Tulsa Football Position Preview: Safety
Kendarin Ray may be on the verge of becoming a household name, or at least TU's next standout safety, if Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery is correct in his assessment.
Montgomery had high praise for Ray, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound sophomore from Brenham, Texas who played in all 12 games as a redshirt freshman. Coming off the bench, he made 40 tackles, including 1.5 for loss, broke up two passes, and recovered three fumbles in 2019.
"I really feel like Kendarin Ray has got a chance to be one of the best safeties to ever come out of here," Montgomery said. "He played quarterback in high school, he played a little bit of this and that.
"Physically, last year, he battled some injury things. He's got those things cleaned up. He's moving extremely well. He's physical down in the box. He's got length, he understands what is going on from a coverage standpoint. I think he's going to have to have a tremendous year."
That is saying something about Ray considering Tulsa has had some really good safeties, like All-American and future Super Bowl head coach Lovie Smith, 4th round Dallas Cowboys draft pick Drane Scrivener, NFL starter Tim Gordon for the Atlanta Falcons, and more recently, Dexter McCoil, who was a CFL All-Star and also got quality playing time with the San Diego Chargers.
Also expected to start at safety is TieNeal Martin, a 6-1, 203-pound redshirt senior from Sacramento, California, who was a juco transfer from Yuba College. Martin started four of his 12 games in 2018 at TU and had 14 tackles, and he had two tackles in two games last year before getting injured.
"We've moved TieNeal around from the nickel to the safety," Montgomery said. "TieNeal got some good work in spring ball before it got shut down. He's a guy who has to continue to come on.
"He's got all the physical traits you need. He's just a guy that needs more experience. He's got to do a good job of gaining confidence and doing what he needs to do."
Ray and Martin are replacing graduated Manny Bunch and Brandon Johnson at safety, so there will be a bit of an experience gap there, and several other players are vying for time.
Behind Ray at strong safety are incoming sophomore transfer L.J. Wallace (6-3, 200, Iowa Western CC) and redshirt freshman Jaise Oliver (6-2, 198, Fairfield, TX).
"I'm excited to see what L.J. can bring to the table,” said Montgomery. “I sure liked what he did at the junior college level. But now we've got to transfer that to what we do schematically out on the field. But I think that L.J. Wallace has a chance to be a really good player for us."
Providing depth at free safety behind Marin are junior Lamar Mullins (6-3, 205), who sat out last year after transferring from Butler CC, sophomore Jett Hendrix (6-0, 194, Cleveland, OK), junior Mike Garrett (6-1, 190, Blinn JC) and newcomer Sean O’Keefe (6-2, 180, San Saba, TX).
"Lamar Mullins played a little bit last year, but we have high hopes for him," Montgomery said. "He has to come on for us. He's got great length, he's moving better than he has in the past. I feel like he is ready to make that transition.”
At the Nickel starting safety spot in TU's 3-3-5 alignment are Cristian Williams and Bryson Powers battling for playing time. Williams (6-0, 190) is an amazing story, thinking his playing career was over early in 2018 due to an injury. But Williams played well last year, starting all 12 games and had 57 tackles, an interception, three pass break-ups and one forced fumble.
"When you look at the nickel, we've got Cristian Williams coming back who has started a ton of games and has been an impact player for us," Montgomery said. "Bryson Powers has started multiple games for us."
Powers (6-1, 202, RS-Jr., Spring, TX) has started seven of 24 career games, and has 85 tackles, four pass break-ups, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
"Bryson does a really nice job in his transition stuff, does a great job playing in the box, a guy who can bring a lot of different things to the table," Montgomery added.
Challenging Williams and Powers is Daiquain Jackson, a 5-11, 212-pound junior from Mesquite, Texas. Jackson played in all 12 games last year and registered 12 tackles.
"Daiquain Jackson has played a lot for us on special teams. I think he's ready to make an impact," Montgomery said. "I think he's got to be a guy who finds a way to get onto the field."
True freshman Rico Windham (6-0, 174) will also provide depth at nickel safety.
When talking about safeties though, Montgomery's thoughts go back to Ray, who has been impressive in his brief time at TU. In scrimmages open to the public in the past, Ray has stood out.
"I'm excited about what our secondary can bring. We're a little bit inexperienced at the safety spot, but I think Kendarin's experience he got last year is really going to roll into what he is going to do this year.
"I think we have a chance to be a really dominant type of secondary. Guys that can really track balls. We can play different coverages and put some pressure on people."