David Ching, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

Mecole Hardman will focus on playing just CB for now, says Kirby Smart

Mecole Hardman might someday become a two-way player at Georgia, but that is not in the Bulldogs’ immediate plans. Simply learning one position is enough of an obstacle for the freshman as he approaches his first preseason camp.

“Right now he’s not [playing offense],” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said last week during his SEC Car Wash appearance at ESPN headquarters. “His role is to try to be a corner and develop as a corner.”

Hardman was one of the nation’s most coveted prospects -- he was No. 48 overall player on the ESPN 300 and the No. 2 athlete -- when he signed with Georgia in February. However, Hardman split his time between offense and defense in high school, primarily serving as a run-first quarterback as well as a part-time member of the secondary.

If he is to have multiple responsibilities on his college resume, he must first learn the finer points of playing cornerback -- and that’s a process that will take time.

“He is a perfect example of a really highly recruited [prospect], everybody talks about him,” Smart said. “He was a good quarterback on his high school team, rocket sweep guy, and now he’s going to go play corner. So the patience with this kid is going to have to be tremendous on our part, but also on his part.”

Patience rarely comes easily to an athlete of Hardman’s caliber. He is accustomed to being one of the best players on the field, but he also has a lot to learn about playing his new position in a full-time capacity.

With preseason camp set to start next week, Smart and defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach Mel Tucker know it will be important to encourage the talented young freshman.

He might develop into the shutdown corner that they envisioned on national signing day. If he does it in the first practice, all the better. But a more responsible approach will be to expect progress to occur slowly.

“Kids get frustrated when they don’t have success early,” Smart said. “When you move a guy’s position and he doesn’t have success, I’ll bet you anything he’s sitting in my office Game 2 saying, ‘Coach, can I move?’ but ultimately that’s not the best position for you in your career. I think there’s a Catch-22 in that: Do you want success now or do you want long-term success?”

The good news for Hardman is that playing time is available should he earn it with a solid performance in August.

Cornerback Malkom Parrish started every game for Georgia’s top-ranked pass defense a year ago, while Aaron Davis, Juwan Briscoe and Rico McGraw also gained experience as part-time starters. But Smart hinted that Georgia’s pass defense stats -- the Bulldogs led the nation by allowing 156.5 yards per game -- were deceptive because then-defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt had exceptional pass rushers like Leonard Floyd and Jordan Jenkins who pressured quarterbacks into mistakes.

“We have depth, and those guys had really good numbers last year, but we had probably better corners at Alabama last year than we have right now. We just put them at risk more,” said Smart, Alabama’s longtime defensive coordinator who replaced Mark Richt as Georgia’s head coach last December. “Pruitt did a good job of protecting those guys and had really good rushers up front -- guys that got there really fast.”

If Smart wants better play from his secondary in 2016, perhaps Hardman’s emergence will help that occur. But if that doesn’t happen from day one, remember Smart’s warning against getting discouraged.

These things take time, and Hardman is just starting to learn on the job.

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