When asked about redshirt freshman nose tackle A.J. Francis last week, Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen said the following:
"I've been very pleased with A.J. Francis. A.J. is a solid kid. You know what you're going to get every day. He's a guy that could play on the other side of the ball, too."
For someone that never stepped onto the field his freshman year, those words come as a both an opportunity and a challenge for the Gonzaga High School grad. Francis had a chance to sit back and watch last season after being one of the go-to-guys in high school. And while he might not have appreciated redshirting at the time, Francis can now reflect on Friedgen's decision in a proper light.
"While I was redshirting, I hated it," Francis said. "I would get amped up to play every game, I traveled to every game, and in every game except for the Boston College game and the bowl game, there was a chance that I could play if someone went down.
"But Looking back now, it was the best thing to happen for me. I was weak, immature and had a lack of discipline that would have gotten me eaten alive out there. Now I feel like I can actually perform the job that is expected from me."
The job that Francis is talking about may vary depending on the year, but Friedgen said that Francis would definitely be on the defensive side of the ball this season but left the door open for the offensive line in the future.
"It has never really mattered to me which side of the ball I played on, but now that I've worked myself not only into the defensive rotation, but the starting lineup, I can't say I don’t want to stay on defense," Francis said. "Basically, the way it looks to me is that this year I am definitely on defense and after the season we will probably reassess everything between all the guys leaving on both sides and my performance this year. I think wherever I am at the end of spring ball next year is where I'll stay for the rest of my career."
For the time being, Francis will be playing defense with some very familiar faces. Kenny Tate (DeMatha), Cameron Chism (McNamara), Darin Drakeford (Theodore Roosevelt), Deege Galt (Good Counsel) and Anthony Wiseman (DeMatha) will all start or see playing time this fall.
Francis played against Tate and Chism during his time at Gonzaga and expects big things out of them in the secondary.
"Both [Kenny and Cam] are definitely going to play this year, and they’re just flat out playmakers, so I would not be surprised if they played a lot and did it very well," Francis said.
In the short time Francis has been able to play with Drakeford, who is expected to see time as a true freshman, Francis likes what he sees.
"Darin is a knucklehead," Francis said. "Darin is one of the goofiest kids I know, but he is a hell of a football player. He is a lot more progressed at this point than I ever would have expected from a true freshman linebacker."
One offensive player Francis and his defensive cohorts have been able to size up has been Good Counsel graduate and true freshman Caleb Porzel. The 5-foot-7 speedster is competing for time as a true freshman, and he is so fast that Francis would need a significant advantage to beat Porzel in any kind of race.
"In a 50-yard race, I would need a 40-yard head start and he would have to run backwards, just so we could tie," Francis said. "But seriously, Caleb is so fast and agile that trying to tackle him is like trying to catch water in your hands."
For Francis' sake, it would be better not to compete against Porzel in any kind of race or he would give his teammates even more ammunition than they already have.
"I'm always the butt of WCAC jokes because I can't talk trash about anything except basketball," Francis said. "My stats were great against all of them, but my record versus all these teams is so bad all they say is, 'who won again?' I mean, I was 0-4 vs. DeMatha, St. John's and Good Counsel, and I was 1-2 vs. McNamara, so even Cam [Chism] gets to talk trash to me. I just can't wait until the kid from Carroll [Nathaniel Clarke] gets here because I was 3-0 vs them."
While everyone knows that victories over Carroll don't count, at least those over the past few years, Francis has been working hard to become more professional on and off the field.
"I have become a lot more serious since leaving Gonzaga, which I'm sure no one will believe," Francis added. "When I was there, I thought all the time was party time or joke time. Now I know when it's time to be focused and take care of business. Other than that, I think I'm just the same old me."
If things don't work out for Francis and his football aspirations, whether they be on the college or professional level, he's making sure that he has something to fall back on.
"[My music career] is really good right now," Francis said. "My last album sold over 25,000 copies, and I got a lot of connections with major labels because of it, so if football doesn’t work out, it's good to know that I have a lot of options. Plus, my new mix tape entitled “The World Is Mine” is coming out in the next two weeks, and it's even better than my last album."
With Jay-Z getting older and Lil' Wayne facing legal issues, maybe the door will open for Francis to launch a big-time music career. Then again, maybe he should concentrate on football.