Springdale grad Logan Dexter switches positions but maintains solid play for Edinboro football team
Logan Dexter didn't waste any time making an impression on Edinboro football coach Jake Nulph. Nulph remembers it well: The first rep Dexter, a defensive back, took in practice as a freshman, he had an interception.
Nulph knew he had a potential play-maker on his hands. But with the Springdale grad being a raw newbie in the college game, Nulph and his coaching staff thought it prudent to redshirt him.
Dexter understood, and he used that year to his advantage.
"It definitely gave me a year to kind of adapt with school and classes, time management and everything like that," Dexter said. "And it also gave me time to learn the playbook, gave me a whole year to learn the playbook."
He used the time to bulk up as well, packing some 20 pounds of mostly muscle on his 6-foot-2 frame.
By the time his redshirt freshman season came, Dexter was ready to jump in, and he responded with a solid effort: 29 total tackles (one for a loss), two interceptions and three pass breakups from his safety spot. Against IUP, he had a personal-best 11 tackles and an interception.
Nulph, who, like Dexter, is an A-K Valley product (Apollo-Ridge grad), wasn't surprised.
"He describes the A-K Valley guy," said Nulph, in his fifth season as coach. "He's low-maintenance, he's a tough kid, he's a great kid, he's a solid student, he gets along well with his teammates, he works his butt off. He's just an all-around great kid and a great player.
"His football IQ is extremely high. ... He understands how our defense works. So if you take his knowledge of our defense and his knowledge of football, he's always in the right spot."
That was part of the reason — along with the Fighting Scots' glut of safeties — Nulph and his staff decided to move Dexter to a different position: nickel defensive back, known as the "hawk" in Edinboro's scheme. By moving Dexter to nickel, Nulph said he believes it will give him a better opportunity to make plays.
Dexter said the coaches sprung the news on him at breakfast during the first Sunday of preseason camp. And, like the revelation that he would redshirt his first season, Dexter was accepting of his fate.
"I like the position," said Dexter, who is listed at 200 pounds. "Definitely some new techniques because everything happens faster. ... Just reading new keys and a couple of new coverages, but nothing too crazy."
Dexter seems to have made the transition seamlessly. Through the Fighting Scots' first five games — Edinboro is 1-4, 0-1 in the PSAC — he had 17 total tackles (12 solo), an interception and three pass breakups.
"That's always the goal, to get hands on the footballs as a defensive back," Dexter said. "Sometimes, PBUs (pass breakups) are just as good in certain situations."
One of those pass breakups came in last weekend's 28-23 loss to No. 9 Slippery Rock. The Fighting Scots were the first team to put a scare into The Rock this season, blanking the hosts in the second half while the offense rallied for 13 points.
But the loss continued a theme for Edinboro: hanging in but not making enough plays to get a victory. Three of the Scots' four losses this season — Slippery Rock, Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg — have been by a total of 22 points.
Twice against Bloomsburg, Edinboro drove inside the Huskies' 5-yard line and came away with no points. Even so, the Scots took the lead with just more than a minute remaining, only to see the Huskies take all of 40 seconds to drive for the winning score.
"I think we have a great team," Dexter said. "I think we have everything we need to go to the playoffs and win a championship. Sometimes, we just don't put it all together ... or we're a couple of plays away.
"There's a lot of momentum shifts in a football game, a lot of plays that can dictate the outcome. You just never know when you're going to be called upon, so everybody just has to stay locked in and stay focused."
Meanwhile, when the Scots do put it all together, they showed what they could do: In the second game of the season, they defeated FCS foe Robert Morris, 23-21, as Dexter and the defense held the Colonials to 224 total yards.
"We played great in all three phases," Dexter said, "... and I think that's the best I've seen us play as a whole team."
Edinboro was off this past weekend before embarking on its final six games, beginning Saturday when it hosts IUP at 2 p.m.
That leaves the Scots plenty of time to still make something out of the season.
Dexter, meanwhile, has the rest of this season and two more to continue to hone his game.
He still is learning his new position — Dexter said he still gets to play safety in certain formations, so "I get the best of both worlds" — but Nulph is over the moon with his development.
The coach said he is eager to see where Dexter goes from here.
"He's got a very high ceiling," Nulph said. "He's going to have two more years after this. He's already been making some critical plays. That's the scary part: He's just tapping the surface of his potential."
Dexter has some lofty goals for himself: leading the team in interceptions, making all-conference and even all-American. Nulph, though, makes sure he keeps Dexter humble with some good-natured ribbing. Just some playful banter between a couple of A-K Valley boys.
"He definitely cracks some jokes at me," Dexter said, laughing. "He's definitely given me some hard times in practices and meetings, but it's all out of love."
