HANOVER — Tyron Herring may have never played cornerback before college, but he still reminded Dartmouth College defensive backs coach Sammy McCorkle of one of the best to ever suit up for the Big Green.
Although Herring primarily played quarterback at Deerfield Beach High School in Delray Beach, Fla., and was moved to safety as a senior, McCorkle drew comparisons to another South Florida product, Vernon Harris. Harris was the first player in Dartmouth history to start 40 games and was named first-team all-Ivy League as a junior in 2014 and as a senior in 2015 before signing a free-agent deal with the Kansas City Chiefs.
“I knew he had the feet. I watched his feet and the way he moved,” McCorkle said. “The fact that he played quarterback, he has good football knowledge and understanding of the game from the offensive perspective looking at a defense. He was physical and he was long, and you can’t coach size.”
McCorkle knew he wanted Herring to transition to cornerback, and Herring, now a senior, was on board, choosing the Big Green over his only other offers from Army and Morgan State. Herring said Holy Cross showed interest, as did several other Ivy League schools, but Dartmouth won out after coach Buddy Teevens visited him and emphasized the importance of having a life away from the field.
Harris was long gone by the time he arrived, but Herring’s path to a starting role was blocked by two other standouts — Isiah Swann, Dartmouth’s all-time leader with 17 interceptions, four of which he returned for touchdowns, and Isaiah Johnson, a first-team all-Ivy honoree in 2021 who is now playing at Syracuse.
Watching Swann and Johnson helped Herring learn his new position, but he saw action in just two games in his 2019 freshman season, making his first collegiate tackle on Oct. 19 at Marist.
“When I played in high school, I didn’t play any man coverage,” Herring said. “I come here to play corner, and most of the time I’m playing man coverage. It was learning all new techniques, and man coverage in and of itself is a whole package. It definitely was a challenge, and it was also very humbling. It would have been easy to be prideful, but I was learning not just a new system but a new position.”
When the Ivy League canceled sports in the fall of 2020 in response to the pandemic, Herring lost his sophomore season and was forced to train on his own back in Florida. The work he put in at home paid off — Herring was named the program’s defensive player of the spring in 2021. But playing time remained at a premium the following fall with Johnson and DeWayne Terry, another South Florida native, holding down the starting cornerback spots.
Herring saw the field in nine games last year, mostly on special teams, but he did make tackles on consecutive plays on defense in a win over Cornell. After Terry’s graduation and Johnson’s transfer, Herring knew it was finally his time and he ramped up his offseason training as he prepared to start, working out in Delray Beach during the summer while completing a remote internship.
“I don’t ever have to worry about him, when he’s home for the summer or home for break, that he’s not working,” McCorkle said. “He’s always going to be working, because it’s important to him.”
On a defense that last year ranked in the top five in the FCS in both yards allowed and points allowed per game but was replacing eight starters, Herring has started each of Dartmouth’s first five games at cornerback — opposite fifth-year Robert Crockett III, yet another defensive back from South Florida. Crockett hosted Herring on his official visit, and Herring’s last high school game was against Crockett’s alma mater, Christopher Columbus.
Herring has proven he was worth the wait. In his second collegiate start at Sacred Heart, he made his first Big Green interception, diving to get his hands under a deflected pass. The following week, he had a career-high 12 tackles, nine of them solo, against Penn. Herring is currently tied with teammate Macklin Ayers for second in the Ivy League with 25 solo tackles.
“It’s easy to learn something in the room with the coaches drawing it up, but it’s another thing when a team is scouting against you,” Herring said. “Each game is so unique, and each offensive system is different. I’ve learned to really get a feel for a game. How one team plays you is not how every team is going to play you, and what they show on film they may not do in the game.”
Herring’s background as a quarterback has helped him analyze opposing passers’ reads and receivers’ routes — almost to a fault, McCorkle said. Herring has had his tougher moments, most notably when he allowed Yale’s Mason Tipton to race past him down the sideline and haul in a 25-yard touchdown throw. But McCorkle said he has learned from each game and done well to not repeat his mistakes.
While Herring may not have the workload or the production of Harris or the other cornerbacks who came before him, he has become one of Dartmouth’s defensive leaders even as the Big Green have struggled to their worst five-game start in more than a decade.
“He’s a big, long, rangy cover corner (with) the ability to envelop smaller receivers and shed blocks and get off people,” Teevens said. “He’s learned a lot through his observation, his special teams opportunities and really taking advantage of being a starter this year. It’s been fun to watch him grow and mature.”
Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.