A few days ago, the Alabama State coaches sat down together and discussed the type of players they hoped to recruit to the school in coming years. With several new coaches, including a new head coach, on the staff and with recruiting starting to really heat up, the ASU coaches just wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page.
So, they spent a little time tossing out attributes and building the ideal ASU player. When they had finished, head coach Reggie Barlow noticed something a little strange.
"We already had our ideal player on campus," Barlow said. "It's Jay Peck."
From academics to community work to leadership, Peck is the player every coach dreams of. He's the all-star on the field, the excellent student in the classroom and an unofficial spokesman at team events.
"You can't beat Jay Peck," Barlow said. "Really, having him on this team is just a blessing. He does so much for you and sets such a great example for the rest of the players. You can take a young guy and show him Jay Peck and say, 'That's what you're shooting for.' You don't get many guys like that."
What's really odd, though, is to have a guy like that and not know it. Yet, that's exactly what happened with Peck during his first three years at ASU.
When he first joined the team in 2003, Peck was a little-known walk-on who the coaches felt deserved a chance. For the next three years, which included one redshirt season, he was the third-string running back behind two of the top rushers in the conference. Finally, in 2006, with those two backs gone, Peck was in line for the top spot.
Wrong. He opened the season as the third-string back behind a couple of freshmen. "I never stopped believing in myself," Peck said. "I knew I could do whatever they were asking of me, whatever they needed. I just needed the opportunity to prove it. But I never got frustrated really. I just worked harder."Finally, a game into the 2006 season, after a blowout loss to start the year, Peck found himself starting. But that had less to do with the coaches' recognizing his talent and more to do with the complete ineffectiveness of the two guys in front of him. Making Peck the starter was a move made out of desperation more than anything else.
Sometimes, desperate measures work just fine.
Peck's first carry went for nine yards. His second went for 10. He finished the game with 20 carries for 130 yards and a touchdown.
"I think he just got buried behind some guys and nobody knew he was that talented," said Barlow, who was an assistant on both the 2005 and 2006 teams. "That happens sometimes. You'll get a guy who just needs that game situation to show you what he can do. When we gave it to Peck, he made the most of it."
And the Hornets made the most of him.
Over the next nine games, no back in the conference -- and few in college football -- carried more times than Peck's 229 carries. And only one back in the SWAC - Arkansas-Pine Bluff's Martell Mallet - had more total yards and touchdowns than Peck.
"People asked me if I didn't get worn down," Peck said. "But I loved it. This is what you play for."
And now, the guy few fans knew before the second game last season finds himself all over the place. He's on billboards, fliers, the team media guide and even the passes to games. He's an all-conference selection and is listed as one of the top running back prospects in black college football. When the football team participates in a public event, such as the conference's media day, Peck is Barlow's first choice.
For all intents and purposes, for his senior year, Jay Peck is the face of Alabama State football.
"It is a little surreal," Peck says, laughing. "I certainly don't mind doing any of that stuff. I'm a humble guy, so I'm not completely comfortable with the posters and stuff. But I see it all as such an honor. To think about where I was and to have all of this happening, yeah, it's pretty cool. I guess it just goes to show that if you keep working, good things will happen."
* The One Who Got Away: Barlow and the ASU coaching staff had been working this week to sign 6-foot-6, 320-pound offensive lineman Matthew Hardick, who recently was released by Florida State.
But ASU admission standards got in the way.
"We had the kid. He was ready to sign," Barlow said. "He had taken some sort of remedial class or something at Florida State that we don't accept here. It wasn't NCAA rules, it was our rules. He was eligible to play. Could've been on the field this afternoon and playing in this weekend's game."
Barlow said it now appears that Hardrick will sign with Texas Southern, who the Hornets face in week two.
"I guess we'll get to see him play up close," Barlow said. "He'll be hard to miss."
Hardrick was ranked as the No. 8 offensive lineman in the country by Rivals, a recruiting Web site, two years ago and logged some playing time for the Seminoles last season. He had chosen ASU after taking visits to South Florida, Central Florida and Florida International. Because he's dropping a division to play at Texas Southern, Hardrick will be eligible to play immediately
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