SE: A Kid from Kansas - How Wyatt Hubert is Preparing for the NFL Draft
Mar 01, 2021 | Football, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
Pensacola does not have an NFL team.
Tucked away in the Florida panhandle, closer to Alabama than Miami Beach, the city is already sleepier than usual with COVID-19 keeping plenty of tourists at home.
This year, those beachgoers and sunseekers were replaced by football players, including one Shawnee Heights legend and All-Big 12 defensive end you might recognize.
"There are certain places you can train at that are mainly for wide receivers or corners, faster guys, then there are places that are tailored for bigger guys, offensive and defensive linemen," Wyatt Hubert said. "But EXOS here in Pensacola has a mixture of every position group."
In a 2016 article, Men's Health magazine called EXOS "the most elite gym in the world." The company has locations across the country for athletes, the military and businesses.
Hubert has been in Pensacola this spring as one of 133 former college football players working at EXOS locations that all specialize in one thing: building the next generation of NFL Draft picks.
If you're curious what a guy who traveled less than an hour from his hometown in Topeka to play college football at K-State is doing in the spring break capital of America, just do the math.
There are 130 college football teams playing at the D1 level, with about 110 roster spots available. At any given time, that means there are no less than 14,300 D1 college football players.
The NFL Draft will take just 257. That works out to less than 2 percent.
So, Hubert is at EXOS to prepare for the most competitive job interview in sports.
"I thought it would be good for me to leave Kansas for a while, just to get acclimated to a different state," Hubert said. "I chose Pensacola because I've been in Kansas my entire life."
Over a three-year career in Manhattan, Hubert posted the eighth most sacks in K-State history (20) and was the only unanimous selection to the first team All-Big 12 defense in 2020.
Growing up right down the road in the state capital, Hubert's story is a familiar one at K-State.
The Wildcats believed in his ability and offered Hubert a scholarship before any other school. When the rest of the Big 12 finally noticed the top-30 strongside DE (according to Rivals.com) tearing up high school fields in Topeka, Hubert was already headed to Manhattan.
"I knew I wanted to play at Kansas State, and I committed there super early in my recruiting process. I took a lot of pride in that. Took a lot of pride in being a kid from Kansas," Hubert said. "There are so many kids growing up in Kansas who have aspirations of playing big-time football at a big-time stadium in a big-time league. I hope I can inspire and motivate a lot of kids from the state just to do the same thing."
The five months between Hubert's final game in Manhattan and the start of the 2021 NFL Draft haven't played out in packed stadiums or on national TV.
To help with navigating the process, Hubert signed with SportsTrust Advisors. The agency that will represent him also works with NFL stars like Calvin Ridley, Andrew Whitworth and Geno Atkins. SportsTrust connected Hubert with the NFL Draft boot camp at EXOS.
Of course, the most visible moment of the process came in January at the Reese's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. That's where Hubert competed with other top prospects at the NFL's most prestigious pre-Draft showcase, coached by Matt Rhule and the Carolina Panthers staff.
A solid week of practice included putting pressure on players like Alabama quarterback Mac Jones and spending time around an NFL coaching staff for the first time in his career.
"I learned a lot working under the Panthers staff at practice, but we also met with every NFL team, good interviews with all of those scouts and then the coaches and GMs from certain teams," Hubert said. "The biggest takeaway was definitely just how much you can take in and how much you can learn from an NFL playbook. The more knowledgeable you are and the higher football IQ you have, the better chance you have of getting on the field."
The interview process is about as behind-the-scenes as NFL scouting gets and Hubert has been asked to keep the details of each meeting confidential.
But between the standard interview questions and a few curveballs, Hubert's experience leading the defense at K-State was a topic that came up throughout those conversations.
"I prepared well, and I think I impressed a lot of teams in that interview process," he said. "We talked about the similarities and differences between the two coaching staffs I had at K-State."
After the Senior Bowl in Mobile and his time in Pensacola with EXOS, Hubert is headed home to prepare for his K-State Pro Day, an already important event that's become essential in 2021.
COVID-19 wiped out in-person workouts at the NFL Combine this year, typically the gold standard when it comes to pre-draft measurables.
That leaves the Senior Bowl and K-State Pro Day in Manhattan as the only opportunities for Hubert to showcase his body of work and the progress he's made throughout the spring.
In a strange season, one of the most important chapters of Hubert's pre-draft process will bring him right back to K-State and the stadium where he spent three seasons building a legacy.
"When I was in middle school and high school, I looked up to the players who have done that. I saw a lot of guys do amazing things and saw them have success at what they do," Hubert said. "I chased that same thing."
