 Maiden, North Carolina, population 3,500, has been branded as the biggest little football town in the world. The Maiden Blue Devils have been a North Carolina 2A power for years. Caleb Farley was their quarterback not because he was a pure passer, but because he was the fastest guy in the Tar Heel State. Recruiters came calling for Farley and the Speedster picked Virginia Tech. Now, Caleb Farley was not going to be a quarterback in college. Hokey head coach Justin Fuente saw him as either a defensive back or a wide receiver. With plenty of DBs on hand for 2017, Farley initially landed at wide out. Unfortunately, that lasted only 11 periods into the first practice of fall camp. Farley tore an ACL and was done for the season. A double whammy came just five months later. He lost his mother Robin when breast cancer returned for a second time. Farley showed strength and resolve fighting through these struggles and it impressed Justin Fuente. In the spring of 2018, he knew that Farley could handle a football challenge. So Fuente called him into his office for a talk, a talk about moving to defense. I remember sitting here right at this desk. I'm at right now and talking to him about it again. And he said, Coach, he said, I trust you and I'm going to go out there and I'm going to do the best I can at DB. He goes, you know, I've never tackled anybody before. Right. This is a quarterback. Like this isn't even a guy that played both ways. This is the quarterback. So he's like, you know, I've never tackled anybody. So there was a learning curve there, you know, for him. And I think one of the things that's going to help him as he moves forward as he has struggled before. It's so often highlighted that Caleb Farley intercepted two passes in his first college game against Florida State. But 2018 overall was an up and down year for him on defense. The flashes, however, were there. And with a year under his belt, Farley exploded in 2019 as one of the top cornerbacks in the country. His biggest gift, that speed that we mentioned earlier. Every new star that showed up at Blacksburg challenged him to a race and everyone was summarily dismissed having their doors blown off. He's got elite speed and I know the NFL is a fast game and I know there's a lot of guys that can run in the NFL. But he's got elite speed and we'll have an elite speed at the next level. Let me take you back to the start of our story. Remember when we mentioned that Caleb Farley was a quarterback at Maiden High School? Justin Fuente believes that experience has installed in Farley some attributes that don't come with every defensive back. I think playing that position helps you the rest of your life. You know, from public speaking to leadership to handling adversity to receiving criticism. You know, the quarterback gets way too much credit when things go well and too much blame when things don't go well. I think all of that is good for us. Good for the Tennessee Titans as well. Caleb Farley hasn't had it easy and while a great athlete, he's not a finished product and he knows it. His willingness to learn, to trust and to believe along with that world-class speed give him a chance to be a special player for years to come.