Demetrius Dillard: A Destined Defender

Demetrius Dillard, or Twan as he's called, has played football since he was 8 years old. He was a defensive end in youth football at TBYFL, he was a rusher on his middle school flag football team at Greco, and he moved from defensive end to linebacker to strong safety on the Lions football team.

“I don’t like blocking; I like hitting,” he said. “I’ve played defense all my life.”

Demetrius is the antithesis of the glamorous, look-at-me, photo-op, pass-catching, huck-and-buck player fans of pro sports have come accustomed to. The Terrell Owens’, the Chad Johnson/Ochocinco’s—Demetrius would probably like to pop the helmet off of one of those guys.

He’s what you’d call a headhunter. He lines up on kick-offs and endeavors to take someone out on special teams as well as on defense, so you can’t exactly call him a “defense-only guy.” He’s maybe more of a “come and get you” as opposed to a “get away from you” guy.

The move from linebacker to safety should make him even more able to make plays and deliver hits.

“I’m able to see the whole field, read the quarterback’s eyes and react faster,” said Demetrius.

In Bass Dillard’s defense, Demetrius will rove between linebacker and strong safety and factor greatly into the team’s success at stopping the run. Imagine the pressure. You’re one of the make-or-break positions on the defense, you’re in your senior year, you’re under-sized and your dad is the defensive coordinator.

Pressure seems to roll off the back of Demetrius. His standards are set higher than any standard being imposed on him. For instance, you know that his dad would be all over him if he came into summer conditioning out of shape. Demetrius ran track for King this spring, trying out the 400-meter and 800-meter. He developed some stamina with those longer races that should help him tremendously as he moves to safety.

“I don’t get tired anymore,” said Demetrius of the summer workout program. “These workouts don’t faze me anymore.”

Another example is that Demetrius has an agreement with his parents to keep his GPA over a 3.0 or he will not play. However, Demetrius is shooting for a 4.0. His sister, Precious graduated from Blake High School with a 4.0, and he sees that as where he’d like to finish.

“I know coach, he needs student-athletes, and I’m prepared to be that,” said Demetrius. 

He's all about shouldering the load, even though he's one of the smaller guys on the team. However, his leadership and play-making ability make him an essential ingredient to the King Lions’ defense and the .