Khaylan Kearse-Thomas signs with the Titans, excited to start NFL career

Khaylan Kearse-Thomas had a little extra nudge to continue an exercise routine through a draft process that persevered despite a global pandemic. His girlfriend is working to become a personal trainer and put Kearse-Thomas through the ringer of in-home workouts and speed training at local parks.

“She was giving me workouts and asking how I was doing. It was fun,” he said. “Staying motivated and doing all this stuff by yourself (is tough). But, at the end of the day, when you look at the reward of it, it works out.”

The reward for Kearse-Thomas was an undrafted free agent contract with the Tennessee Titans. He agreed to terms on Saturday afternoon, less than an hour after the seven-round draft had concluded without his name being called.

In some ways, he expected all of that. The Titans were the team in contact with him the most. If he was drafted or signed, he thought, it would be with Tennessee. They had told him there was a chance they would take him in the final round but instead phoned him shortly after with a contract offer.

“When they called after the draft, it was a great moment,” he said. “This happening and being able to be with (my family), it’s just a great moment.”

It wrapped up an altered pre-draft process that offered little direction and mass speculation.

Kearse-Thomas began preparing for the Sun Devils Pro Day shortly after winter break. He, along with nearly every outgoing Sun Devil senior, stayed in Tempe and trained with ASU’s head coach of sports performance Joe Connolly for structured pre-draft workouts. Connolly raved about their work, touting what he thought there would be some incredible Pro Day numbers.

Those, of course, never came to fruition. A week before the scheduled dates, the sports world came to a stuttering halt.

Kearse-Thomas retreated to his home in Southern California for workouts, still somewhat directed by Connolly, but entirely up to him to complete.

The absence of Pro Days perhaps affected no one more than Kearse-Thomas or those like him -- the outgoing seniors of college football who only had one full year of game tape on their resume.

Kearse-Thomas, a 6-foot-1, 224-pound linebacker often found himself on the wrong side of the depth chart in Tempe. He was a fast, athletic presence in the middle of ASU’s defense but never solidified a starting spot until his fifth year on campus.

In that senior season, Kearse-Thomas recorded 66 tackles, a dozen for loss and a pair of interceptions. According to Pro Football Focus’ grades, the Rancho Cucamonga native excelled in coverage and pressure but struggled tackling. And, according to Kearse-Thomas, the Titans told him similar sentiments.

“(They said they liked just) my athleticism, my ability to run, my aggressiveness and then they liked my film,” he said. “I would just say (I need to improve) my open-field tackling and being more in control.”

But while the Titans offered advice about his game, it was the Sun Devil coaches that filled him with an open mind and uplifting thoughts through a pre-draft process that no one could have imagined.

ASU has billed itself as the ‘Pro Model.’ It has coaches who have played in the NFL, coached in the NFL. It has an athletic director who was an NFL agent. It has personnel who seemed to be in every behind-the-scenes role with an NFL team.

Co-defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce has said he used to bring wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who was drafted in the first round by the San Francisco 49ers, and others into his office every week to talk about the life of an NFL, how to keep the right people in your corner and, of course, not blow an NFL paycheck.

“They just guided me. Just drove me through this whole process. Just being calm and staying patient. Things didn’t go your way (with the draft) but you know who you are, just stay the course” Kearse-Thomas said ASU’s coaches told him.

“(AP) would just give me texts on what to do right now. ‘We’re in quarantine but you need to be working, learning. Knowledge is everywhere, so seek it.”

Along with Kearse-Thomas, the Titans signed former Sun Devils in wide receiver Kyle Williams and tight end Tommy Hudson to undrafted free agent contracts.

The life of an undrafted rookie is daunting. The ASU coaches have harped on that, that the work and attention-to-detail of the playbook early on in camp can separate those who get cut and those who forge an NFL career.

Just ask Pierce. He was undrafted out of Arizona before signing with the Washington Redskins. He buckled down, memorized the responsibilities for every position in the playbook, impressed the coaches early, and had a fruitful career.

Kearse-Thomas hopes for the same in his career. Asked what would have had to happen for him to carve a similar path as his former position coach, he was concise.

“I just balled,” he quipped.