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Miami linebacker Ryan Kennedy (5) runs drills during a Tuesday, Aug 10, 2010 Miami University football practice in Oxford, Ohio.

Staff photo by Gary Stelzer Miami linebacker Ryan Kennedy (5) runs drills during a Tuesday, Aug 10, 2010 Miami University football practice in Oxford, Ohio.

After third straight injury-marred season, linebacker healthy again.

By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer Updated 7:52 AM Thursday, August 12, 2010

OXFORD — After enduring a third straight season marred by injuries, Miami University linebacker Ryan Kennedy said he came to a fork in the road of his college football career.

“When I took that (medical) redshirt year last year, I thought it could have gone one of two ways,” Kennedy said. “I could have been sick of football, sick of working hard 365 days a year and not seeing the field. Or I could come back and really love it and really want to play.

“It was definitely the second (option),” he said. “I realized it was my last opportunity to do what I loved.”

During summer camp, Kennedy has been playing like it’s his last opportunity.

Despite having missed six games in his freshman season, three as a sophomore and nine in an aborted third year, the 6-foot-1, 227-pound junior from Libertyville, Ill., is part of a defensive package that plays on passing downs and also is challenging sophomore starter Luke Kelly at strongside linebacker.

At last glance, Kelly is on the first string and Kennedy is second string.

“I’m trying to work hard,” Kennedy said. “I want to be an every-down linebacker and I’ve got to work my way up. When you sit out a lot and you’re hurt, you’ve got to build the trust back up.

“I feel great now,” he added, “better than I ever have.”

Kennedy came to Miami as a quarterback-turned-linebacker.

The transition “was tough, a little bit physically, but mentally, I took it as being an advantage,” he said, explaining that having played the relentlessly demanding position of quarterback, a sort of coach on the field, “I didn’t have any bad habits, and having a knowledge of the offense, I kind of know what they’re looking for.”

What Kennedy didn’t see coming, however, were his two knee injuries as a freshman — the right knee early in the season, the left knee late. Or the labral tear in his right shoulder. Or the broken hand.

“It’s been a long road. But I got a lot of game experience,” said Kennedy, who played in the 2007 Mid-American Conference Championship Game and started the 2008 season opener at Vanderbilt, where he recovered a fumble.

“We had a great linebackers coach (Craig Aukerman) who’s now with the Denver Broncos,” he noted, “and Clayton (Mullins) and Joey Hudson, who were All-MAC linebackers, took me under their wing and showed me what it takes to be successful.

“I want to be accountable to the coaches,” Kennedy said. “I want to be a guy they can trust.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.

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