Blue White Illustrated

my potential. That's what college is all about, whether you play football or not. For me, college ball is going to be a lot of fun, but like a lot of recruits, of course, I would love to get a chance to play a3er college someday. I don't like to even talk about that because I know I have so much to prove before I get to even entertain that idea, but my point is that I just want to do what I can to maxi- mize my potential. I know Coach Spencer is absolutely the right guy to do that. Plus, he's a lot of fun to be around. He's de0nitely a player's coach, which is what I'm looking for. BWI I know the season is under way, but I always like to try and learn more about players' o2-season training. What do you plan to do before enrolling at Penn State? Do you work with any per- sonal trainers on the side? What's your training schedule like? HAWKINS Obviously, I li3 with my team all the time. We do a lot of explo- sion training as a team, so that's how I work on getting bigger, stronger, faster. But a3er school, I'm beginning to do some boxing training to work on my cardio. Whenever my season ends and then up to about March or April, I'll join the Cincinnati high school boxing club that they have down here. It's great for not just cardio, but hand training and working on my core. It's a lot of fun, too. There's a lot of competition, not just in practice but in di2erent tourna- ments and things like that. I look at it as a new way to condition, but also to compete at the same time. It's a good way to stay motivated and keep the o2- season from dragging on. So that's something that I'm really excited about trying this year. Also, my Uncle Andrew has 1own me and my cousin Shamar Jones down to Tampa Bay with him, and we work out where he used to train in the o2-season. There's a trainer down there for defen- sive linemen. He works with some NFL guys. … He was dra3ed at one point and he works with a ton of great defensive linemen on speci0c drills. I go down there during spring break and whenever I get a break. I always enjoy that. Almost every day in- volves li3ing and boxing, but I'll do some defensive tackle- speci0c drills down in Tampa when I get the chance. BWI What are one or two things that come naturally to you as a defensive lineman? What have you always excelled at on the 0eld? Also, what are some things that you still want to improve on before you enroll next summer? HAWKINS One thing that I think is kind of an advantage for me is that I grew up around football with my dad. I've always understood how important it is to hustle on every play. You'll never question my e2ort. That'll always be 120 percent. Also, physically, I think that I have a pretty good quick twitch for someone my size. I can get o2 the ball pretty quickly and I also know how important it is to use your hands and use leverage. Honestly, this is my 0rst year really playing D-tackle. I've always played defensive end, especially last year. So to be able to go inside and at- tack people with my quicknesses and my hands, I think that will really help me make this switch inside when I get back this season and then at Penn State. That goes along with something I want to improve on, too. Playing defensive tackle is a lot di2erent than playing de- fensive end. You're basically always double-teamed inside, so continuing to learn how to maximize my leverage in- side – I think that's something I need to COMMITTED Hawkins (center) poses with Franklin, Penn State football staffers and fam- ily members dur- ing a visit to campus earlier this year. Photo courtesy of Hawkins family

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