Changing positions just part of the game for many

Chris Malleo has had more position coaches than professors at Northwestern, and he can't keep track of them all.

"I've had like a million," he said.

If NU opts to retire Malleo's number, the school will have an interesting decision. He has worn four jerseys -- No. 11, No. 2, No. 82 and No. 54 -- in five seasons.

He arrived in 2003 as a 200-pound quarterback, filled out to a 220-pound fullback, and now checks in as a 235-pound linebacker. NU's freshmen call him Old Man River, a suitable nickname for a player who has taken a winding route through college football, always going upstream.

"I can't believe you've moved your position like six times," the youngsters say.

Neither can Malleo.

The fifth-year senior from Wall Township, N.J., is among the dozens of players you rarely hear about. They are the college football's nomads, shuffling from position to position, from coach to coach, from number to number. Too athletic to be buried on the depth chart, they constantly are reassigned.

Sometimes, they find the right fit. Other times, their roles are limited to special teams and backup plays.

"I don't think I ever had the opportunity to really settle into one position," Malleo said. "Just when I felt like I was settling in at quarterback, I got moved. Just when I felt I was settling in at H-back/tight end, I got moved to linebacker. This is my second year at linebacker, and I feel like a sophomore.

"It's difficult."

But it also builds integrity, a trait shared by the game's travelin' men.

Transition game

Rahkeem Smith heard the whispers as soon as he stepped on campus.

Smith, a Daily Herald All-Area selection in 2004 from Willowbrook, came to Illinois as a heralded linebacker. But running backs coach Reggie Mitchell had other plans.

"Since the day I walked in, he's been saying, 'Try fullback, try fullback,' " Smith recalled.

Smith played linebacker as a true freshman in 2006 but saw time at fullback in practice. Then, in training camp last month, the coaches asked him to switch full time.

"At first it was kind of scary," Smith said. "I'm starting to pick it up now."

Added coach Ron Zook: "He just wanted to play."

Smith benefited from switching early in his career. Others aren't so fortunate.

Wisconsin's Jamil Walker moved from running back to defensive end before his senior year. After getting 44 carries in two years, the former all-state running back at Fremd didn't touch the ball once last fall.

Walker has played in the first three games on special teams, but he isn't listed on Wisconsin's two-deep.

"He was backed up deep at running back, and I asked him if he wouldn't mind switching," Badgers coach Bret Bielema said. "He's given quality reps for us on a limited basis in practice. Another kid who just wanted to do what he could to help."

Eric Andino played two years at linebacker for Michigan State before a dearth at tight end led to a switch.

"I didn't know what to think," said Andino, a two-time all-state selection at Buffalo Grove High. "But I wasn't really a big fan of the linebacker coach, so when they said, 'Do you want to move to tight end?' I was all for it.

"I knew I wasn't just a one-position player."

Andino, listed as the backup tight end, still is awaiting his first catch.

"It's always been in the back of my mind," he said. "Hopefully it will come (Saturday) against Notre Dame. That would be nice."

Straight A's

The term is tossed around by recruiting services, an identity for the unidentifiable.

"The word everyone always said about me was 'athlete,' " Malleo said. "I was like, 'This is starting to be a curse because I'm being moved around.' "

NU receiver Eric Peterman couldn't escape the A-word after being on an all-state prep team as a kick returner. The problem? Peterman had never returned a kick.

"From then on, I was termed an athlete," he said. "It can be a good thing and a bad thing."

Most players know position switches are possible before they step on campus, but it doesn't make the transition easier. They must adjust to new stances, new techniques and new responsibilities.

Malleo's toughest switch took him from quarterback to H-back/tight end in the spring of 2005.

"To go from where you're non-physical to suddenly physical, it's really, really difficult," Malleo said. "It's like going from a land animal to a sea animal."

Peterman moved from quarterback to wideout in 2005 and caught 2 TD passes, but the next spring coaches shifted him to cornerback.

"I didn't see it coming," said Peterman, who eventually went back to wideout.

Forty-eight hours

That's how close Malleo came to starting at quarterback for Northwestern against Ohio State in 2004. Starter Brett Basanez was hurt and didn't practice for two days. But after Basanez gutted through a Thursday workout, he was allowed to start. NU won and Basanez never missed another start.

"That could be a difference in my career one way or the other," Malleo said. "I was looking forward to my first start, but we won the game and Basanez did a great job.

"I have no complaints."

The ability of players like Malleo, Walker, Andino, Peterman and Smith to roll with change endears them to coaches and teammates.

Bielema calls Walker "a tremendous human being." Malleo's sense of humor and sideline enthusiasm make him arguably NU's most popular player.

"He always volunteers first to host recruits and is always trying to attract guys to our football program," coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "He's just a very unselfish player."

Malleo admits he envisioned a different plan for his career. He even considered transferring after being moved from quarterback.

But he opted to stay and has had no regrets. After so much transition, he's prepared for anything.

"Life's difficult," he said. "You're going to get fired from a job or you're going to have difficulty putting food on the table for your family. You're going to see kids that aren't doing well.

"This has taught me that if I can go through something like this and handle it well, I'll be able to handle the next step of my life."