The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Naumann Stays Patient, Now Getting His Shot on Offensive Line
9/26/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Steve Irvine
uabsports.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- His three-year wait to get a full-time spot on the field is not what's most important to UAB offensive tackle Hayden Naumann.
He's worried about getting better every day. He's worried about soaking in game plans and blocking assignments. This week, he's worried about the FIU defensive end tandem of Michael Wakefield and Denzell Perine, who have combined for 13 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks.
He's also relishing being an offensive linemate of Brian O'Leary, in the UAB center's final year of college football. And he's enjoyed lining up with fellow North Alabama native Victor Salako as well as juniors Cameron Blankenship and Roscoe Byrd.
What he isn't doing, though, is worrying about the days of wondering if he'd ever get the opportunity to play on Saturday.
"I just thought that's the past," the 6-foot-5, 278-pound Naumann said. "When these coaches came in and I got kind of a new slate, I just tried to kick it, the best I could, away. It may pop up once in a blue moon, just to keep me motivated. It's exciting for me to play, yes, but it's more fun for me to be with the guys I've seen for the past two or three years, that I've hung out with and wanted to play with."
The truth is, though, Naumann's journey through the first three college seasons is a big part of who he is today and won't ever fully go away. He was a first-team Class 6A all-state selection as a senior at Decatur High School. He redshirted during Neil Callaway's final season as the UAB head coach and played just once, against Tulsa in 2012, during Garrick McGee's first 21 games at the helm of the program.
"I had a father who played so he really guided me through it all," said Naumann, whose father, Kevin, was a three-year starter, as a 205-pound center, at UNA in the 1980s. "I didn't get recruited by McGee, so it was kind of tough going to get in there and try to play. Every day you just had to fight, do what you can, fight through stuff, kind of just wait your turn. You make some stuff happen, but if they weren't going to pick you, you just keep going at it and make them pick you. That's all I could do."
It was impossible to tell by watching the team play on Saturday, but Naumann was improving behind the scenes.
"Actually you grow a lot more than people think," Naumann said. "When I wasn't playing these past (three) years, they threw me on scout team so I had to hit the first string every day. I think that helped a lot. When you don't get to play for two or three years or what not, you just get more of an edge, more of an edge and try to keep pushing."
A rash of injuries opened up a spot for him the final three games of last seasons and he started at offensive guard in the season finale against Southern Miss. McGee bolted for Louisville in January and Bill Clark took over the program.
However, Naumann's first chance to impress the new staff had to wait after foot surgery kept him out during spring practice.
"For us, it was `Can this guy help us?' You don't know," Clark said.
Instead of worrying about the spring, however, Naumann turned his attention toward summer workouts. Getting healthy was the first step and the second step came in the weight room. He attacked the workouts like Saturdays in the fall, which drew the praise of UAB strength and conditioning coach Zac Woodfin.
"All the sudden in the summer, Coach Woodfin is coming back saying `Man, Hayden is a worker,'" Clark said. "You still don't know but you think maybe he can help."
Naumann quickly dispelled any doubts once fall camp began. He latched on to the starting job at right tackle and never let go. "He's one of those guys, who's a good player but his football IQ is really good," Clark said. "I think that's what makes him better. We were needing a guy and for him to step up is big."
Naumann also provides Clark an inspiring story to share moving forward. "You tell others in his position to just hang in there," Clark said. "It's like, you say `Hey Hayden Naumann hung in there or this guy hung in there and look what happened to them.' It's a great story..
