Oct. 2, 2008
One of the best traits a football player, or any athlete for that matter, can have is versatility. For Samford senior offensive lineman, Mitchell Waters, his versatility has helped him become one of the leaders of the Bulldogs' offensive line. Throughout his four-year Samford career, Waters has, at one time or another played every position on the offensive line.
"It has actually helped me a lot," Waters said. "For one thing, it gives me the opportunity to play more; it gives me more opportunities to get into the game.
"A couple of years ago, the coaches referred to me as the sixth man," Waters said. "Because I would go in for whoever came out, on either side. But, I'm glad I was put in that position, learning the whole offensive line. Because now, it makes playing just the one position a lot easier."
Waters, however, did not start out as an offensive lineman. In high school, he played on the defensive line at Trinity Presbyterian School, a small, private, Christian school in Montgomery, Ala.
At Trinity, Waters had a stellar high school career, being named the Alabama Sports Writers Association 4A Lineman of the Year and the Montgomery Advertiser's 4A-5A Player of the Year as a senior in 2003. Waters was also named All-State by both the Montgomery Advertiser and the Birmingham News.
Waters said his head coach at Trinity, Randy Ragsdale, has been a tremendous influence on his football playing career.
"Coach Ragsdale put me in at defensive tackle, when I was in high school and just let me go," Waters said. "He just let me see what I could do, and ever since, I have just loved it."
Waters says coming from a small, Christian school in high school is a big part of the reason he decided to attend Samford.
"It is a lot of the same type of environment as it was at my high school," Waters said. "I liked the location and loved the campus, but I think that (being a private Christian school) is what drew me here."
When Waters arrived at Samford, he was asked to move to the offensive side of the ball, which he had never played before.
"It was definitely tough, because I was on the defensive line and had never played offensive line in high school," Waters said. "Plus, I was only about 235 pounds and now I am about 295 pounds. It was definitely tough to have to gain the weight and learn how to play offense."
In his first season at Samford, in 2004, Waters was redshirted, working with the scout team and learning to play offensive line.
In 2005, as a redshirt freshman, Waters saw significant playing time, playing in 10 games. The next season, Waters continued to improve, playing significant minutes and even earning a couple of starts.
Last season, Waters became one of the leaders of the offensive line, starting all 11 games, even starting some games at center when regular starter Jon Weber was out with a back injury.
Waters says the leadership role he has had to take on with the offensive line is something he has embraced.
"I think the guys have allowed me to do that (become a leader)," Waters said. "In everything I do, I try to lead by example. Even in high school, I wasn't a big verbal leader. I give encouragement, but I usually just try to work hard and push people to work hard as well."
The Samford coaching staff agrees that Waters has been one of the leaders of the offensive line. In the 2008 media guide, offensive coordinator Steve Brickey described Waters as a very dependable, consistent player who leads by example.
Last season, Samford had one of its strongest offensive lines. The line allowed the fewest sacks in the Ohio Valley Conference, allowing just six sacks in 11 games. The line also helped produce Samford's first 1,000-yard rusher since 1999 when Chris Evans rushed for 1,033 yards as a redshirt freshman.
Waters said the offensive line takes a lot of pride in both of those statistics.
"We definitely took pride in that," Waters said. "It even came down to the last game to get Chris over the thousand-yard mark. People were asking us what motivation we had for that last game, without a winning season and not going to the playoffs. But (Offensive Line) Coach (Brandon) Herring told us we did have something to play for to get him over a thousand yards and we took great pride in that."
"Allowing the fewest sacks was something we took pride in as well," Waters said. "Those are some of our goals again this year, to get Chris to fifteen-hundred yards and to allow fewer than six sacks, and we will be working toward that."
Waters also said the entire team is looking forward to competing in Samford's first season as a member of the Southern Conference.
"I am very excited, being the first Samford team to play in this conference," Waters said. "It's sad that we won't be able to travel to all of the places in the conference. I think we can have a good year as long as we just focus on our game and what we need to do."
Looking forward to his final season in a Samford uniform, Waters has very simple goals for himself.
"Personally, I just want to do my best with the abilities God has given me," Waters said. "Whatever my role is, I want to do my best for the team in that role."
Waters also talked about the goals he has for his fellow seniors and the entire team heading into the 2008 season.
"We obviously want to make it to the playoffs and win the championship, but, you have to take it one step at a time," Waters said. "We seniors haven't had a winning season since we have been here so that's probably our number one goal. If you have a winning season, then you put yourself in position where you could accomplish the other two."
