Jeff Terrill has been coaching long enough to know that “putting the pieces together” is more than knowing what to do.
The former Itawamba Community College football knows it is imperative for players to know how and why to do things. Couple that with great effort and intangibles like leadership and character and you’re liable to be talking about Tripp Janssen.
Terrill had the pleasure to watch this season as Janssen “put the pieces together” and have a senior season to remember for the Volunteers. On Wednesday, Terrill an the rest of the Volunteers celebrated with Janssen when he signed a scholarship to play football at Delta State, a Division II school in Cleveland.
“Tripp had an outstanding year,” Terrill said. “As a junior, he had a knee injury and a lot of things that hampered him that stopped him from being able to play to his full potential. His senior year he was just determined to have the best year he could.”
Janssen was a mainstay on Starkville Academy’s offensive and defensive lines. He said the coaches at Delta State project him to be a contributor on the defensive line, most likely at tackle. That’s fine with Janssen, who doesn’t care whether he plays defense or offense.
Janssen visited Delta State last week with Starkville Academy assistant coach Brad Butler. He said the coaches had watched tape of him from this season, liked what they saw, and wanted him to join the program.
Now that he is part of the Delta State family, Janssen has taken the next step to follow in the footsteps left by other family members. He said his father, who played football at Ole Miss, his uncle, his grandfather, his other uncle, his and grandfather played football, so it was natural he follow suit.
“I had a great senior year,” said Janssen, who was named to the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Senior All-Star game. “I guess I put all of the pieces together and showed out.”
Janssen, who is projected to play defensive tackle at Delta State, said a junior year in which he wasn’t able to show his full potential and he felt he “let his team down” motivated him to return even better this season. He feels the hard work he put in in the offseason helped set the stage for a final year to remember.
Terrill said Janssen was a coach’s nightmare because he had a penchant for making plays even when double-teamed. He said Janssen’s athleticism at guard was a fixture in the Volunteers’ ability to pull and to trap in their running game. He believes Janssen will get even better when he has a chance to focus on one side of the football.
“He has a big window to really improve and has great potential,” Terrill said. “When you can turn around and really focus on being a defensive lineman — a three-technique, let’s say — he has great explosiveness, he comes out of his hips well, he has extreme quickness, and he runs well for his size. When he grasps a little bit better idea of what it takes to play the position, I think he will do well at Delta State.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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