HARRISONBURG — The only element colder than the temperature on that Friday in December was how Jimmy Moreland treated Sam Houston State’s receivers.

An extensive piece of the plan for James Madison, the then-sophomore cornerback played like the prospect he’d eventually become for the first time as the Dukes shuttered the Bearkats’ nation-leading offense for a 65-7 win in the 2016 FCS quarterfinals.

“I remember sitting there thinking, ‘This kid’s man-to-man skills are special,’” said former JMU cornerbacks coach Tripp Weaver, now the defensive passing game coordinator at Western Carolina. “And he’s got the length in his arms, the foot speed. It was probably the night of the Sam Houston State game that I thought, ‘He’s going to have a chance.’”

The NFL Draft begins Thursday and runs through Saturday, and Moreland could be the first Madison product selected since 2013 when the Arizona Cardinals used a fourth-round pick on offensive lineman Earl Watford.

Moreland projects anywhere from a third- to seventh-round choice depending on what mock draft you look at or analyst you trust most.

Former JMU coach Mike Houston, who took the same job at East Carolina this past December, echoed what Weaver said: Moreland’s three pass breakups and smothering coverage versus Sam Houston State standout receivers Davion Davis and Yedidiah Louis grabbed his attention.

“That’s probably when,” Houston said. “And I don’t know if it even was that he’d play at the next level, but that’s when you thought, ‘Oh, he’s pretty dang good.’

“They were averaging about 50 points a game coming into that game and we sat there and played man-free coverage all night long, and he was our nickel. He matched up in the slot that game, so I’d say that game and then the ’17 season. You had a thought of ‘Oh, he’s a really good player.’”

Weaver said Moreland yielded only one catch — it came on a hitch route — throughout the entirety of JMU’s win over Sam Houston State.

But Moreland had highs before.

He was a two-time Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week as a freshman two seasons prior, but didn’t play in his second year at the school because he was booted from the squad by former coach Everett Withers for a petty larceny charge in the spring of 2015.

“This was a guy who wasn’t even on the roster when I took the job at James Madison,” Houston said. “He’d been dismissed and I’ll tell you this, it was not an easy deal. I made him earn everything he got that first year back. We were pretty hard on him.”

Both Houston and Weaver as well as Corico Wright, who took the cornerback coach job at JMU last year after Weaver departed, all said Moreland’s commitment to his teammates, coaches and himself is what kept from straying in the wrong direction in his final three seasons with the program.

Moreland stayed in school at JMU even thought he wasn’t a member of the football team for a year before Houston invited him back to the team on a trial basis.

“From being overlooked out of high school to coming to college and having to face some adversity off the field,” said Wright, who now coaches safeties at Furman, “but just having the perseverance to fight through adversity and still have a smile on your face says everything. A lot of people would’ve tucked their tail and ran and dropped out of school, but Jimmy had a don’t-be-denied attitude.”

And over those three years Moreland improved as a player and a person, according to Houston.

Whatever Houston, Weaver, Wright or any other coach asked of Moreland, he did all while becoming one of the best players in JMU history.

In 2017, Moreland earned first-team All-CAA accolades and tied a school single-game record for interceptions when he had three picks against South Dakota State. As a senior this past fall, he was a consensus All-American, the CAA Defensive Player of the Year and left as the Dukes’ all-time leader for interceptions (18) and interceptions returned for a touchdown (six).

“I can’t even put into words how much better he got [after 2016],” Weaver said. “And it was probably him getting experience and getting back around it. As much as we coaches want to take credit for everything good, you’ve got to have really instinctive and athletic football players.

“But he came in after that offseason and got up to about 175, 177 pounds before we started and I remember he wasn’t even preseason all-conference. Him or [cornerback] Rashad Robinson weren’t, so we didn’t have a single guy in our room that was on the preseason all-conference team, let alone the All-American team. And those guys did a great job of using that as motivation.

“Those guys took it to heart because both of them ended up having great years. I would go in there in the summertime and I’d be watching film where I could look out where they have the stadium behind the black glass in the team room and those guys along with [former cornerback] Curtis Oliver, that group of three or four guys were out there every day working, whether it was on feather press or mirror press or working on their ball skills. So Jimmy got a lot better and it’s because of the time that really all those kids spent with the motivation of none of them were on any kind of list.”

From one year to the next, Weaver said Moreland and Robinson studied film together and did as good of a job figuring out what opposing offenses wanted to do as any players he’s coached.

Houston and Wright said this past season, when Robinson went down with a season-ending injury in August training camp, all the responsibility in the secondary fell to Moreland.

When JMU opened its 2018 season at N.C. State, Moreland was the lone returning starter to play on defense for the Dukes.

“We matched him up on everyone’s best receiver all throughout the year,” Houston said. “And then, from a leadership standpoint at practice, Rashad had always been the leader and Jimmy had been a follower. Then you look up and all of a sudden Rashad is hurt. [Cornerback Charles] Tutt and Curtis consistently can’t practice, and so he had to be the leader.”

Said Wright: “We put a lot on Jimmy because Jimmy had the most experience of everyone in the secondary and had the ability to play any position in the secondary. I’m talking about both the field corner or strong corner and he can also play the nickel position, but we also asked Jimmy to follow the team’s best receiver whether that was N.C. State, New Hampshire or Rhode Island. Go back and watch the tape.”

Wright said in the time between Moreland’s appearance in the East-West Shrine Game and Senior Bowl his phone was constantly ringing with scouts trying to find out about the former JMU star. Houston said any time scouts have rolled through Greenville, N.C., this spring, they’ve asked him about Moreland.

“Mark my words, he’s going to be an ESPN E:60 story,” Wright said. “People are going to want to know how he became who he is today. The world will take note and he’ll be able to share his story. But it’s inspiring, so I’m going be very, very happy for Jimmy wherever he lands and whatever team decides to pick him up whether that’s in the draft or as a free agent afterward.

“All Jimmy Moreland needs is a shot and I promise you, he’ll turn heads.”

Weaver said he still keeps up with Moreland and spoke with the cornerback as recently as last week, but can’t wait for this weekend to see where Moreland will play pro football.

“He’s never lined up from a quarterback that he didn’t think he could trick and make some plays on,” Weaver said. “Part of that is what makes him so good. It’s confidence. It’s not arrogance, but it’s confidence, and he’s going to have a chance to make a great career. The window is small in the NFL, but if he puts his mind to it and is a student of the game like he was for us, I think he’ll be just fine.”

Houston, who gave Moreland that second chance, said he hopes Moreland’s name comes across the bottom of his television screen sometime this weekend.

“He and I talked about that because that was one of my worries with the whole timing of when I left,” Houston said. “All of a sudden I worried about him possibly backsliding a bit. So we talked about that. But when I talk to him, he knows he has one shot at this and he’s not going to let anything come between him and this opportunity, so I’m really proud of the person he’s turned into.

“But seeing him, how much he’s matured and how much he’s grown, and to not only become the player he was this past year, but I think even more so I’m more proud of the person he’s developed himself into. I think I’m just very proud that he’ll have that dream-come-true moment.”