HUNTINGTON — Terrell Edwards-Maye recalled his defensive exploits while a star at UMS-Wright Prep in Mobile, Ala.

“In high school I was a running back until we played Julio Jones and I played safety so I could guard him,” Edwards-Maye said.

“And that was the one game that I was on defense.”

I didn’t ask how he fared covering Jones, a Parade All-American at Foley High who now is one of the country’s best college receivers at reigning national champion Alabama. The results were not important.

Rather, it was a fact more telling of Edwards-Maye the person, not the player.

See, that wasn’t the one game he played on defense just in high school.

It was his only defensive experience, ever. Never in middle school or even in midget league.

To take on the challenge of covering a receiver who will be one day likely getting paid a whole lot of money to catch footballs lets everyone in on just what kind of person and teammate Edwards-Maye is.

So it really comes as no surprise that the Marshall junior graciously accepted his move from running back to linebacker when the news was broken to him just before the start of camp last month.

That doesn’t mean the switch didn’t bother him at first.

“At first, naturally, like anybody else when you have been doing something all your life and you have to change,” he said. “But now I’m enjoying it. I love the guys that I’m in the (meeting) room with. The coach (defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Chris Rippon) is a hands-on guy and extremely nice. I appreciate everything that he has done for me because he has been extremely patient. I have messed up on tons of plays.”

That is to be expected. After all, offense is all Edwards-Maye has ever known.

There was plenty of trepidation on his part, so he turned to family for guidance. He called his father Kelvin in search of advice.

Kelvin was insightful, but also had to do something that was probably tough for a father to do. He left the discussion unfinished, knowing the 21-year-old had to figure some of it out on his own.

“His exact words were, ‘Son, sometimes God moves people into different positions to allow them to be successful with the gifts that He has given them.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’” Edwards-Maye recalled. “He said, ‘You’ve been a running back all your life. You have the speed that most linebackers don’t possess.’ He was like, ‘Maybe this is a good move for you.’

“And then he was just quiet. I was like, ‘What do you mean? Are you not going to elaborate?’ He kind of left me thinking. He was just like, ‘Call me back when you’ve figured it out.’”

Edwards-Maye did some thinking. He talked to his fiancee about it. It was then that he realized just what his dad had said: This was going to be an opportunity.

“I called coach Rip up, got the playbook and I was in the meeting room at 8 o’clock that night watching film,” he said.

Edwards-Maye isn’t on the two-deep for Marshall’s season opener Thursday night at No. 2 Ohio State. He’s still working on the craft, and it’s hard to tell if he will see the field at Ohio Stadium.

“I feel like I am understanding the system better,” he said. “I’m (practicing) as hard as I can to try to make a few plays. I’m running around, flying to the ball.”

Edwards-Maye’s move wasn’t the only switch made in camp by first-year head coach Doc Holliday. Gator Hoskins and C.J. Crawford were both moved from receiver to tight end. So impressive has been Hoskins that he is second on the depth chart behind senior starter Lee Smith.

Then there was quarterback Willy Korn, the Clemson transfer who was moved to safety after losing out in a four-man battle for the starting job. He disliked the move so much that he transferred right out of Huntington to a small college in his native South Carolina.

Leaving Huntington never entered Edwards-Maye’s mind.

“Oh, no sir. I love Marshall. I wouldn’t leave for the world,” he said. “Even if I quit playing football and hadn’t finished school, I would still be here finishing out school. Then I would probably try to go out into the workforce. I like the school, I like the atmosphere, I love Huntington. It’s a nice place to be in and a nice place to live. I wouldn’t think about leaving.”

Not surprising from such a stand-up guy.

— E-mail: gfauber@register-herald.com