Senior Spotlight: LB Serderius Bryant
Serderius Bryant made a huge step forward when Denzel Nkemdiche went down early last year recording 78 total tackles last year, 12.5 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles in 11 games.
He had a hard transition between coaching staffs and saw his playing time significantly cut as a sophomore but when he got his chance last year he showed that he was ready for the starting role.
Now as a senior, “Bird” will be the starter in the Rebels opener in the Georgia Dome.
“I got the chance to start and I wanted to shock the world,” Bryant told Orlando Sentinel’s Chris Hays. “It felt great. It felt like high school again, and now it’s time for the Bird to take back off and never stop flying.”
Serderius was the youngest of four but was a terror on the high school field and played much like a man. While he didn’t have the best family life or live in the best neighborhood growing up he learned to focus on his grades so he could follow his dream of playing football.
He also used his faith.
“I just thank GOD, and I know that if it wasn’t for GOD I wouldn’t be where I am right now. I already see that GOD took me away from a lot of things. Out of all the people that got hurt in Midway (his neighborhood), he didn’t let me get hurt when people were being shot right in front of me. A lot of amazing stuff that I have overcome.”
WHERE’S HE FROM
Bryant is from Sanford, Florida and was a Parade All-America linebacker. He was named central Florida defensive player of the year by Orlando Sentinel and listed as the no. 14 OLB in the nation by ESPN.com. He was also a SuperPrep and PrepStar All-Region pick.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- 2014 All-SEC Second Team Pre-Season
- 2013 Named to ESPN’s SEC All-Bowl team
- 12/30/13 Georgia Tech (Music City Bowl) – Tied for most tackles with eight, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble
- 10/12/13 Texas A&M – 12 tackles (11 solo), one tackle for loss, one forced fumble
- 9/14/13 Texas – 11 tackles with three tackles for loss, a sack and pass break up
- 11/10/12 Vanderbilt – Four tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss
- 10/13/12 Auburn – Three tackles with two tackles for loss
- 2011 SEC All-Freshman by SEC Coaches and ESPN
- 11/26/11 MSU – Nine tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss
- 11/5/11 Kentucky – First career start with 10 tackles
- 9/24/11 Georgia – Eight tackles (five solo)
2014 EXPECTATION
Bryant enters his senior season with a lot of momentum from his Junior year as he seemed to be really on top of his game at the end of 2013.
He will again be splitting time with Denzel Nkemdiche at the outside linebacker position. It will be very interesting to see the combination of linebackers used this year with four starters in seniors Bird, Deterrian Shackelford, Keith Lewis and Junior, Denzel. Add in transfer Christian Russell and sophomore Temario Strong and this will be a fun group to watch. They all play fast, tackle well in space and are some hard hitters.
Ole Miss will typically play with only two linebackers unless they go up against a run happy team and you will see a 4-3 front with Keith Lewis playing the strong side.
Serderius may not get every snap this year but he will get plenty of time on the field to help his team as Ole Miss tries to win it all in 2014!