Football: With five picks and 69 tackles, UL’s fifth-year senior has been valuable

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, December 21, 2012

Rodney Gillis (21) returns one of his five interceptions this season on Oct. 6 against Tulane. / Paul Kieu

NEW ORLEANS — UL safeties coach Tim Rebowe started the 2012 season with two holes to plug — one created by the loss of 2011 senior Lionel Stokes, the other by now-senior Jemarlous Moten’s move to cornerback.

None of the candidates for filling them had so much as a college start in the secondary.

 

Yet one emerged as someone who not only open all 12 regular­season games for the 8-4 Ragin’ Cajuns, but also who thrived do­ing it.

 

Heading into Saturday’s New Orleans Bowl against East Car­olina, fifth-year senior Rodney Gillis has five — count ’em, five — interceptions and ranks as UL’s No. 2 tackler with 69.

 

UL’s other safety spot, mean­while, has been a revolving door, with ex-Ole Miss signees Tig Barksdale and T.J. Worthy, fill-in Sean Thomas and Sat­urday’s probable opener next to Gillis, Breaux Bridge High product Trevence Patt, all get­ting starts.

 

“He (Gillis) has been the one constant we’ve had back there all year,” Rebowe said.

 

Until recently, however, get­ting hurt seemed to be what Gil­lis did most constantly.

 

After being redshirted in 2008, the product of Fort Lau­derdale-St. Thomas High in Florida missed all of the 2009 and 2010 seasons with ACL knee tears that required surgical re­pair .

 

He played only sparingly as a reserve and on special teams in 2011, then emerged as a starter when the Cajuns needed him most.

 

“The guy,” fellow defensive back Thomas said, “had tough times.” Yet this year he’s managed to overcome them all.

 

“He’s been real big,” Cajuns head coach Mark Hudspeth said.

 

“We really didn’t even know if we could count on him coming into the season,” Hudspeth add­ed. “Luckily he stayed healthy. (Now) we’ve got so much duck tape and bailing wire wrapped around him and (linebacker) Le’Marcus Gibson that they can barely get off their uniforms. But hopefully we can get him through one more game.” Maybe more.

 

Gillis has applied to the NCAA for a sixth year of eli­gibility, based on the fact he missed two full years due to in­jury after having already been redshirted one year.

 

He’s still not sure if he’ll get it or not, so, according to Rebowe on Wednesday, “He’s preparing like he’s not, which he has to.” “I haven’t heard a thing,” Gillis said a few days back. “It’s real tough not knowing. That’s the crazy part of it. But I’m just gonna treat (Saturday) like it’s my last game — play my heart out, leave it all on the field.” That’s just the way the one­time cornerback plays.

 

It’s how someone who never started before his senior fifth year managed to come up with five interceptions – one each in wins over Lamar, Florida Inter­national, Tulane, UL Monroe and Florida Atlantic.

 

“He just flies to the ball,” Thomas said. “He loves playing the game. You can tell. When he gets out on the field, it shows.” “He always had the ability to just come out and play hard and find the ball,” Moten added. “I knew he was gonna do good when he put those cleats back on.” Whether he’ll be able to lace them up for one more year re­mains to be seen.

 

The NCAA’s decision could come in the new day or two, and it could linger until January.

 

But if Gillis does get a year back, expectations will rise ex­ponentially.

 

“With the numbers he put up this year,” said Gibson, who himself was playing on a sixth year of eligibility this season following an injury-plagued first five, “it’s gonna be big for him to come back another year and do the same thing, or anything similar to it. "He’ll be a leader on the team, looked to. All the younger players will look to him, the same way a lot of the players looked to me this year." Gillis seems to clearly understand all that comes with a sixth year being granted. "There are gonna be a lot of expectations, because the bar has been raised," he said. "Nobody is gonna expect less from me than I did this year. They’re gonna expect more from me. And I’ll expect more from myself." For now, though, Gillis isn’t overly concerned with 2013.

 

He’s still savoring all he’s managed in 2012, and pondering what still can be done with one more to play.

 

"I just feel like all the hard work I put in is finally starting to pay off," Gillis said. "I’m just happy to be blessed with the opportunity to play with my teammates.

"I’ve proven some people wrong – but I feel I have more to prove to myself than proving it to other people," he added. "I proved to myself that I’m still capable of doing it. But I know there are some things I can improve and work on to help better myself." Putting himself in positions to make so many interceptions, however, is not one.

 

With an average of 0.42 per game, he was tied for 11th among national leaders in picks heading into bowl season.

 

"I talked about it, but I never really expected it would happen," said Gillis, who frequently credits simply being in the right place at the right time.

 

"You still have to study film and do all the right things," he added. "But it’s about running to the ball, and having that knack for that. " Being able to back up his preseason banter, Gillis suggested, happened only with plenty of help.

 

"My coaches, they put me in the best position to make those plays," he said. "Coach Rebowe, Coach Stew (UL defensive coordinator Greg Stewart) – they called some of the best plays to keep me in that position." They want to be able to call a few more, too.

 

Gillis hopes they can as well, and that is why getting that sixth year would mean so much.

 

"I don’t feel like I was ‘cheated’ out of anything," he said. "You know, everything happens for a reason. But I feel like I have more football left in me, and I want to help my team."