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said. "There's no 'You have to be here, or you have to be there.' It's 'See ball, go get ball.' "(But errors) could be the downfall. If you don't have good instincts, it could hurt you." The best of the linebacker bunch appears to be Robinson, who has now had the luxury of being a linebacker for more than a year following his spring 2012 conversion from quarterback. He started the second half of last season and had modest statistics with 27 tackles and three pass breakups. But given a full offseason to get his body adjusted to playing defense, most think he can make a big leap in performance. "I'm glad he's with us," Hudson said. "We need more guys like him that have the intangibles to work and be smart and find a way to get things done. But you know his he has to learn his limitations and eliminate mistakes that he can prevent mentally so he doesn't have to do something physically that he can't do. He's close to that. You can see it coming. I'm pleased with him." Although Freeman was hesitant to name starters this summer, Robinson is a safe projection at No. 1 on the strongside. It's a good assumption, too, that Gilliam gets the training camp Day 1 nod in the middle and Lucas on the weakside. Gilliam has a big role. Hudson feels his defense is as strong as its middle, from the tackles to the middle linebacker to the safeties. Last year, Gilliam was far better in the second half than the first, and he's seemed to escalate that progress during the offseason. "There were some snaps (in the spring game) near the line of scrimmage where Joe made some big plays," Robinson said, "and those are the type plays that bigtime linebackers make. There was a big-time goal line stop that he made. He made the right read, didn't hesitate and made the tackle. It was a big, heavy hit." Secondary Coach Jon Heacock Jon Heacock doesn't want his practices to be easy, figuring that if his secondary can succeed on a Tuesday or Wednesday, they'll be best prepared to do so on Saturday. Although it's been only spring practices thus far, his veteran secondary at Purdue, where three of four starters return from 2012, has taken well to the disciplined approach. "Coach Heacock is a very technical guy," junior safety Taylor Richards said. "We're always working on fundamentals. … We're always working on footwork or hip movement or all that little stuff that counts at the end of the day. I think that's what he thrives on. "He was a former D-coordinator and that definitely shows in the way he coaches us. He's a no-nonsense kind of coach." Heacock has a lengthy résumé that includes assistant, coordinator and head coaching responsibilities. He was part of Darrell Hazell's Kent State staff the previous two seasons, serving as a defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach. In 2012, the Golden Flashes finished in the upper-half of the Mid-American Conference in almost every statistical category, including 42 • Gold and Black IllustrateD • volume 23, issue 6 second in rushing and fourth in scoring defense. Prior to his KSU tenure, he spent nine seasons as the head coach at Youngstown State, where he had taken over for Jim Tressel, taking the Penguins to the 2006 national semifinals of the FCS playoffs. He was named Gateway Conference Coach-of-the-Year in 2005 and 2006, while holding a 6044 record during his nine seasons. Heacock, who was D-coordinator at Indiana from 1997-99, also coordinated for six seasons at Youngstown State, helping the Ohio school to D I-AA national titles in '91, '93 and '94. "He's a very intelligent guy and he's been a coach for 30-some years," junior safety Landon Feichter said. "He explains the defense pretty well in the meeting room and allows us to play on the practice field and then corrects us more so when we get up in the film room rather than correcting us down on the field." Heacock, 52, played football with Hazell at Muskingum College, where he graduated in 1993. — Kyle Charters GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com