By Roscoe Nance
North Carolina Central redshirt senior defensive end Darius Royster’s journey to being named the 2019 MEAC Defensive Player of the Year took him up the rough side of the football mountain. That journey culminated with him receiving the Defensive Player of the Year award at the 62nd annual National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame Awards Dinner in New York on Tuesday, Dec. 10.
Royster originally signed with Norfolk State in 2014. When the Spartans made a coaching change prior to his freshman season, Royster was the odd man out. The new staff wanted him to walk on and try out for the team.
Royster thought he had a good workout, and so did several of his teammates, but the coaching staff had a different idea and cut him.
He eventually enrolled at North Carolina Central and walked on again; the result was much different this time around. Royster played sparingly in 2017, appearing in five games, mostly on special teams. But he worked and watched, learned, and made his mark in 2018 when he became a starter.
Royster set school record in his first start, the MEAC/SWAC Challenge against Prairie View A&M, with 6.0 tackles for loss.
“People said I was like I had been caged up,” Royster said. “I had all that built-up energy. I hadn’t had that many reps since high school.”
Royster was a 6-foot-2, 200-pound linebacker coming out of high school in Chesapeake, Va. Coming from a close-knit family, he chose Norfolk State in order to near home and give his family and friends an opportunity to see him play regularly. As best he can determine, the Norfolk State coaching staff believed he was too small to play that position in the MEAC.
He has added 25 pounds since arriving at North Carolina Central while becoming a terror rushing the passer from his defensive end position. He led the MEAC with 16.0 tackles for a loss, 9.0 sacks and three forced fumbles this past season. He also ranked ninth in the league with 75 tackles and was the only defensive lineman in the top 20.
So what made him big enough to play defensive end for the Eagles when Norfolk State viewed him as too small for linebacker?
“There was no difference,” Royster said. “It was their decision.”
In addition to his success on the field, Royster graduated with a degree in psychology in May and is working toward a degree in criminal justice.
Royster traces his success on the football field to his work ethic. He learned he had made the team on Jan. 24, 2017. In the meantime, he was working at a Lowe’s in Durham, N.C. to pay for his schooling. He would work a nine-hour shift and then round up some his teammates and go work out.
“I had goals,” Royster said. “I came here with the goal of being one the best players. Coach (Trei) Oliver told me if I wanted to be one of the best players, I had to put in the work and do more than what’s required. You have to go out of your way.”
One of the first things Oliver did after being named head coach last December was put Royster on scholarship.
“A guy like that, with his athletic ability and his character, that’s the kind of guy you want in your program,” Oliver told the News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.). “He’s an outstanding leader, he works hard, he doesn’t say much, he leads by example. He has a great family and you just love to see guys like that excel and do big things. I’m so pleased to have him on the team. I’m pleased where he is academically as well as athletically. That’s the least I could have done.”