On Thursday, it will mark one year since offensive lineman Hayden Conner added his name to the Texas commitment list. Ever since making that declaration, the standout from Katy has been incredibly vocal about how happy he is with his decision. Right at one year later, Conner says he wouldn’t change a thing.
“I feel like I made the best decision anyone can ever make,” Conner said. “I’m 100-percent locked and nothing's ever going to change.”
At this point, Conner remains the Longhorns’ only offensive line pledge. He’s hoping others will join him soon and see what he sees, which he says is a program on the rise that’s ready to take off with the talent that Tom Herman and staff have brought in over the past few years.
“I think a lot of people choose to commit to schools because of their past seasons that they had, like this thing team went this far and they had this record. I really don't look at the past seasons. I look at the potential of a team,” Conner said. “The system that UT has, the foundation that they have, they're going to be back. They're building a great team they have a lot of young returners, a great offensive line returning this next season. If we get a season, it’s going to be great. And it's only going to get better. The future is bright at UT. “
Part of that bright future is 2021 quarterback commitment Jalen Milroe, who himself celebrated the one-year mark of his Texas commitment on Tuesday. Conner and Milroe played youth football together, winning a FBU national championship, and Conner says he’s excited about what they’ll be able to accomplish when they reunite in Austin.
“I'm extremely excited. I grew up with Jalen and we were both always special compared to the other kids we were playing with and I knew that we were both going to be something when we got older. Now that we're on the same team, we're both the leaders of our team. I firmly believe that,” Conner said. “And I feel like once we get there and we get situated and we get acclimated to the team, I feel like we're going to make a direct impact. I’m really excited. I've got a lot of faith in Jalen.”
With in-person recruiting shut down due to COVID-19, Conner has been focused on at-home workouts as well as workouts with his Katy Taylor teammates. In between those sessions, he’s keeping busy with online summer school so he can graduate in December. The results of the workouts have been positive, with Conner trimming nearly 25 pounds from his heaviest weight of last year, when he finished the season at about 348 pounds.
“I'm not carrying a lot of bad weight right now. I just want to lose a good amount of weight so I have room to put on good weight. I don't want to keep bad weight on right now and just get heavier by putting on more muscle mass, because then I'd be 340 again I don't really want that,” Conner said. “So I'm trying to shred off as much weight as possible right now and just stay flexible and just continue to work on stuff every day.
“I'm definitely getting to where I want to be.”
Like everyone else, Conner is hopeful that there will be a 2020 football season. If there is, he’ll be physically and mentally ready to go. If the season gets cancelled, he’ll understandably be disappointed but said he’ll be able to walk away from his high school career knowing that he went out on a high note, including a deep playoff run for Katy Taylor in 2019.
“I'm just mentally preparing myself for (the season) to happen. I want to have a senior season, but it wouldn't be bad to not have one. If we do not have a senior season, I ended on a great note last year,” he said. “I'm in a good position. And not having season, taking time off from my knees and just really working on physique and IQ of the game, that’s what I hope I'm able to do.”
Regardless of what the fall holds, one thing is for certain … Conner is locked in with his Texas commitment and thrilled about what his future in Austin holds.
“Thinking about the future, that's the reason that I'm still locked in and I'm so passionate about Texas. I know the possibilities are endless on what can happen,” he said.
