Seventh in a series breaking down the Bears by position.

THE SECONDARY

CONWAY, Ark. _ University of Central Arkansas head coach Nathan Brown said a team realistically needs a dozen quality defensive backs to get through an 11-game regular season. He is pretty confident that the Bears have that number.

Brown also knows every team needs at least a couple of "stars" in the secondary, and he's certain that he has those.

"Probably our most quality, depth-filled room in the stadium when you look at the overall room," said Brown. "It's special. And it starts with two names, TaMuarion Wilson and Cameron Godfrey, two guys that have done it a long time. 

"Cameron Godfrey might be one of my favorite kids on the team. He's played three different positions and I think he's been All-Conference at three different positions. He's a kid that just knows how to play football. He understands the game, understands angles, understands how to tackle, how to cover. He just does a lot of things great. 

"Now I don't know that he's going to go out there and just shock and awe you, but when you get up and read the paper the next day, he'll be our leading tackler. That's just who he is."

Wilson, a junior All-American, is the type that does draw notice. The Bryant (Ark.) native was UCA's leading tacker for the past two seasons, leading the entire ASUN Conference last year with 104 tackles. 

"Obviously getting TaMuarion Wilson back as the leading tackler in the conference is a huge deal," said Brown. "He's a kid that if he keeps on the trajectory he is, he will make money doing this one day. He's just what you want in the backfield. He plays with an edge, he has a hair trigger, he's going to go make plays. And he is an attitude leader on that defense. He gets those guys going, and it's exciting and fun to watch. 

"I'm very glad that No. 7 is on our side of the field every Saturday, because if he wasn't, I'd be losing sleep. He's that good."

Brown said the third safety, senior Tra Green from Ashdown, Ark., is equally as talented. 

"You've got Tra Green at field safety. He had some big moments last year," said Brown. "He's as good a human being as there is, as good a football player as there is. If my daughter could marry somebody, I would want it to be somebody like Tra Green. He is that type of kid. He's going to be relied upon in a huge way this year."
 

The quality level does not drop much, if any, after that trio, according to Brown. 

"There are some guys who played a lot last year who are going to continue to have huge roles this year," he said. "(Junior cornerback) T.D. Williams has probably had as good a spring and fall camp as anybody on the team. If you look at our actual data from last year, he played more snaps than anybody on our team. And I didn't realize that. He had over 600 snaps. 

"I knew he was a great player for us and made huge plays. He had the huge scoop and score in the SEMO game, huge pass breakup against Lindenwood. He had some really big moments. He's going to be relied upon to be an All-Conference-type corner this year and I know he's excited about that."

The list goes on...

"(Sophomore) James Jordan on the other side started a lot of games for us," said Brown. "We'll move him inside and outside because he has dynamic playing ability. (Sophomore) Dillon Williams at safety. We're loaded at safety, but he's a young redshirt freshman out of Southaven, Miss., who maybe has the upside of a T-Bird (Wilson) one day, hopefully sooner than later. 

"(Junior transfer) Dude Person, obviously is on the all-name team, but he backs it up. He is a dude and he can really get side to side from that free safety spot. He can come down and make tackles. He was one of the leading tacklers for Northwest Mississippi, which played for the national junior college championship last year. If you're one of the leading tacklers for that team, you're pretty good. We're fortunate to have Dude."

A couple of other transfers has been impressive in Andrew Hayes (Ouachita Baptist), Stephen Edwards (Northeast Mississippi) and Jacobrien Eichleberger (Mississippi Delta CC), as well as several other returnees.

Andrew Hayes, a senior transfer from OBU, has a chance to be a starting corner for us," Brown said. "He is just as solid as they come. He has the upside to be an NFL player, and that's been fun to watch. Stephen Edwards had a great spring as a transfer. Jacobrien Eichleberger is a transfer who can slot in at corner, who can slot in on the inside. He can do a lot of different dynamic things. 

"And a guy who played a lot last year who could come on even more this year is C.J. Bosket. He's a great player. And KC Clark, same thing. It's almost an embarrassment of riches there. It's one of those deals where you feel bad about leaving somebody off, but we're just really good and really deep back there.

"Coach (Keith) Scott and Coach Kre (Trammell) have done a great job recruiting that position. We've done such a good job recruiting those guys, and then they've stuck and played hard and played good. And they've trusted us, to stay here, stay in our program and compete with each other. 

"And we all know nobody is going to go through a season with just five or six DBs. You're going to have to have about a dozen of them to get through a season and you need to have a dozen quality guys, and we definitely do."