Spadoni happy with move

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Running back has always been a star position at LSU.<br> <br> Over the years, great ones have come and gone. That&#39;s one reason Jason Spadoni worked so hard for the last three years.<br> <br> But despite his toil, Spadoni had not climbed far on the talented depth chart. So when coach Les Miles wanted to talk, Spadoni was ready to listen.<br> <br> ``I was on my way to practice in the spring and he walked over and told me he wanted to talk to me,&#39;&#39; Spadoni said. ``We got in his car and he asked me what I thought about moving over to linebacker.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Miles told Spadoni he thought he&#39;d be able to make the switch, so the deal was done.<br> <br> With the move, Spadoni found out he had been in the wrong place all those years. Linebacker was where he belonged.<br> <br> ``Every time I get tackled hard from behind or the side, I say &#39;That&#39;s got to be Spadoni,&#39; and then I look up and, yep, it&#39;s him,&#39;&#39; LSU running back Justin Vincent said. ``He&#39;s actually doing real well over there. He&#39;s a great athlete and he knows the running back position so he knows how to read what we&#39;re going to do.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Spadoni not only knows how to hit, he discovered that he likes to hit.<br> <br> ``Now that I&#39;m on the other side, I&#39;d much rather hit than get hit,&#39;&#39; Spadoni said. ``It just feels better.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> And it turns out all those years at running back were not a waste of time. Spadoni has used that experience to improve at his new position.<br> <br> ``There are definitely a lot of similarities between running back and linebacker, so that made the transition easier,&#39;&#39; he said. ``You need to think like a running back when you play linebacker, but there&#39;s also a lot more to think about before the play. You have to have the same kind of instincts and be ready to react to what the guy on the other side of the ball does.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> At 6-feet, 218 pounds, Spadoni is the smallest LSU linebacker. But he thinks he can compensate for what he lacks in size.<br> <br> ``I think my toughness and effort help make up for my size,&#39;&#39; he said. ``I&#39;ve also got good speed for a linebacker. But I think the best thing I have is that I&#39;m hungry and that&#39;s something a linebacker has to have.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Information from: The Advocate, http://www.theadvocate.com<br> <br> (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)