When Fellonte Misher tore his hip flexor in his senior season of high school, all but one of his scholarship offers were revoked. The Old Dominion coaching staff saw something more in the two-time All-League wide receiver and defensive back from Coolidge High School in Washington D.C.
“I had two other scholarship offers taken away in the same day after I got injured,” Misher reflected. “So I called up my recruiting coach at ODU the next day and told him I was going to be a Monarch.”
Four years later, their intuition has paid dividends for the fastest-growing program in FBS football.
Misher started all 12 games in his sophomore and junior seasons at safety for the Monarchs’ defense, leading the squad in tackles in 2013 and recording two interceptions and a fumble recovery while finishing with the third-highest tackle total in 2014.
Now in his final campaign suiting up in the ODU uniform, the one-time FCS recruit who was unsure if college football would even be a possibility after suffering a grim injury in high school has already solidified a second-place spot on ODU’s all-time tackles list and is making quite a case for All-Conference honors.
In his 9 starts at safety in 2015, he has racked up 61 tackles and forced two fumbles. Perhaps his most memorable performance came on the final drive of the season-opener at Eastern Michigan, which helped to stifle a late rally by the Eagles in a pivotal non-conference matchup against a talented offense.
“Fellonte Misher had eight tackles, and he played as well at safety as he ever has here at ODU on the last drive,” head coach Bobby Wilder said in his weekly press conference after the Eastern Michigan game. “On the last drive, as they were trying to win the football game, he had three pass breakups, two open field tackles and two big hits as the receivers had hands on the ball to prevent a completion. He did all this after playing 85 snaps, which was probably too much, but he didn’t want to come off the field. That was really impressive.”
Wilder’s comments lend credence to Misher’s toughness and commitment to his team. Before his eligibility expires, a trip to a bowl game is what he covets more than anything else for the ODU football program.
“My ultimate goal is still just to get to a bowl game. Wherever we are defensively in the rankings, I want to go higher. Individually, I think the best way I can help us do that is to get more turnovers.”
To accomplish a feat like that, he always resorts back to the film room with his coaches. Misher considers film study to be the most beneficial aspect of practice, insisting that studying tapes has allowed him to jump levels from high school.
“Film preparation has been huge,” he said. “From high school to college, the biggest difference is the speed of the game. I used to just rely on my athleticism, but now I know what to expect and what to be prepared for since I’ve seen it all on film. Knowing what to expect on each set has allowed me to play much faster.”
This process of preparation is something Misher hopes to pass on to younger generations one day, too. A senior parks, recreation and tourism studies major, his passion outside of football lies within the parameters of his hometown. More specifically, he aspires to develop the youth in his neighborhood community recreational center.
“Our recreational center back home has declined since I was a part of it, so I really want to help build that back up. I like working with kids, so I would like to coach football for the little guys.”
As Misher prepares to tackle the final three games of his collegiate career, he has never forgotten where he came from. His roots and his future ambitions have become one, and he anxiously awaits the opportunity to impact his community just as he’s impacted so many on the gridiron.
BY: Tristan Warner