A.J. Smiley will return at linebacker after missing this past season with an injury.
Whatever reason coaches had for preserving a year of eligibility for those players, Troy head coach Neal Brown believes the moves benefited both the players and the program.
One case in point is sophomore A.J. Smiley, who missed the 2016 season after suffering a foot injury in last year’s T-Day scrimmage. The Spain Park product may find himself in a new position after recording 27 tackles (one for loss), two quarterback hurries and two pass breakups as a spear (nickelback) in 2015.
“He’s put on about 15 pounds of good weight,” Brown said Thursday.