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“I’m never happy with how I play, so I’m not going to say that,” Winney said. “But I’m trying to be as good as I can. I always think I can do better and work on something to be more successful.”
Eagles coach Larry Terry isn’t going to discourage that perfectionism, but he believes Winney and sophomore Derek Dreher are already “shutdown corner kind of guys” entering their second season as starters.
“It’s a pretty nice combination to have,” Terry said.
Winney, at 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, earned a starting job as a sophomore last season, replacing All-American Steve Teeples. While Teeples played the cornerback
position with flair and finished with 20 career interceptions, Winney prefers a more no-nonsense style.
“I just want to go out and shut down the receiver,” Winney said. “If he has zero catches, I’m more happy about that than interceptions.”
Winney, a Green Bay native, had two interceptions, 25 tackles and a team-leading nine passes broken up last year.
“As the season went on, I got better, but there was a ton of learning each game,” Winney said. “This year, I’m trying to work on jamming at the line and my techniques; trying to get the little things improved.”
Winney ran the 40-yard dash in 4.42 seconds during preseason camp testing, so Winney can be physical at the line and not worry about receivers getting behind him.
“To be that big and run that fast, that’s really special,” Terry said. “We’ve got him on one side and Dreher on the other, so the question is, which one do you want to go at? That’s hard to pick.”
Eagles junior wide receiver Tyler Keeney faces Winney everyday in practice, which can be a headache, but he knows there are benefits.
“Winney has tons of athletic ability and he’s physical,” Keeney said. “He can go up and get the ball as good as any wide receiver. We know that it’s making us better because we won’t face a better cornerback all season.”
Winney and Dreher, who is also 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, played most of last season together and are good friends and roommates. Dreher started out as a backup to Jake Buswell, who ended up missing six games with injuries.
“We go and watch film together and talk a lot about situations that come up,” Winney said. “It’s nice to have that communication. It’s a big help having one of your best friends out there on the field every day helping you out.”
UW-L’s cornerbacks are asked to play a press-man style in most defensive sets, which calls for both strength and speed.
“The position in general is so fun to play,” said Winney, whose father, Todd Winney, played cornerback for UW-L in the 1980s. “It’s a hard technique and obviously there’s a big chance for error, but I take pride in not letting it happen.”
