ASU senior safety Max Tabach talks to a scribe like he’s picking up the salad fork at a fine diner.
Courteous and methodical, Tabach knows a main course is just around the corner. With a 12-tackle performance last week, he could already be digging in, but he’s too humble to reveal how it tastes.
Tabach, a 2007 graduate of Scottsdale’s Saguaro High School, has gone from junior college transfer, to special teams player and reserve, to injured player rehabilitating, to buried on the depth chart trying to rediscover his old form, to the present: starter.
“When I came here I thought I could do big things and I think (coaches) did too,” Tabach said. “I got hurt and so I have been climbing my way back. Last year I wasn’t physically ready to play. I am just taking this opportunity this year because I don’t want to have any regrets.”
Tabach tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the fifth game of the 2008 season, missing the final seven games and setting back his plans to rise to the top of the depth chart of one of the best defensive units in the Pac-10 Conference.
Tabach, admittedly, was not the same player in 2009, just a year after surgery, as he was coming out of Glendale Community College two years ago. The difference is normal for athletes coming off such an injury, but the length of the recovery and how full the recovery varies.
Two years post-surgery, Tabach is almost all the way back. To get here, Tabach had to keep his head down.
“I think the short term [challenge] is definitely mental,” Tabach said. “Mentally it is a long process, so it’s hard not to feel sorry for yourself and you really can’t get caught up doing that. That’s just a waste of time, so you have to get your thoughts focused on getting back physically.
“And as far as physically, I still think I might not have that step, but all I can do is keep going and keep getting strong in the weight room.”
Pac-10 skill players might not like the sound of that. Tabach has started the last two games, the only two of his career at ASU. Last week against Washington, Tabach led the team in tackles and was key in helping slow down the same Jake Locker-led offense that torched the Southern California defense in the Los Angeles Coliseum the week prior.
“He is getting better all the time, is very smart, doesn’t make a lot of mistakes and is very physical,” ASU coach Dennis Erickson said.
While he was a surprise player in camp, Tabach has been a stabilizing force in the secondary. The safety unit, while full of playmaking athletes, has suffered numerous big play breakdowns. Tabach, at least last week, helped calm the waters. Teammates are noticing.
“I would say it is his leadership role,” fellow safety and redshirt junior Keelan Johnson said. “He kind of anticipated routes before they happened and was in good position to make plays.”
Johnson, who could start alongside Tabach this week, sees a big difference from last two years.
“When I came here, he wasn’t a great tackler and I think he has improved his tackling and just understanding the defense,” Johnson said.
With the loss of linebacker Mike Nixon to graduation last year, it seems the ASU defense has been devoid of a definitive leader. Early impressions of Tabach have some believing he could, at the very least, help.
“I thought he played very well the other night against Washington and he brings some leadership back there in the secondary too,” Erickson said.
Tabach can see it for himself.
“I think I am pretty consistent,” Tabach said. “Coach [Craig] Bray (defensive coordinator/safeties coach) knows what I’m about. I definitely have a ton of things that I can improve on but I think some positives I bring to the team are my awareness, being vocal and trying to be a leader back there.”
Taking a macro-view of the defense could help give proper perspective to a defense that, at times, seems hell bent on capturing individual glory over disciplined team play.
“We have definitely improved and the biggest thing we improved on was not letting up the big plays,” Tabach said. “We did that, now we have to take the next step and do it every down.”
Tabach knows how little steps form a big-picture. It could be time for the Sun Devil defense to feast.
Reach the reporter at nick.ruland@asu.edu
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