Virginia senior linebacker Chris Peace already felt a little old. He first arrived with defensive teammates like Eli Harold, Henry Coley, Daquan Romero, and others leading the way. That introduction to UVA football came back in 2014.
After news Monday that junior linebacker Jordan Mack could miss up to six weeks with an injury, Peace may have aged a little more. A glance at the other linebackers around him getting the majority of snaps shows sophomores Charles Snowden, Zane Zandier, Elliott Brown, and Matt Gahm. With Mack joining senior Malcolm Cook (his timetable to return remains uncertain) on the injury shelf, another sophomore Robert Snyder is the next man up in the base defense. Another senior, C.J. Stalker holds the back-up spots at inside linebacker on the depth chart, but he’s yet to play in 2018.
In other words, Peace is the elder statesman of the group by far. He tries to provide a voice of experience in the linebacker meeting room each week.
“I try to tell them not to get into bad habits,” Peace said. “Certain things, I might have did my freshman year that I see them doing, I try to change it. I just try to give them a head’s up, like Charles for example, every little tip I can give him that helps him. Even with the inside backers, if I see something, I just say it. It’s funny you should mention it, I do feel very old.”
Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall certainly appreciates the leadership voice that Peace brings to the locker room. After Snowden put up an ACC Linebacker of the Week worthy performance against Louisville with eight tackles, two pass breakups, a sack, an interception, and a fumble recovery, Mendenhall specifically mentioned the mentorship role that Peace provides for the rising star.
It was the latest in a string of comments from Mendenhall that routinely praise Peace’s work ethic and practice habits at Virginia. He often brings up Peace as a great example for the team in everything from a pursuit drill that tests mindset and determination to execution of assignments. The captain currently has 19 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 3 quarterback hurries, and a forced fumble on the season.
“He has a great mentor in that room, Chris Peace,” Mendenhall said. “There was an NFL player personnel person that came in [last] week, and I shared this with my team, and he said he had never seen in his entire career someone that practiced as hard as Chris Peace. That’s a powerful statement. Knowing that this was his fourth day out just in one week seeing multiple schools and yet when you put that together over time, he’d never seen anyone practice as hard in his career. So my point is that Charles is under the influence of Chris, which I love that.”
Peace’s leadership role will continue to play a large role this season, particularly with Mack now out of the lineup for a few weeks at least. The first test without the junior in the lineup comes on Saturday at NC State where Virginia will try to improve to 2-0 in the ACC ahead of its bye week.
