Also, once more, DePriest finds himself fielding questions about the Buckeyes. He talked to newspaper reporters for 20 minutes Sunday, a day after Alabama arrived in New Orleans, and then spent another 20 minutes talking to TV reporters. At least a quarter of the questions DePriest answered revolved around the Buckeyes and DePriest’s friendship with Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller.
The two just can’t get away from each other — not that they want to. They grew up together in Springfield, played Pee Wee and middle school football together and played against each other in high school when Miller attended Wayne. When DePriest announced his college decision at Buffalo Wild Wings in downtown Springfield on July 30, 2010, Miller picked up the microphone at one point and talked about his friend.
Now their teams meet again. The No. 1 Crimson Tide and No. 4 Buckeyes play in the Sugar Bowl at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, though Miller won’t play because of a shoulder injury that has kept him out all season.
“We used to talk about playing in a big game one day,” DePriest said, “but we never thought it would be like this. It sucks that he isn’t playing, but it is what it is.”
DePriest and Miller reunited last week in Springfield as they often do around the holidays. They remain great friends. Both graduated this month. Both congratulated the other on Twitter.
DePriest earned a degree in fashion retail and hopes to start his own clothing line one day or work as a buyer for a fashion company. He said he’s prouder of his degree than the American Football Coaches Association first team All-American honor or the All-Southeastern Conference first team status.
On and off the field, DePriest has performed well. He ranks third on the team with 82 tackles and has started 12 games.
DePriest was a 6-foot-2, 230-pound linebacker as a senior three-sport star with the Wildcats in 2010. Alabama lists him at 250 pounds now.
“I’ve come a long way,” he said. “High school’s completely different. You don’t have to read (plays). You really just go play. Now you’ve got to start looking at a lot more stuff. In high school, I was considered one of the bigger players. These guys are 300-plus every week, pushing on you every play.”
DePriest saw plenty of action earlier in his career, starting 26 games as a sophomore and junior and earning All-SEC second team honors in 2013. This season, though, his importance as increased.
“He’s our centerpiece,” defensive lineman Jonathan Allen said. “He makes all the calls, does all the checks. He’s very important to us. He’s a real calm guy. He’s not a real rah rah guy. You never see him panic or lose control.”
DePriest was suspended for the first game of the season against West Virginia for an unspecified violation of team roles. The team missed him, free safety Nick Perry said.
“He’s definitely the quarterback of the defense,” Perry said. “He’s done a phenomenal job of getting the plays from coach (Kirby) Smart and getting them back to us and getting us lined up.”
DePriest has no regrets about choosing Alabama. He described coach Nick Saban as a businessman. Saban didn’t try to mislead DePriest when he recruited him. He just told him exactly what he would be getting by playing in Tuscaloosa.
While Ohio State also recruited DePriest — defensive coordinator Luke Fickell had the biggest role in that recruitment, DePriest said — he always felt more comfortable at Alabama. Ohio State also was just too close to home for DePriest.
“I don’t really think that would have been a good idea for me,” DePriest said. “I probably would have gotten in some trouble. I pretty much knew this was where I wanted to go.”
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