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Colleges

Leavine hits stride with FIU

The former Central standout is just a freshman, but he is set to play in tonight's game at Middle Tennessee.

By DAVID MURPHY
Published August 31, 2006

	[Times photo: Edmund Fountain]
	Andy Leavine, second from left, quickly impressed Florida International coaches with his aggressive attitude during the summer. That "little bit of mean streak" has him starting today at left tackle.

Leon Searcy played in 112 NFL games during his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars, starting 111 of them. He was a collegiate All-American, a former Pro Bowler, a man who at one time was considered one of the better interior linemen in football.

So when Searcy, now the offensive line coach at Florida International University, talks about the aggressiveness Andy Leavine has displayed since joining the Golden Panthers this summer, he speaks with pride.

"He's got a little bit of a mean streak to him," Searcy said of the former Central star, now a freshman lineman at FIU. "I like that."

That mean streak, along with the natural athleticism he displayed throughout his prep career at Central, has earned Leavine a starting job at left tackle entering today's season opener against Middle Tennessee State. He will be the first freshman to start on the offensive line since Searcy was hired by FIU head coach Don Strock three years ago, and he will do so at the unit's most pivotal position.

"Every emotion is going through my head right now," Leavine said Wednesday from Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Looking back, it is hard to imagine that just a year ago Leavine was preparing for a road game against Sarasota Booker and wondering whether a college scholarship would be waiting for him at the end of the season. For a couple of seasons, he was the top offensive lineman in Hernando County, using his natural size and strength to dominate opponents. Central used him at all five offensive line positions, making a habit of running wherever he was situated.

Still, his senior season was less than ideal. He did not get along with then-Central coach Greg Bigham, and he missed the final two games of the season after getting suspended from school. He finished the year without a scholarship offer, though South Florida and Central Florida were both showing interest in him.

Florida International offered him a scholarship in January, and Leavine quickly accepted. When Searcy and Strock recruited him, Leavine says they told him he would have a chance to compete for playing time. Still, he never thought he would be in the starting lineup for his first collegiate game.

"I'm trying not to think about it," Leavine said. "I'm trying not to work myself up about it too much. I just want to go out there and do what I'm capable of. It's one of those things where it's such a different level. I never thought I'd be in this position right out of high school."

Nor did the FIU coaching staff.

Like most players from this area, Leavine wasn't on a lot of coaches' radars.

"We had to go into the backwoods to find the kid," Searcy said.

The Golden Panthers wanted to develop Leavine at right tackle, but early in camp slid him over the left side. Safe to say, the transition wasn't seamless.

Going against senior defensive end Antwan Barnes, a Lombardi Watch List member, in practice Leavine quickly received a I-A education.

"I was big-eyed," Leavine said.

"He took some lumps early," Searcy said.

But by the end of the summer, Leavine was on the winning end of many battles with Barnes, and he never slipped below first string on the depth chart.

Nevertheless, it wasn't until FIU announced its depth chart for the season opener last week that the reality of the situation sank in.

"That's when I was like, 'Wow. I'm really going to be starting,'" Leavine said.

The Golden Panthers will need him to play well. They have four new starters on an offensive line, and are coming off a 5-6 season. ESPN.com recently named FIU the seventh-worst team in all of I-A.

But Searcy thinks Leavine will help.

"From here on out, he's just got to grow," Searcy said. "He's going to take his lumps, but we hope he learns from the process."

[Last modified August 31, 2006, 00:51:49]