Husker Walk-on Q-n-A: Austin Hemphill

Austin Hemphill is a fifth-year senior walk-on from Gretna who began his career as a fullback and has since switched to running back. Hemphill graduated in the spring with a degree in accounting and is now pursuing his MBA, with an internship lined up in the spring. After choosing football over baseball for his collegiate sport, Hemphill has yet to play in a game in his career, but is happy with his decision and has no regrets. He explains why in this week's Huskers.com walk-on Q-n-A with Brian Rosenthal.
 
BR: Why did you decide to walk-on to Nebraska, and what other opportunities did you have?
Austin: "I didn't play football my junior year of high school, and then I went out my senior year, and I told myself that I was just going to give it my all. I wanted to play college football. If I got a Division I offer, then I would go with it, and if not, I wouldn't. I ended up having a couple of walk-ons at like South Dakota State, South Dakota, North Dakota, Virginia, a couple of places like Iowa, but I loved Nebraska, growing up here. The traditional walk-on thing means a lot to me. I had an opportunity, I figured I'd go after it."
 
BR: Why did you not play football your junior year?
Austin: "I played as a freshman and sophomore but I wanted to pursue baseball. I was a pitcher, and I wanted to get out there and play, and I wanted to play for Creighton. So I stopped playing football. The fullback, middle linebacker type is big and immobile, and those pitchers are lanky and not quite as bulky. I wanted to play college sports either way, so I didn't go out for football my junior year, and was going to head back to a camp at Creighton and try to earn a scholarship. But that first game in the stands, I knew I made a mistake. I knew football was for me at the next level. I think I was like 185 pounds then, and I came back my senior year and worked out a lot, weighed 210 and had a good enough year to come here."
 
BR: Do you miss baseball?
Austin: "Yeah, I mean, I love baseball, and after the Spring Game every year we go out on the softball field and do a little team scrimmage. That's always fun to get back out there. But I have more fun with football. All the camaraderie with the guys, it's great."
 
BR: What's it mean to you to be a part of Nebraska's storied walk-on tradition?
Austin: "It's really important. I think that walk-on mentality is kind of what has gotten me through the five years of being here. When I was first here, guys like Sam Foltz and Dylan Utter and all those guys really became close with my walk-on class. They told us you're going to have days where you see the light at the end of the tunnel and days that you're on the phone with your mom crying, wanting to quit. They said just keep the path and stay with your heart, and that kind of mentality is what's gotten me through the ups and downs of the program throughout the past couple years."
 
BR: How difficult is it to keep grinding despite having never played in a game?  What helps you stay motivated?
Austin: "I've kind of had an interesting past five years here, with being recruited by Riley and playing fullback, and I was behind a couple of NFL guys at fullback. So Coach Riley's last year, I had knee surgery, Iowa week, and after my surgery, Coach Riley came in and told me, he said, 'Hey, you've been behind Jano and Luke McNitt, but I don't want you to be discouraged for next year. We want you to be our starting fullback and go into rehab with that mentality. And I was really excited. The whole walk-on, the grind was going to pay off. It was going to be great. Then we had a coaching change, for the better of the team. I thought this was best for the team, and being a team-first guy, a walk-on, I realized I don't know if he's going to run the fullback or not but this was better for the team. That's what I was happy about. Then Frost and the guys came, we didn't end up playing a fullback, and I was kind of in limbo. I didn't know what to do. I talked to Ruud about linebacker, I talked to Coach Held and Frost about fullback. They were not sure if they were going to use a fullback, so they told me to stay heavy enough – I think I was around 240 pounds at the time – but then they told us they weren't going to use a fullback, so I lost like 30 pounds. I'm like 208 pounds now. But I came here and I knew that Nebraska was important to me and I wanted to play on the team. The relationships that I've got, the camaraderie, I think the intangibles, all the lessons, life lessons, it really means a lot being able to do things the regular student doesn't get the opportunity to. I think at the end of the day, it's all worth it."
 
BR: Did you even consider a change, or going elsewhere?
Austin: "Yeah, yeah I did. When Frost first came, I met with him, along with Ben Miles, and he said, 'Guys, I'm not sure if we're going to use a fullback or not.' He said they'd have to take a look at the personnel, and it was too early to tell. Ben was a young guy, he had a lot of football ahead of him, and so he decided to go, but I was going into my junior year, I had a lot of friends, my roots have been here. I live in Gretna, 30 minutes away. I called my dad, and he just helped me through the decision. He said, 'You have to ask yourself, did you come to college football to play college football or did you come to play football for Nebraska?' I came to play football for Nebraska, so I decided to stay and put the team first, and stay loyal to my state and my coaches and friends and just keep working hard. I'm on scout team, and I've accepted that that's my role. It'd be nice if there was a fullback, a true personnel, but there's not. I really care about this team and I want to help us win, so I go out there and accept my role and try to make the best of it."
 
BR: How do you embrace your scout team role, and what pride do you take in that?
Austin: "Being on scout team, I knew that if I decided to stay here, as much I would love to take off an inside zone handoff and break off the safety for an 80-yard touchdown, I'm a fullback at heart. To be a running back in the spread, you have to be really athletic and agile, and that's not the type of football player I am. So I knew that if I stayed, I'd be a scout team player, and my odds of seeing the field would be slim. I wanted to stay true to my team and my coaches, and I just accepted the role of being on the scout team and helping make those Blackshirts better. I thought to myself, I could stay here and just kind of go through the motions, or I could stay here and just work really hard, and that's what I wanted to do.
 
BR: What advice would you give to someone considering walking on at Nebraska over a scholarship at a small school?
Austin: "It's a huge decision. You only really get one shot at playing sports, and hanging out with the guys and doing a lot of things in life, and playing at Nebraska is an opportunity that you don't get twice. My that first time running out of the tunnel onto the field, I knew that this was always the right decision for me, not matter if I'm going to be playing or not. I think it's worth it in the end."
 
BR: What's been the highlight of your career here?
Austin: "I think right now, my senior year, being able to kind of see the end of the road, looking back on some of the decisions that I made and some of the things that have happened. I'm glad that I stayed here. I'm glad I didn't transfer, even though I knew my position wasn't going to be anymore. I've made great friends, the coaches are great. These coaches are awesome. I love them. On my way out the door, looking back, I'm really happy about my experience, even though I didn't play. At first, it was all about football, and now, it's all about life. I'm happy about it."
 
BR: Do you still envision getting that very first snap?
Austin: "Oh, yeah. In the running back meetings, I'm still taking notes like crazy, preparing as if I was playing. But that's really all I can do."
 
BR: You were a state champion powerlifter in high school. How much do you still enjoy lifting, and is it something you plan to keep doing after football?
Austin: "Oh, yeah. I won state my junior and senior year, and I really like lifting. Some of these guys on the team were made for running quick routes, and I was made for lifting weights and running up the middle. That's what I really enjoy, playing fullback and lifting. That's kind of the person and player I am."
 
BR: What's the best piece of advice you've taken from Coach Frost?
Austin: "Probably the biggest piece of advice I've taken from Coach Frost is that life is going to hit you, but it's all about being a dog and fighting. He teaches us a lot of football lessons, but those lessons also correlate to life and can transition into a really neat experience. Having a dog mentality, a fighter mentality, somebody who's aggressive and won't give up is important, on the football field and off."

Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.