Titan Is Right on Course : Football: McMillan’s family steered him away from the gangs and toward the books.

It’s not easy being a Cal State Fullerton football player these days.

The Titans are coming off a 1-11 season in which they were ranked last among the nation’s 106 Division I-A schools. And this year’s team, which has its first full-squad practice today, isn’t expected to be a whole lot better.

But for Fullerton linebacker Teddy McMillan, it still beats the alternative--by a long shot.

Many of the friends McMillan grew up with in Compton never made it to college. Many didn’t make it out of Compton alive.

“A lot of people I grew up with are dead or in jail,” McMillan said. “You’re almost destined to become a gang member in an area like that. Fortunately, my family unit was stronger than any influence of a gang.”

Fullerton may not offer the most ideal college football setting, but it has provided McMillan a refuge from the constant pressure and presence of gangs and an opportunity for an education.

“Going to college has enlightened me,” said McMillan, a fifth-year senior. “It exposed me to a world I wasn’t familiar with. It made me realize that a lot of people are missing out on a lot in life.”

McMillan hasn’t missed out on much at Fullerton. He needs only two classes to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in political science and might remain at Fullerton next spring to pursue a master’s in business administration.

The valedictorian of his high school class at Verbum Dei, McMillan has a 3.1 grade-point average and has set his sights on opening his own business some day.

“Sometimes he’s too good to be true,” Titan Coach Gene Murphy said. “He’s a neat person.”

And a pretty good football player, too. On the field, McMillan, 5 feet 11 and 220 pounds, is a typical Titan--not too big, not too fast, not too strong. But he was second on the 1990 team in tackles with 66--36 solo and 30 assisted.

Entering his second season as a starting inside linebacker, McMillan relies more on hard work and instincts than athletic ability.

“He’s the ultimate over-achiever, our kind of guy,” Murphy said. “He’s made himself into a good college football player. He’s usually in the right place at the right time. When he screws up, it’s a physical error, not a mental one.”

There were defensive errors aplenty last season, when Fullerton ranked last in the Big West Conference in scoring defense (40.4 points a game), total defense (506.8 yards per game) and passing defense (303.9 yards per game).

McMillan and inside linebacker Lorenzo Hailey, who led the team with 99 tackles, were about the only bright spots, but that was of little consolation to McMillan.

“As a football player, I don’t feel like I accomplished much last season,” McMillan said. “As a person, I gained much more. I learned no matter how down you are, how much the odds are against you, you must continue to strive to be the best you can be.”

McMillan doesn’t think things can get much worse than last season, which began with a victory over Sonoma State and ended with 11 losses, most of them blowouts.

“Once you feel you’re at the lowest stage possible, there’s no other way but up,” McMillan said. “When you’re backed into a corner, you can only come out fighting. That’s what we’re going to do this year.”

McMillan, whose real first name is DuBois, has moved up a few weight classes in his four years at Fullerton. He came in at 190 pounds but has bulked up--and out in some areas--to 220.

“My mother started calling me Teddy at a young age because I looked like a Teddy Bear, and the name stuck with me,” McMillan said. “I was kind of chubby then and I still am kind of chubby now.”

But a little padding in the mid-section helps when you’re taking on 250- to 300-pound offensive linemen.

“The impact of the blows are a lot lighter,” McMillan said. “Linemen aren’t getting the best of you.”

McMillan is hardly huge by Division I linebacker standards. Most college inside linebackers are in the 240- to 250-pound range. But McMillan, who was the most valuable defensive player in the Camino Real League in 1986, has learned to use his size to his advantage.

“No one expects me to dominating, but with my size, I have the leverage to get under linemen,” McMillan said. “I have pretty good instincts and my quickness is OK. I try to sense plays before they’re going to happen.”

McMillan has no strong sense as to how the Titans will fare this season. Many players and recruits left the program last winter when the school nearly dropped the sport, and coaches are still working to get many community college recruits enrolled in school.

Fullerton’s final roster might not be determined until the last week of August. The Titans open the season Aug. 31 at Mississippi State.

“I don’t know how many wins we’ll have this season,” McMillan said, “but I think we’ll be more competitive.”