Hunter, DBs Face Big Task
10/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
When most Montana State students leave campus after a day of classes, the learning experience is in hiatus until the next morning. For Kahiam Hunter, it's just beginning.
Hunter shares a Bozeman apartment with Joey Thomas, MSU's spectacular cornerback who is projected as a high-round selection in the NFL draft next spring. Thomas, Hunter says, is one of his best professors. "Joey's my roommate, and all we really do is talk about football," Hunter said. "He helps me see little things in film and in the game that I never really saw before. He's helped me a lot, probably more than anybody here."
Hunter signed at MSU during the summer of 2001, very late in the recruiting process, when the Bobcats lost a couple of veteran players. "We signed Kahiam in June," said MSU coach Mike Kramer, "which is late. (Former assistant coach) Marcel Yates found him while doing some spring recruiting, and it was evident that he was a talented player. He had an immediate impact, and has had a lasting impact, because he's one of three scholarship players left from our recruiting class of 2001."
Hunter came to Montana State as a self-professed "lazy guy" who didn't much care for hard work. "About a month of Coach (John) Rushing (MSU's former secondary coach)" is all it took to eradicate that laziness, he said. Kramer concurs with that assessment. "The big change in Kahiam's life came in John Rushing. Kahiam is a really smart, crafty person that kind of snuck through life just chillin'. John immediately saw that he had talent, and he squeezed Kahiam hard. He made it painful for Kahiam every day, and Kahiam responded."
The Bobcats threw Hunter into the fire as a true freshman playing cornerback in a physical, aggressive man-to-man defense, probably the most challenging assignment in football. "It wasn't that much of a surprise, because if you're smart and you have some toughness you can play cornerback as a true freshman," Kramer said. "You don't need the strength that you do at some other positions."
Kramer calls Hunter "one of the best four or five cover guys in the conference, maybe the second-best" behind his roommate Thomas. Kramer says each of his three corners -- Thomas, Hunter, and senior Jay Hackett -- have different strengths. "The biggest difference between Kahiam and Joey is that Kahiam really understands the pace of a receiver's route. He is very intuitive about reading a receiver's break. Joey races the receiver, and Jay has especially good catch-up speed. But Kahiam is very good at playing what the receiver is doing, and that makes him the quintessential nickel back."
Hunter knows he and his secondary mates have their work cut out for them this weekend. "We are preparing with more of a sense of urgency," he said. "We know these guys are playmakers, and no matter how good or bad the game gets they're going to throw to these guys, because it's not like if we shut them down we're off the hook because they're going to run the ball. We prepare knowing that we're going to have to play 60 minutes hard."
One of the critical elements of playing cornerback in today's college football world is a short memory, the ability to put immediately put a bad play in the past. Hunter said most successful corners -- especially those that play man-to-man coverage. "Any time you're playing man defense you have to have an attitude, and you have to think that you're the best," Hunter said. "Zone defenses aren't that hard to play in, but in man you're out on a limb. You have to have attitude, you have to have swagger. People look at Joey and think he might be a bad guy, but he's not, that's the mentality you have to have playing cornerback. That's how every cornerback in the NFL is."
Still, Hunter's swagger has not manifested itself in the kind of on-field persona that Thomas has taken. "I'm not a real outspoken guy, I keep to myself, but I know what I have to do and I know what I have to get done. I try to lead by example rather than by saying things, that's the difference between Joey and I."
Hunter knows that he will have some spirited late-night lab sessions in his second classroom -- his apartment, with his roommate -- this week.
"I know we're going to have a lot of them this week, because this is an important game."
Hunter shares a Bozeman apartment with Joey Thomas, MSU's spectacular cornerback who is projected as a high-round selection in the NFL draft next spring. Thomas, Hunter says, is one of his best professors. "Joey's my roommate, and all we really do is talk about football," Hunter said. "He helps me see little things in film and in the game that I never really saw before. He's helped me a lot, probably more than anybody here."
Hunter signed at MSU during the summer of 2001, very late in the recruiting process, when the Bobcats lost a couple of veteran players. "We signed Kahiam in June," said MSU coach Mike Kramer, "which is late. (Former assistant coach) Marcel Yates found him while doing some spring recruiting, and it was evident that he was a talented player. He had an immediate impact, and has had a lasting impact, because he's one of three scholarship players left from our recruiting class of 2001."
Hunter came to Montana State as a self-professed "lazy guy" who didn't much care for hard work. "About a month of Coach (John) Rushing (MSU's former secondary coach)" is all it took to eradicate that laziness, he said. Kramer concurs with that assessment. "The big change in Kahiam's life came in John Rushing. Kahiam is a really smart, crafty person that kind of snuck through life just chillin'. John immediately saw that he had talent, and he squeezed Kahiam hard. He made it painful for Kahiam every day, and Kahiam responded."
The Bobcats threw Hunter into the fire as a true freshman playing cornerback in a physical, aggressive man-to-man defense, probably the most challenging assignment in football. "It wasn't that much of a surprise, because if you're smart and you have some toughness you can play cornerback as a true freshman," Kramer said. "You don't need the strength that you do at some other positions."
Kramer calls Hunter "one of the best four or five cover guys in the conference, maybe the second-best" behind his roommate Thomas. Kramer says each of his three corners -- Thomas, Hunter, and senior Jay Hackett -- have different strengths. "The biggest difference between Kahiam and Joey is that Kahiam really understands the pace of a receiver's route. He is very intuitive about reading a receiver's break. Joey races the receiver, and Jay has especially good catch-up speed. But Kahiam is very good at playing what the receiver is doing, and that makes him the quintessential nickel back."
Hunter knows he and his secondary mates have their work cut out for them this weekend. "We are preparing with more of a sense of urgency," he said. "We know these guys are playmakers, and no matter how good or bad the game gets they're going to throw to these guys, because it's not like if we shut them down we're off the hook because they're going to run the ball. We prepare knowing that we're going to have to play 60 minutes hard."
One of the critical elements of playing cornerback in today's college football world is a short memory, the ability to put immediately put a bad play in the past. Hunter said most successful corners -- especially those that play man-to-man coverage. "Any time you're playing man defense you have to have an attitude, and you have to think that you're the best," Hunter said. "Zone defenses aren't that hard to play in, but in man you're out on a limb. You have to have attitude, you have to have swagger. People look at Joey and think he might be a bad guy, but he's not, that's the mentality you have to have playing cornerback. That's how every cornerback in the NFL is."
Still, Hunter's swagger has not manifested itself in the kind of on-field persona that Thomas has taken. "I'm not a real outspoken guy, I keep to myself, but I know what I have to do and I know what I have to get done. I try to lead by example rather than by saying things, that's the difference between Joey and I."
Hunter knows that he will have some spirited late-night lab sessions in his second classroom -- his apartment, with his roommate -- this week.
"I know we're going to have a lot of them this week, because this is an important game."
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