Pitt cornerback M.J. Devonshire grew from what he considered an 'embarrassing' performance in the Peach Bowl in 2021.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 >> It took a learning experience in 2021 in the Peaceful.
00:05 I consider myself to be embarrassed.
00:08 I learned that from that experience, you gotta win in all phases.
00:12 You can't seem to take a playoff.
00:15 And to me, I felt like I was better than what I put on film that day.
00:18 And I just told myself from that day on, you gotta win in all phases of coverage.
00:23 So from the line to the second half to the deep half, you gotta learn how to win.
00:28 And I started with just being patient and being square, getting hands on at
00:31 the line of scrimmage.
00:32 And trusting that you have speed and
00:34 there's not a lot of guys that can run by you.
00:36 And working with Bloodman practice, he's one of them guys that will run by you, but
00:40 it's not many guys like him.
00:42 So being able to trust your technique, slide your feet, get hands on,
00:45 and get a run with guys, that's a big thing for me and it's just a decisive.
00:50 >> If it's man to match quarters, I mean, you're alone on an island.
00:54 Wherever that guy goes, it's cat on cat.
00:56 So where do you get that confidence from?
00:58 I have no one behind me, but it's okay.
01:00 >> I started playing football at three and my motivation behind that was like,
01:04 I seen Darrell playing, I seen Ty playing.
01:07 And my first position I learned was the right receiver, the A-P position.
01:11 So that one on one was instilled in my mind before I knew what the lineman did and
01:16 the quarterback did and the linebacker did, the safeties.
01:18 I knew that one on one matchup and I just picked my side being the corner.
01:22 I was like, I wanna be the villain on this.
01:24 I wanna take the guys out of the game.
01:26 I seen how upset guys like Ocho Cinco would be when Darrell would lock him up.
01:31 It's like, I wanna be a guy that gives somebody that feeling.
01:34 So just having the confidence to sit in there, it takes confidence and
01:38 it takes a long time to build that confidence.
01:41 Once you get it, you learn that you can be pretty good on that island.