Background: He may be the most hyped cornerback since Deion Sanders, who is counseling him on handling the hype.
Stat line: He returned four kicks – three punts – for touchdowns last year, and people around the program call him Miami’s most gifted athlete in the past 10 years, a period when the Hurricanes had 27 first-round draft picks.
What’s up: Hester was the subject of Nick Lachey’s major fawn job on ESPN’s “College GameDay.” The piece compared him to Sanders, one of the great college and pro cornerbacks in the past two decades. Hester, though, doesn’t even start. He is listed behind senior Marcus Maxey at right corner. And in Monday’s opener at Florida State, Hester mishandled two punts.
What’s next: The Hurricanes plan to keep playing him at wide receiver and hope to get him on the field more on defense, maybe in their next game, Sept. 17 at Clemson. “Devin will still be used on offense from time to time,” defensive coordinator Randy Shannon told The Orlando Sentinel. “On defense, he’s got to learn a lot of schemes, a lot of sets. On offense, he just needs to learn seven or eight plays.”
Henderson’s take: Any player who goes two ways and returns kicks is going to get hype, particularly when he shows the game-breaking ability Hester did last season. Lachey, though, was too busy asking about Neon Deion to get into meaty issues as why Hester doesn’t start. Hester is more flash than technique. He led the Hurricanes in interceptions with four a year ago, but his coverage technique isn’t very good, his coaches say, and for good reason. Last year was his first at cornerback.
