Ninth in an 11-part series. Tomorrow is safe.
Back then, Kunyon Mitchell was a man of few words.
That’s why Mitchell’s choices in his first meeting with Corey Parker felt all the more significant.
Parker was hired as Toledo’s defensive backs coach out of a Michigan high school in February 2022, as Mitchell was coming off a promising first season as a starter.
A key relationship that helped Mitchell grow into a two-time All-American began when Parker asked what Mitchell could do to help him reach his full potential.
“He definitely said one of the most memorable things I’ve heard from a player today: ‘Coach me hard and don’t let anything slip away,'” Parker told the Post. Ta. “At that moment, I knew I could give him my all without flinching. Sometimes you want to passionately tell kids how important a certain technique or a certain play is, but something like that Some players didn’t grow up in an environment where it was accepted to speak with passion.”
In two years, Mitchell could become the first cornerback selected in the top half of the first round of the 2024 draft.
“His performance at the Senior Bowl was one of the best I’ve ever seen from a cornerback,” ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller said. he told the Post. “The way he fought in practice, he was handling guys. Receivers were trying to get off the line of scrimmage and he was like, ‘No.’ I loved watching his tape and he was so polished, but in the back of his mind he was like, “This is Toledo.” How good is this? ‘ That’s a really, really good answer. ”
So what was the harsh coaching from Parker to Mitchell like?
“Set ridiculously high goals and work towards them,” Parker said. “We coached him hard after he dropped three interceptions.” [early in the 2022 season], leading up to the Northern Illinois game, “After a tough practice, I’m going to catch an extra 40 dog-gone balls.” If you’re mad at me about that, I don’t care . Please catch the ball. ” ”
Mitchell had four interceptions against Northern Illinois (tying the most in a game by an NCAA player since 1972) and returned two for touchdowns.
“He takes defensive football and makes it offensive,” Parker said. “He’s not just a big, strong, fast guy. He’s a big, strong, fast guy who’s starting to pay attention to the details of the offense. He’s going to try to take out the best parts of his receivers. . If a man is going to hit you, let him do something unpleasant. That’s how we lived.”
Mitchell’s breakthrough in the 2022 season has sparked transfer interest.
Parker said he was told he could command “$250,000 to $350,000” in NIL funds.
But when Mitchell sat out the 2019 season because he was academically ineligible to graduate high school, he saw an opportunity to repay Toledo for the loyalty it had shown him in recruiting.
“Trudio always reached out. That’s why I went to Toledo,” Mitchell said at the NFL combine. “I was feeling humbled. Being out for six months made me realize that it’s bigger than football and I have to take care of myself off the field as well.”
At 6 feet tall and 195 pounds, Mitchell has the combination of size, strength and speed teams look for in press man-to-man coverage.
Mitchell bench pressed 20 times at 225 pounds and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.33 seconds. These were the best and second-best records, respectively, among cornerbacks at the combine.
“I’m not here to be mediocre,” Mitchell said. “I’m here to break the record.”
Mitchell’s speed is the difference in closing in on balls thrown in front of him, creating pass breakups for 6-yard catches (a school record 46 in his career), and chasing down free ball carriers. There is a possibility that it will give rise to On the other side of the defense.
But it’s his physicality that’s harder to quantify, so it’s more challenging for scouts to pinpoint it.
Parker passed on coverage techniques to Mitchell that he learned from Jeff Hafley at the Ohio State coaching clinic and refined under Mike McDonald and Chris Hewitt during the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship with the Ravens. .
It would be surprising, a few years later, if Hafley (Packers defensive coordinator), McDonald (Seahawks head coach), and Hewitt (Ravens assistant head coach) were among those who liked what they saw. I don’t think so.
“This young man came into my office and said, ‘Coach, we’re family, but I’m not family.’ [transferring] Everywhere,” Parker said. “What would have happened if I hadn’t coached him so hard? What if I had always told him that everything he did was good? Or what if he didn’t do anything bad? Did you harp on everything you did? Without being condescending, you can ask for 4 seconds to pat yourself on the back when you do something good. It’s time to play.”
Mitchell’s next play will be as a highly touted NFL rookie.
