Godfrey adjusts

to new scheme
By Andrew Mason
Panthers.com

CHARLOTTE — Finishing college doesn't mean that one's studying is done.

Few Panthers know this better than safety Charles Godfrey, who successfully navigated a rookie year that saw him transition from college cornerback to pro safety, learning the nuances of his work in on-the-job training that placed him on the first team from his first minicamp 13 months ago.

Godfrey spent endless hours studying video, poring over playbooks and going over every detail of his game. Few moments were wasted; even rest time on the sideline at practice was spent in educational conversation with secondary coach Mike Gillhamer.

And just as that process was complete, along comes a new defensive coordinator and a new defense. Just as he’d gotten the hang of the old one, he had to start anew.

“No excuses,” Godfrey said. “You’re not a rookie anymore; you’ve been in this thing for a year; you played the whole season. There are no excuses. You go out there and you play and you make plays. That’s the bottom line.”

And truth be told, Ron Meeks’ scheme would seem a better fit for Godfrey. His fellow University of Iowa alumnus, Bob Sanders, earned league defensive MVP honors two years ago in the safety-friendly scheme, which emphasizes turnovers and being around the football above all else. But it’s Godfrey’s friend Kelvin Hayden, a Colts cornerback, who has given him the lowdown on what Meeks expects.

“He told me what it was — just run to the ball, make plays, everybody is hitting,” Godfrey said. “So that is kind of what you are going to see with the defense because we are stressing that now.

“The ball is the main key. We want the ball. We don’t want to be guarding a guy that doesn’t have the ball. If we are guarding a guy and the quarterback throws the ball across the field, we are leaving that guy alone and we're going and we’re trying to get the ball because you never know what will happen.”

Pursuit to the football is right in the wheelhouse of a converted cornerback who finds himself preparing for a “center field’-type of role where he is free to attack wherever the football goes.

“I can use my athletic ability. I can run around run around a lot, kind of roam and read the quarterback a lot,” he said. “I’m kind of comfortable there.”