MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama football defensive lineman Akeem Lewis recently sat down with USAJaguars.com to discuss his senior season, as well as his previous year with the program.

Lewis, a native of Abbeville, La., has appeared in five games this season and recorded 15 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and recovered one fumble. Last season, he made 23 tackles with two tackles for loss and recorded two sacks.

How did you get to Los Angeles from Abbeville, La.?
"I played AAU basketball and we had a game in Las Vegas. My friends and I all graduated together and played on the same team. We decided to move to California after Las Vegas at 18 (years old) and fresh off of high school graduation."

How did you end up at Los Angeles Harbor CC to play football?
"I enrolled in school, and the nine of us got an apartment in a four-bedroom apartment and did our thing. I walked-on there and I decided I wanted to keep playing once I got a scholarship. I didn't really play my first year because I didn't really know the plays; you could say I grayshirted my first year and just went to school. My second year, I just took off."

What factored into your decision to come to South Alabama?
"They offered me a scholarship. No one gave me one because of my grades; I wasn't qualified to graduate on time so I had to sit out a year just to get my grades right. South Alabama gave me a scholarship and I sat out a year, and last year was my first year. I was supposed to be here in 2013."

How have you improved since you got to USA?
"Just being a leader – I'm more vocal and I am faster now than I was last year. I lost a lot of weight. I'm at 245 (pounds) now; when I came here I was 265-270. That's the biggest I have ever been. I lost all of that weight and trained really hard in California this past summer."

How have you benefitted from dropping that weight?
"My confidence – I feel like I'm unguardable. My toe injury set me back. I wanted to show everyone what I could do. I circled the Nebraska, San Diego State and N.C. State games on my calendar. And not being able to play those games really hurt me. I wanted to show everyone I could do with the pass rush. I feel like I am more explosive, and I understand the game more than I did last year."

When did you injure your toe?
"The first play at Nebraska. I was doing just normal things and running down the field, and I hyperextended my big toe really badly. I was out three weeks and missed most of the Nebraska game, and the San Diego State and N.C. State games."

How is your toe now?
"It's good. It was really hard for me during the Troy game because I was still playing with an injured toe, but I had to play to help my team. It feels much better, and the bye week gives me a little more time for me to rest."

What are your strengths as a player?
"I'm pretty strong. I can set the edge well. I need to work on my coverage. I can stop the run pretty well. I feel like I'm just versatile. I can play any position in the front seven."

What did you gain from your experience last season?
"Playing under (former assistant) Coach (Freddie) Roach and watching (former Jag) Theo (Rich) put me back so I could see that I don't need to be the star player. I thought I was, but I wasn't ready to be the star player last year. Just being able to sit back and see how the game speed is in the Sun Belt Conference compared to junior college, it helped give me some confidence."

What are some of the strengths of the defense?
"We are fast and our chemistry is really good. We still have things to work on – just doing the small, fundamental things. As far as being more of a unit and communicating, I think we are much better than we were last year."

What do you like playing in (defensive coordinator) Coach (Travis) Pearson's scheme?
"Coach Pearson is like a father figure to me. He teaches me how to be a better father to my two-year-old daughter. Just him as a person, I love playing for him. He is a good coach, and he has me doing some things that I didn't think I was capable of doing. He has a lot of confidence in me, both he and (defensive line) Coach (Brian) Turner."

How have you improved under Coach Turner?
"He has really helped me with stopping the run – that's his specialty. He's taught me to do the little things right. He has really played a big factor in my game this season."

What do you enjoy about being able to play so close to home?
"My mom comes to all of the home games, and I have my baby daughter and my girlfriend in the stands every week. As long as I have those three girls, that's all I need. I do everything for them. It's a blessing to have my mom still be able to watch me play football."

What are your plans once your football career is over?
"I am majoring in business management. I want to build houses and just give back to the community. I have an organization called Ground Up. All my brothers that moved to California, we give back to the community every year."

What do you like to do in your spare time?
"I just take my daughter to the park – spend time with her and watch football."

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