Oct. 10, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Playmaker.
In my time as a writer on the Hill, I've lost count of how many times someone has used that term in reference to Jon Drummond. What exactly does it mean, anyway?
"There are different kinds of players, each with a different talent level," says Western Kentucky head coach Jack Harbaugh. "In my experience over the years there have been certain individuals - and only a handful of those - that I have had the opportunity to coach, that in the process of games find the wherewithal to make plays.
"You have guys who are good in practice, great athletes who can handle dummies and drills, then disappear in games. Jon is not one of those. When the game starts, you assume - even count on - the fact that he will make a play that will give your team a chance to win."
"It's a guy who, no matter what the situation in a game, performs at the same level all the time," adds assistant coach Bryan Cross. "Jon has had a knack for making big plays over his career, like a couple of weeks ago at McNeese State where he forced that fumble deep in their territory."
The play Cross refers to was a 17-yard sack, Drummond's fifth in as many games at that point of the season.
Drummond's take on the subject: "It means that I make things happen, do things that are noticeable on the field. I thrive on making things happen out of the ordinary, like a big sack or a big fumble. Big plays are my calling."
Fans have only half a season left to watch for Drummond's next feat on the field. After fighting for a scholarship offer out of Miami Beach Senior High School in 1998, the 5-foot-11, 230-pound outside linebacker is wrapping up a standout career on the Hill. He earned his first career start in the next-to-last game of 1999 at Indiana State as a redshirt freshman and has been a mainstay in the Hilltoppers' 3-4 defensive alignment ever since.
Entering today's contest with Florida International, he has recorded 213 career tackles. Looking for big plays among those? Try 32 stops behind the line of scrimmage, including 20 sacks. Need further evidence? Ask Murray State University. In his freshman season, Drummond intercepted a pass - the only one of his career to date - and added a pair of tackles as the Hilltoppers defeated their instate rival, 21-15. A year later, he picked up a fumble on the sideline and returned it 68 yards for a touchdown while everyone else on the field stopped playing as Western held off the Racers, 48-38. He finished that contest with five tackles.
Oddly enough for a playmaker, his feats on the field have gone largely without recognition in the NCAA I-AA community. Drummond recorded a career-high 86 tackles with six sacks to help Western finish 11-2 en route to the quarterfinals of the 2000 playoffs, but he wasn't even an all-conference selection. Last year, after collecting 71 tackles, including 14 for loss, and a career-best seven sacks, he was selected honorable mention all-Gateway Football Conference.
"Jon is unsung, but only because there is only so much acclaim that can be spread around," Cross says. "Last year Kyle Moffatt had that kind of season in the secondary, and now that the linebackers are the focus of the defense and how we approach things, he's playing Kyle's role.
"Jon's a quiet playmaker - only to the public, but not to us."
Conventional wisdom says that a big-play guy should be at a I-A school. And it almost happened, until Maryland and Missouri backed off after telling Drummond that they couldn't take a chance on a player his size. Enter former Hilltopper assistant Tom Sims, who got in on the recruiting scene late.
"Tom had a friend at the high school who called him because he wanted us to take a look at Jon," Harbaugh recalls. "Size wise, you can't project that he could have become the outstanding football player that he is. But from the beginning, you could see a special quality that gave him a chance.
"It's amazing how many of our players have the same story."
That still didn't ensure Drummond's arrival on the Hill. "I knew I had the grades and was cleared by the NCAA, so I was looking for a scholarship to play," he says. "I actually turned down Western at first, but coach Sims showed coach Harbaugh my tape and they called back saying that they would take a chance.
"People didn't even know who I was when I first arrived. But I thank them for the opportunity now."
Drummond's role in the program has grown over four-plus years, though he would argue the coaching staff's assessment that he is one of the leaders on defense.
"I didn't know the impact I would have as a senior," he says. "I take it seriously, but I try to stay laid back and be an example to people watching what I do.
"I didn't want to be in that position, but coach Harbaugh asked me to fill it."
"I don't agree with Jon, I think he has always been a leader," Harbaugh says. "Sometimes it is misunderstood what it means to be a leader, but he has demonstrated the qualities you look for in a winner - he practices hard, he plays hard and he's successful academically. Jon has never, ever done anything to discredit his family, the university or the program.
"The fact that he constantly is looking for ways to improve demonstrates that he is one of our finest leaders."
Not only has Drummond excelled on the field, but he has performed in the classroom as well. His proudest moment is making the Dean's List. "It's the most amazing thing I've done so far. It was determination from within - no one told me to do it, I just set and accomplished a goal. I had never done that before.
"I know my family is proud, especially with juggling football and other campus activities."
Next up for Drummond is graduation, and he hopes to stay involved with football on the coaching level. A public health education major, he wants to teach and work with kids following this year. Which would seem appropriate for someone who has a cumulative grade-point average over 3.0 and has received "rave reviews" from professors, according to Harbaugh.
"There are a lot of possibilities, but I would like to be a graduate assistant coach while working on my master's degree," Drummond says. "If I don't go down that route, I'll try to go into teaching right away. My main goal is to work with kids."
No one could be happier with Drummond's plans than Harbaugh. "I'm proud that Jon wants to be a teacher because I think we need people in the profession with his qualities. He is a tremendous role model for youngsters, someone who has proved all the nay-sayers wrong. When he deals with kids, no matter what level, he is a living, breathing example of someone who has achieved not just in football but as a person.
"Whatever Jon chooses to do he will be successful in."
Just know that, like a playmaker, Drummond will get the job done in the end.
- WKU -
