Pollock A Budding Star In State's Secondary
September 13, 2024 | Football
STARKVILLE – Brice Pollock didn't have any grand intents on starting as a true freshman last season for Mississippi State.
Besides, the Bulldogs had a veteran group of cornerbacks returning, including eventual NFL Draft pick Decamerion Richardson. So when Pollock arrived in the summer of 2023, he simply put his head down and went to work trying to do everything he could to put himself in the best position possible to play right away.
"I knew I could be at least on the four deep," Pollock said. "I just kept working from there. I made my mark on special teams at first, and from there, I got my shot at cornerback."
All told, Pollock appeared in 11 games last fall and ended up starting three of the final five games of the season against Auburn, Texas A&M and Southern Miss. He led all freshmen with 24 tackles including a half-tackle for loss and one pass breakup.
The hard work and effort that helped get him onto the field in Year 1 continued into the offseason. Pollock has started the first two games in 2024 and ranks fourth on the team with 10 tackles and has added a pass deflection as well.
Pollock believes the experience he earned as a true freshman has helped him settle in back in the Bulldogs secondary as a sophomore and make some improvements along the way.
"I definitely feel like my tackling has gotten better," Pollock said. "I feel more physical, I've gotten stronger. My speed's gotten way faster thanks to our new speed coach, Jarwarski Beckum. My press technique has gotten way better because that's what we do as a defense—we press. My eyes have gotten better and my feet have gotten better."
However, the process for Pollock to get to this point has taken much longer than the season-plus he's been in Starkville. In many ways, he's been training to be in this moment his whole life.
Pollock's father, Brandon, was a standout college cornerback himself and picked off five career passes playing for Duke from 1993-96. So growing up, there was no position Brice wanted to play more than corner in hopes of one day following in his father's footsteps to the college ranks.
"He's had a huge impact," Brice said. "He played cornerback at Duke, so I wanted to play cornerback. I actually had a Duke offer and was thinking about going. But I wanted to play in the SEC. He coached me since I was in Little League. And ever since then, I've wanted to be a cornerback just like him."
Brandon never forced his son to play in the secondary or even football at all. Brice grew up playing baseball and soccer and ran track. He even won a Class 6A state championship at Shiloh High School in Georgia running the first leg of the 4x100m relays and also competed in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.
But it became very apparent by the time he hit ninth grade that Brice was a natural and a chip off the old block playing cornerback.
"I didn't force him to play that position, but he was comfortable there," Brandon said. "So, I just gave him some little nuggets and tricks of the trade that I had over the years of playing and coaching. I gave him those little tips here and there but he's already light years ahead of where I was even in college. I'm a really proud dad." Â
One piece of advice that Brandon passed along to his son was the same wisdom his own coach shared with him some three decades ago when he was going through the recruiting process.
"I remember my head coach telling me to make sure I took more than one visit," Brandon said.
That sage advice ended up helping the Bulldogs land Brice in the long run. The four-star prospect picked up more than 30 scholarship offers and committed to Pittsburgh during his first official visit.
But Brice continued to take official visits to Ole Miss, North Carolina, Michigan State, Mississippi State and N.C. State. And when it came down to which school he'd been signing with, the choice was clear.
"The corners Mississippi State has sent to the NFL, that was hard to deny," Brice said. "The depth chart looked great. I wanted to play for the coaching staff at the time and I love the coaching staff now. Mississippi State has a tradition of great defense, so it was really a no-brainer."
The decision paid dividends right away as he found his way onto the field as a freshman and eventually entered the starting lineup by the end of the year. Now in his second season, the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder is the one handing down encouragement to the new crop of players that have joined the team.
"Some of the freshmen don't realize how important kickoff and special teams are," Brice said. "I tell them that if you're starting on kickoff, that's a big deal. Last year, I tried to make every tackle I could on kickoff. I definitely try to explain that to them."
Some of that advice seems to be sinking is as MSU currently ranks fourth in the conference in kickoff coverage while Brice has also helped the Bulldogs' secondary rank as the No. 4 pass defense in the SEC allowing only 119 yards per game.
State will try to boost those rankings even higher on Saturday as it hosts Toledo at 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
