After leading the team in receptions last year, Kelvin Hayden is on his way to leading Illinois in interceptions this season.

The Fighting Illini were coming off a 1-11 season with no conference victories, and Illinois coaches were looking for answers — especially on defense.

Ranked 10th in total defense last season, Illinois needed a spark in the secondary. Relying on an incoming recruit would be too risky, so the coaching staff instead focused its efforts on finding a playmaker within the program who could fill the void.

At a coaches’ meeting at the end of the 2003 season, Illinois coach Ron Turner asked defensive coaches who they needed from the offense to help them become a better team.

A sort of mock draft commenced among the Illinois coaches, and many different names surfaced. But the solution everyone came up with was Hayden.

Hayden had just finished up his junior season as the team’s leading receiver, but now Turner wanted him to become the defense’s leader at cornerback.

“It kind of messed me up,” Hayden said. “I didn’t mind playing corner. I just (wondered) ‘Is it too late? Am I going to be able to help the team?'”

Turner told Hayden to use spring practices as an adjustment period to the new position, and Hayden would return to his comfort zone on offense if things didn’t work out.

But Hayden quickly adapted to the position and made a smooth transition to playing on the defensive side of the field.

He now leads the Big Ten with four interceptions this season and is set to become the first player in Illinois history to lead his team in receptions one year and interceptions the next.

He also is fifth on the team with 64 tackles.

“Most people, when they would have made the switch, probably would have been dragging because they didn’t want to, but I’m all for the team,” Hayden said. “If it’s going to help the team, I’m for it.”

Since he played both receiver and cornerback at Chicago’s Hubbard High School, the main adjustment Hayden had to make was getting used to the speed of the game and covering higher-caliber receivers.

But what helped Hayden the most was that he already had a defensive mentality, even while playing receiver for Illinois.

While most receivers shy away from contact and are always locked into a specific route, defensive backs must possess an aggressive attitude and have a desire to hit the other player, said Illinois defensive backs coach Scott Shafer.

“I think Kelvin was a defensive back playing wide receiver,” he said. “He’s very tenacious. He used to knock the heck out of people at Hubbard.”

As the defensive coordinator at Northern Illinois, Shafer recruited Hayden while he was in high school and actually projected him as a defensive back in college.

Hayden was also a standout basketball player and track star in high school, and Shafer and the Northern Illinois coaching staff believed his athleticism would be better utilized on defense.

“I knew he could play bump-and-run by the way he played basketball,” Shafer said. “He had quick feet, he knew how to play with his hands and he obviously has great speed.”

Hayden signed with Illinois out of high school, but spent two years at Joliet Junior College. He was the first wide receiver to ever win National Junior College Athletic Association Player of the Year as he led his team to a national championship.

After this season both Hayden and Shafer believe Hayden’s best shot at playing in the NFL is at cornerback.

“He’s about 6-foot-1, which is a good-sized cornerback,” Shafer said. “And I think his body type will help him as far as longevity of his career is concerned.”

But no matter how long Hayden continues to play on defense, a small piece of him will also remain in the huddle of wide receivers at practice.

“I catch myself sometimes still looking at the receivers and wanting to be over there,” he said. “But I really enjoy being on the defensive side.”

Reach Zach Silka at [email protected].