Awards
3x National Champion
2018 MVFC Honor Roll
After stepping into a big role in the shortened COVID season, Destin Talbert cemented himself as a prominent player for the Bison over his final two seasons. In 2021, his leaping one-handed interception helped seal the game against James Madison in the semifinals. Without him, the championship of 2021 may have never happened. Now, he is training for a shot at the pro game.
How’s the Pro Day Training going?
Well, they’ve had me hurting a couple of times so I think I’m doing pretty good.
Where are you training?
The Sanford Power Center.
How quickly did you start training after the national championship game?
Pretty immediately, I started a couple of days afterwards.
Was there any sort of decision on whether or not to start training for the pros?
No, I knew for sure. It was locked in. I was definitely going to start working out for that Pro Day.
How often are you training for that?
Almost every day. My only off day is Wednesday, but other than that, every day.
What are some of your favorite moments from your time as a Bison?
I mean, there’s a lot. That’s pretty tough. Obviously, every time it comes up, it’s hard for me not to say the James Madison game. That was a great day for me. I graduated, got that interception and went to the championship all in one day.
Every time you win a championship, that’s also up there for one of the best memories you’ll ever have. I’d say both of those championship wins and making it to the championship. Beating Incarnate Word was pretty special. Senior night was also a very overly emotional, happy night. I was excited to go out and have the crowd there and have my family there, my mom there. Those are probably all my favorite memories.
You were recruited as a receiver, correct? When did you make that transition?
Immediately. My first day on campus, I believe, the defensive back coach at the time, he kind of pulled me to the side and told me that I was gonna be playing a corner. He told me I’d have a better chance to get on the field soon as a corner than at receiver and that’s all I needed to hear and I just started learning.
Do you feel like you’re still learning the position a little bit?
Definitely, but I feel like even if I was playing receiver, I’d still be learning. There’s a pretty high cap on what you can learn from each position.
Do you prefer man or zone coverage?
That’s tough because there’s positives to both for me. I feel like maybe this year I probably preferred man because I had a year where that kind of embodied my attitude toward confidence. Man is all about confidence and just knowing that you can shut down the guy in front of you. But I do love zone, too. I love zone just being that I’m looking at the quarterback. I feel confident that whether I’m in flat coverage or deep coverage, I can make a play on it. But I’ll say man because it’s a little more personal between me and the receiver.
Do you like press or off coverage in man?
I mean, if I’m gonna stick with that personal thing, I’m gonna stick with press just because, again, I’m up in your face and we have to figure out who’s gonna win this matchup right now. I felt very confident about my off man since I started playing corner as well.
What are some strengths you think you brought to the program?
I think my strength has been bringing that head down and just [keeping a] working mentality. I feel like that’s kind of what got me into the captain role this year. In my five years here, I was never really the loudest in any situation. Maybe this year and last I’ve gotten a little louder than people were accustomed to from me. But I think the biggest thing is that mentality.
Consistently showing up on time is important—I show up early. I’m in the film room all the time. I’m in the weight room, pushing myself to be the best whether I’m getting the highest weight I can or out on the field being the fastest I can. I think people see that I push myself in every situation I can, and keep my head down and just keep working.
Has football always been your main sport?
It has been. I played football and basketball, but it became clear pretty early that football was gonna be the one, probably by sophomore year of high school.
What were your emotions after the SDSU game?
Sick, to be honest. I was hurt. Again, I feel like this year in particular has been characterized by confidence for me, to challenge myself to stay confident and really show everybody how confident I am in my play and why I’m so confident. And for the SDSU game, I feel like I let that confidence waver and let myself not make plays I knew I was capable of. So I know for me personally, as well as you know, obviously, with the team losing, it hurt bad. I walked off the field right after I shook anybody’s hand who was there. But I mean, it that was what it was. There’s so many good memories that go with this season.
Do you think that’ll drive you a little bit with your training here?
Definitely. Like I said from the start, that’s why I got right into the training anyway. That’s why I started working within days. I mean, I’m sure I would have started pretty soon anyways, but it definitely is a driving force.
What aspect of the training are you most excited to work on?
I’m most excited to see how I can sculpt my body in these next couple of months as far as what weight I can reach and the strength and definition I can reach. I feel pretty confident. I’ve felt confident for years about my athletic ability as far as jumping and running. I’ve been excited watching every pro day since I’ve been here. And now, to be able to showcase what I can do is really exciting.
And I just love the weight room.
Are you doing anything special with your diet in preparation?
Just eating a lot. I’ve been doing that my whole college career. With my metabolism and everything, I flesh things out pretty fast. And I still stay lean, super lean, low single-digit percentage of body fat. So, I just eat as much as I can so I can gain that weight.
With a lot of the prominent defensive backs leaving the program, who do you see stepping up?
I’m not sure. I think all of them will step up, but I definitely know they have to be excited.
Is there anything else you’d like to say to our readers?
It’s kind of crazy that this might be my last time talking to Bison Illustrated. I just want to say thank you to anybody that reads this. I really appreciate everything the fans have done for me. You’ve really supported me and brought me so many good memories throughout these five years. Y’all always put a smile on my face.
