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Nobody gets by this guy

UM tackle Bryant McKinnie, 6-9, 340, fast and agile, has never allowed a sack.

By BOB HARIG

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 12, 2001

CORAL GABLES -- The man is 6 feet 9, 340 pounds. A man among boys who already is making pro personnel directors drool. A man whose skills are as difficult to comprehend as the idea of any defensive lineman ever maneuvering around him.

So far, not a single college football player has been adept enough to get past Bryant McKinnie to sack a quarterback. Not during two years of junior college. Not into his second season as an offensive tackle for the University of Miami.

McKinnie draws raves.

A former coach: "Look at his shoes. They look like skis."

A current coach: "He blocks out the sun."

An opposing coach: "A giant who can move."

A virtual unknown last season, McKinnie made a name for himself in Miami's 27-24 victory over Florida State at the Orange Bowl. FSU's Jamal Reynolds managed just one assisted tackle in the game. McKinnie shut down Reynolds, a first-team All-American, the Lombardi winner, a first-round NFL draft pick.

"Jamal Reynolds was a one-man wrecking crew," Miami offensive line coach Art Kehoe said. "I was scared to death. Going into the game he had like 12 sacks in four or five games. And probably another 18 times he hurried the guy and smashed his face in."

Not against the Hurricanes. UM quarterback Ken Dorsey hardly saw Reynolds, giving Dorsey time to pick apart the FSU defense. He directed the winning drive in less than a minute.

And he promises to do more of the same Saturday in Tallahassee if the Seminoles are unable to put any pressure on him. Not only has McKinnie not yielded a sack, neither has the entire UM offensive line.

"I know it no other way," McKinnie said. "I used to not even think about it, but I'm starting to hear about it a lot because people mention it. And now, people are trying to make a name off of me."

Good luck. McKinnie runs the 40 in five seconds flat and has a 31-inch vertical jump. His wingspan is measured at 94 inches and that number of sacks allowed -- zero -- is for his entire career, including scrimmages.

"If you were drawing one up, that's the way you'd do it," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said. "I knew he was good, but you figure in a 60-minute ballgame, somebody would get by him. But we never did. He is just too good."

The only thing McKinnie lacks is experience. When he was younger, he was too big to play with youngsters his age and too young to play with youngsters his size. By age 10, he wore a size-10 shoe. By age 15, he was 6-5. Growing up in Woodbury, N.J., he tried other sports such as wrestling and basketball. He took a year of piano lessons. He even attended step aerobics classes with his mother.

He played on the junior varsity during his freshman year at Woodbury High, but sat out the next season after an altercation with a coach. Instead, he played the bass drum in the band and also was involved in the choir.

McKinnie came back to football his junior year as a 6-6 defensive end. By his senior year, he had grown 2 more inches. He made 56 tackles and had 13 sacks and started getting attention from Division I-A schools. He signed with Iowa but did not qualify academically.

That's when he landed at Lackawanna Junior College in Scranton, Pa. And it might have been the best thing that ever happened to him. The coach there is Mark Duda, a former defensive tackle with the St. Louis Cardinals who played college football at Maryland.

Almost upon sight, Duda moved McKinnie to the offensive line. "I explained I had been in the league for six years and I had always had the most trouble with tall, rangy guys who could really move their feet. They were the best pass blockers," Duda said.

"By his second year, he was absolutely phenomenal. He could block people with basically one hand. He could do some amazing things, block one guy and jump over another, freakish things for that size."

McKinnie started all 22 games during his two seasons at Lackawanna, never allowing a sack. He intended to go to Iowa, but when Hayden Fry resigned as coach, most of his staff was fired. Duda contacted Miami's Kehoe and said he should check out McKinnie.

"He (Kehoe) watches no more than three minutes of tape," Duda recalled. "He gets on the phone to (then UM coach) Butch Davis and says, "You have to see this kid. He's an absolute freak of nature.' He goes to meet him and Art looks like a little boy standing next to him. Offered him a scholarship on the spot."

Said Kehoe: "I couldn't believe a guy was so Lurch-like, but so agile. I couldn't believe a guy with size-18 shoes, who ran a five-flat 40, and hands the size of catcher's mitts -- and really hadn't hardly played any football -- was so athletic.

"And he's still a baby. He's 22, but he's hardly played any football. By the time he gets to be about 26 and learns to understand some more concepts of the game, he'll be so good it'll be ridiculous."

McKinnie's teammates were equally taken. "I thought he was going to be clumsy," said offensive lineman Sherko Haji-Rasouli, who is 6-6, 315. "He was so tall, like a basketball player. I kind of doubted he would be as quick as he is. We run 40-yard sprints and you can't catch him. I take pride in my speed. I think I'm fast for my size. But I'll look up and he's 10 yards ahead. I'm amazed by his speed. He's got a lot of athletic ability."

It's interesting how things work out. McKinnie is likely to be a wealthy man come next spring when some NFL team drafts him. (He took out a $2-million insurance policy in case of injury.) For that, of course, he is happy.

But McKinnie really didn't want to be an offensive lineman. He resisted the move because he didn't think the position was glamorous enough.

"You never hear any stories about the offensive line," he said. "Nobody ever knows who the offensive linemen are. My favorite player was (defensive end) Reggie White. At least if you play D-line, you can make things happen. Offensive line, you have no stats, really."

Unless you're Bryant McKinnie.

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