Spring Focus: Mizzou's Michael Scherer Embraces Toughness, Leadership Role as a Senior
3/11/2016 2:15:00 PM | Football
Spring Practice #3 Photo Gallery
Toughness wins. Senior linebacker Michael Scherer enters the upcoming season embracing first year head coach Barry Odom's mentality. Scherer learned very quickly in offseason workouts what the mentality means and how he is expected to perform after intense training this winter. He was able to get a clear idea on how Odom believes you can win with toughness.
"Toughness is, no matter what the circumstance, lining up the next play and giving it all you've got," Scherer said. "There's different kinds of toughness. There's mental toughness, there's physical toughness. There's a whole bunch of toughness you can talk about."
Off-the-field training has been a big part of Odom's toughness mantra. It didn't take long for Scherer to get his first taste of the new coach's program.
"The first morning conditioning I'm looking on the ground thinking: holy cow, we've got 10 more of these for the next month?" Scherer said. "I'm sitting there like: what am I going to do? But you work through it, you learn you're going to live. The next morning, you come in and you're in a little better shape, a little tougher than the morning before. He's really pushed us past our limits and it's really helped all of us."
With winter workouts completed, the team now enters an exciting period of spring practices. Barry Odom has taken the reins of a program that hasn't experienced a head coaching change since the 2001 season. With that change comes new schemes, coaches and players. However, Scherer embraces the adjustment.
"It's always good to change things up and learn new things. For me, this is the third year I've had a new linebacker coach," Scherer said. He's [Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach DeMontie Cross] been able to bring in new techniques and little tweaks to my game that have really helped me a whole lot. I'll continue to learn from all the new coaches we've brought in. I think they bring something new, some things we don't know that can make us better."
Scherer was upfront in his desire for Coach Odom to receive the head coaching job this past year. He has grown to greatly admire the coach's perspective, experiences and philosophies.
"I love playing for him. He's been a player. He's been in our shoes. He knows what we feel like every day. He knows what we're going through. He knows when to lay off, he knows when he can put it on us a little bit," Scherer said. "He really pushes us harder than I ever have before, especially this winter in our conditioning. You wake up the next morning wanting to go back because you want to be pushed like that again."
The senior linebacker has also grown to appreciate the experience the new defensive coordinator DeMontie Cross brings. A former Mizzou Tiger, Cross' unique perspective has already motivated Scherer and the team.
"You can tell he really cares about it. He cares about Mizzou because that's where he's from," Scherer said. "You can tell he really wants to make this defense great. He's got a lot to prove and live up to, and I think he really puts that on his shoulders and pushes us in that way."
Cross and the Mizzou coaching staff will look for Scherer to lead the defense next season. It will not be an easy task to fill the void of NFL-bound Kentrell Brothers. However, he looks to carry the torch of the infamous 'Bash Brothers'.
"I've got to carry it on. We've had some good seasons and I'm looking to make it even better this year. I'll definitely be carrying on a little bit of that."
While he looks to continue the 'Bash Brothers' legacy, he will also be expected to step into a bigger role as a team leader. Scherer understands the expectation and accepts the challenge presented to him by the coaching staff.
"I've had to become more vocal. I'm not a vocal person, I like to lead by example," Scherer said. "Learning a new defense and putting in a new defensive scheme, it's my job to learn it quicker than everybody else so I can tell everybody else what to do when they're a little confused. It's been tough and it's been a lot of work, but it's something that I'm ready for."
Scherer recorded 114 tackles in 2014 and 93 in 2015. As an established playmaker and emerging leader, he has led the charge in preparing the team for the upcoming season. While the team has undergone change, he believes the team will take advantage of the opportunities at hand this spring.
"Defensively, we've got to put in a whole new defense. We've got to learn it and be comfortable with each other. We've got to get some continuity with our defense," Scherer said. We've got some new guys in here. We've also got some positions people are battling for. There are several open positions where people are going to have to battle and really make themselves the starter because right now, we don't know who it is. People need to put themselves in position and once we have that settled out, we're going to need to work together."
Toughness has been implemented early under Odom's leadership, and will be a key element of the program carried into the 2016 season. Odom's message has already left a lasting mark on Scherer and the team. When asked to define toughness, the senior was very direct and confident in his response.
"When you get knocked down, you got to realize there's nothing that can defeat you because you've already been through something that's harder than what we're going to go through on the field."
