BUILDING A TEAM
11/8/2023 2:46:00 PM | Football, General
Former Tech, CFL defensive lineman thriving in scouting role with Baylor football
By Jerry HillBaylor Bear Insider
An All-American and All-Big 12 defensive end at Texas Tech who set the league record with 34 career sacks, Aaron Hunt played 10 years of professional football and won a couple Grey Cup championships with the BC Lions.
In most kids' eyes, Hunt was living the dream.
And while coaching might have been the expected post-football career path, the communications major's actual dream job was being in the broadcast booth.
"Truly, I was going to be a commentator," said Hunt, Baylor's Assistant AD for Football Scouting. "Just talking football and watching games, I feel like that's the best job in the world, honestly. I told ("Voice of the Bears" John Morris), I'm jealous of him, because that's like my dream job."
Until that elusive broadcasting opportunity comes, Hunt relishes the role of helping Baylor football build a team by "bringing people in and knowing exactly what kind of kids you need" as the program's director of scouting.
Other than his role as commissioner of the Texoma Youth Football League, where he also coaches football and basketball in his hometown of Denison, Texas, Hunt's only coaching experience prior to coming to Baylor was as a part-time assistant at Greenhill School in Addison and doing youth football camps with the Dallas Cowboys.
"When I stopped playing (2012), I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do," he said. "I'm still a registered insurance agent. I worked in oil & gas for a little bit because of some of my buddies back at Tech that got into the business. But everything I did led me back to being with football in some way."
That opportunity finally came in January 2021, when Hunt was hired as a recruiting and personnel assistant as part of Baylor football head coach Dave Aranda's staff. Aranda was a GA at Texas Tech (2000-02) and worked with the defensive ends during Hunt's last three seasons with the Red Raiders.
"He just had one of the most bubbly, happy-go-lucky personalities," Aranda said. "Always joking, you really couldn't get him in a serious moment. But when you put the pads on and you're on the field, he would turn into a different dude.
"I think his personality, his heart, all of that is on display all the time. When we had an opportunity for a role for him here, it was like, 'This guy fits us. He knows what we're trying to build, what we're looking for, he can connect.' And he's been that way both with the staff and with our players. Just a great connecter, someone who can be trusted and someone who keeps it upbeat and light."
That's an apt description for Aaron. A monster of a man who played at 6-3, 270 pounds and terrorized quarterbacks, the first thing you see is a smile that lights up the room. Kind of a gentle giant.
"I'm sure I was probably not very well-liked by some of my coaches, just because I could come off as nonchalant at times," Aaron said, "just because they wanted me to be laser-focused and all serious. And I've never been that. Even to this day, I have to apologize for that, because I don't want you to think that I don't care. I just don't know how to show you that I care."
An all-everything athlete at Denison High School, Aaron was part of Yellowjacket football teams that went to the 4A state championship game three consecutive years . . . and lost every time to La Marque.
"I'm telling you, that's the worst," said Hunt, who was inducted into the Denison Alumni Association Hall of Fame two years ago in a class that included former Baylor defensive lineman Vinny Rhodes. "I thought I was cursed. One of my buddies that I played with in college, he was from Duncanville. They went to the state championship and lost twice, and he said, 'Man, we're starting to get like Denison.' I don't know why we didn't win, we should have won at least one."
With his recruiting options wide open, Aaron thought about joining his brother, Reggie Hunt, at TCU. But the Horned Frogs went 1-10 in their final year under Pat Sullivan, "and it was going to be hard for me to go from winning every game to losing every game. That was before Dennis Franchione came in and changed everything there."
Instead, Aaron fell in love with West Texas legend Spike Dykes.
"Spike Dykes came to my house, and I loved Spike Dykes," Aaron said of the former Texas Tech head coach. "He came in, put his feet up on the table and just talked about anything. When he left, I was like, 'Man, I love this dude. I want to play for Spike Dykes.' And that's what happened. Plus, there were some guys from my hometown that were already there, too."
After redshirting in Dykes' final season at Tech, Hunt ended up playing for another legendary coach in Mike Leach.
"You go from Spike Dykes, who everybody loves and is a people person," Aaron said, "to Coach Leach, who didn't know anyone's name on defense the first two years. He would call us by numbers. 'What are you doing, 78?' But after a while, I loved him, too. He was a players' coach, as well, he was just a different type of guy."
Aaron's "curse" carried over to the college ranks, with the Red Raiders losing bowl games in 2000 and 2001 before beating Clemson, 55-15, in the 2002 Tangerine Bowl.
Texas Tech proved to be a cradle of coaches, helping to develop Aranda and future head coaches Dana Holgorsen, Art Briles, Ruffin McNeil and Greg McMackin. Kliff Kingsbury, Lincoln Riley and Sonny Cumbie were all players during that time that also became college or NFL head coaches.
"I want to say every coach on that staff became either a defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator or head coach," Aaron said. "And there were so many guys that I played with that are coaches, too. I can't believe where Lincoln is now (head coach at USC). And then amongst those guys, there are also billionaires in oil & gas."
Hunt's Big 12 record for career sacks (34.0) stood alone until Iowa State's Will McDonald equaled it two years ago. Selected by the Denver Broncos in the 2003 NFL Draft, Aaron bounced around the league on practice squads and training camp rosters before playing in NFL Europe with the Hamburg Sea Devils in 2005, recording 23 total tackles and three sacks.
"It was just weird that all these people came to see us and didn't know us," he said. "We would have big crowds. People just loved football. And that was the first year that that city (Hamburg, Germany) even had a team."
Going to the Canadian Football League the next year, Aaron wanted to play with his brother, Reggie, in Saskatchewan, but longtime CFL scout Bob O'Villovich said the BC Lions owned his CFL rights, "so, if you want to play anywhere else, you have to play for us first."
One year turned into six years, with Aaron winning the league's Grey Cup in his first (2006) and last (2011) seasons. He was named the league's Outstanding Rookie that first year and was a five-time CFL West Division all-star before hanging it up after playing part of the 2012 season with the Montreal Alouettes.
"I ended up absolutely loving Vancouver," he said of the BC Lions' home. "Going to the Grey Cup my first year, I was still thinking I was cursed. So, obviously, I'm going to lose the Grey Cup, because that's what I do. I'm going to lose the big game. But when we won it that year, I thought, 'Well, maybe it wasn't me.' So, I started calling up some of my Denison buddies and saying, 'Hey, it must have been you.'''
In the midst of trying to figure out his post-football playing path, Aaron started the non-profit Texoma Youth Football League in 2013 and still serves as its commissioner 10 years later.
"At one point in my life, Denison was getting kind of bad, in my opinion, as far as drugs and violence," he said. "So, I wanted to do something for the kids. It started out with one or two teams, and now, we just had over 200 kids register for basketball. We do football, basketball and track as well.
"Not that I'm anything special, but I feel like if people can see somebody that came from Denison doing something positive, that can help tremendously."
Staying in touch with Aranda through the years, Aaron almost became a GA at Wisconsin while Aranda was there as the defensive coordinator. So, he leaped at the chance when the position came open at Baylor and was part of the Big 12 and Sugar Bowl championship team in 2021.
"I knew we had special guys," he said. "Then I saw Apu (nose tackle Siaki Ika), and I was like, 'Oh, wow!' You just had guys that were so sure of themselves. You had guys like Christian Morgan, who was absolutely ridiculous, but he knew how to play football. He knew what he was doing. Maybe I didn't see the Sugar Bowl champs and No. 5 overall (in the final polls), but I knew that was going to be a really good team."
Hunt sees the same kind of special things with a freshman class that includes defensive backs Caden Jenkins and Carl Williams IV, running backs Dawson Pendergrass and Bryson Washington and defensive linemen Brendan Bett and Trey Wilson.
"The freshman class that we have is really good," he said. "It's kind of crazy. And some of the redshirt freshman guys are going to be really good, too."
Aaron and his wife, Angela, have two sons, Aaron ("Sonny") and Ashton; and one daughter, Addison.
"I call my oldest Sonny, just because saying my name seems weird," he said. "But I think he likes Sonny now, too, because everybody calls him Sonny."
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