[media-credit name=’Ben Smidt’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]When looking at the names of the starting linebackers for this year’s 3-0 Badgers, well-known veterans like Alex Lewis and Jeff Mack are missing, and have been replaced by younger, less-known players like redshirt sophomore Reggie Cribbs. Having to adapt to a new head defensive coordinator while adjusting to the spotlight at such a young age, it would seem that Cribbs must eat, sleep and drink football, with no time to relax. Surprisingly, when Cribbs finds time to unwind, he turns to gospel music.

“I absolutely love gospel music. It just takes me out somewhere and that’s pretty much all I listen to, it really does just take me away from all the stress and stuff of life,” Reggie said. “I’m the director of the gospel choir here also. I’ve been singing ever since I was real little. A couple of the guys here actually were on the choir last year.”

Coming from the successful Kansas State program, new defensive coordinator Bret Bielema is used to having veteran stars such as Josh Buhl, a Butkus Award semi-finalist last year, to anchor his defense, but has found a way to turn an inexperienced group of linebackers into a team strength.

“It (inexperience of the linebackers) was a concern when we first got in here, but one thing that we really tried to do is get kids, we kinda moved some guys around and moved them from positions other than linebacker as well as different positions inside the linebacker group,” Bielema said. “We put the best athletes in the best position to make plays, and I think that’s what we’ve been trying to capitalize on this year.”

While the defense has several veteran stars like Anttaj Hawthorne and Jim Leonard, the linebackers are the guys who run the show. They are the ones who are the glue that hold the defense together and meld the linemen and defensive backs to make a single, solid unit.

“They’re my field generals. I’m sitting over in the command center and I get all the info and talk on the headphones, but I’m not out there in the battle,” Bielema said. “They’re the guys that have to be able to make the adjustments out there on the field. They’ve been adjusting pretty good and been able to do it pretty well so far.”

With so much responsibility at such a ripe age and experience level, more veteran players have helped Cribbs adjust to his new role.

“Basically the veterans tell me that bad plays are gonna happen, it’s best just to forget about it and go on to the next play,” Cribbs said. “There’s a lot of time you think you gotta be perfect each and every play and bad things happen. The veterans just say that bad things happen, you gotta get up and go to the next play.”

When figuring out the key ingredients that make a good defensive player into a great middle linebacker, some may think it’s merely size and speed. In the power running conference that is the Big Ten, size and speed are always a plus, but it takes more than that.

“Inside linebacker has to have three key ingredients: has to have vision, a little passion to get to the football, and he’s gotta have good awareness,” Bielema said. “By that he’s gotta have a little bit of a feeling and some football savvy out there.”

While Cribbs fits the mold fairly well, there are still a few areas that he needs to work on.

“He (Reggie) does have a good sense of football. I want him to work on separation from block,” Bielema said. “He’s very conscientious and we have an ideal weight for him, but there’s not much we can do about it now in the season. He made big gains in the off-season and I expect more from him in the future as well.”

When not leading the troops into battle, Cribbs is working on graduating with his B.A. in sociology. A native of Chicago’s southwest side, Reggie is no stranger to meeting lots of people from all sorts of different backgrounds.

“I love dealing with people. I love knowing how people react and how people react in certain situations and I work well with people, or so I’ve been told,” Cribbs said. “Also I wanna go to law school, so dealing with people is pretty good for that.”

Besides the academics, prestige and coaching staff here at UW, a major reason for this Prep Football Report All-Midwest Team player to choose Wisconsin was the fans.

“The atmosphere was what brought me here,” Cribbs said. “I came up here for a game in 2001 and they were playing Michigan; the atmosphere was crazy and I love the people. I just had a good feeling that this was the place for me.”

With so much tradition and a program that is on a constant rise, one would wonder what drives a premiere star player? What is it that makes him go through all the hard work that nobody outside of the team sees to earn a victory on Saturday and a bowl berth in January?

“I wanna win a Big Ten championship. It hasn’t been won here in a couple of years and we won a championship in high school, and I had a ring to go on my finger and somebody stole it, so now my finger is naked,” Cribbs said. “So I would love to have a Big Ten championship ring on my finger before I leave and that’s definitely my goal.”