I spoke with Kevin Lempa this afternoon for a brief story I am working on for this week’s print edition, and because it’s July and neither of us seemed like we had much to do, I asked the Terrapin football team’s safeties coach some extra questions that didn’t really have much to do with anything just because I was curious.

I’ve been enamored by sophomore Kenny Tate’s rare combination of size and athleticism since he became a Terp, so I decided to ask Coach Lempa how Kenny is doing, and what people should expect from him this season.

What people should expect is even more than I expected.

“Kenny Tate is like the wild card. He can do a lot of things because he’s such a superior athlete,” Lempa said. “Kenny Tate’s going to play a lot. He’ll play safety, some linebacker, and even a defensive end-type position. [Defensive coordinator] Coach [Don] Brown said a couple of times he could even play corner.”

“He’s another intelligent football player, and he can just make plays.”

So while the converted wide receiver might be stuck behind accomplished upperclassmen in the secondary, the Terps’ coaching staff thinks highly enough of his potential as a defensive player to find a spot for him among the linebackers or even as a defensive end.

Maybe it’s just me, but I find this very exciting.

Fall practice starts four weeks from yesterday.

Greg Schimmel is The Diamondback’s Terrapin football beat writer. He can be reached at schimmeldbk@gmail.com

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