June 25, 2010
Vanderbilt has had just three players top 1,000 yards rushing in a season, and none since 1995 when Jermaine Johnson rushed for 1,072 yards. It’s a statistic that speaks to the lean years of the program, but also is a statistic that could easily change in the next few years.
Never has Vanderbilt had as talented a backfield as it does entering the 2010 season.
At the head of the class are rising sophomores Warren Norman and Zac Stacy. The two arrived on campus with fellow running back Wesley Tate, who redshirted, and immediately turned heads as the duo ran through, around and past would-be defenders en route to combining for more yards on the ground (1,261) than any other freshman tandem in school history.
Norman, a Stone Mountain, Ga., native carried the torch for Vanderbilt and all SEC freshmen last season when he was named SEC Freshman of the Year. Norman finished the year with 783 yards rushing and an SEC freshman record of 1,941 all-purpose yards.
Stacy, who hails from Centreville, Ala., finished with 478 yards rushing despite missing two games due to injury. Pretty good production for a guy who grew up thinking he would more likely end up at an SEC school on a baseball scholarship than a football one.
“Baseball was my first love,” Stacy said. “I’ve been playing baseball since I was 6 years old. I always thought I was going to be a baseball player growing up, but I strapped on some pads and began playing football and fell in love with it.”
In a sports landscape where many stars that play the same position fail to coexist comfortably, Norman and Stacy’s relationship has only grown closer.
“A lot of people ask us if it was a competition between us,” Stacy said. “It really wasn’t. We knew coming into fall camp last year that one of us had to play. We pushed each other on the field and will continue to.”
The relationship between the two began their junior years of high school at a Nike football camp in Alabama. From there the two visited Vanderbilt during the 2008 Auburn game where they were put together as roommates. When both signed with the Commodores, Stacy reached out to Norman to see if he’d be interested in rooming together as freshmen.
“He’s been great as a roommate,” Norman said. “He has helped me a lot on the field, and I help him a lot. When (running backs) Coach (Des) Kitchings is on our backs about mental mistakes, we try to help each other out.”
Although both players are immensely talented, the time spent together on and off the field has benefited both of them. Norman credits Stacy for making him a better blocker, and Stacy gives Norman credit for helping him with adjusting his running style to fit the speed of the SEC, as well as his overall flexibility.
“With me getting hurt last season, he got a couple more snaps and a lot more experience than I got throughout the season,” Stacy said. “There were times when I would ask him what I did wrong or what I need to work on. I learned a lot from him.”
The two not only helped each other on the field, but also off it.
“We were on each other this year to make sure the other was on top of things,” Stacy said. “If we needed to meet with a professor or someone else, we would remind each other to make sure everything got done … there was kind of a brotherly thing going on between us.”
Although the two are friends, they understand they are still gunning for the same thing.
“Coming in we knew exactly what we were going to get into,” Norman said. “Fortunately for us Coach Kitchings does a great job of splitting carries among us no matter who the starter is. Regardless, we both go hard on the practice field and try to win that starting spot.”
Competing against someone as talented as the other for the starting spot has only pushed each harder to improve.
“I definitely think we push each other,” Norman said. “We may not say it, but we kind of feel it. There is a friendly rivalry. He makes a good play, I feel pumped up to go make a big play and I’m sure he feels the same way.”
Both players expect to make a lot of big plays during their sophomore campaigns.
“It is always good to get your feet wet, especially in the SEC,” said Stacy. “Last year we got a lot of experience throughout the season. I think it is important. From my standpoint, with me getting hurt, I just want to come into this season and just stay healthy. I feel like if everyone is healthy, then we will be successful.”
Improvement will be even harder for Norman, who shattered virtually every freshman record last season, but in 2010, he will have something going for him for the first time since before high schoolâ€â€Âconsistency in the coaching ranks. Last season was Norman’s fifth coach in five years. Being able to work with the same staff for two years is a scary proposition to SEC defenders.
“It is very important for me to improve on last year,” Norman said. “I’m going to come in and do the best that I can. Everybody tells me I have big expectations this year. I’m working just as hard as I did last year, and I expect to be better.”
