University of North Carolina Athletics
Boston Uncommon
August 19, 2011 | Football
Aug. 19, 2011
By Kevin Chandler
Coming out of high school, sophomore Tre Boston was ranked the No. 8 athlete in Florida by the Orlando Sun-Sentinel. Being listed as an athlete meant he had the ability to play multiple positions. Last season, he played in 10 games and started four as a true freshman at cornerback. This past spring, Boston switched from cornerback to safety. However, sophomore cornerback Jabari Price injured a tendon in his left hand in Tuesday's practice, and this meant there could be a void at the cornerback position.
Price is scheduled to have surgery on Friday and his status will be updated soon after. In the meantime, Boston is prepared to do whatever he has to do to help his team. Thursday, he did just that, switching from safety back to cornerback during practice. "I'm willing to do whatever my team needs me to do. It was just another transition for me, I'm used to it; I played it last year."
Whether the change is permanent or not, time will tell. Boston doesn't seem to have a preference over one or the other. He feels he can contribute and make an impact at both positions. Boston also had a smooth transition from corner to safety, and feels the same will hold true if he does have to end up switching back to his original position. "It was feeling good, I love it," Boston says. "But, moving back to corner is the same thing. I feel natural at both places, I feel like I could do both. I just try to do for my team what's best for us."
There are obviously some differences between cornerback and safety. But, Boston played the position last season, and the time he saw at the safety position will ultimately help him at cornerback. "Now that I played safety, I know a lot more about corner that makes it easy for me to go back," Boston says.
If Price does have to miss a considerable amount of time, interim head coach Everett Withers feels the depth at cornerback will be fine, and that has a lot to do with the versatility of Tre Boston. "We wanted to see what he could do at safety," Withers says. "We feel like we've got a good idea at safety what he could do. We wanted to give him some reps at corner so we could have some ideas where we might be able to use him. We might be able to use him at both spots."
Fellow defensive back Matt Merletti feels the future is bright for Boston, and his ability to play multiple positions makes him a unique type of player. "He is an unbelievable athlete," Merletti says. "He's one of the best I've seen in the five years I've been here at Carolina. He's a smart kid. He picks things up quickly, and his raw athleticism helps him on the field in ways that I wish I could do. It's pretty special to see somebody like that because he has a grasp on the game and the defense, but when he gets to know it really well, he's going to be dangerous. He's going to be very, very good and he really has a promising future ahead of him."
Boston has been through a lot over the course of the past year. From dealing with the distractions of the 2010 season, to being called upon to start at cornerback earlier in his career, to gaining 25 pounds since coming to Carolina, and now dealing with the possibly of changing positions twice in just one year. He has also had to deal with coaching changes.
At the beginning of this month, Steve Sisa was promoted to safeties coach after working last year in player development. At first, Boston was skeptical of the change, but now he feels he brings a lot to the table. "He brings leadership," Boston says. "I'm not going to lie, at first we were thinking, how is this going to be? But, he's a great guy. He knows our program a lot. He knows the playbook and he makes sure we know exactly what we're doing. He doesn't yell at us. He doesn't tell us what we do wrong because he knows what we do wrong. He just tells us to do better next time. He gives us our opportunities, and with those, we execute for him and we try to work as hard as we can for him."
With everything that Boston has been through, he seems to be prepared for anything that may come his way. It's evident that he wants to win and will do anything to make that happen, even if that means he has to play cornerback and safety interchangeably. Either way, it will be intriguing to watch what role Boston has and his development not only this season, but and the rest of his career at Carolina.
Kevin Chandler is a 2011 graduate of the University of North Carolina
