Baseball season is over, next up: Cowboy Football
COWBOYS
Scott Wright
The Oklahoman
STILLWATER — When Hauss Hejny transferred from TCU to Oklahoma State in January, everyone in the family faced an adjustment.
For Jesse and JimAnne, their first-born son was suddenly living in a different state, roughly four hours away, for the first time in his life.
For Hauss, there were no more 30-minute drives back home from Fort Worth, Texas, to Aledo for a home-cooked meal.
Yet, no one in the Hejny family was impacted as much as 9-year-old Jhett.
His big brother was gone, and so was his big bedroom.
“Jhett’s pretty much slept in bed with Hauss since he’s been out of his crib,” Jesse told The Oklahoman. “So they shared a bedroom and they’re pretty tight.”
With Hauss no longer nearby, the Hejnys’ middle son, Beau, got to move into the big bedroom that had belonged to Hauss for so many years. And with that, Jhett got relocated to one of the smaller bedrooms.
“Beau has adjusted well to the bigger room — the master suite, we call it,” Jesse said. “But Jhett’s had the bigger adjustment, like, ‘What, the master suite is no longer mine?’”
Young Jhett’s misfortunes aside, the Hejnys have enjoyed the changes life brought when Hauss transferred to OSU, where he is set to compete with Zane Flores for the starting quarterback job next fall.
“We love Stillwater,” Jesse said. “It’s a really neat town. It reminds both of us a lot of what we grew up around. We both grew up in small towns and even though Stillwater has 40,000 people living there, it feels really small, which is nice, but yet, you have all the amenities you could want.”
Beyond that, Jesse and JimAnne had a level of comfort with the move because of their relationship with two of OSU’s new coaches, offensive coordinator Doug Meacham and quarterbacks coach Kevin Johns.
Meacham has long been friends with Tim Buchanan, who was the head coach at Aledo High for part of Hauss’ career. That helped in Hauss’ decision to sign with TCU, where Meacham was on staff.
And Johns had been the offensive coordinator at Duke, where Hauss initially committed, in part because of his relationship with Johns.
“I had a great relationship with both of those dudes through recruiting, and Meacham being at TCU, I obviously knew him really well,” Hauss said. “It’s been great to be in the same building with both of them, to grow and learn from them and what knowledge they have to give me.”
The presence of Meacham and Johns provided Jesse and JimAnne with a type of comfort that can't be guaranteed when your son enters the transfer portal.
“To see all those stars align, it was almost kind of a God thing,” said Jesse, who also played college football at TCU. “We didn’t think Hauss would ever leave TCU. But when it did happen, it all made sense. It was like, this is meant to be.”
Hauss came in with some knowledge of Meacham’s offense, which could benefit him in the quarterback competition that likely will continue deep into August.
But more than that, his year at TCU taught him how to be a college football player.
“At TCU, I came in there and they started installing plays really fast,” he said. “I was just trying to figure out college, to be honest. I didn’t take it as seriously as I have since I got here.
“I’ve locked in a lot more and got a lot better feel for the college balance of football and school and just life in general. So I have a better start in my first semester here than I did at TCU.”
As for winning the job, it’s impossible to predict what will happen between now and the season opener. But competition has never scared Hauss.
Prior to his sophomore year of high school, he had been attending a small private school in the area. But he decided he wanted to play on the same team with all the Aledo kids he had grown up with, so he approached Jesse about changing schools.
Had he stayed at the private school, Hauss was virtually guaranteed the starting quarterback job. But Aledo had a senior quarterback who was being recruited by Division I programs, Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, now at Colorado State.
“Hauss, you’re not gonna beat this guy out,” Buchanan warned him. “So I want you to understand you’re not gonna be the starting quarterback.”
But Hauss welcomed the challenge.
“Dad, I want to play at the next level, and I’m gonna have to compete at the next level,” Hauss told Jesse. “I’m gonna go in there and give it hell. I wanna play, and I wanna be an Aledo Bearcat.”
Buchanan suggested Hauss play slot receiver as a sophomore, and it couldn’t have worked out better. Not only did he have a successful season, he learned quarterbacking from a different perspective that benefited him the next two seasons as Aledo’s starter.
“Ultimately, it made Hauss a better quarterback,” Jesse said. “Getting out there and running routes and understanding the life of a receiver, he understood as a quarterback that when you scramble, you better get your eyes downfield one more time, because there are guys working hard to get open for you. He’s been in those shoes now.
“It was a fun growing year for him, and I think he got a lot out of that.”
Hauss showed up to Stillwater with the same competitive desire that carried him through his Aledo days, and he feels the bonds building throughout an OSU roster that includes more than 50 new players.
“We busted our butts in the offseason,” Hauss said. “We’re starting to build the culture of what this football team’s gonna be in the future. It’s been fun.”
