Deterrian Shackelford celebrates after scoring a touchdown in the game against Memphis last week. DM Photo | Lacey Russell
Senior linebacker Deterrian Shackelford has been at Ole Miss longer than any other player on the team. During his time at Ole Miss, he’s played on a Cotton Bowl winning team as well as a team that won only two games the whole season. He’s seen entire seasons lost to injury and has been the recipient of the Chucky Mullins Courage award twice — the first player in history to do so.
Shackelford is pleased with his performance so far this season as he led the team in tackles last week against Memphis.
“I feel like I’ve done pretty good,” Shackelford said. “I feel like there’s some things I can still work on, but it’s certainly a blessing to be from where I was — as far as being injured and not being able to know if I was going to ever play this game again — to now be in a position to lead the team in tackles. It’s certainly a blessing to be able to play this game again.”
Shackelford is optimistic about his health.
“Physically I feel good. I think I feel about as good as a sixth year senior can feel,” Shackelford said. “I spend my Mondays a lot in the training room now. My freshman and sophomore year, I’d never really got in the hot tub or cold tub. Now, I feel like I need to put one in my house. But my body feels good. Our training room, they do a really good job.”
Shackelford felt last week’s game is encouraging heading into Saturday’s matchup against Alabama, especially with how the run defense played.
“I do think that was very important for us to shore up the run and do some things we knew we were capable of doing, so I do think that was very important,” Shackelford said. “We did look like we flew around to the ball, so I was very excited about that. But of course, you can’t live off of last week. We have to keep on proving ourselves.”
Shackelford also pointed out how talented Alabama is currently.
“It’s no secret that Alabama is a very good team,” Shackelford said. “We know we have to come out and bring our best game.”
Shackelford noted what the defense would need to work on to perform well against the Crimson Tide is trusting in each other.
“Being more patient, trusting the scheme, trusting the defense,” Shackelford said. “I feel like once you do that and play within the scheme of a defense, it works.”
Shackelford was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of people who asked for tickets to the game but was excited with how big the game was.
“Everybody wants to be at this game. I’ve been here some years where no one really asks me ‘Do you have tickets to this game?’ Now, that’s different,” Shackelford said. “We’re at a point where we’re relevant, but we want to continue on that street. We know it’s going to take hard work and dedication in the way that we prepare from week to week.”
