After whirlwind of week after Alderson Broaddus closure, Payton Hawkins lands with Glenville State football

Literally, there were a lot of ‘moving’ parts.

“Most camps start (Thursday), Friday or Saturday, so I knew I was moving in one of those three days,” Hawkins said. “I had four main selling points every time a coach asked: A winning culture, a chance to play, free schooling and the exercise science program that I can continue my degree with.”

The second-team all-state lineman, who made all-Big 10 and all-Harrison County three times, chose a familiar face in Lincoln alum and current Glenville State head coach Mike Kellar.

“He didn’t put a ton of added pressure at all. He handled it as professionally as can be. He told me, ‘I didn’t try hard enough to get you out of high school and I’m not going to make that mistake again.’ Out of high school, I only had three offers and had three coaches contact me. In the past 48 hours, I’ve had over 85,” Hawkins said.

The ability to plug-and-play was a major factor in Hawkins’ choice.

“I would absolutely say it was,” Hawkins said. “With the point at where I was and how I had to make a decision, I had to go with what felt comfortable to me and where I would have the easiest transition to play on Saturdays, have a chance to win and keep me in the right space.”

Hawkins was blindsided by the news of AB’s disappearance.

“I found out from tweets.” Hawkins said. “That’s the only way I knew.”

And the emotions of that moment?

“Utter shock,” Hawkins said. “You never think that’s going to happen. You never think that’s part of your plan. It was kind of like how COVID crept up on us and everything was just shut down.”

Until the abrupt stop sign, it was full speed ahead for the 2023 season.

“We were going along with how everyone else was finding out about it. We knew there was a chance, but our coaches, our administrators, our athletic director, they were all telling us that everything looked good and that we’d report this Friday for camp to get ready for another football season,” Hawkins said.

Hawkins got the word of AB’s closure around 3:40 p.m. on Monday “and I’d been on the phone with three coaches by the time it was 3:45.”

“About every school was offering me a chance to go play for free and a chance at the starting left tackle spot,” Hawkins said. “The ones that really stuck out were the ones that come from winning programs and are established. At AB, I was trying to establish that and never could in my two years there. I didn’t want to go be a part of a losing program.”

Watching his football family go its separate ways has been the hardest part.

“It’s been tough. I made friendships that will last a lifetime there and met people that I call my brothers and coaches that I’ve opened up to like I never have before,” Hawkins said. “Coach (Tate) Leavett, our offensive line coach, opened up doors for me that I never thought were possible.

“It’s a lot harder since I’ve built a home at AB and I’ve been there for two years, but with the opportunities I’ve had to play for the past two years and have 20 career starts under my belt and have enough film for any coach in the country to see, it makes it a lot easier to find a home,” Hawkins said. “Most of the coaches, especially in the MEC, saw what happened and had me on their list already. Those were the first that I heard from. It seemed to me that they were waiting on this announcement to give me that call.”

And those doors led to the Pioneers, a program Hawkins got to know from the outside.

“The way that they’ve evolved over the last two years,” Hawkins said. “They had the COVID year and then 2021, my freshman year in college whenever we played them, they were on the climb. And then last year, they took a big step and went 7-4. I know what they’ve got coming back and the transfers that they’ve added, they have a chance to not only have more than seven wins but a chance to compete for a conference championship.

“And I hope to be on the field to help them do that.”

Hawkins will team up with some locals and also some players that he was with for the North-South Game after his senior year.

“Hayden Moore from Bridgeport has made a big step there. Seth Arnold from Braxton County, he’s their captain and middle linebacker, I even talked to him after last year and he said if I needed a home, I knew where to come,” Hawkins said.

“Now we see how it turned out.”