Young punt returner steps into important role for Tech

BLACKSBURG Jayron Hosley stood alone, staring ahead at the empty turf inside the Georgia Dome, as the other players on the field lined up 50 yards away. He waited to field a punt -- the solitary moment he embraced in high school, when he returned three for touchdowns his senior year. But now, he really wasn't so alone.

Thirteen days shy of his 19th birthday, Hosley was playing an important role in his first game for Virginia Tech -- a true freshman cornerback forced into punt-return duties against Alabama after the Hokies' starting return man, Ryan Williams, fumbled away the evening's first punt.

When Hosley trotted out for the next punt, everyone watched him. The ABC television cameras, broadcasting the game nationally, zoomed in. Above the field, Tech's defensive backs coach, Torrian Gray, looked down at the kid he recruited, waiting to witness the "it" factor that impressed Gray during preseason practices. In the stands, Hosley's mother, Beverly, sat alongside 74,953 other fans, none more emotional than she.

"Catch it!" she shouted at baby boy, the youngest of her six children, the one whose college tuition she and Hosley's stepfather couldn't have afforded without a football scholarship.

Hosley fielded the punt, broke three tackles and gained 11 yards. The cameras moved on to the next shot. Gray saw his assessment confirmed. Beverly cried tears of pride.

That return could end up being Hosley's first of many at Tech. Last week, in his second game, he returned a punt 64 yards for a touchdown. A late and surprising addition to Tech's 2009 class, Hosley is showing the confidence and decisiveness to excel at what Hokies coach Frank Beamer calls "one of the toughest things to do in football."

In recent seasons, the Hokies gave the job to an experienced player. Senior corner Victor "Macho" Harris did it last year, wide receiver Eddie Royal the four previous years. Being a punt returner "takes a certain kind of confidence and toughness and [gutsiness]," Gray said.

Hosley returned his first punt when he was a sophomore at Atlantic High in Delray Beach, Fla., and kept the job until he graduated. Though he said his coaches offered little advice at first, something about returning punts felt familiar. "I'm not sure if there are too many guys that can do it," he said. "It was just kind of a natural thing for me."

Midway through his senior year, he narrowed his college choices to Louisville, South Florida and Tech, which didn't begin pursuing him until last December. He eliminated Louisville after defensive coordinator Bill Miller left. South Florida pressured Hosley to make his choice, Beverly said, but she urged her son, "Don't make any rash decisions."

Hosley knew about Tech because of Brandon Flowers, a former Hokies cornerback who also attended Atlantic and grew up with Hosley's older brother Jeremy. Flowers told Hosley he liked Tech and told the Hokies' coaches to take a look at Hosley.

The Flowers connection helped Gray, who also is from Florida, when he visited Hosley's home in December, shortly after Tech assistant Charley Wiles first stopped in. Gray told the Hosleys about Flowers' development at Tech, which eventually made him a second-round NFL draft pick. "[Gray] reassured me a little deeper than the other coaches," Beverly said.

Gray and Wiles still weren't sure they could get Hosley. In the four years since the Hokies signed Flowers in 2004, they landed two players from Florida. But on the morning of signing day, Hosley called Wiles and said he was coming to Tech.

Hosley immediately impressed Gray with his confidence and body control -- unteachable qualities Gray summarized in with two letters when Tech's coaches met last month. "Obviously, he's young and he's learning," Gray told the staff. "But I think he's got an 'it' factor about him."

The college game did force Hosley to change. He rarely shouted directions to high school teammates during punt returns. Now, before he fair-catches a punt, he must yell "Short!" And when he lets a very short punt fall to the ground, he alerts his teammates to avoid the ball by hollering, "Peter!"

Hosley still relies on most of his old punt-return routine, which works as well as it always has. He prays before every return for his and his teammates' protection. After he catches the ball, he follows a simple strategy: "When you see your hole, you hit your hole," he said. "You have to make quick decisions."

Contact Darryl Slater at (804) 649-6026 or dslater@timesdispatch.com.