Nov. 3, 2006

“Coach’s Dream” did not start out that way
Wallace closing in on 400th career tackle at Adrian College

ADRIAN, Mich.—Adrian College senior linebacker Tavarski “Taz” Wallace is closing in on a milestone of athletic achievement. He is just two tackles away from 400 in his college career.

Wallace’s eight stops at Wisconsin-Lutheran College on Saturday brought him to 106 tackles on the season and 398 in his career. With two games left as a Bulldog, Wallace continues to add to his school record, which he set late last season.

His final college home game will take place tomorrow at Adrian College’s new Performance Stadium against rival Albion College.

Wallace’s path to stardom at AC is almost as extraordinary as the athletic ability he exhibits on game days.

During the 2003 season, he was a freshman out of nearby Madison High School and never saw the field with the starting defensive unit. Looking back, it’s a wonder why.

“You can call it bad coaching, a rookie mistake by me,” says Aaron Klotz, now in his fourth season as the Adrian College defensive coordinator.

“To come in as a freshman and start at middle linebacker is very rare. He was definitely athletic enough, but did not have a grasp of the system yet, he didn’t know where everyone has to be in every alignment. In hindsight, it was probably a bad decision on my part,” added Klotz, who was an All-American himself for the Bulldogs in 1997.

Even when Wallace finally started his first game, the 2004 season-opener at Heidelberg College, it was not what you would call a storybook beginning.

The future All-American was benched after one half of play against the Student Princes.

“I didn’t play well at all. I played horribly,” said Wallace.

“I kept running this same blitz the wrong way. When I got pulled, I was thinking, ‘Man, there goes my college career.’”

Klotz spoke of the inauspicious beginning, “He could have gone two ways when we pulled him out. As the year went on and you saw the type of plays that he was making, you realized that he was going to be something special.”

In fact, the plays he made over the final nine games of the 2004 season gave notice to all in NCAA Division III Football that a star was emerging. The Adrian native led all of NCAA Division III in tackles in 2004 with 155, the 10th highest total in Division III history. His 100 solo tackles that year also led the nation and ranks third all-time.

While the nation found a surprising counterpart to Adrian’s already established defensive end, Mike Lewis, Wallace’s inner voice had an inkling of what was coming. He took the experience of sitting on the sideline as a freshman and used it as motivation during the off-season months between his freshman and sophomore seasons.

“Before I even stepped on the field at the varsity level, I sent Coach Klotz an e-mail and told him that I wanted to be the greatest middle linebacker to ever come through this school.”

Wallace then proved his prophecy true.

“I just decided that before the next season I was going to out-work (the previous starter) and become bigger, faster and stronger and come back demanding to play. I had to pay my dues, but I worked very hard to get where I wanted to be.”

Wallace’s career at Adrian almost did not happen. He had the choice between the Bulldogs and a junior college after graduating high school.

“I picked Adrian College because I wanted to go to a winning program,” said Wallace.

Adrian College Football is grateful for that choice. Tackles on the field are great, but “The General,” as he is called by his teammates, has impacted the program in a deeper way than just posting record-breaking statistics.

Wallace sets many of the team rules himself, reminding players that the team comes first. The team captain often beats the coaches to the punch in disciplining teammates for actions not in line with team rules.

Doing things the right way is not just his focus on the field and with the team. Wallace gives back to the community, hoping that young students will follow in his large footsteps. He has implemented his own tutoring program with students in the Madison School District.

“I bring my teammates two or three times a week to help them with their homework and just to be mentors to them. I know what it is like to not have a father growing up so I just try to give back as much as I can to the kids. I want to be an inspiration to those kids.”

The Bulldogs current 4-4 record is not the fairy tale ending to bookend the linebacker’s career. Wallace, always the leader, takes this in stride and has found ways to motivate his defensive unit.

“I told the guys, ‘This is life. This is reality. You are either going to give up or you are going to keep fighting. I am not going to give up on them and I don’t expect them to give up on me. I am going to enjoy being with my teammates and enjoy the game of football for these last two games.’”

His motivational techniques have helped the Bulldog defense become the top-ranked unit in the MIAA in scoring (15.1 ppg), sacks (19), red-zone defense (58%). Wallace currently ranks third in NCAA Division III in total tackles at 13.2 per game.

When the gun sounds in that final game for Wallace as a Bulldog, the Adrian coaching staff will be left searching for the next “general” to emerge.

Klotz knows exactly what AC will have to replace.

“We will miss his athletic ability. Everybody knows that. But, what I will miss the most is his leadership and just him being “Taz”. He is a genuine, sincere person that you enjoy coaching and not just because he is the best player. You enjoy the relationship you have with him because of the man that he has become.”

“He is a coach’s dream,” ended Klotz.

When the “coach’s dream” records his 400th tackle it will be a milestone that was unforeseen 29 games ago, when a struggling sophomore was sent to the bench after just his 13th career tackle.