FRISCO, Texas — Patrick Cobbs was so impressed by a running back at a North Texas camp that he was ready to pull the trigger and offer him, but he first needed Eric Morris’ seal of approval.
Morris was at North Texas’ indoor facility while Cobbs was conducting drills out on the field. So, Cobbs sent a graduate assistant on a 100-yard jog over to Morris.
“He said, ‘Hey, you gotta come see this guy — Coach Cobbs loves this running back,'” Morris recalled.
So, Morris walked over to see what all the hubbub was about. At the end of his walk awaited a young Caleb Hawkins entering his senior year of high school.
“I watched Caleb, and Coach Cobbs was so adamant afterwards, like, that’s who he wanted, sticking to his guns,” Morris said. “I watched him for 10 minutes and said absolutely this is somebody we can build off of.
“Didn’t know a ton about Caleb. Caleb is probably one of the Top 3 players I’ve ever coached in my career, not just because of what type of player he is but what kind of person he is, how he attacks every day. I mean, he’s a coach’s dream. The way he prepares, very low maintenance, extremely tough, will do the dirty work, never asks for anything special.”
Twenty-five months to the day after that camp, Morris, Hawkins and three of his teammates crawled onto a private jet to fly down to Big 12 Media Days after a season where Hawkins set an FBS record for touchdowns scored by a freshman (29). Hawkins is a preseason All-American entering his sophomore season after having that lone FBS offer coming out of North Rock Creek High School in Shawnee.
The impact Hawkins was making on the field might’ve somewhat overshadowed the fact that he was only a true freshman last season, so he is still only getting better. Added to that is the fact that this was Hawkins’ first true offseason, as he was playing other sports in high school that took up his would-be offseason time.
Hawkins has seemingly made the most of the time off. He was listed at 200 pounds last season at North Texas, and he checked in at 219 pounds in OSU’s newly released 2026 Media Guide.
“I’ve been on a whole new nutrition-based things,” Hawkins said. “I eat a lot more than I used to, but it’s worked out a lot for me because I’m lifting heavier weight, running faster, jumping higher, so it’s all worked out for me well. …
“Being able to take a step back from not necessarily football, but just from games in general and not having the stress of having a game this week, it was great to recoup and make sure I can progress and be even better the next year.”
As he noted, it’s not just size that Hawkins has added. He’s getting faster, saying he wants to showcase that he’s capable of ripping off long touchdowns.
Hawkins had 20 rushes of at least 15 yards last season, according to PFF. That ranked ninth in the country. He also had a 179.0 elusiveness rating, per PFF, which led the nation among backs with at least 153 carries. So, if he’s getting faster, yikes.
“You gotta go straight to mechanics, knowing what kind of steps need to be taken, what kind of running style you are,” said Hawkins of how you add speed. “And of course get with the strength and conditioning coaches because obviously they know the science behind it.”
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
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