The centerpiece of Stone Mountain, Ga., is one of the largest exposed granite domes in North America at 1,686 feet high and five miles around.The LSU football team’s defense has its own centerpiece, towering at 6 feet 3 inches and totaling 240 pounds of brute force.Stone Mountain attracts attention from tourists, but the stonewall Sheppard attracts the notice of opposing offenses.Senior middle linebacker Kelvin Sheppard, like the mountains in his hometown of Stone Mountain, sets himself apart from the rest of the pack.”As long as I’ve coached this game, I don’t know that I’ve coached a young man smarter than Kelvin Sheppard,” said LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis. “He absolutely knows the game inside and out.”Chavis said Sheppard, who is coming off a 110-tackle season, does more than most players on the team. ”I could walk out today and he could take them and coach them as well as I can,” Chavis said. “There’s no question about that. He understands the game, and as a coach, that’s what you try to get them all to do.”The alumnus of Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain had a relationship with Chavis before they wore the same colors in Baton Rouge.Sheppard mulled scholarship offers from many schools, including Georgia and Tennessee, in 2006 as a Scout.com three-star linebacker.Chavis, the Volunteers’ defensive coordinator at the time, was recruiting hard for Sheppard to join him in Rocky Top, but the prospect ultimately picked LSU.”The two schools it came down to was LSU and Tennessee,” Sheppard said. “I just felt like LSU was the place for me.”The two reunited when Chavis joined the Tigers in 2009.”Me and Coach Chavis built a great relationship,” Sheppard said. “He ended up here so it was a great outcome.”Sheppard’s total tackles have increased every season since coming to Baton Rouge, but he has also grown in other aspects of the game.The middle linebacker said he is the leader of the Tigers’ defense, although the unit has outgoing personalities such as junior cornerback Patrick Peterson and senior defensive tackle Drake Nevis.”For the most part, all of the guys come to me asking me what we are doing,” Sheppard said. “The role kind of came to me, and I’m just embracing it.”The third-year starter has grown into more than just a physical specimen on the field.”If he sees someone mess up, he’ll go put his arm around you and show you what you’re supposed to do,” said redshirt freshman linebacker Josh Johns. Sheppard has gotten the attention of college football pundits after playing 40 career games, collecting preseason accolades such as a spot on the All-Southeastern Conference preseason First Team, the All-American preseason Third Team by Sporting News and the Bednarik Award Watch List.”He brings a lot to the game,” Nevis said. “I always thought he was a great player. Everyone will know he is one of the best at his position.”The highly-regarded linebacker will begin his senior campaign Sept. 4 when he returns to Atlanta for the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game against North Carolina.”It’s a big-time game,” Sheppard said. “Opening with a team of that caliber on national TV at night is going to be exciting and fun.”But Sheppard already has his sights set on two trips to Atlanta this season.”That’ll be exciting coming back for my senior year, being able to open the season and hopefully ending the season in the Georgia Dome,” Sheppard said.—————Contact Michael Lambert at [email protected]