Good evening and happy Nikola Milovac Day to all who celebrate. Let’s pay homage to our soccer-playing right tackle by piecing together a starting lineup that answers an important question: What’s the best possible lineup if Kennesaw State’s football team tried the other football instead?
What an original idea. ha ha a soccer team to play in your little soccer stadium, says a Jacksonville State fan about to waste a town’s drinking water making an extremely cool AI edit of a rooster strangling an Owl. Only rule: No kickers or punters allowed. Apologies to actual soccer play Daniel Kinney but that feels unfair.
Manager: Mitch Militello. A verified Soccer Guy who shouted out Carlo Ancelotti - currently leading Brazil at the World Cup - as a major influence last summer. Our tempo and deep shots aren’t going anywhere.
GK Spencer Wise - Let’s not overthink it: Find the tallest skill position player and stick him in the net. Wise is a 6’5” high school receiver/DB who’s a good candidate to convert to tight end once he’s on campus.
Left back Tyler Hallum - Our fullbacks need to be comfortable playing on an island and defending speedy wingers 1v1 without much help. No better options than the corner position. Hallum only gave up four total catches in man coverage during his last season of action.
Center back: Nikola Milovac and Esoesa Aigbokhae - We’re gonna let the big dogs eat at CB using two offensive tackles with soccer backgrounds and 630 combined pounds between them. Will we be vulnerable in space? Maybe so. Are we going to turn every set piece into Meat Wall trench warfare? Absolutely.
Right back Tay’vion Lawson - Same logic as Hallum on the other side, with a couple extra inches of height to help him in the air. The “what if our best athletes played soccer” conversation is intellectually bankrupt 99.9% of the time. We could at least talk about twitchy DBs with NFL frames. Still a silly discussion but I’d entertain it.
CM: Alex Ford and Kody Jones - There’s not much difference between a defensive midfielder and free safety: Keep the action in front of you, and make the open-field tackle when needed. Jones already plays like the equivalent of a box-to-box midfielder, popping up all over the field from nickel. He might go in studs up and destroy somebody within the first few minutes just to set the tone - like that time he got a roughing the passer for lighting up a WR on a double pass.
LW: Davis Bryson - The QB-turned-wideout is going to do some creating for us drifting in from the flank, working the half spaces like a slot receiver.
CAM: Rickie Collins - Mult-transfer QBs are quintessential soccer stories. Maybe he’s changed clubs a few times lately and hasn’t found the right home. Maybe the original hype hasn’t come to fruition just yet. All it takes is one moment of creative genius and we forget about what happened at Syracuse. He’s Gio Reyna, folks. All the way down to the weird relationship with his last coach.
RW: Devaughn Slaughter - Bryson’s cutting in from the left, and we’re putting an out-and-out winger on the other side. Slaughter, the Tennessee State transfer, has 10.7 speed to work the touchline and pump crosses in to our target man.
Striker: Dylan Gary - I’m a simple man and need to put the 6’3”, 215 pound receiver up front. Gary was quiet at Georgia Southern last fall but lethal downfield during his time at West Georgia.
