Call Mosley 'quarterback of the secondary.' But also call him 'leader'
Navon Mosley laughs when telling the story of his summer job.
“I was selling knives for Cutco,” said the affable senior safety.
Turns out, it wasn’t an easy sell.
“I was just trying to get appointments,” he said. “I didn’t have to sell the knives to get paid. I would at least make something if I got an appointment with someone to show them the knives.”
Mosley laughs again. It can be tough out there in the real world. But now, Mosley is back in his comfort zone. He is on the football field, gearing up for this final season at Purdue. And things are off to a good start: Mosley has been named one of six captains for the 2019 squad.
“That is a great honor,” said Mosley. “I have been around guys like Ja’Whaun Bentley, who was a really good leader and I was always under his wing. Seeing how great of a leader he was. Now me being a captain, it meant a lot to me, especially knowing these guys out here respect me. It’s probably one of the best accolades you can get. If these guys trust in you to be a leader, that says a lot.”
The 6-0, 200-pound product of West Bloomfield, Mich., is being counted on to be a guiding force in the back-end of the defense. A quarterback of the secondary, if you will, with Jacob Thieneman gone. This will be Mosley's fourth year starting, as he has 35 career starts--second most on the team behind linebacker Markus Bailey (38). Last season, Mosley finished second on the team with 93 tackles. He has 207 career stops along with three interceptions and eight passes defended.
"What he has meant to this program the last three years,” said co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Anthony Poindexter, shaking his head. “He will be a four-year starter coming into this season. Just how he carries himself. He is one of those guys, knock on wood, I know will be at practice every day. He will show up, do his job. He is a good example for the young kids.”
Poindexter didn’t need to hear Mosley had officially been elected a captain to know who was gonna lead his safety meeting room.
“He already was the captain in my book,” said Poindexter. “This is a guy who has played three years of college football. You think of all reps he has taken in games. He can be a calming force to a lot of these young kids who haven’t played a lot. His experience will be needed.”
Mosley will have leadership help at safety from junior Brennan Thieneman, Jacob's younger brother. And those two must help groom a promising collection of safeties that includes redshirt freshman Cory Trice and true freshmen Jalen Graham and Marvin Grant, both Detroit natives like Mosley.
“I am always in those young guys’ ear,” said Mosley. “There is some hometown mutual love we have for each other. I see a lot of potential in all of these guys, giving them little pieces of the game to make them better than I ever was. They have size, length, stuff that I never had when I was coming in as a freshman.”
Graham appreciates Mosley’s veteran savvy.
“It’s great, because every play in the spring, I was looking at Mosley, asking him (questions),” said Graham. “Same thing with Brennan. When you aren’t completely sure, you can ask them. In the spring, there were way more questions (than now).”
A big question the secondary must answer: Can it limit the deep balls for a defense that ranked 127th in the nation vs. the pass in 2018 (284.7 ypg)?
“I was taught a long time ago: You win games up front and lose them deep,” said Poindexter. “We need to stay on top and make (opponents) earn all the points they will score. Attention to detail. We put some new stuff in. We are a little more detailed-oriented. We try to get them lined up and then play hard. We have to tackle better, read better, there are a lot of things to improve on.”
Mosley is ready.
“This year, we are moving a lot of guys around,” said Mosley. “There really isn’t a strong or free safety. You will probably see me in a little bit of free safety, some strong, possibly some nickel. The whole secondary is pretty interchangeable. It has been like that for a few years, but you may see more guys moving now.”
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