When Sean Baker and Derrick Henry arrived at Ball State University two years ago, the football players quickly developed a close friendship off the field.
"We're always joking, always laughing," Baker said. "It's a good relationship. He's one of my really good friends, and we've got many years to come."
Even though Baker and Henry played in the same defensive secondary, the two didn't compete with each other last year. Baker redshirted as a safety, and Henry exclusively played cornerback - the first time in his career he had the luxury to focus on one position.
That changed in the spring, when coach Brady Hoke moved Henry to free safety. The move pitted Henry in an intense positional battle with Baker, a situation that isn't ideal for maintaining friendships.
"When we're on the field, I don't like him and he doesn't like me - nah I'm just playing," Henry said with a laugh.
Hoke called the competition for the safety position one of the most intense positional battles on the team. He said it's been beneficial to both players.
"When we're in our [base] defense, I think they're fighting and scrapping to play," Hoke said. "Guys like to play, and I think that's made them better."
Instead of letting the competition on the field derail their friendship, Baker and Henry continued cracking jokes and laughing. Instead of tearing them down, the positional battle has made them better players.
"It's nothing against him if I'm competing with him because I respect him for wanting it like I do," Henry said. "I think it would be a lot easier if there wasn't any competition for somebody to attain the spot, but how good would the team be if the spot was just given to you. It can be frustrating sometimes with the competition because somebody is going to be left out, but in the long run it's going to help both of us out."
As Henry said, one of the two is left out of the starting lineup when Ball State plays its base defense. The Cardinals' starting strong safety, Alex Knipp, was selected to the Mid-American Conference third team last season, and Hoke said he's a leader in the secondary.
However, Baker and Henry still share the field multiple times throughout a game. When Ball State plays with a nickle or dime package - formations with more defensive backs on the field - the two play next to each other.
"We work off each other, we learn from each other," Baker said. "We'll come off the field and we'll be asking each other, 'What happened on that play? What did you check to?' We talk a lot, and when we're in there we both want to make plays and do our best to make each other better."
Henry, who played more cornerback and linebacker than safety in high school, won the battle for starting safety after fall camp. The sophomore started the first two games of the season before Baker supplanted him.
Baker started at free safety for the first time in his career against the University of Akron in the third game of the season. The redshirt freshman burst onto the scene with three interceptions, a fumble recovered for a touchdown and a team-high nine tackles.
He hasn't relinquished his starting spot since, but Baker said the competition is still intense.
"We still rotate in every day in practice, and in the games we both check in and out," Baker said. "We both play a lot, and when we get the chance we've both got to step up. The expectations are for the position, so whenever you get your number called you've got to be ready."
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