When the Louisiana State University Tigers take the field to kickoff at the start of their football games, they are led by Jesuit grad James Hairston ’11. Hairston was the kicker here at Jesuit and now handles the kickoffs for the preseason favorite LSU Tigers. I had the opportunity to catch up with James while watching his brother William ’13 and the Jesuit baseball team scrimmage ESD.
Bittner: So, James, what’s it like coming back to Jesuit after playing on a championship college team?
Hairston: It’s awesome because I remember a lot of the things Jesuit taught me and seeing the new facilities and my old teachers, it’s kind of like a recharge of everything I learned here.
Bittner: So walk me through the season- you started off redshirted right?
Hairston: That’s right. I was redshirted up until the game at [University of] West Virginia.
Bittner: So how did the coaches come to the decision to remove your redshirt, and how did you find out about it?
Hairston: Well, after the [Mississippi State] game, which we played on a Thursday, we had Saturday and Sunday off. I went to visit my girlfriend and sister in, oddly enough, Tuscaloosa, [home to the University of Alabama] and on that Sunday while driving back one of my coaches called and said he wanted to see me kick. I told him I was driving back and doing homework so I came in that Monday and next thing I knew my name was changed on the depth chart and I started taking first team reps and handled all the tasks and challenges my coaches gave me and suited up on Saturday night in West Virginia for the start of my college career.
Bittner: Nice. So what would you say was your favorite moment from the season?
Hairston: Oh, definitely winning the [Southeastern Conference] Championship and doing confetti angels behind the trophy ceremony and just taking it all in and thanking God for the opportunities He blessed me with.
Bittner: Sounds pretty amazing. So, have you guys already started training for next season?
Hairston: Yeah, we’re doing offseason training now, gearing up for spring football which starts next Thursday. We’ve been lifting three days a week and we have three days of the “Fourth Quarter Drill,” which is plyometrics and speed and agility drills for an hour and a half, starting at 5:45 AM. It’s pretty brutal waking up that early in the morning, but it’s just getting us ready for spring football.
Bittner: That sounds pretty rough. You don’t get any slack being the kicker? You can’t skip out on any of the training?
Hairston: No. Absolutely not. That’s why I’m up here with you during my Mardi Gras break, working out instead of celebrating in New Orleans.
Bittner: So, what would you say is the hardest part of being a student athlete?
Hairston: It’s time management. It’s really difficult trying to balance everything. They say football is a four hour class, but at LSU it’s more like a five hour class. That’s the hardest thing, staying on top of school work, making all your tutoring sessions, and still trying to squeeze in a social life.
Bittner: I know this is probably a sore subject, especially for me too because I’m an LSU fan, but what was it like after losing the National Championship game? How was the reaction in the locker room?
Hairston: Well… seeing Alabama run onto the field and hearing the “Roll Tide’ chant… that was difficult. In the locker room you could’ve heard a pin drop. It was like a bad dream. It was disbelief. It was pretty hard in there. People were upset, people were mad, all kinds of emotions. For the most part it was just completely deflated from what we had before.
Bittner: So what’s next for you personally? Could we be seeing you kicking field goals any time soon?
Hairston: Right now, I’m working on everything because there are no guarantees. As far as I’m concerned there is no depth chart right now. I’m just coming in and working hard…trying to work on getting my grades up because that will show the coaches that I’m committed on and off the field. Hopefully we will see me hitting some field goals next year, because that’s what I want to do. We’ll see.
