April 22, 2010
2010 Football Ticket Information
NASHVILLE – Four Vanderbilt veterans – offensive center Joey Bailey, defensive tackles T.J. Greenstone and Adam Smotherman, and linebacker Chris Marve – will serve as co-captains for the 2010 Commodore football team.
Vanderbilt Head Coach Bobby Johnson announced the selection of Bailey, a senior from Trussville, Ala., Greenstone, a junior from Lawrenceville, Ga., Marve, a junior from Memphis, and Smotherman, a senior from Smyrna, Tenn. The four captains were elected by their Commodore teammates.
Johnson says the squad selected four players worthy of leadership roles as the Commodores exit spring drills and prepare for summer conditioning.
“We’re talking about four guys that mean a great deal to this team, and will have a lot to say about the success we enjoy this year,” Johnson said. “I think their teammates recognize excellent leadership skills in Joey, Chris, T.J. and Adam.
“Each one of these guys combine leadership abilities with the football skills to produce on the field. I also think all four really stepped forward as leaders of our squad this spring,” Johnson added.
The Commodores open the 2010 season by playing Northwestern from the Big Ten on Sept. 4 in Vanderbilt Stadium. Besides Northwestern, the seven-game Vanderbilt home schedule includes Southeastern Conference foes LSU (Sept. 11), South Carolina (Oct. 23), Florida (Nov. 6) and Tennessee (Nov. 20). The Commodores also host Eastern Michigan on Oct. 9 and Wake Forest from the Atlantic Coast Conference in the season finale on Nov. 27.
Smotherman, a two-year starter at defensive tackle, was selected despite suffering an ACL knee injury in spring drills that required corrective surgery. The team’s top strength and conditioning recipient in 2009, Smotherman hopes to return to action by the season opener.
Smotherman enjoyed his finest season last year, contributing 18 unassisted tackles and 31 total tackles for the Commodore defense. He has started 23 consecutive games entering his final season.
Marve has been one of the SEC’s most productive defenders since earning a starting job at middle linebacker as a redshirt freshman. A first-team freshman All-America in 2008, Marve added second-team All-SEC honors last year from the coaches after finishing second in the league with 121 total tackles. He also ranked among the SEC leaders with 57 solo tackles and three forced fumbles.
Marve, a product of White Station High in Memphis, also is a preseason candidate for All-America and Butkus Award consideration.
Coaches consider Greenstone, from Collins Hill High School east of Atlanta, a returning starter at defensive tackle despite sharing those duties with recent graduate Greg Billinger for the last two years. Greenstone is one of the Commodores’ most productive interior lineman, contributing 38 total tackles and a pair of quarterback sacks in 2009. He tops all Vanderbilt defensive linemen with 71 career tackles entering the 2010 campaign.
Bailey became an offensive leader during spring practice after moving from guard to center, where he is expected to replace two-year starter Bradley Vierling. The product of Hewitt-Trussville High School is one of the Commodores’ most experienced offensive lineman, having appeared in 23 games playing guard and center.