The sense of relief Minkah Fitzpatrick felt when he saw "No. 29, left corner" on Alabama's rep chart before the first day of spring practice wouldn't last long.
Seven practices later, he was out of his more natural position of cornerback and back where he ended last season, at safety, continuing what has been a familiar merry-go-round in the Crimson Tide secondary the past two seasons.
But the countless hours spent in the film room with head coach Nick Saban and defensive backs coach Derrick Ansley cross-training for different positions haven't been without positive results for Fitzpatrick. In doing so, he has become one of the faces of a growing trend toward hybrid players on defense. Last October, he had three interceptions as a cornerback against Arkansas, and four weeks after that, upon after taking over for an injured Eddie Jackson at safety, he had a key fourth-quarter pick during a 10-0 win at LSU.
"He pretty much can do everything in my eyes," cornerback Anthony Averett said. "Put him at corner, safety, star; wherever you want to put Minkah, he can play."
It's fitting that the player most likely to be the first Alabama product off the board in next year's NFL draft actually began his career at the "star" position, the term for the dime cornerback borrowed from Saban's time with Bill Belichick in Cleveland. And it's a double dose of irony that Fitzpatrick could be in for a huge payday in the pass-happy NFL playing the emerging position of slot cornerback, which is better known as nickel or "money" at Alabama.
In today's game, where spread, no-huddle offenses put a premium on versatility on defense, it's players like Fitzpatrick, Virginia Tech's Terrell Edmunds and Florida State's Derwin James who are carving out new paths in the secondary.
"It's really unique to have a guy that's as smart as [Fitzpatrick] is and has a good understanding of the game that really can play all those positions," Saban said.
James, who had 91 tackles and 4.5 sacks as a freshman before suffering a season-ending injury last season, has added cornerback to his already full plate this offseason and is said to be able to play all 11 positions on defense now, although we haven't seen him line up as defensive tackle just yet.
Former Michigan star Jabrill Peppers became a first-round pick in April in large part because of his ability to play multiple positions, and ESPN NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. has Fitzpatrick and James as top-five prospects for next year's draft.
Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald called the rise in similar hybrid players in college a "trickle-down" from the NFL.
A decade ago, a nickelback might have been the third-best cornerback on the roster. But now, with star slot receivers such as Christian Kirk in college and Julian Edelman in the NFL, the nickelback might actually be the best playmaker on defense. Coaches such as Fitzgerald are looking for so-called "position flexibility" during the recruiting process, eyeing corners who could grow into safety types or safeties with linebacker characteristics.
"You see after first down -- normal down like second-and-long and second-and-medium -- you're seeing a lot of young men that are these hybrid-type players," Fitzgerald, a former linebacker, said.
Some schools call their hybrid DB a "rover," and Fitzgerald has appropriately dubbed his "cat." At Kentucky, Mark Stoops went with the term "tweener" for the guy who can be any mix of corner, safety or linebacker.
Last season, that so-called tweener was Marcus McWilson, whom Stoops called unique for how athletic, physical and explosive he was as a 6-foot, 210-pound safety/nickelback. With another year of development, Stoops thought McWilson, who signed as an undrafted free agent with the Raiders, would have been able to add some outside linebacker duties playing on the line of scrimmage and rushing the quarterback as well.
"We all use them to our own role that fits our system," Stoops said. "We may call them different things, but the bottom line is you need versatile players."
Up front, the idea of the traditional defensive end is fading away, too, giving way to a new term: "edge." Not quite a defensive end and not quite a traditional outside linebacker, the hybrid position is redefining the way we look at pass-rushers in college football.
Tim Williams, who was too thin to play with his hand in the dirt every down, fit the mold of the dominant, undersized pass-rusher at Alabama before he was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens. Now it's the 230-pound Arden Key of LSU or the 250-pound Harold Landry from Boston College who are rushing the quarterback from the standing position or moving out in space to cover a tight end or receiver.
"I look at my depth chart now, and I only have one end in there," said Stoops, who uses a 3-4 defense similar to Alabama's.
"I'm just talking football philosophy here," he added, "but when you talk about the outside linebackers in a 3-4 or the hybrid or the true nickel, there's a lot on those guys. There's a lot of nuances that they have to understand and be good at. There are a lot of techniques that are expected of those players.
"It takes some experience. It takes some instincts. It takes guys that can understand things and the game comes easier to."
Whether we're early on in the current defensive renaissance or near its end, Fitzgerald can't say. But like anything in football, he believes it's cyclical.
"We're in the Big Ten West, man," Fitzgerald said. "You still have to stop the run to win this league. If you're getting a bunch of featherweights and not enough heavyweights, it's going to be hard to stop. ... But you look through our tape: We put linebackers on the edge, we put DBs on the edge."
But in the Big 12, things are different, Fitzgerald was quick to point out. With teams like Oklahoma and Oklahoma State throwing the ball all over the yard, Northwestern might have to change its approach in favor of speed over strength.
Just look at Alabama. When the SEC changed over into a primarily spread league, Saban had to come to grips with that reality and began recruiting differently. The days of 350-pound behemoths like Terrence Cody are now long gone, along with linebackers the size of Courtney Upshaw and Dont'a Hightower. Mark Barron, who was twice an All-American safety at nearly 215 pounds for Saban from 2010 to 2011, has stayed roughly the same weight but moved to outside linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL.
"We'd play six teams that got in a huddle and we'd play six fastball teams. So what do you become?" Saban said.
The answer: "We're faster at every position."
But when defenses change, expect offenses to change along with them.
When Tom Herman gets rolling at Texas and Matt Campbell at Iowa State does the same, the coaches' ability to run power out of spread formations could throw Big 12 defenses for a loop.
"It's cyclical," Fitzgerald said. "It goes in that route, and then the defenses catch up. It's no doubt an evolving process."
Where it ends up is anyone's guess. But one thing is certain: What makes Fitzpatrick, James and Key hard to define in terms of a single position is exactly what makes them the most valuable moving forward.