It took more than two years, but Darian Yancey has finally found a suitable home on the Southern Miss defense.
The soft-spoken Golden Eagle enrolled in January 2014, after graduating a semester early from Auburn (Ala.) High where he was a star linebacker. But he was redshirted largely because he struggled with the transition to the same position at the FBS level.
So Yancey beefed up and became a Conference USA All-Freshman selection as a defensive lineman in 2015. But upon Jay Hopson’s hiring as head coach in January, he and his staff found a way to give the 6-foot-1 athlete the best of both worlds.