The two-minute drill with Michael Hamlin

Are you taking it upon yourself to be more of a leader this year?

“Yeah, I try to. I try to mess with everybody ... I know my freshman year when I was practicing two-a­days and going to camp every day and coaches taking all your time, you’re depressed. I’m just trying to loosen everybody up, let everybody know just to go out here and have fun.”

How much have you grown as a leader since you’ve been here? Was it in your nature earlier in your career?

“I didn’t think it was. I was the type of guy who was just going to be myself. I’m friendly and all that, but I wasn’t the type of guy who was going to do the unbelievable — fuss at somebody or something like that.

That just wasn’t me. I was the type of guy who was just going to do what I was supposed to do and give it all I’ve got. But last year, it was a little different. I had a couple of talks with (former Tigers defensive stars) Levon Kirkland and Jeff Davis and some other people. They just told me to just play ball and if you feel the need to step out, step out. Last year it got to the point where I was just like, ‘We’ve got to do something about it.’ I just started talking a little bit and just trying to lead.”

When was this transformation?

“I’d say right after camp, coming into the first game against Florida State. There was a couple of little issues. It wasn’t nothing serious.

But coach was yelling about sense of urgency and things like that. You could just see it in guys’ eyes. They weren’t buying into the system, really. So my thing was just to go out and buy into it and sell out as hard as I could so people could buy into it with me.”

What were those issues you were talking about?

“It was little issues like people not paying attention, people not prac­ticing hard, people not giving it all they had. I was just trying to be dif­ferent.”

Was it hard for you to break out of your comfort zone, to be more vocal?

“It was hard at first, because you have some people complaining: ‘Mike, why are you going so hard? Slow down!’ Things like that. But that stuff you can’t pay attention to. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

What do you think Levon and Jeff saw in you to pull you aside and talk to you about you elevating your role?

“I feel like they saw something in me I didn’t see in myself. They just had talks with me and told me I could be as great as I wanted to be.

They said that I was a leader, and if we wanted to have a great defense then I had to lead. I kind of took them to heart and tried to do what I thought was best.”

Was Levon a big influence on you, given that you both are from the same area (Lamar)?

“He was. He was a guy I looked up to ever since I was young. The first time I ever met Levon was at a football camp he had in Lamar. And ever since then, he was the guy that I always looked up to and followed throughout his professional career.”