The Hilltoppers have 18 seniors on the roster, but only Carter, Ross Dickens, Justin Haddix, Rannen Roberson and Sexton played as true freshmen in their first year at WKU. While the decision to use each of those players that season vary — Haddix emerged from a field of nine candidates to earn the right to be head coach David Elson’s first starting quarterback — Carter and Sexton were pressed into duty because of their position — outside linebacker.
“Looking back on it, they are two guys who certainly could have benefitted from a redshirt year, but the situation dictated that what was best for our team was for them to step in and play,” Elson recalls. “They did a good job, and both have had very good careers.”
With a unit that included eventual All-Americans Erik Dandy, Karl Maslowski and Charles Thompson, it was going to take extraordinary circumstances for Carter and Sexton to see the field that year. But an injury to Thompson suffered at I-A Auburn opened the door for playing time after Maslowski shifted inside.
“They tell you that you are one play away from getting on the field, but I was three injuries away,” says Carter. “You go from thinking that you are going to redshirt with your friends to sitting on a bus with Sam and a bunch of seniors that won’t talk to you. It was a culture shock for me.”
For Sexton, it capped a tumultuous first month on the Hill. Recruited by WKU as a quarterback, Sexton quickly switched to the defensive side of the ball in preseason camp, although linebacker was not the initial position the staff shifted the native of Ferguson, Ky., to.
“I had a pretty wild camp my first year. I was recruited as a quarterback, and there were nine on the roster,” he says. “After the first few days of camp, I didn’t think it was the position for me. I wanted to help the team wherever it was needed, so I met with coach Elson and he talked about moving me to the defensive side of the ball. I actually played safety for a few days, then moved to outside linebacker because of the injuries.
“Things just worked out that I got to play in the opener against Union, and start the games against West Virginia Tech and Eastern Kentucky. It was unexpected going into the preseason, but as camp progressed I knew that I was going to be needed.”
Carter initially had more success, recording 13 total tackles with two for loss, to Sexton’s eight. That included making eight stops in the contest at Auburn after Thompson was injured, still his career high. “I think they ran the ball at me because I was the smallest guy out there,” he looks back. “In the game, you can’t think about it. I figure I was in the right place at the right time.”
Playing time in 2003 was a reward for Carter, who had to play defensive end for the scout team in practice. “As a freshman, I wasn’t expecting any playing time so I had to play vicariously through Charles, Erik, Karl and the other linebackers. I would watch their technique in practice, and the toughness and attitude they had in games, and try to build on that while playing on the scout team. In practice, I was going against Buster Ashley as a defensive end at 185 pounds — he was kicking my butt. I knew every day that I wasn’t going to beat him at anything he does.
“But, if I was getting 15 plays at practice I was happy.”
Although their statistics weren’t overwhelming — Dandy led the squad with 165 stops, with Thompson and Maslowski also finishing with more than 100 tackles — the two earned the respect of both coaches and teammates, setting the stage for success in future years.
“They did accept us by the end of the year, they were talking to us more frequently,” says Carter. “We were making a contribution, but it was more the fact that they could see we weren’t really freshmen any more. They saw what we were doing on the field, and they knew what we were going through including Power Hour. Towards the end of the year, you could see that we earned their respect and they were more likely to give us a shoulder to lean on.
“I think they just needed to get comfortable with us in order to let their guard down a little bit — but we were freshmen, so we had to mature some too.”
Sexton adds, “Coming into your freshman year, you want to show the upperclassmen and the coaches that you’re a hard worker and can be trusted.
While Carter and Sexton shared a similar experience on the field as true freshmen, the path that led to that fall was quite different. The Topper coaching staff was well-aware of Sexton during his career at Pulaski Southwestern High, outrecruiting several Mid-American Conference schools as well as rival Eastern Kentucky and Eastern Illinois for his services. Carter, meanwhile, was directed to WKU by an assistant coach at Oakland High in Murfreesboro, Tenn., who had attended Murray State and mentioned the Hilltoppers in passing.
“With a lot of schools, I was the third guy on their list — they would tell me that if they didn’t get their first two choices they would come back to me,” Sexton says. “WKU was always there, they made me feel good. Some schools recruited hard one week, but then I wouldn’t hear from them the next.”
For someone who played on both sides of the ball during his prep career, Sexton didn’t let position factor into the recruiting process. “It didn’t matter to me,” he adds. “Where a team wanted me the most was where I wanted to play. In high school we ran the option, so at the time WKU wanted me to play quarterback because that’s what they ran when they were recruiting me.”
“I didn’t start playing football until high school, it was a learning process for me,” recalls Carter. “For the longest time I wanted to play baseball, but it cost too much when I got to high school, so I ran around trying a lot of different things — I ran track and swam to figure out what I wanted to do.
“Honestly, I didn’t know towards the end of my junior season that football was what I wanted to do. I had a coach who went to Murray State, and he told me about Western Kentucky — that’s how I met [former assistant] coach [Mike] Fanoga.”
