Monroe Beard of Tennessee State football now linked to Ed 'Too-Tall' Jones, Richard Dent
Monroe Beard III has been a tackling machine since joining Tennessee State football for the 2023 season.
The middle linebacker from Chattanooga, who transferred from Arkansas Pine-Bluff, started the season stopping running backs from Notre Dame and hasn't stopped since. He made seven tackles against the Fighting Irish, 11 against his former school Arkansas Pine-Bluff and 12 against Gardner-Webb before setting the TSU single-game record with 19 against UT Martin last week.
And yes, Beard understands the significance of setting defensive records at TSU with its rich football history which includes legendary defensive players such as Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Richard Dent, Claude Humphrey and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, all who went on to have successful NFL careers.
The only thing that would have made Beard, who was named the conference's co-defensive player of the week, happier about setting the record would have been if the Tigers (2-2, 1-1 Big South/OVC) had won instead of falling to UT Martin 20-10.
"I'm from Chattanooga, I know all about TSU's history, and I transferred here to do things like that," Beard said. "Put on for my state and put on for this university. But we didn't come out with the outcome we wanted. I didn't find out until later that I had set that record. I was pretty happy about it but didn't celebrate too much because the biggest thing is to come out and win."
Beard, who also had a pass breakup against UT Martin, broke the record set by Kalvin Baker of 18 tackles, which was also set against UT Martin in 2007.
Beard leads the Big South/OVC in total tackles with 48 and in average tackles per game with 12.3. He is fifth in the FCS in tackles per game.
The 6-foot-1, 220 pound junior, who played at Notre Dame High School, was a starter in 2022 at Arkansas Pine-Bluff where he recorded 37 tackles, 4.5 for losses and two sacks. He also recovered a team-high three fumbles.
"Monroe has been wonderful; comes into work, plays with a lot of passion, everyday he brings that same energy," TSU coach Eddie George said. "With how he works on the practice field it's no surprise that he's having the year that he's having. He's been a tremendous blessing for us."
George saw early in season that Beard was a special player. The Tigers, who only trailed Notre Dame 7-3 at one point in the second quarter, had fallen behind 56-3 when Beard barely made it off the field to the sideline.
"The biggest thing for me was that we were clearly out of the game and it's the fourth quarter and (Beard) came off the field exhausted and he had to go back out there for punt," George said. "He was like, 'I'm tired, I'm exhausted.' But he went back out there anyway and made the tackle. That told me he's willing to sacrifice whatever it is, no matter how much we're down, how tired he is, the situation in the game, and he's still going to go out there and give it his all."
George said that kind of tenacity is contagious for other players and why Beard, in the short time he has been at TSU, is already looked up to as a team leader.
"You see the hunger that he has and he brings to the locker room," George said. "He brings a tone to our defense that is relentless and there is no quit in it."
Beard said TSU's defense is designed for him to make a lot of tackles from his position. But he still must carry out his assignment.
"I just really have to trust the game plan," Beard said. "Everytime I have to just do my assignment and when the ball goes away from me I have to make sure that I'm giving 100 percent running to it. It's pretty simple."
Draylen Ellis will start again at QB again
Draylen Ellis started at quarterback for the first time this season against UT Martin and will start again this week, George said.
Ellis replaced fellow senior Deveon Bryant, who had suffered an ankle injury against Gardner-Webb but was able to practice full speed last week.
Ellis completed 16-of-33 passes for 180 yards and rushed for 55 yards on six carries. He scored TSU's only touchdown on a 28-yard run which gave the Tigers a 10-0 lead in the second quarter.
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Ellis, who transferred from Austin Peay in 2022, now has 6,081 career passing yards.
"Draylen did a great job of commanding the offense; he's doing a good job of taking what the defense is giving him," George said. "He's not forcing plays. He had the big touchdown run and I think he's definitely growing in that capacity."
Ellis is ranked 13th in active FCS quarterbacks in career passing yards.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X, formerly the Twitter platform @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Monroe Beard's journey to Tennessee State football, school record
