Monterey Wildcats football player Brian Winnett has a new goal and a new purpose this season.
Winnett will play linebacker for the Wildcats entering his senior year. Winnett will play somewhere new for the first time in his football career. Winnett said he wants to see one key aspect of the game translate into linebacker.
“Overall, football is an aggressive sport so you just got to be aggressive in general,” Winnett said. “Especially at linebacker now, being aggressive helps you a lot more now than it would anywhere else.”
Winnett initially played defensive line for the Wildcats. Winnett then played defensive line before making the switch to linebacker, where Winnett expects to play this season. Winnett said defensive line got harder as he continued playing.
“D-line [the coaches said] ‘hey, just hit them straight up, get down and stuff like that,’” Winnett said. “D-end, I had to get in a little bit of coverage and look out for passes. At linebacker, I got to read it all.”
Winnett said linebacker is one of the toughest positions he has ever played.
“I think I’ve learned a lot so far,” Winnett said. “I still got I have a lot to learn, but I’m doing pretty good with how fast we’re moving for everything.”
Winnett said he played defensive line initially because he did not consider himself very fast. Winnett steps up as linebacker after losing weight and Monterey losing linebacker Logan Montgomery. Winnett said he looks to improve a lot at his new position.
Monterey finished last season 8-4.