TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Competition has been the name of the game for most of the position groups for Indiana State this camp, but nowhere is this more evident than in the secondary.
 
It's not for lack of depth, either. Head coach Curt Mallory, defensive coordinator Brad Wilson and cornerbacks coach Deon Broomfield have plenty of versatile options at both corner and safety – young and old.
 
"We're just trying to build depth," Broomfield said. "It's a learning experience. We're trying to get guys to compete and try to have them focus and be more consistent."
 
The starting and reserve possibilities are numerous when looking at who is available and where. You have straight cornerback guys like Rondell Green and former running back Dimitri Taylor, as well as safeties like Brenton Lockett, KeAaris Ardley, Jamal Jones and Lonnie Walker II. But then you have someone like junior De'Jaun Tyson, who has impressed the coaching staff enough to earn plenty of reps at both corner and safety.
 
"Every single day you're trying to find the right mix of guys back there, because you're going to have to play a number of them," Wilson said. "You rarely get through a whole season where you just play four DBs."
 
No matter who is on the field, there is one consistent message the Sycamore coaching staff has been drilling all camp: they are the last line of defense.
 
"They have to understand the pressure of being the last line of defense," Wilson said. "You step wrong, you look wrong, you move wrong, you communicate wrong, it's a touchdown. There's nobody else back there to back you up."
 
The Sycamore secondary learned that lesson all too well in 2016. After putting up a fairly solid season in pass defense – ranking fifth in the Valley in passing yards allowed per game at 219.7 – it was still the untimely long passing play that did the Sycamores in at several points throughout the year.
 
"The pressure that we have to put on ourselves to execute at a consistent and high level has to be greater than any other position that there is," Wilson said.
 
Hoping to reverse that trend is a group of hardworking upperclassmen, like Green.
 
"I try to lead by example," Green said. "I don't talk a lot, I just try to leave that to the coaches. I just try to go out here and bust it every day so the young guys can see that and learn from it."
 
And the coaches have done just that, holding the defensive backs accountable for all to hear at each practice this camp. To their credit, it's working.
 
"They don't let anything slide, and that's something that I embrace everyday coming to compete," Tyson said.
 
"(Wilson) believes in us a lot," Lockett said. "He just wants us to be the best and pushes us every day."
 
"(Wilson) demands a lot, and you got to respect that as an athlete, especially if you want to be great," Walker said. "Playing for Coach Wilson, you got to be on your P's and Q's. He's going to throw a lot at you and expect you to retain it and expect you to execute it at the end of the day, and that's all he wants."
 
Stay tuned to GoSycamores.com – as well as our Facebook and Twitter pages – for extensive coverage and position previews this season, including video content courtesy of Luke Martin.