Wilber Makes His Mark
In the five years since Kyle Wilber showed up at Wake Forest as a 190-pound defensive end from Apopka, Fla, I’ve probably written at least four substantial pieces on him encompassing around 2,500 words. My latest such effort Wilber Fits at Wake Forest ran in the Journal this morning, and if you haven’t seen it, you might want to check it out.
But there those who are playing, and have played, at Wake I could write 10,000 words about and never feel like I’ve told even close to what there is to tell. And Wilber is one.
The angle I took for my latest is how Wilber took one for the team this season when he moved from defensive end to linebacker, and how the sacrifice may well have cost him a berth on the All-ACC team.
“No question,’’ coach Jim Grobe said. “That’s the problem when you can run, and you’re a pretty good cover guy, but you can also rush the quarterback and are a pretty good pass-rush guy.
“You kind of become a jack of all trades, and that’s hard to develop any one skill over another.’‘
Nikita Whitlock recognized the sacrifice as well as what it meant to the team.
“I don’t think we could have been the same defense without that sacrifice,’’ Whitlock said. “That sacrifice went a long way. And he knows it.’‘
But there were other elements of the Kyle Wilber story I’ve collected recently that I would have loved to have fleshed out in greater detail, if only I had been graced with the space and time. The more I got to know Wilber, the more he fascinated me.
And the more his teammates got to know Wilber, and the more he got to know them, the more willing he was to assume a leadership role.
“Kyle has really taken his leadership role up to a whole other level,’’ Whitlock said. “He was initially, the first year I was here, just a leader by example. He played well and he did well in school and things. And now – we really heard it against Vanderbilt. He tore into us against Vanderbilt from the opening possession.
“He’s really become, for me, an older brother, father figure on the field. And that’s how he kind of talks to you – not as a teammate but as a big-brother type person. And it’s not always good. It’s not always the loving Kyle.’‘
The more I found out about Wilber’s bootstraps upbringing, the more I realized what an accomplishment it was for him to even make it to Wake Forest in the first place, let alone become a standout player who helped the Deacons get back to a bowl. Wilber opened up about it to me one time, and talked about how many family members he actually lived with at different times in his life, but when word got back that it wasn’t something he wanted to make a big deal out of I backed off making it a central theme of anything I was writing about him.
But he did mention that’s why he wants to work with kids himself when his football career is over and why he has already been volunteering at the Children’s Home here in Winston.
“I just want kids to know that it doesn’t really matter where you’re from,” Wilber said. “It’s where you’re going.”
It occured to me that not only is Wake Forest good for a Kyle Wilber, but a Kyle Wilber is also really, really good for Wake Forest, a school that, if it’s not careful, can be pigeonholed as a refuge for privilege and wealth. Grobe agreed.
“It’s pretty amazing,’’ Grobe said. “We’ve had a bunch of those guys.
“It’s a cool story. It’s a deal where this is a different environment.’‘
Wilber, for his part, said he has appreciated his classmates as much as they have appreciated him. He finished his degrees with a double major of sociology and communications in the fall semester and will walk in May.
“It’s more of the lines with them accepting me,’’ Wilber said. “Back home I got along with everybody.
“So it’s just good to know you’re not really judged by the color of your skin or the amount of money that you have. You’re more judged on the personality than those points.’‘
As for how long it will take Wilber to be free of all football commitments to really devote himself to the welfare of children, Grobe said that’s an open question.
“I think you’re looking a kid who’s going to run somewhere around 4.7, 4.8, something like that,’’ Grobe said of Wilber’s time in the 40-yard dash. “He probably has the potential to play at 260. I think he’s a skinny 240 right now.
“I see him a lot like Tyson Clabo. I thought Clabo was just a puppy when he left here. And of course Tyson had the advantage of playing in NFL Europe for awhile before he had to really mature to the point he could make it in the NFL.
“I see Kyle that same way. If somebody could hang on him long enough for him to put some more weight on he could be a real factor. After watching some of the 3-4 teams in the NFL and a lot of those outside linebackers are really kind of defensive ends playing outside backer. They’ 260 and 265 and they’re able to drop to the numbers and play man coverage on the tight end. He could do all those things. I think his deal is going to be – he’s certainly a really, really good player – but can he get big enough to be the physical guy off the edge and still be fast enough to run and cover.
“I think he can.’‘
Personally, I hope he does.