JACKSONVILLE, Ala. — Former Colorado defensive coordinator Charles Kelly saw first hand Travis Hunter play both sides of the ball.
During the Alabama Sports Writers Association convention on Sunday, the now Jax State football coach was asked where he would play the Jacksonville Jaguars star if he was Hunter’s head coach in the NFL.
“I’m playing him on defense and let him play offense in situations. I’m playing him on defense,” Kelly said. “Most important thing you can do on your defense is get the ball. he can go get the ball. I would play him more zone type, he can play man-to-man, but he is deadly when his eyes are to the quarterback, he’s deadly. When he can see where that quarterback is looking, he can find the ball.”
Kelly oversaw Hunter in 2023, during the two-way star sophomore season, the first season he played at Colorado after transferring from Jackson State when Deion Sanders was hired by the Buffaloes. That season, Hunter won the Paul Hornung Award for the most versatile player in the sport while earning All-American honors.
He had three interceptions and pass break ups on the year, to go with 30 tackles. Kelly said that they couldn’t play to Hunter’s greatest strength due to other weakness that year.
“I do think he can play offense. You can put things in offensively scheme wise to get him open,” Kelly said. “Galdstone called me about the week before the draft and talked to me about him. I was like listen when this guy eyes on the quarterback, he is going to find the football. That’s what hurt us with him, we weren’t good enough up front to play a lot of zone, we had to play a lot of man-to-man because we had to create things.”
Hunter would go on to win the Heisman Trophy in 2024, after Kelly returned to his alma mater, Auburn to be the co-defensive coordinator, before being hired in December as the Jax State football coach.
Hunter was drafted with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars, who plan to play Hunter on both sides of the ball.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Travis Hunter’s ex-college coach: Why Jacksonville Jaguars rookie should only play defense
Reporting by Maxwell Donaldson, Gadsden Times / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
