After his career day to begin the 2024 season, it’s Maryland wide receiver Tai Felton who graded as the Big Ten’s best receiver after amassing a conference-leading 178 yards on seven catches. Maryland’s offense will look to put together another efficient day in the Big Ten opener this weekend vs. Michigan State as Felton joined BTN Dave Revsine to talk about his dominant day, the offense and one wide receiver he learned from as an underclassman.
On leading the Big Ten in receiving yards in week one
“It felt great. Coach Locks emphasized all last week starting off like a rocket, having that launch that we should just [be] dominant, that we know what this offense can be. Throughout training camp, throughout spring ball, just putting all the hard work. So it was awesome, and it was a great feeling to see it come out to true fruition last week.”
On the staff’s trust in Felton
“It all starts with the belief they put in me. They trusted in me last four years I've been here. They see my growth, and also I want to thank the team just how hard they pushed me. And those guys, a lot of guys inspired me to be great every day, like Dante Trader, a lot of the guys, Roman Hemby, a lot of guys I came in with. Just how hard the team pushes me to work every day in practice, how hard I work in practice, and very thankful for the coaches to put the belief in me they've been showing in my last four years.”
On the message from OC Josh Gattis prior to 75-yard TD
"The drive before we had some of the younger guys in at receiver. Coach Gattis had came up to me and Kaden Prather, he said, ‘you guys got one more drive, one more drive’ and in my head, I'm like, ‘okay, I got to end this drive as fast as possible.’ So I got the play call, I ended up getting a little hitch route, and then the boundary end up making something happen, juke one guy, then I felt another guy come and spun off him, and I seen a lot of green grass so I just took off with the speed I know I have and ended up making something happen.”
On his high school recruitment before committing to Maryland
“My junior year, third game my high school season, varsity, we were playing on Thursday, Thursday night. I don't know why the game got moved from Friday to Thursday, but I ended up tearing my ACL on punt return. So going in my junior year, I had around like 20 offers. After I told my ACL, I had about all the schools I had backed off me. Virginia Tech, it was my first offer, obviously being from Virginia, in-state kid, I wanted to go to Virginia Tech. And then after I told my ACL, I told those guys that I was ready to commit to them and they backed off me. Because of the ACL, they didn't know how I was going to come back and persevere from that. So as that process was going on, coach Locks and the whole staff, they were still recruiting me very hard. I ended up going to Maryland throughout the loyalty they showed me. So that was really big for me.”
On coach Locksley’s message during the recruiting process
“He seen the hard work I put in throughout high school, so it was just his belief in me. He saw the little details and fundamentals and how I just went about the game on and off the field in high school, and his belief in me and the whole staff. Just how much they believed that I was going to be a even better player I was before the ACL. So it was just belief in me, and obviously a blessing in my faith in God. The mental battles I went through throughout that situation, losing all my offers and stuff like that, so it's definitely the belief of the coach put in me and then my faith in God for sure.”
On what he learned from the veteran WRs ahead of him
“Coming in, I had a lot of guys to look after. One of my favorite guys was Brian Cobbs. That was an older guy when I came in, me and his cousin actually went to the same high school so he taught me a lot of things, how to go off the game on and off the field, how to watch film, how to eat right, how to recover, how to rehab, and stuff like that. So just having all those guys that were older than me being in front of me, it really helped me and turned me into the player I am today because I watched how all those guys went about things on and off the field.”
On something fans may not know about QB Billy Edwards Jr
“His determination to be great, just how he comes in the building every day, how he works. He's in the building from sun up to sundown. He doesn't leave the building, so 10, 11 o'clock at night after practice. So his determination to be great. I see it every day. I've known Billy since high school. He had the same trainer in high school. We worked out together, so his determination would be great, this is one of the big things that stand out for me.”
On how to break through against the top Big Ten teams
“It all starts in practice. One thing coach Locksley emphasizes that the show is practice, and practices is the show. So whatever we're doing in practice, how hard we're going to practice, it's going to make our job easier on game day, because we did it throughout practice. So just making sure throughout the week, Monday through Friday, we're focusing on the small details and fundamentals and it's going as hard as possible throughout practice so we can end up getting those dubs on Saturday.”
On what sticks out about Michigan State
“Definitely those guys having a new coaching staff and it being early in the season, not seeing as much film. The defensive coordinator, we know he's from Minnesota, so we've been able to tackle some film on that, and then I've gone against the secondary a couple times before. We've gone head-to-head, very competitive secondary very competitive team. So just looking back on previous film for previous years and just gathering as much information as we can from this year to go out there and be highly prepared on Saturday.”
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