The Wright Move: Wildcat volunteers to move from linebacker to defensive lineman

When Abbeville High School head football coach Roderick Moy needed someone to volunteer to move from the linebacker spot to defensive line this year as the Wildcats shift from a 3-4 defense to new defensive coordinator Tank Lotief’s 4-3/4-2-5 alignment, he had the perfect candidate in senior Tayla Wright.
Wright not only played defensive line in middle school but is also experienced and adept enough to play either position.
“Having the experience of a three-year starter helps greatly, just from being on the field,” Moy said. “Even if it’s at a different position. Having him on the defense is like having another coach on the field.”
“I played (defensive line) sometimes during practice, so I figured I was still good at it, so I moved there permanently this year,” Wright said.
He enjoys the physical aspect of the game, he said, and the move from an upright position to the line isn’t that big of a change.
“I like playing football with my brothers,” Wright said. “I enjoy the sport, coming out every morning and practicing. The hype before the games.”
Wright, 5-foot-9 and 230 pounds, helped the Wildcats make a run to the quarterfinals and finish 11-2 in 2021, the team’s best playoff finish in years. AHS also qualified for the playoffs in 2020, Moy’s first year in charge of the program.
“Also, having the experience of playing linebacker, he knows what it takes and what made it easier on him, so now he’s able to drop down and do that job for us,” Moy said. “I think it’s a very unselfish move to improve the team.”
Wright said he’d like to get in better shape and improve on his stats.
“I played the same position in the eighth grade. I played defensive end,” he said. “I had a lot of tackles during a game.”
Wright is part of the most influential senior group the Wildcats have had under Moy. He’s eager to not only duplicate last year’s success but to surpass it. Abbeville went 9-1 in the regular season, and he hopes for an even better year this season.
“I hope to go undefeated this year, make it past the quarterfinals,” Wright said. “We went far in the playoffs last year. I hope to make it to the Dome (the Caesars Superdome for the state finals at the LHSAA Prep Classic). I also hope to win all of our district games.”
That ambition is something Moy has seen in the entire senior class.
“Realistically, last year we were in the quarterfinals, so those seniors want more,” Moy said. “We have 18 seniors, and this will be their fourth year to be on the field and play for probably over half of them. Those kids want more and want to go to the next step. So if we do that, semifinals and ultimately the Dome, these seniors don’t want to lose their last game. There are only two ways to do that — win the whole thing, or not even make the playoffs, and I don’t think the latter is something we even want to think about.”
With such a big group of senior leaders, this is the time to do it, Moy said.
“If we’re going to do it, this is going to be the group to do it,” he said. “It’s now. Our time is now. We’re out of excuses. Our expiration date’s up, so if we’re going to be the best we can be, this year’s going to have to be the year for us to do it.”
The Wildcats are changing their defensive alignment this season with Lotief, former head coach at Kaplan and North Vermilion.
“Transitioning from a 3-4 to a 4-3, 4-2-5, we had to have more defensive linemen to help make that transition possible,” Moy said. “Basically, to stop people from running the ball. He’s a big, strong kid. He knows what it takes to play linebacker, and the best thing is for those defensive linemen to keep those linebackers clean. He’s willing to do what’s best for the team. That’s why we think we’ll be pretty good because we’ve got a good group of leaders in those 18 seniors.”
Wright was the right guy to make a move.
“It’s nothing foreign to him. He’s still going to have the opportunity to make plays,” Moy said. “That’s what we need. That defense is going to fly around. Another big, strong, quick kid in the front. He’s going to play the same caliber of ball that he’s always played. He’s just in a different position.”
“I like to be in the box, fighting with our opponents,” Wright said, adding that it was that same type of action he loved about being a linebacker. “Same thing, fighting with the opponents and being physical. I like both positions equally. It doesn’t matter where you put me. Wherever the team needs me, I’ll play there.”
“I just thought that was a very unselfish move in what we’re trying to build here, what’s best for the team, and that was the best example I could give,” Moy said.