists for both the Thorpe Award and the Lott Trophy before the season even kicks off, Berry is concentrating on clearing up the confusion he felt in 2007 for this year's crop of freshmen.

"Eric and I were talking (Monday) just about his understanding of things," UT defensive backs coach Larry Slade said. "He was relating to some of the things our freshmen are going through this year. He just told them about being patient."

But if patience was the first lesson Berry taught, hard work was likely the second.

"Eric will tell you this. He is still a ways away," Slade continued. "He is still working hard. The big thing is that he is improving every day because of his work ethic, because he is studying more now. He is not trying to learn something. He has the knowledge, so he can concentrate on the opponent."

And that means a day rarely goes by that does not feature Berry glued to a TV in the film room, often alongside teammate DeAngelo Willingham.

Yet that dissection does not come without some drawbacks. Watching games for pure enjoyment is now a thing of the past.

"Right now, it's crazy," said Berry, who finished with 86 tackles and five interceptions in his freshman campaign. "Because once I learned the plays, I started looking for things like splits and alignments on the offensive side of the ball.

"Now, I can't even watch an NFL game without trying to figure out what the offensive coordinator is thinking about. Right now, I'm just trying to be a student of the game and learn what's going on."