Asking a player to make a significant position change as a senior is often met with resistance and frustration.
But Macklin Sanders not only embraced the challenge, he parlayed it into a college scholarship to play for East Carolina.
Sanders, a 6-foot-2, 215-pounder linebacker from Ola High School in McDonough, GA, made a verbal commitment to the Pirates on June 22. “Mac,” as he’s known to teammates, chose ECU over scholarship offers from Dartmouth, Georgia State, Navy, Troy, UAB and Wofford.
Most of those offers were extended last spring after Sanders moved from the safety spot he’d occupied for two seasons at Ola to linebacker. First-year Ola head coach Dustin Adkins requested the position change shortly after arriving from Florida last February.
Sanders had been a solid contributor on Ola’s defense as a safety, making 13 tackles and an interception in four games as a sophomore and 37 hits, three tackles for loss and another pick in eight games as a junior.
“One of my first conversations with him when I took the job was, ‘Hey, nothing against what you’re doing at safety, but you’re probably going to project as a linebacker at the next level,”’ Adkins said. “Being a senior and never having played the position, sometimes kids might be hesitant. But he took it on the chin. ‘Yes sir. Whatever it takes to make the team successful.’ He’s a team guy through and through. He’s just playing to win ball games. When you play with that attitude, the right stuff tends to happen.”
A lot of “the right stuff” has happened for Sanders so far in the 2024 season. He provided a spark on offense and defense as the Mustangs won six of their first seven games. On offense, Sanders had rushed for 161 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries and notched another 74 yards and a score receiving.
Defensively, Sanders produced double-digit tackles in six of those seven games with a high of 17 against Stockbridge on October 4. He entered an Oct. 17 game at Union Grove with 95 tackles overall, 11 tackles for loss, a sack and three interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown. Sanders is closing in on the school single season record for tackles of 143 set in 2019 by his older brother Baylen.
“Macklin, on defense, he’s probably our physical leader,” Adkins said. “He’s always the one who produces the biggest hits every game. He’s always in the right spot. He goes sideline to sideline. His senior leadership, his energy and his physicality sets the tone for us.
“He also plays offense for us when we need him to. He’s just unselfish. He’ll be the lead blocker all game if we ask him to. He’ll run the ball, he’ll catch, he’ll throw it — he does a little bit of everything. He’s like a Swiss Army Knife. His tenacity and attention to detail, along with his physical traits, sets the tone. And people kind of emulate him.”
Adkins cited two games this season in which Sanders’ skills were highlighted. The first came against Jones County when Sanders was often matched up against Boston College commit Zacari Thomas, a 6-2, 215-pound running back. The second was against Woodland when Sanders intercepted two passes, returning one 30 yards for a touchdown.
“That alone speaks to his coverage skills,” Adkins said of the Woodland performance. “When we played Jones County they had a big running back-linebacker who is committed to Boston College. They gave him the ball quite a bit. But every time it was one-on-one with him and Mac in the hole or on the edge, Macklin would win. They would make contact, and Macklin was never falling backwards. He was pushing him (Thomas) backwards. I think those two games speak to the versatility, physicality and range Macklin has.”
Because of the position change, Macklin’s recruitment didn’t start to pick up until Ola’s spring practice. Many schools wanted to see him in action at linebacker before pulling the trigger on an offer, according to Adkins.
East Carolina became Sanders’ first FBS offer on March 23 during a visit to campus for the Junior Day event. He would later attend spring practice in Greenville and the annual spring game before setting an official visit for June 20. He made his verbal commitment to the Pirates two days later.
“I know a little about East Carolina,” Adkins said. “I told him before he went up there (for official visit) that not only are they successful, but they send a lot of guys to the next level. We talked during the recruiting process about ‘you go somewhere that’s a great program where you have an opportunity to contribute and you see yourself with a future.’
“At the end of the day you also want to go somewhere you are wanted. A lot of this recruiting stuff, people want to wait and see what else opens up. But ECU is someone that wanted him from day one and made him a priority. One he saw the nice facilities and the campus, and got comfortable with it, that was kind of icing on the cake.”
Adkins emphasized that ECU is not only getting a stellar athlete, but a great person as well.
“Just like he’s a leader on the field, he’s a leader off the field as well,” Adkins said. “He’s the definition of a student-athlete. He had a scholarship offer to Dartmouth, so just to get an Ivy League scholarship offer speaks to his academic prowess. When it’s not football season, he’ll go over to the elementary school or middle school to speak to the students. He’s always giving back to his community.
“I have a young son. He’s (Sanders) someone that when he (son) grows up I’d like him to embody just because he’s not all about football or athletics. He’s a great person inside and out. I know he’s always going to do the right thing.”
Sanders is also a star shortstop on the baseball diamond for Ola but will give up that sport once he arrives at East Carolina. He’ll get to play one more season in football and baseball for the Mustangs before enrolling at ECU in the summer of 2025.
“I think East Carolina is looking at him as an outside backer,” Adkins said. “He’s about 215 right now, but his frame can easily hold 230 or 240 (pounds). He could play middle backer, but the fact he’s 6-2 and runs so well, I definitely see him more so at outside linebacker.”
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