Former Marlboro County star Ayers has overcome obstacles at UT

Robert Ayers has made the most of his second chance.

The Tennessee senior has overcome injuries and off-the-field problems to emerge into one of the top players for the Volunteers, who will face South Carolina today in front of many of Ayers’ family and friends.

“It’s been a long process but I have really enjoyed my time here,” Ayers said this week. “I feel like I have matured a lot.”

Ayers’ time at Tennessee has been filled with ups and downs, It started with a position switch his freshman year. The coaches wanted Ayers, who played linebacker at Marlboro County, to play defensive end.

That move didn’t go over well with Ayers.

“It was a big adjustment and I wasn’t too fond of it,” said Ayers, who has put on 43 pounds since his freshman year and weighs 270. “I felt I was fast and that wouldn’t translate at defensive end.

“I just didn’t want to listen.”

Ayers, who moved to South Carolina from New Jersey to live with his aunt when he was 15 before his mother came down, never saw the field his freshman year after having shoulder surgery. He said he played his last two years at Marlboro Country with a torn labrum and had to have it corrected.

Ayers’ surgery was just the start of his problems during his freshman year. In the spring, he was charged with aggravated assault stemming from a fight at a campus party, which left a student unconcious with a broken jaw.

The charge against Ayers was reduced to misdemeanor assault. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge and was placed on judicial diversion.

Ayers also was suspended from school that summer and had to sit out the first two games of the 2005 season.

Ayers said coach Phil Fulmer and his parents came down hard on him, telling him it was time to change his ways.

“It definitely was a wakeup call. I was not focused on what I should have been,” Ayers said. “I felt like I let my parents, family and coaches down. I needed to take pride and try to turn things around.”

Ayers credits his coaches, including Fulmer, with sticking with him both on and off the field. He is on pace to graduate in December and wants to pursue a career in coaching if a career in the NFL doesn’t work out.

“They have all helped me throughout my career,” Ayers said. “ I was young-minded, immature and they gave me a second opportunity and guided me in the right direction.”

Fulmer has been impressed with Ayers’ transformation.

“Robert is entirely different. He didn’t really understand how hard it was to play in this league, he didn’t really want to be coached very much, he already had all the answers when he was a freshman,” the Vols coach told reporters this week. “Now he’s one of those guys you really enjoy being around.”

On occassion, Fulmer still has to get on Ayers like the time he sat him down before the start of last season, telling him he needed to grow up.

“I have a had couple meetings with Robert about those kinds of things,” Fulmer said at SEC Media Days in July. “Robert’s taken a few hugs of necks and a few kicks in the butt at the same time.”

Ayers had a breakout season last year despite not starting. He led the Vols with 12 tackles for loss to go along with four sacks.

This year, Ayers, one of the team’s captains, has started at defensive end and also played some at defensive tackle to fill in for injured players Dan Williams and Walter Fisher. He leads the team with nine tackles for loss, five off of Leonard Little’s record of 14 set in 1995.

His best game came against Georgia when he had 3 1/2 tackles for loss and grabbed his first interception in the 26-14 defeat.

Despite Ayers’ success, the team has struggled. After playing in the SEC championship game last year, the Vols are 3-5 and in danger of not making a bowl game for the second time in four seasons.

There also are rumblings Fulmer might be fired at the end of the season.

Ayers said all the distractions haven’t had an effect on the team and said the his teammates are using it rally around Fulmer in its final four games.

“To me it doesn’t make sense. It is hard for a guy who has accomplished so much for it just to be overlooked,” Ayers said. “I know I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for him. I’m playing for him and we are just going to keep fighting.”