Jake Pope Takes on Bigger Leadership Role as UNLV Secondary Enters Year 2

LAS VEGAS — Jake Pope spent his first season at UNLV learning Paul Guenther’s defense while becoming one of the most productive players on it. A year later, the defense does not require nearly as much thought.

Pope started all 14 games last season and finished second on the team with 81 tackles, including 38 solo stops. He added three tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, five pass breakups and an interception while helping UNLV reach the Mountain West championship game.

Now the responsibility is different. Pope knows the defense, and UNLV is asking him to help make sure everyone around him knows it too.

“It’s like my ABCs,” Pope said. “It’s really easy now, and I’m just trying to get other guys lined up and play faster and find little fine details in my game to work on every day.”

That comfort has allowed Pope to take on a larger leadership role in a secondary with considerably more experience than it had a year ago. Mumu Bin-Wahad is back, Tre Fulton enters his second season in the defense and UNLV added Avery Helm and Denver Harris. Laterrance Welch has also returned to practice after missing the earlier part of camp.

Safeties coach Kap Dede sees Pope and Bin-Wahad as two of the players responsible for setting the standard. Both are members of UNLV’s leadership council, and Dede said younger defensive backs are watching how they practice, how they study and how they respond when something goes wrong.

“They really set the bar for us,” Dede said. “I look at them. I look at things like, you know, how hard are you playing? How is your effort? Because you guys are going to set the standard. The younger guys are going to follow that.”

Pope has taken a similar approach with the younger players. His message is to find something every day that can improve rather than allowing mistakes or the amount of information being installed to become overwhelming.

“Each day there’s a standard, and the standard is to get 1% better every day,” Pope said. “I always tell the guys, find one thing each day to get better at and focus on that, and you’ll keep improving each and every day.”

Pope understands the adjustment. He arrived at UNLV last year after beginning his career at Alabama and spending two seasons at Georgia. Despite the experience he brought with him, Guenther’s defense was still new.

He produced while learning it.

Pope had double-digit tackles three times last season, including 11 against UCLA and Air Force. He had 10 tackles in his first UNLV start against Idaho State and finished with nine tackles and 1.5 sacks against Utah State. His interception came against Hawai‘i.

The next step is producing without having to process as much before the snap. Pope believes that is happening throughout the defense.

“I think the details, holding our gaps and doing one play right every time, not doing it right one time and then different the next time,” Pope said. “I think we’re a lot more disciplined.”

The secondary has also changed around him. Dede now works specifically with the safeties, giving Pope and the rest of the group a dedicated position coach while they continue working closely with cornerbacks coach Akeem Davis and the rest of the secondary.

“It takes a little stress off Coach Davis,” Pope said. “Coach Dede is a really detailed coach, and he stays on us. That’s what we needed as a back end because if they get past us, they score. So the details are that much finer.”

Pope’s role is also changing within the defense itself. UNLV has installed calls that allow him to move closer to the line of scrimmage and fill the alley near the linebackers while still using him from deeper safety alignments on other snaps.

After making 81 tackles last season, Pope believes that versatility gives Guenther another way to use him around the football.

“I like being versatile like that,” Pope said. “I think it’s able to show my game in the defense in the best way.”

There is more experience around him now too. Welch’s return adds another veteran who already knows the defense after leading UNLV in interceptions last season.

Pope expects him to have a role.

“I love when T came back,” Pope said. “We’re all excited in the locker room and whatnot. And he’s going to be a great help this year. He’ll play a lot. He’s a veteran, and I’m excited for him.”

Dede has also pointed to communication from the first group as one of the areas where the secondary has progressed. Pope, Fulton, Bin-Wahad, Helm, Harris and Welch give UNLV several defensive backs with college experience, which becomes important when offenses begin using shifts and motion to force adjustments before the snap.

For Pope, the expectation goes beyond simply being more comfortable in the system.

His time at Alabama and Georgia gave him an idea of what the daily standard looks like inside programs expecting to compete for championships. He said the lesson was not complicated. Details have to carry from practice into games, and effort cannot depend on the opponent or situation.

“It just taught you to fly around with relentless effort to the ball, and the fine details are the most important part about your defense,” Pope said. “Just play as a champion every day.”

Dede is now asking Pope to help bring that standard to the rest of UNLV’s secondary.

The production was already there last season. The difference entering his second year is that Pope is no longer simply trying to understand where he needs to be.

He is helping everyone else get there too.