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http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story_2nd.php?story_id=128397995078504900

Portland State defensive end Carl Sommer and coach Nigel Burton have been drawn together like magnets for half a decade.

The relationship began when Burton, then a coach at Oregon State, began recruiting Sommer as a sophomore in high school.  Sommer, now 6-4 and 260 pounds, played four years of varsity football for Wilsonville High.

"Coach Burton is the main reason I committed and signed at Oregon State," Sommer says.

Then, the two were torn apart.

After Sommer's redshirt freshman season for the Beavers, Burton left to take the defensive coordinator job with Nevada.

Sommer did not stick around Corvallis much longer, either. He played in three games in 2008 and made two tackles, but "I had a disagreement with the D-line coach (Joe Seumalo)," Sommer says. "Some names were called. I'm a drama-free kind of kid. I just basically tell people we had differences."

Sommer took a week and a half to think about whether he wanted to stay at OSU. He and his parents had several meetings with Beavers coach Mike Riley.

"I love Coach Riley," Sommer says. "There's a bunch of guys on that staff that I get along with. There's just a couple guys that I didn't."

Sommer decided the best thing for him would be to transfer to Portland State.

"It was just the way it worked, just something that happened," he says. "It was better for the both of us to part ways."

Burton says he has not talked with anyone from OSU about why Sommer left the program.

"I don't believe in asking one person's opinion of someone," he says. "You form your own. I don't use what someone else says to influence me or my staff."

Burton also says he understands that sometimes things don't work out for a player at his first school.

"Each kid has his own reasons for doing things," Burton says. "I believe in clean slates for kids. When they transfer, you give kids a clean slate, and either they run with it, or they don't."

Sommer had a rough season at PSU in 2009, before Burton replaced Jerry Glanville. Plagued by injuries, he played in eight games, but made only eight tackles.

Then, on Dec. 8, Burton was named Glanville's successor, and player and coach were reunited.

"I've never been so happy to see a transfer," Burton says.

Sommer already was enjoying life at Portland State. He likes going to a school so close to home and being able to watch younger brother Cameron play defensive end and tight end for Gladstone High. Burton coming to PSU was more than Sommer could have asked for.

"Now that I'm reunited with Coach Burton, it makes it 10 times better," Sommer says.

Burton is excited to see firsthand the promise he saw in Sommer at Wilsonville come to fruition.

"He's got all the talent in the world," Burton says. "The best part is I've watched him grow from when he was a sophomore in high school until now, and he has continued to grow."

As the Vikings (0-1 after a 54-9 loss at Arizona State) prepare for Saturday's road game at UC Davis, they are counting on Sommer for his toughness. He gave up shaving because of the long days of camp, and the result is a long beard that adds to his persona.

"I tease him that he's learned to be a tough guy, and not just a great athlete," Burton says. "I don't know if he was necessarily a tough guy when he was younger. Put those two things together and we can turn him into even more of a playmaker. He can be a heck of a player."