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CARDINALS

There's method to Louisville CB Charles Gaines' madness

Steve Jones
@stevejones_cj
Louisville's Charles Gaines during a scrimmage game on Saturday at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. (By David Lee Hartlage, Special to the C-J) Aug. 16, 2014.

"Your shoes are big. Your jersey's big. Your helmet's too tight. Your head's little. You ain't a good player."

These are things Charles Gaines reminds his opponent on the football field.

Gaines, the University of Louisville's loquacious junior cornerback, considers his position the most difficult in the sport, so he does what he can to seize a mental edge from the wide receivers he has to defend. As he puts it, "I'm trying to think for him."

"I believe in talking a player out of his game," he said. "Once I get a receiver to pay attention or listen to what I'm saying to him, I just know I've won."

U of L's media day this month was an opportunity for Gaines to do what he does well — talk — and he provided reporters with an insight into his approach to one-on-one matchups with receivers.

"If I just let him be in his zone and be focused, it's going to be hard for me," he said. "Cornerback's hard. We could be winning by 40 points, and as long as you're still in the game, if somebody scores a touchdown on you, that's going to hold a lot of weight on my chest. I try to make sure he's as uncomfortable as possible."

Gaines' strategy was effective in 2013. A former wide receiver himself, he started 10 games and led the Cardinals with five interceptions, including four in the last six games, in his first full season on defense. The speedster scored three return touchdowns — on an interception, a kickoff and a blocked punt — and is on the watch list for the 2014 Paul Hornung Award, given to the nation's most versatile player.

After reviewing film and stat sheets from games, he concluded that a big reason for his success last year was that he got in receivers' heads multiple times.

"I look at the ratio of what this receiver caught on me or what our defense did as a whole for passing yards, and I'll just feel like, 'What I did on this down was different,' " Gaines said. "I didn't jam him, so I had to talk him out of his game."

His mind games aren't limited to opposing players. He said he also likes "to mingle" with opposing coaches before the game.

"I ask them questions like, 'Why didn't you recruit me?' " said the Miami native, who remembers posing that question to a coach from the University of Miami before the Cards' 36-9 blowout of the Hurricanes in the Russell Athletic Bowl.

Gaines has always considered himself a leader on the field who encourages and helps his younger teammates, and that approach paid off with him being named one of the Cards' captains this season.

"When I first got here, he's been doing that, so that's all I know (is) him taking charge, hustling, leading them," cornerbacks coach Terrell Buckley said. "He has all the tools to be a tremendous cornerback. He has continued to grow, learn the game and learn the cornerback position."

Gaines, who built a confident attitude playing against top competition at Miami Central High School, has established himself as an NFL prospect, and he could have the option of turning pro early if he has another good season. He is rated the No. 83 2015 draft prospect by CBSSports.com.

Seeing defensive teammates Calvin Pryor, Marcus Smith and Preston Brown work hard and get drafted after last season has motivated Gaines to apply the same effort to reach the same goal.

"They made sure every day I came to work, put in hard work and dedication to this program," he said. "When I do get a chance to see them on that next level, it's awesome."

Gaines said his outlook on football has changed during his time at U of L. He credits former coach Charlie Strong and assistants Clint Hurtt and Vance Bedford for helping him realize it's more than a game to him. Strong explained the work Gaines puts in now could position him to be able to pay his mother's rent someday.

"I understand why I play football, why I run sprints, why I catch balls and why I wake up every morning," Gaines said. "I don't just run for me. I run for my teammates and their families. They run for me and for my family."

He treats football seriously, but he's a funny guy, too. He said his behavior on the field and in the locker room operates like a "light switch" that he flips from playful to serious, based on the time and place.

He respects that coach Bobby Petrino is "mainly business," but he believes keeping the mood light is also beneficial the Cards.

"I like to have fun the majority of the time because I believe that's what our team picks up on," he said. "If you're walking around dead and you're supposed to be the leader, people are going to feed off you. So I just like to be joyful and always smile and joke and crack jokes with my teammates."

Steve Jones can be reached at (502) 582-7176 and followed on Twitter at @SteveJones_CJ.