By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE –– Josh Hayes grew up in sunny Lakeland, Fla., about 35 miles east of Tampa, and he wasn’t fully prepared for what awaited him when he flew to Fargo to visit North Dakota State University in January 2017.
“It was my first time seeing snow,” Hayes recalled with a laugh at the McCue Center. “I just thought that was the coolest thing in the world. And once they showed me those rings, I was just like, ‘Yeah, this is where I want to go.’ ”
Starting in 2011, the Bison had reeled off five straight Football Championship Subdivision titles, and Hayes, then a senior at Lake Gibson High School, was eager to be part of that tradition.
His decision paid off for both parties. During Hayes’ four seasons in the program, he appeared in 52 games and helped North Dakota State win three more FCS championships (2017, ’18, ’19). And now, after earning a bachelor’s degree in university studies from NDSU, he’s ready to experience life at the Football Bowl Subdivision level.
The NCAA ruled last year that, with the COVID-19 pandemic ongoing, student-athletes who competed in 2020-21 would not have to count that season toward their eligibility. Hayes, a 5-11, 185-pound cornerback, decided to play his final college season at the University of Virginia, whose coaches are delighted to have him on Grounds.
“Great kid,” said Ricky Brumfield, who oversees the Cavaliers’ cornerbacks. “He fits with the kind of kids we’re trying to bring in.”
UVA announced Hayes’ signing in late April. Not long after, head coach Bronco Mendenhall said on a videoconference that Hayes “wants to prove he can cover anybody at any level in any stadium in any place, and we need another defensive back that has that mindset and that ability. I love experience. I love mindset. I love production, and what bigger stage can you come from at the FCS level than that? I love winners as well.”
Hayes arrived in Charlottesville last month. His new teammates include offensive lineman Zachary Teter, with whom Hayes played in high school.
“I watched him grow up a little bit,” said Hayes, who was two grades ahead of Teter at Lake Gibson.
When Hayes asked him what he could expect at UVA, Teter didn’t sugarcoat anything.
“I just told him exactly what Bronco kind of expects everyone to say,” Teter recalled. “It’s a hard program. There’s not going to be a day where it’s an easy day off. But it is definitely one of the most rewarding programs. Everything you get, you’ll cherish it more than if, say, you were going somewhere else and they just gave you something.”
The Cavaliers lost multiple defensive backs to season-ending injuries in 2019 and again in 2020, and the coaching staff was determined to beef up the secondary this year. Two experienced cornerbacks have joined the program since the end of last season: Anthony Johnson and Hayes.
A graduate transfer from Louisville, Johnson enrolled midyear and went through spring practice with the Wahoos.
“We didn’t have a lot of great depth, older depth [last season],” Brumfield said. “We had some younger guys that we feel really, really confident in, but we wanted to get some more experienced depth in the secondary to help lock down some top receivers.”
Hayes started 22 consecutive games at cornerback for the Bison, and Virginia’s coaches believe he has the physical tools to thrive in the ACC. Equally important, Brumfield said is that “he’s a winner. That can’t be taught all the time. He’s used to winning.”
That was true at Lake Gibson, too. Hayes “was that kind of guy that came to work every day,” Teter said. “He was the funny guy, talking to everyone, but when it was time to practice, when it was time to put in the work, he was silent and just did what he had to do.”
Off the field, Teter said, Hayes “tried to talk to as many people on the team as he could and be friends with everyone. But once he got on that field, there wasn’t a play where he was not around the ball.”
As a senior in 2016, Hayes intercepted four passes, recorded 67 tackles and helped the Braves advance to Florida’s 6A state championship game. Even so, Hayes said, he received little interest from FBS programs, and not because he was a late bloomer athletically.
“Coming out of high school, I just didn’t take football that seriously, in terms of working out and my diet and all that stuff,” Hayes said. “So when I got to college, I kind of jumped on top of those things, and it helped me flourish.”
His first start for the Bison came against James Madison in the FCS national championship game, when Hayes was a true freshman. NDSU prevailed 17-13, and that first title “was probably the best feeling in the world,” Hayes said. “That was amazing.”
Another North Dakota State cornerback had been injured in the FCS semifinals, Hayes said, “so I got thrown into the lineup, and I feel like I did pretty well, so it was rewarding, for sure. It felt great to be up on that stage, holding the trophy. The second one was pretty fun, too.”
He smiled. “The third one, it was just like, ‘OK, I’ve been here before, I know what’s going on. Of course it’s fun, because you worked all season to get there, so it feels good, but it wasn’t that big of a deal once we got there.”