New London - It was baseball season before Brendan McNeil started to feel like himself again, his freshman football season at the Coast Guard Academy in the books with him unable to make much of an impact.

"Swab Summer takes a lot out of you," said McNeil, a 2012 New London High School graduate and Pawcatuck resident, of his initiation to Coast Guard last fall.

"I didn't feel like I had my body. I wasn't as strong as I was. That was the thing that killed me the most, that I couldn't help the team. But I know that this is part of being here."

Then came baseball season. Spring training. Florida.

"I had one big at-bat, a base hit with the bases loaded," McNeil said. "It wasn't the best hit, but I got a sense of, 'OK, maybe I'm starting to come around.' It was around the fifth, sixth, seventh game I started to get a few at-bats and I felt normal. I felt there was a huge pressure taken off my shoulders."

McNeil, a 6-foot-1, 225-pound sophomore, is now listed on the football team's depth chart as a backup at outside linebacker. He also spends a good deal of time at defensive end, a quick, versatile defender who coach Bill George says knows how to make a tackle.

With Coast Guard (1-2) readying for Saturday's New England Football Conference opener at Nichols (1 p.m.), McNeil has 12 tackles, placing him in the top 10 among his teammates. He had a career-best eight tackles in Coast Guard's 42-31 victory over Merchant Marine on Sept. 13.

"You can see it. He got swallowed up (last year)," George said at this week's team football luncheon. "It's not a surprise to me what he's doing this year. I did see a football player there last year, but he really (couldn't) get into the system football-wise."

Now, even with 10 starters back on defense, five of them earning all-conference honors a year ago, McNeil is contributing at a high level, his local friends and family in the stands making themselves heard, and loudly, every time his name is announced.

"He has earned a right to be an every down player," George said. "He can do some things. He can run and he can hit and he can tackle. Now, he's got his feet on the ground."

McNeil, an All-Eastern Connecticut Conference baseball player at New London, hit .284 for Coast Guard this spring, fourth among everyday players. An outfielder for coach C.C. Grant, also the football team's co-defensive coordinator, he hit four doubles, two triples, one home run and drove in 16 runs.

"It felt like playing baseball helped me build more friendships, get to know more people," said McNeil, one of several members of the football team - especially the defense - to play both sports. "Baseball season was pretty much the highlight of my fourth class year. I made a better bond with these kids. It was good."

This summer, McNeil was aboard the U.S. Coast Guard barque Eagle for the first phase of cadet training, then headed back to the academy two take classes in calculus and literature. It was then he was able to hit the weight room on a regular basis and get ready for football.

George said that having played only his third career game at Coast Guard, McNeil is still in his infancy as a player.

McNeil, though, who helped New London reach the Class L playoffs as a senior in high school, is sure happy to feel at home on a football field again.

"I feel like it's slowly starting to come back," McNeil said. "Coming into this season, I didn't really know what to expect. There are three juniors that play linebacker. I was kind of uncertain. I said, 'I'll play as hard as I can and see where that gets me.'

"If I play more D-line, we'll see where that goes. Overall, I'm definitely excited. I want to play ball. That's it."

v.fulkerson@theday.com

Twitter: @vickieattheday