Nov. 27, 2007
By Mike Nelson, Athletics Media Relations Staff
COLLEGE PARK, MD. -
Linebacker Dave Philistin prepares himself for gameday the best he can every week. He watches game tape, goes to practice and studies the game plan religiously. After that, he goes to the farm. There the junior picks out his own ingredients for his second passion, cooking.
"I'm the team cook. I always invite the guys over to taste my cooking just to see what they think," said Philistin, who also claims that the Food Network is his favorite channel.
Philistin says that cooking teaches him how to prepare and be patient both on and off the field, as he spends about three hours preparation on every meal.
Like his best culinary feast, Philistin's career has taken time and patience to prepare. This season, his hard work and dedication to the program is finally paying off for him. After starting only two games in his first two years at Maryland, the junior linebacker has started every game in 2007.
"I'm not going to lie, it was very frustrating," he said. "I knew how good I was, and the coaches would always encourage me and tell me how well I did certain things, so I'd question why I wasn't starting."
"It's been interesting to watch him grow," said Erin Henderson, who stars at weakside linebacker right next to Philistin. "I told Coach Cosh that he reminds me of myself last year - starting off kind of slow and trying to get a feel for what's going on. Now he's really starting to step his game up as the season progresses. I think you can see him getting better in every game," Henderson said.
In fact, Philistin's road to the University of Maryland was loaded with obstacles, both on and off the field. His father passed away when he was just five years old, leaving his mother to care for he and his brother Jacques.
"I didn't have a father growing up, so I see [Jacques] as my father-figure. He showed me all the ropes," he said.
Jacques Philistin had a big influence on his little brother, both in his desire to play football and his destination for college. Dave got to watch his brother play as an All-American nose tackle at Norfolk State. "It wasn't a big school, team-wise," the younger Philistin said, "but I got to watch him make big plays, and that's what had an effect on me."
Along with Maryland, the junior linebacker was recruited by Boston College, Ohio State, West Virginia and Michigan. He was a 1,000-yard rusher in his senior year at Manchester Central High School in New Hampshire, and was approached by other schools to continue his running career. "I could return kicks right now if they wanted me to," Philistin joked.
He saw Maryland as the best fit both for himself and his family, especially with his brother living in Virginia. With the Maryland football program on the rise, Philistin wanted to be a part of its future.
"I saw that they were in some of the biggest bowl games and how well [Friedgen] was doing, so I wanted to be a part of that and get myself out there."
Philistin had grown accustomed to having to promote himself, not getting much exposure in New Hampshire. He went to football camps at major universities like Maryland, Florida State and Miami to get his name out there.
Once he got to Maryland, Philistin did everything he could to improve his game. "I got some help from [David] Holloway and some advice from D'Qwell [Jackson]," he said. "I was always hungry for knowledge, and I wondered how they were so good."
The advice of those former Terrapin stars resounded with Philistin, and he is taking full advantage of the opportunity being given to him this season. This season he set a new career-high in tackles with 121, vastly eclipsing his previous career total of 33. That mark puts him right behind Henderson (122) for the team lead in stops.
He ranked third in the ACC in tackles at 10.1 per game, and closed out the season with eight consecutive games with double-digit stops.
Henderson, who leads the conference in stops, loves playing alongside the ACC's third-leading tackler.
"It's a pretty good feeling," Henderson said. "We do a good job of going out there and competing against each other, and I think that makes a big difference too."
With Henderson out against Georgia Tech earlier this season, Philistin had to step up and lead the defense. In a key conference game, Philistin more than made up for Henderson's absence with his own play. Philistin recorded 21 tackles in the Terps' 28-26 victory. It was the most tackles recorded by a Maryland player since Eric Barton, currently of the New York Jets, had 22 against North Carolina back in 1998.
"I knew that I had to step up that week because Erin was gone," he said. "I led by example, by making tackles, but when they told me how many I had I said, `Really? You sure that was me?'"
Philistin's biggest stop of the day, and perhaps the biggest stop by a Terp this season, came on a two-point conversion attempt by Georgia Tech running back Tashard Choice. The Yellow Jackets had closed the gap to two points in the fourth quarter, but the Philistin's tackle kept the game from going into overtime. It also earned him the honor of being named ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week.
Having already accomplished more than what was expected of him this season, Philistin also reached one of his personal goals this season.
"One of [my goals] was to get the team to have confidence in me, which I think they do now. But once you reach that, you've got to change [your goals] or else there's nothing to strive towards," said Philistin.
The linebacker's updates set of goals certainly includes making the NFL, but Philistin has another career path on his mind as well. "I'm the cook of the team," he said. After Maryland, regardless of what I do, I want to get my culinary degree, maybe open up a place."
