Lorenzo Mauldin hopes he has a big day against Georgia in the Belk Bowl on Tuesday. And he won’t mind if South Carolina coaches tune in to watch.
The Bulldogs never offered Louisville’s star outside linebacker a scholarship when he was coming out of Atlanta’s Maynard Jackson High School. And the Gamecocks yanked one out from under him. Mauldin was once committed to South Carolina. But he was “shoved away” when the Gamecocks over-signed in its 2011 recruiting class.
But fate would have a different plan for Mauldin. Charlie Strong and Louisville intervened, offered Mauldin a scholarship without conditions and reaped immediate dividends when Mauldin met entrance requirements before his freshman season.
Four years and one coaching change later, the Cardinals are still benefiting from that move. Mauldin will start his 31st consecutive game when he lines up against the Bulldogs Tuesday night at Bank of America Stadium.
“You could say I’ve come full circle,” said Mauldin, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound senior who leads his team in tackles for loss (13) and is second in sacks (6.5). “It’s been a challenge but I’m happy about how it worked out.”
Mauldin’s story is a great one, but it goes beyond the theme of underprivileged youth uses football to overcome circumstances and become a success. When one says that Mauldin comes from a tough background, tough is probably not strong enough a word.
Mauldin lived in 16 foster homes and was residing in a children’s group home in Atlanta when he graduated from high school. He thought he was heading to South Carolina on a football scholarship until the Gamecocks withdrew it by faxing him a letter the day before national signing day in 2011.
And there were challenges even after Louisville came to the rescue. Though he signed with the Cardinals as a defensive end, he ended up playing tight end his freshman season.
“One of our tight ends ended up getting hurt and they couldn’t think of anybody with a better frame than me to be able to play the position,” Mauldin said. “I told them I’d play tight end just to get me on the field and I kind of flourished at it, actually. It felt good for a minute, but then I got irritated with it because I wasn’t an offensive player. So they eventually moved me back to defense.”
After finally getting back on the defensive side of the ball, Mauldin flourished in that role as well. But he was uprooted again when Strong left for Texas. Bobby Petrino came in and brought a new defensive coordinator with him.
Todd Grantham came from Georgia and brought his 3-4 scheme with him. So heading into a senior season that was expected to be critical to his NFL prospects, Mauldin was moved to outside linebacker, a position he’d never played. There was more than a little trepidation.
“He’s really a great story,” Grantham said of Mauldin. “I’m really proud of his work ethic and what he’s been able to accomplish as far as transitioning from a defensive end to an outside linebacker. It was similar to what Justin Houston had to do my first year at Georgia. I’m really happy for his success and he’s got a bright future at the next level.”
Mauldin fit perfectly into Grantham’s linebacker-based, blitz package. Six of the Cardinals’ starting front seven have three or more quarterback sacks, including defensive end Sheldon Rankins, who leads the team with seven, and middle linebacker Keith Kelsey, who has six. Louisville finished was third in the ACC in sacks with 39.
“I don’t know (Mauldin) but I’ve seen him on film,” Georgia offensive tackle John Theus said. “He’s athletic, quick off the ball. All those guys are. We know Grantham will have those guys coached up and ready to go. So we’re going to have to be on our A game in order to block and protect.”
Regardless of what happens as Mauldin plays his final collegiate game against the Bulldogs, it will end on a positive note. He graduated from Louisville with a degree in communications on Dec. 18 and he’s expected to be selected in the NFL draft next spring.
“I grew up in an area that was filled with poverty and all different types of wrongs that I could have associated myself with,” Mauldin said. “I chose the right path, which was chasing down football, and I’ve been able to stick with that for the long run.
“You go through Pop Warner football, middle school, high school and then college. You don’t expect to flourish as much as I did. But I’ve always been told that you get out what you put in, and that’s what I went with. The harder I worked the farther I got. Now that I’ve actually done so, I can say that I’m closer to my dream, which is to play in the NFL.”
