Stephen Holder

stephen.holder@indystar.com

INDIANAPOLIS – At first, the message was delivered in the form of lighthearted suggestions. Nothing serious, more a case of thinking out loud.

Eventually, the passing remarks evolved into full-fledged conversations. Finally, Nate Hairston could no longer ignore the prospect of moving from wide receiver to defensive back.

“Ever since I got to Temple, my coaches always kind of joked with me, ‘You’d be a good DB,” Hairston said. “I would always kind of shrug it off. But one spring they asked me to do it and I went ahead and did it.”

He couldn’t have known then that the decision would result in him becoming a fifth-round draft choice of the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday. But maybe his coaches had some clue. One person, in particular, was especially certain.

New York Jets coach Todd Bowles, on campus to look at NFL candidates, observed a Temple workout in the spring of 2015 – Hairston’s first on defense. Bowles was so intrigued, he sought out Hairston after the practice.

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“He told me after practice, ‘Man, I think that if you continue playing corner, you’ll be an NFL prospect,’” Hairston recalled after being selected by the Colts. “Once I heard that from a head coach, I was 100 percent in.”

The Colts see in Hairston a tough and competitive cornerback who they project can handle the heavy man-to-man responsibilities Indianapolis places on its cornerbacks. Granted, that’s in spite of his limited experience with press coverage. He is far from polished, having spent just two seasons playing cornerback for the Owls.

But what the Colts saw in the skill set was compelling. A word repeated by General Manager Chris Ballard and area scout Mike Derice, who scouted Hairston, is “tough.” Hairston is willing to mix things up, even in run support. He’s aggressive and physical but has the athletic ability that originally made him a receiver.

He also possesses a key intangible.

“I could see that he was instinctive for a corner,” Derice said.

Whatever it was, it was good enough to make him a Colt. And Hairston can forever look back at that series of conversations and the pivotal decision that paved the way for him. The Bowles conversation proved an after-the-fact epiphany, helping provide absolute clarity that Hairston had made the right choice.

“Oh my God, it was definitely eye-opening,” Hairston said. “I think before he said that, I was just kind of doing it just to make my coaches happy. I wasn’t really enthused about it. But once I heard that from (Bowles), I was completely 100 percent bought in and I gave 100 percent effort and 100 percent into learning how to play the position. So, I thank him for that.”

Hairston seems to be a fast learner.

Though he had played some defensive back in high school, Hairston was not embarking on a small task, making the change heading into his junior season. It was rough and it’s not difficult to understand why he initially second-guessed the move.

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“It’s been such a long journey from playing wide receiver to playing corner, having to learn a new position and new technique,” he said.

“When you’re on offense, if it’s on the right… on defense, it’s on the left. So, it just flips the whole perspective of the field. I remember calling out formations like I’m still playing offense and it was just crazy. I think definitely having to learn that was probably the hardest transition for me.”

Technique can be a make-or-break element when playing defensive back. So, Hairston might need some time to grow in that area. It’s perhaps a reason some draft analysis indicated he has a tendency to faceguard instead of turning to find the football when matched against receivers on downfield throws. That can draw a penalty flag in the NFL. But NFL-level coaching can go a long way toward cleaning that up, too.

In the meantime, special teams might give Hairston his opportunity to shine.

“Your fourth and fifth corner have got to be able to compete on (special) teams,” Ballard said. “And we think he can do that while he develops into a corner.”

That’s a chance Hairston might never have had if he had not finally heeded some important advice. The suggestions might have begun as a joke. But playing defensive back became very serious business for Hairston.

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