The turning point for Carter to commit to football came when his twin brother, Jason, was injured during summer drills prior to their senior campaign. Testing would provide a diagnosis of a narrow spinal column, effectively ending his career.
“If he couldn’t play, I thought I would have more fun trying to get him to smile on the sidelines,” Carter says. “I put a lot more energy and effort into it because I knew he couldn’t do it anymore. They wanted me to go to the doctor after that, but I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to think about it.”
Jason also provided an assist as a freshman, attending WKU and rooming with Carter. He has since moved back to Murfreesboro, enrolled at Middle Tennessee and obtained a job, but he will be in the stands Saturday when the Hilltoppers take on Indiana State. Jason will also attend WKU’s Senior Day contest next month at Carter’s request.
The Carter he will see — and Sexton for that matter too — are the ones who have developed on the field as well as off it. Both have posted double-digit tackle totals in the two years after 2003, with Sexton’s 33 stops a season ago the most either player has recorded.
When asked what he felt he improved in during his time on the Hill, Carter had a one-word answer. “Leadership,” he says. “I’ve really learned how to talk to younger players. As a freshman you’re not expected to say much, you’re expected to fall in line and follow what everyone else is doing. As the years have progressed, I’ve become one of the guys that younger players need to follow.
“As seniors, we’re supposed to be early to everything we do and at all the summer workouts. I went from a role where I was standing in line to where now I can tell people what to do — the guys can expect the best out of me, and I can expect the best out of them.”
Sexton, too, knows that is an area where he has grown over the last three years. The results of his efforts were seen at the end of preseason camp in August, when he was one of four Toppers voted to serve as a team captain
“I’m more of a lead-by-example type of guy, I’m not too vocal when it comes to leading,” he says. “Whatever the coaches ask for, I go out and give 100 percent to do it. As a senior and a captain, I know I need to step up and — when the team is down — be more vocal to help get the team going.
“I’ve always had high standards and set high expectations for myself. Going into this year I didn’t think that I would be a team captain — it’s an honor that my teammates thought enough of me to choose me for that role.”
The coaching staff has also seen Sexton’s and Carter’s behind-the-scenes efforts in the locker room.
“They are classic examples of guys who lead by example, neither is real vocal,” says Elson. “But, you haven’t ever seen them face any disciplinary issues, they both have very good grades and do well in the classroom. They’re solid models for our young guys to look up to.”
Off the field, the two have been named to the Gateway Football Conference Academic Honor Roll each of the last two years.
“I think they both showed a lot of initiative in camp this year helping our young guys,” adds WKU outside linebackers coach Mike Chism. “Not only did the two help them learn the defense, they taught the new guys how to work with me as a coach. Johnathan and Sam have shown them when it’s time to focus and when it’s time to have fun.”
Just as quickly as the duo introduced themselves to the Hilltopper faithful, it seems they will be finished with their careers at WKU. Both are scheduled to graduate by the end of the Fall 2007 semester, although Carter could walk in May. It’s too soon to tell where they plan on ending up following the completion of their education.
“It’s something that I have been thinking about. It’s scary that it feels like I just got here, that it seems like I should still be a freshman,” says Sexton, a management major. “Time has flown by. I would like to do something in business, but I’m not one of those guys who is dead-set that if I don’t get anything in the field I’m going to be unemployed until I find something.
“I love Kentucky, having grown up here my entire life. You have the best of both worlds — it’s hot in the summer and cold enough to snow in the winter. But, it would be nice to get out and experience new things and different ways of life.”
A turf management major, Carter would like to secure an internship in the near future. He has already offered to assist the baseball coaches to take care of their field. “Whoever offers me a job, that’s where I’ll head,” he says. “I’d love to stay in Tennessee the rest of my life, but I just don’t think that’s going to happen. I’m just rolling with the punches right now. I’ll think about what I want to do with the rest of my life after the season is over.
“At the beginning of the season, we said that we only had seven months left of football — the coaches asked if we could give all of our focus and energy during that time, so that’s pretty much all I’ve done.”
WKU must focus for at least one more month beginning with Saturday’s game. Four straight wins to close out the campaign will likely earn the Toppers a berth in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs. Should the team accomplish the feat, it would mirror the path of WKU’s 2002 national champions took to the playoffs — rebounding from a 2-3 start.
“It’s been up and down this season. We started out with a lot of possibilities and opportunities, but we haven’t finished all the time,” Carter analyzes. “But, it’s looking up, we had a tough win last week. Hopefully, we’ll keep playing playoff football. Talking to some of the seniors from my first year — Erik, Karl, Casey Rooney — they made it clear that it can be done, we just need to focus on one game at a time, one practice at a time.”
Circumstances dictated that Johnathan Carter and Sam Sexton would play collegiate football sooner than the Western Kentucky coaching staff preferred. Their attitude and demeanor resulted in the pair putting together a decent career over the last three-plus seasons.
“Johnathan and Sam both have been solid football players for us, at linebacker and on special teams,” Elson says. “Neither one of them is going to wow you with their size, speed and physical attributes, but what they are is where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there. They’ve both been solid contributors.”