COWBOYS
For Hauss Hejny, Oklahoma State football quarterback competition is nothing new
Scott WrightThe Oklahoman
STILLWATER — When Hauss Hejny transferred from TCU to Oklahoma State in January, everyone in the family faced an adjustment.
For Jesse and JimAnne, their first-born son was suddenly living in a different state, roughly four hours away, for the first time in his life.
For Hauss, there were no more 30-minute drives back home from Fort Worth, Texas, to Aledo for a home-cooked meal.
Yet, no one in the Hejny family was impacted as much as 9-year-old Jhett.
His big brother was gone, and so was his big bedroom.
“Jhett’s pretty much slept in bed with Hauss since he’s been out of his crib,” Jesse told The Oklahoman. “So they shared a bedroom and they’re pretty tight.”
With Hauss no longer nearby, the Hejnys’ middle son, Beau, got to move into the big bedroom that had belonged to Hauss for so many years. And with that, Jhett got relocated to one of the smaller bedrooms.
“Beau has adjusted well to the bigger room — the master suite, we call it,” Jesse said. “But Jhett’s had the bigger adjustment, like, ‘What, the master suite is no longer mine?’”
Young Jhett’s misfortunes aside, the Hejnys have enjoyed the changes life brought when Hauss transferred to OSU, where he is set to compete with Zane Flores for the starting quarterback job next fall.
“We love Stillwater,” Jesse said. “It’s a really neat town. It reminds both of us a lot of what we grew up around. We both grew up in small towns and even though Stillwater has 40,000 people living there, it feels really small, which is nice, but yet, you have all the amenities you could want.”
Beyond that, Jesse and JimAnne had a level of comfort with the move because of their relationship with two of OSU’s new coaches, offensive coordinator Doug Meacham and quarterbacks coach Kevin Johns.
Meacham has long been friends with Tim Buchanan, who was the head coach at Aledo High for part of Hauss’ career. That helped in Hauss’ decision to sign with TCU, where Meacham was on staff.
And Johns had been the offensive coordinator at Duke, where Hauss initially committed, in part because of his relationship with Johns.
“I had a great relationship with both of those dudes through recruiting, and Meacham being at TCU, I obviously knew him really well,” Hauss said. “It’s been great to be in the same building with both of them, to grow and learn from them and what knowledge they have to give me.”
The presence of Meacham and Johns provided Jesse and JimAnne with a type of comfort that can't be guaranteed when your son enters the transfer portal.
“To see all those stars align, it was almost kind of a God thing,” said Jesse, who also played college football at TCU. “We didn’t think Hauss would ever leave TCU. But when it did happen, it all made sense. It was like, this is meant to be.”
Hauss came in with some knowledge of Meacham’s offense, which could benefit him in the quarterback competition that likely will continue deep into August.
But more than that, his year at TCU taught him how to be a college football player.
“At TCU, I came in there and they started installing plays really fast,” he said. “I was just trying to figure out college, to be honest. I didn’t take it as seriously as I have since I got here.
“I’ve locked in a lot more and got a lot better feel for the college balance of football and school and just life in general. So I have a better start in my first semester here than I did at TCU.”
As for winning the job, it’s impossible to predict what will happen between now and the season opener. But competition has never scared Hauss.
Prior to his sophomore year of high school, he had been attending a small private school in the area. But he decided he wanted to play on the same team with all the Aledo kids he had grown up with, so he approached Jesse about changing schools.
Had he stayed at the private school, Hauss was virtually guaranteed the starting quarterback job. But Aledo had a senior quarterback who was being recruited by Division I programs, Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, now at Colorado State.
“Hauss, you’re not gonna beat this guy out,” Buchanan warned him. “So I want you to understand you’re not gonna be the starting quarterback.”
But Hauss welcomed the challenge.
“Dad, I want to play at the next level, and I’m gonna have to compete at the next level,” Hauss told Jesse. “I’m gonna go in there and give it hell. I wanna play, and I wanna be an Aledo Bearcat.”
Buchanan suggested Hauss play slot receiver as a sophomore, and it couldn’t have worked out better. Not only did he have a successful season, he learned quarterbacking from a different perspective that benefited him the next two seasons as Aledo’s starter.
“Ultimately, it made Hauss a better quarterback,” Jesse said. “Getting out there and running routes and understanding the life of a receiver, he understood as a quarterback that when you scramble, you better get your eyes downfield one more time, because there are guys working hard to get open for you. He’s been in those shoes now.
“It was a fun growing year for him, and I think he got a lot out of that.”
Hauss showed up to Stillwater with the same competitive desire that carried him through his Aledo days, and he feels the bonds building throughout an OSU roster that includes more than 50 new players.
“We busted our butts in the offseason,” Hauss said. “We’re starting to build the culture of what this football team’s gonna be in the future. It’s been fun.”
