COLLEGE PARK — Two years ago when Jermaine Carter Jr. and Shane Cockerille were working on Maryland's special teams unit as redshirt freshmen, Carter asked Cockerille a question that ultimately proved prophetic.
"Shane, have you ever thought about playing linebacker?" Carter asked.
At that point, the thought of joining Carter's position group hadn't crossed the former Gilman star's radar. Cockerille was trying to work his way up the quarterback depth chart and get onto the field however he could.
This month, Cockerille has been a bit of a surprise on Maryland's defense. The quarterback-turned-fullback-turned-quarterback appears to have found a home at linebacker and has the chance to make an early impact for the Terps on that side of the ball.
"Shane's made the transition look easy, effortless because he's a great athlete," Carter said Tuesday at Maryland's media day. "Him playing quarterback has helped him more playing linebacker than anything else I feel because he's able to read offenses, he's able to pick up the scheme."
Last summer, Cockerille had asked the old coaching staff under Randy Edsall about switching to defense in an attempt to get on the field. They moved him to fullback, where he played in 11 games and finished the year with 37 rushing yards. He also was forced into action at quarterback against Indiana, and he was 11-for-23 for 82 yards in the loss.
"I was always a guy, just wherever I was put I was going to work," Cockerille said. "So yeah, I always wanted to switch to defense and then the new coaches got here, I told them that, and they gave me the opportunity, and I took it and ran with it."
Linebackers coach Matt Barnes said an underrated part of Cockerille's switch is the situation he landed in on the Maryland defense. He's playing next to Carter, who finished last season with 103 tackles and earned honorable mention All-Big Ten. Fellow linebacker Jalen Brooks is another intelligent player who had 64 tackles last season.
"Something that's overlooked sometimes in football is the value that a guy that can get other people lined up and get other people in the right place that they bring to the table," Barnes said. "So having guys like Jermaine Carter that can help Shane come along and say, 'Hey, just remind him maybe what gap he has or what his pass drop might be or something like that.'"
Cockerille said he's continuing to work on his footwork and eye placement at the position, but Carter and Barnes agreed that Cockerille's natural athleticism — which made him a four-star quarterback recruit out of Gilman, according to some services — can help compensate for any learning curve.
"Shane was a guy that we moved there in the spring and he definitely had raw ability but was kind of all over the place, which is understandable," coach DJ Durkin said last week. "Fundamentally, he just hasn't done it a lot. But he's much improved that way right now. He's playing more within the scheme and learning what to do. I think Shane's going to be a really good player at that spot for us.'
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