Corley feeling at home at Troy

TROY — Troy is only 25 miles closer than Baton Rouge from Sidell Corley’s home town of Mobile, but the Troy defensive tackle feels more at home than he has in a while.

Corley, a redshirt sophomore, transferred to Troy from LSU 10 days ago and has seen plenty of familiar faces — not just cousin TeBiarus Gill and former Mobile teammates or prep rivals Carvel Jones, Jacoby Thomas and Sam Glusman.

“The reason I wanted to come back to Alabama was because I wanted to be around a lot of people like me,” Corley said. “Mobile is really deep in Troy. There’s a bunch of guys in the student body that I’ve seen (from Mobile) that I haven’t seen in a while.”

Corley signed with LSU in 2007 and was rated as one of the top players in the region and top defensive ends in the country. He redshirted in 2007 and played just two games last year, but was making a push to start this year.

Then, his world came crashing down on him in May when his mother was shot and killed and his uncle drowned. He said if that hadn’t happened, he’d probably still be at LSU.

“My life was on a high,” Corley said. “I was getting a chance to play and my grades were up. That tragedy affected me horribly. That summer, I basically went to my psychiatrist and went back to my room.”

Corley said he mostly hung out with his roommates at LSU but has found a comfort zone at Troy because “everybody here talks like me.” The 6-foot-4, 275-pound Corley made the move to defensive tackle upon arrival, and if he gets a hardship waiver from the NCAA, he’ll be eligible to play this season.

“I like (tackle), I’m not going to lie,” Corley said. “I’m really excited about this D-line. I don’t think we’ll drop off too much when the depth comes in.”

When Troy took a 31-3 lead at LSU last year only to lose it late, Corley was wearing purple and gold. He didn’t play in that game, but hears a lot about it.

“I really can’t walk anywhere in Troy without somebody bringing that game up,” Corley said. “We’re going to Gainesville (Sept. 12) and I like the mentality of this team because everybody believes we can take them. That’s a great feeling because I think we can take them, too.”

Plenty battling to replace Calvin:The news of senior Jorrick Calvin’s academic ineligibility hit Troy in several different places — leadership, the secondary and on special teams. Pending appeal, Calvin’s loss means the secondary has no returning starters.

On special teams, coach Shayne Wasden said Cornelius Williams is the No. 1 punt returner and TeBiarus Gill will get some work.

“They’ll catch the ball, make somebody miss and get 10 yards,” Wasden said. “A first down is always the goal. That’s a first down the offense won’t have to get.”

Calvin returned kicks last year with Maurice Greer. Greer will stay back there, and the top pick back there could be freshman running back Shawn Southward, whose speed and ability to find the holes in the backfield would fit in the return game. Jerrel Jernigan and Bryan Willis are also possibilities, Wasden said.

At corner, the likely replacement is sophomore KeJuan Phillips, who saw limited action last year. Sophomore Barry Valcin, a junior college transfer, and senior Justin Bray are also in the mix.

Taylor making a push: Wasden said sophomore Michael Taylor had been kicking well and is giving returning starter Sam Glusman a run for his money at the placekicking spot.

Taylor went 9-for-10 on live kicks during Saturday’s special teams scrimmage. Last year, Glusman was a second-team all-conference pick and Taylor handled kickoffs.

“He’s pushing Glusman, so (Glusman) better improve,” Wasden said.

Troy gets a vote: In the preseason AP poll, Troy got a vote from Mike Hlas of the Cedar Rapids Gazette in Iowa.

Coming up: Fan Day is today at Trojan Arena, with the football, volleyball, soccer teams and cheerleaders available for pictures and autographs at 2 p.m.. The first Trojan talk will be Wednesday at Yanni’s in Troy at 7 p.m. After this week, the show will return to its Tuesday spot.