Ryan Kartje (LA Times) —  Eric Gentry took his place at the front of the crowd of reporters, a coy smile already on his face. The lanky linebacker knew the drill by now, here at the start of his third spring at USC. He knew the questions being asked, the suggestions they might make about him or his confounding role last season. Maybe before, those inquiries would’ve left him feeling sensitive. Defensive, even.

Not now.

“Done a lot of these now,” he said. “Don’t get mad if I sound a little nonchalant.”

Nonchalant probably isn’t the first word most would use to describe the Trojans senior linebacker. He has always worn his emotions on his sleeve, through the best and the worst of the last two seasons. But after a somewhat frustrating fall, Gentry seemed positively at ease last week amid a spring of change for USC’s defense.

He’s thrilled with his new multifaceted role, thrilled with the new scheme, thrilled with his new coaches. When new linebackers coach Matt Entz is mentioned, Gentry breaks into a full-on grin.

“That’s my guy,” he says. “Coach Entz is amazing.”

Entz, who left a head coaching job at North Dakota State to be an assistant on USC’s staff, says he has tried to push the envelope with Gentry’s distinctive skillset this spring, using him at both sam and will linebacker positions.

Plans for Gentry — or any other defenders, for that matter — are still in the early stages. And Entz, like his other coaches before him, says he thinks Gentry still needs to add five to 10 more pounds to his frame.

“I think they know what to do,” Gentry said. “A lot of times, you go to a lot of different coaches who might, you know — not know what to do. I’m a unique player. There’s only one of me in the country. Not in an arrogant way, but nobody has my type of measurements, playing how I play. They just know what to do, know where to put me at, and then just making me feel comfortable wherever I’m at.”

The vibes weren’t as positive last fall. Gentry’s snap count declined by almost 34% from his sophomore season. When USC coach Lincoln Riley suggested in November that his drop in playing time was due to starting the season “really, really rusty” after offseason surgery, Gentry fired back on social media, saying in a since-deleted post that “18” — his jersey number — was never “rusty”.

Eric Gentry reacts on the sideline during a game against Utah in October 2022. (Rick Bowmer / AP)

But any semblance of hurt feelings seems to have disappeared.

“It feels good,” Gentry said. “It feels good to have people that know what to do with me.”

Gentry first emerged as a freshman All-American at Arizona State in 2021, before becoming a pass-swatting terror as a sophomore at USC. But while his length has always been an advantage in certain parts of his game — such as zone coverage — his lanky, 220-pound frame has always prompted questions about others.

“He’s atypical,” Entz said. “He’s got rush value, he’s big in zones. When we’re playing just some big zone defense, all of a sudden his arms go from the hash to the numbers. He’s just a big body out there. I think we’re going to continue to find some other sub-packages, ways to utilize him because he’s twitchy too. He’s not just a big, long kid.”

But that skillset makes the nature of Gentry’s role particularly important. The question has always been how much coaches are willing to accommodate it in their scheme.

“Our guys are certainly creative enough to find really good ways to use [Gentry],” Riley said. “I think that excites him.”

It’s why Entz has had Gentry wear a number of different hats this spring. It’s why he has Gentry studying versatile, swiss-army-type defenders again, such as Fred Warner of the San Francisco 49ers or Isaiah Simmons of the New York Giants, and working on his pass-rush moves.

“Let’s see what he can do,” Entz said. “Not necessarily trying to overload him but get him out of his comfort zone.”

Gentry seems pretty comfortable with that so far this spring.

“I’m everywhere with it, boundary, field, pass rush, other places,” Gentry said. “It’s feeling good, really.”

latimes.com

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