STARKVILLE — Lashard Durr will do anything to prove he is worthy of being a starter.
The Mississippi State football cornerback has a chance with the losses of Taveze Calhoun and Will Redmond. The Bulldogs have some veteran options to replace Calhoun and Redmond, but junior college transfer Durr is making a push.
But before he is named a starter, Durr wants to make sure that he has done everything in his power to prove that he has earned the job.
“It would be good to be a starter, but I’m taking my time, learning the plays and making sure I know what I’m doing,” Durr said. “Before they throw me out there in the trenches, they have to trust me first.”
Durr spent the last two seasons playing at Copiah-Lincoln Community College and signed with MSU last December. He enrolled in January and went through spring practices and summer workouts to make the transition to Division I football easier. Durr and MSU play host to South Alabama 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 3 (SEC Network) at Davis Wade Stadium in the opener.
Durr said when he arrived, the coaches told him they were looking for him to be a starter and a player that was going to make an immediate impact. That was when Deshea Townsend was still the cornerbacks coach.
Townsend left in late January to take a position with the Tennessee Titans in the NFL. Coach Dan Mullen hired former Florida State standout and Louisville coach Terrell Buckley to replace Townsend.
Buckley, who played at Pascagoula High School, arrived before spring practices began and that gave the cornerbacks, including Durr, a chance to get used to his coaching style.
Buckley said Durr has come along nicely, but won’t make a decision on Durr’s starting status until camp is nearly over. He wants to see the progression Durr makes.
“It’s one of those things from day one until that 30-day period, I need to see certain things, certain routes,” Buckley said. “If he got beat on this route and they run it a week later, is it corrected? You know I’m going to go over it, I’m going to show you and I’m going to show you how to correct it.”
Durr was highly praised coming out of junior college. He was rated as the No. 7 junior college cornerback by 247 Sports and the No. 52 overall junior college player by Scout. In his two-year career with the Wolfpack, he had 63 tackles (2.0 for loss), three interceptions, 22 pass breakups and a returned fumble for a touchdown.
The Gulfport native was a two-way player at Harrison Central. As a senior he had 61 tackles, three interceptions, seven pass breakups, a blocked field goal and one forced fumble. He had 68 yards rushing and 11 catches for 287 yards and three touchdowns in his final high school season.
One of Durr’s first college experiences was covering wide receiver Fred Brown, who is no longer at the university. Brown used a stutter step on him and Durr realized then that things are faster at this level.
“When I first got here, I thought I was going to come here and do my thing,” Durr said. “It woke me up real quick. It wasn’t as easy as it was in JUCO.”
The 5-foot-11, 197-pound Durr has gotten help from cornerbacks like Tolando Cleveland and Cedric Jiles. Both are seniors and have eyes on being starters, but they want to win more than anything.
Durr said their help has made the transition easy.
“As (defensive backs), we’re just a big family,” Durr said. “We’re out there helping each other. If I do something wrong, they’re going to get on me. When they tell me, I listen. This is my first year here and they’ve been here longer than me, so I just listen to what they have to say.”
Buckley said Durr’s man-to-man skills have really impressed him so far. Buckley said Durr is not afraid to put his hands on the receivers.
Redshirt freshman safety/cornerback Maurice Smitherman called Durr a “physical corner,” and feels like Durr will be an important piece in the secondary.
“We’re pressing and the whole time he’s getting his hands on the receivers. He’s driving them,” Smitherman said.
Replacing Calhoun and Redmond won’t be easy, but the addition of Durr is a step in the right direction. Even if he’s not a starter, his impact will be felt.
“I feel like I’m going to get plenty of playing time,” Durr said. “I might start some games and some games I might not start. We’re all in the rotation.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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