Utah football: Utes know you can teach old hands new tricks

At one point, Chad Manis was so clueless as to how to play the linebacker position, Utah's coaches made him play without a helmet, believing the thought of taking a few shots to the head would teach him how to use his hands faster than any other technique.

While it might not have been the nicest way to help the former quarterback transition to the defense, it worked, better than anyone had imagined, as he is earning playing time sooner than the coaches thought he could.

Manis, the junior from Lakewood, Calif., was moved to defense in the spring with the belief his 6-foot-5, 230-pound frame would get him on the field faster as a defender than his arm would as a quarterback.

"It was my goal to get him ready to possibly start next year, but he is progressing a lot faster than I ever thought he could," Utah defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake said. "He is tough as nails, which has made the transition a lot easier."

Manis is backing up Kepa Gaison at stud linebacker and credits the senior for teaching him the ins and outs of the position.

At 5-10 and 220, Gaison survives on technique and he has passed on his tricks to Manis.

"For his size, he plays like he is big," Manis said. "I love to tease him about his size, but he is one of the strongest players we have and he's all about technique. He has taken me in the right direction."

The biggest challenge in the switch for Manis was learning how to use his hands. He

knew what to do on the football field as a quarterback, having passed for 1,389 yards and 13 touchdowns as a sophomore at Cerritos College. But defensively, he was clueless.

"He struggled at first, especially with his hands," Gaison said. "But with his reach and how tall he is, they can be more of a weapon for him. Once he extends his arms, it's hard to stay on him as far as the block is concerned. We spent a lot of time in the summer working on it."

The change didn't come as a surprise to Manis. He and the coaches planned for the move during the 2008 season, but wanted to keep him on offense just in case he was needed at quarterback. Shortly after the Sugar Bowl, Manis started learning his new position. He'd played safety some in high school, but still faced quite a learning curve.

"Going from being a high school safety to playing Division I football is a totally different thing," said Manis, whose first tackle was one for a three-yard loss against CSU. "Coach Kalani told me, 'The more you know the plays, the faster you'll get to play.' Making the transition in the spring gave me a lot of time to learn."

Manis' emergence as a capable backup to Gaison has allowed Sitake to move sophomore J.J. Williams back to rover linebacker, where he played before he went on an LDS Church mission.

"Chad can be a guy who can play half a game for us and I feel good about it," Sitake said. "He is going to be a very good linebacker, and as long as he keeps progressing at the rate he is, he is going to surpass a lot of expectations."

Manis hasn't abandoned all of his offensive skills -- technically he still is considered one of the backups and has taken snaps as a quarterback -- but his thought process is now all defense, he said.

"I've got the mentality needed," he said. "Hopefully this is a start and we'll see more of it."

lwodraska@sltrib.com