Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 10, 1994 TAG: 9404100144
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The Virginia Tech cornerback, a former walk-on whose competence had carried him into playing time, was standing on the Orange Bowl sidelines during the Hokies' game against then-No. 3 Miami when free safety Torrian Gray, normally a rover who was subbing for injured Antonio Banks, got cramps.
Defensive coordinator Phil Elmassian, already missing Banks and cornerback Tyronne Drakeford, picked up the receiver in the coaches' box above the field and dialed the sideline.
Elmassian to Yarborough: "You have to play free safety. Can you do this?"
Yarborough: "Yeah, I got it."
"The bad part about that was," Yarborough said last week, "I didn't practice free safety [that week]."
Yarborough, however, played flawless rover - getting help from teammates who double-checked whether he knew his coverage assignments - and showed Elmassian what kind of player the first-year defensive coordinator had. Yarborough had missed Elmassian's first spring practice after having shoulder surgery.
"Basically, in meetings, he's listening to every position," Elmassian said.
Now, it seems, Yarborough can concentrate on cornerback. With seniors Drakeford and Scott Jones gone, Yarborough is the most experienced returner. His is the most-settled spot in a spring practice that has Elmassian searching for a second starter and second-stringers.
Yarborough still has physical problems, though. During the '93 season, he kept playing after twisting his right knee, only to learn that postseason arthroscopic surgery revealed (and fixed) torn cartilage.
Before the '92 season, he tore a ligament in his right shoulder but said he didn't know it until after the season. Surgery fixed that, too.
He'll stay at Tech during the summer to lift weights and run. When fall comes he'll be starting at cornerback alongside . . . somebody. Larry Green, a sophomore who started part-time last year, is the early favorite, Elmassian said. But there are others.
Baron Spinner played offense while he redshirted last year, so this spring is his baptism at cornerback. Elmassian says Spinner has a chance at making the two-deep roster. Former tailback Aaron Layne, part-time player Okesa Smith and talented Danny Dunbar have "all improved," Elmassian said.
"They do create depth, but I'm looking for a starter," he said.
Quinton Waller, a '94 signee from Matoaca High School, will get a look in the fall, Elmassian said.
Yarborough had his look before the '92 season and ended up playing in nine of 11 games, starting against Miami and Rutgers. Last year, he played in all 11 games and had 30 tackles, four pass breakups and two interceptions.
Yarborough can't get comfortable, though. He remembers some recruiters looking at him at Warwick High School (alma mater of Independence Bowl defensive MVP Banks) and disappearing just as quickly.
"I still look at myself as fighting for a job," said Yarborough, who also saw rover Stacy Henley go from starter to third-string last year. "Anything can happen in football. You can lose your position just like that. I'm still trying to make myself better, make it harder for anyone else to take my position."
Elmassian, though, is counting on him.
"I don't know if I've got any choice," he said. "He's showing me things. Each day he's getting better."
Whether or not Yarborough's play ever will justify his nickname - Killer - is another matter. It has nothing to do with football, anyway.
"My grandfather gave it to me when I was born," Yarborough said. "He was watching some old Flip Wilson movie, and some lady's husband's name was `Killer.' The day I was born, he said, `There goes my Killer.' I like it."
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB