Isaiah Hayes 'beyond thankful' & 'excited' to Begin 2020 Season at Full Health
Like every one else on the roster for the University of Louisville football program, safety Isaiah Hayes ecstatic that game week is finally here. After months of uncertainty surrounding the status of college football due to COVID-19, the Cardinals are just one day away from kicking off the 2020 season against Western Kentucky.
Entering his second year with the program, the redshirt senior is in a much better headspace for this season opener as opposed to last year's - and not just because of the year of experience and familiarity with Louisville he has gained since. Hayes had been battling a hamstring injury throughout last season's fall camp and had to miss the first game of the season against Notre Dame.
"Going into last season, I wasn't happy. I wasn't excited," Hayes said in a teleconference Wednesday after practice. "But I had a priority to uplift myself, uplift my teammates and just stay on top of my game and my craft."
Unfortunately, this is not Hayes' first bout with the injury bug. After appearing in eleven games and starting seven for the Arizona Wildcats in his freshman year, he was forced to miss his entire sophomore campaign due to a shoulder injury sustained in the fall camp prior to that season. He saw just five games during his redshirt sophomore season in 2018, and came to Louisville as a graduate transfer during the 2019 offseason.
It took a little bit of time for Hayes to get acclimated to his new home, but he eventually figured it out. Stepping for an injured Russ Yeast, he logged a career-high six tackles vs. Kentucky and earned the first start of his Louisville career in the Music City Bowl win vs. Mississippi State.
Since the end of last season, Hayes has been one of many member's of Louisville's secondary to take a meaningful jump over the offseason, with players and coaches alike commending his football IQ. He was even listed as a starter on Louisville's preseason depth chart.
“Isaiah Hayes is making some plays. He is as sharp as a tool," defensive coordinator Bryan Brown said last month during fall camp. Senior safety Russ Yeast also noted that Hayes "brings a lot of experience to the table," that he can play both safety positions, and that he "is really smart, he knows everything."
Now that he is heading into a season completely healthy for he first time since his first year in college, Hayes is grateful for the opportunity and happy that circumstances finally broke his way.
"I'm just - the word I would use - is beyond thankful and just excited and just faithful that God is allowing me to walk into the light that he has planned for me," he said.
Louisville is set to kickoff the season against the Hilltoppers at home on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 8:00pm on the ACC Network.
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