From Hoops To The Gridiron, Hester Is Catching On

CHAPEL HILL – Records are not kept on these sorts of things, but one would imagine, if they were, Kevin Hester might be near or at the top of an interesting list.

Just eight days after his first ever football practice, which came in early May of 2018, Hester earned not just one but two scholarship offers from FBS schools. Southern Mississippi extended first followed by Boston College.

Eight days, and the basketball-turned-football playing Hester was suddenly on everyone’s grid iron radar.

Fast forward three years, and he is making noise at North Carolina on the football field. A learning process for two years, which included the 6-foot-4, 305-pounder from Kennesaw, GA, playing three snaps in 2019 and 126 last fall, (10 tackles, one forced and one recovered fumble) Hester is now finding comfort in what he is doing. And he is having a blast.

“A lot of value, reps,” Hester replied, when asked how much he got out of getting onto the field some last season. “I didn’t have a lot of experience coming out of high school, (so) the more reps I got the more I got into it. I’m loving it right now, loving the reps. Love learning about this and just keep going.”

Hester has been all about the process. A standout basketball player at North Cobb High School, which included an honorable mention All-Metro in the Atlanta area honor as a junior, and his status on the North Metro Elite AAU team, Hester did not start playing football until the spring of his junior year.

He was a novice to the point where just putting on the shoulder pads was an extremely new experience. So, he began to learn. Three-point stance. Four-point stance. Three-I technique, four-I, uses of hands, extension, swim technique, the physicality of playing in the trenches and more. All new to Hester.

But he loved it. He wanted more. So now as Hester continues morphing into a big-time college football player in a program with huge expectations, and he has reached the point where fine-tuning his craft is his mantra.

“I’ve been really looking at consistency,” he said. “Since I didn’t really have a lot of experience coming out of high school, starting out (playing) my senior year, so that’s my biggest thing.”

Hester worked with the first team at times during some of UNC’s scrimmages this spring, and he looked every bit the part. If one were to peer in closely, they might see the footwork of a basketball player, maybe even the grace, too.

But football is also a sport about controlled and at times unbridled aggression. Beat the guy in front of you and help your team. Period.

Hester’s teammates have seen him make that leap.

“You just notice him more when he’s on the field,” UNC safety and nickel Don Chapman said about Hester. “Last year, he was a little but more quiet, he wasn’t as aggressive. Now, you can see the aggression and physicalness he brings to the defense, and I really like that.”

Hester said he mainly worked this spring at the four-I along the defensive line. That notes where the tackle lines up, which is across from an offensive tackle and shaded just a tad to his inside shoulder.

This is a vital spot along the line, as the four-I tackle must be athletic enough to get around a tackle and rush the passer, but also stout enough to play gap control and slow or stop running backs. Sometimes, the four-I defensive tackle must fend off multiple blockers, so being able to consume them to free up a teammate is part of the job as well.

Hester is part of a gifted and deep unit, though when he arrived it was anything but. His development, however, especially in a spot in which four-I guys don’t exactly grow on trees, is paramount for the Tar Heels’ front to come along as expected and needed if they’re to reach the program’s lofty goals in 2021.

He says things are coming along well.

“As a whole, we can be a great defense,” Hester said. “We have a lot of talent. All it is, is just learning. Once we get that down, the sky’s the limit for us.”

Hester has learned a ton yet is just gracing the tip of his potential. And just think, three years ago he wasn’t even on North Cobb’s football radar, and now he’s an integral part of a top-10 team.