His Pro Day next week will be Hubert's final time stepping on a football field in Manhattan. The chance to do that with NFL scouts watching his every move?
College football doesn't get much more full circle than that.
"I put in so much hard work with Kansas State to keep it a great program, to keep the culture and the camaraderie of the program high," Hubert said. "Even though I'm not at Kansas State anymore, I hope I left a foundation for the people and the players there to keep that going."
Pensacola does not have an NFL team.
Tucked away in the Florida panhandle, closer to Alabama than Miami Beach, the city is already sleepier than usual with COVID-19 keeping plenty of tourists at home.
This year, those beachgoers and sunseekers were replaced by football players, including one Shawnee Heights legend and All-Big 12 defensive end you might recognize.
"There are certain places you can train at that are mainly for wide receivers or corners, faster guys, then there are places that are tailored for bigger guys, offensive and defensive linemen," Wyatt Hubert said. "But EXOS here in Pensacola has a mixture of every position group."
In a 2016 article, Men's Health magazine called EXOS "the most elite gym in the world." The company has locations across the country for athletes, the military and businesses.
Hubert has been in Pensacola this spring as one of 133 former college football players working at EXOS locations that all specialize in one thing: building the next generation of NFL Draft picks.
If you're curious what a guy who traveled less than an hour from his hometown in Topeka to play college football at K-State is doing in the spring break capital of America, just do the math.
There are 130 college football teams playing at the D1 level, with about 110 roster spots available. At any given time, that means there are no less than 14,300 D1 college football players.
The NFL Draft will take just 257. That works out to less than 2 percent.
So, Hubert is at EXOS to prepare for the most competitive job interview in sports.
"I thought it would be good for me to leave Kansas for a while, just to get acclimated to a different state," Hubert said. "I chose Pensacola because I've been in Kansas my entire life."
Over a three-year career in Manhattan, Hubert posted the eighth most sacks in K-State history (20) and was the only unanimous selection to the first team All-Big 12 defense in 2020.
Growing up right down the road in the state capital, Hubert's story is a familiar one at K-State.
The Wildcats believed in his ability and offered Hubert a scholarship before any other school. When the rest of the Big 12 finally noticed the top-30 strongside DE (according to Rivals.com) tearing up high school fields in Topeka, Hubert was already headed to Manhattan.
"I knew I wanted to play at Kansas State, and I committed there super early in my recruiting process. I took a lot of pride in that. Took a lot of pride in being a kid from Kansas," Hubert said. "There are so many kids growing up in Kansas who have aspirations of playing big-time football at a big-time stadium in a big-time league. I hope I can inspire and motivate a lot of kids from the state just to do the same thing."
The five months between Hubert's final game in Manhattan and the start of the 2021 NFL Draft haven't played out in packed stadiums or on national TV.
To help with navigating the process, Hubert signed with SportsTrust Advisors. The agency that will represent him also works with NFL stars like Calvin Ridley, Andrew Whitworth and Geno Atkins. SportsTrust connected Hubert with the NFL Draft boot camp at EXOS.
Of course, the most visible moment of the process came in January at the Reese's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. That's where Hubert competed with other top prospects at the NFL's most prestigious pre-Draft showcase, coached by Matt Rhule and the Carolina Panthers staff.
A solid week of practice included putting pressure on players like Alabama quarterback Mac Jones and spending time around an NFL coaching staff for the first time in his career.
#KansasState DL Wyatt Hubert would've ate Mac Jones for lunch. #SeniorBowl pic.twitter.com/wrEbXBpe0y
— Dylan Sanders (@DillySanders) January 26, 2021
"I learned a lot working under the Panthers staff at practice, but we also met with every NFL team, good interviews with all of those scouts and then the coaches and GMs from certain teams," Hubert said. "The biggest takeaway was definitely just how much you can take in and how much you can learn from an NFL playbook. The more knowledgeable you are and the higher football IQ you have, the better chance you have of getting on the field."
The interview process is about as behind-the-scenes as NFL scouting gets and Hubert has been asked to keep the details of each meeting confidential.
But between the standard interview questions and a few curveballs, Hubert's experience leading the defense at K-State was a topic that came up throughout those conversations.
"I prepared well, and I think I impressed a lot of teams in that interview process," he said. "We talked about the similarities and differences between the two coaching staffs I had at K-State."
When strength coach says we're skipping bicep curls... 😤😤😤#TheDraftStartsInMOBILE pic.twitter.com/WitaVN54wE
— Reese's Senior Bowl (@seniorbowl) February 22, 2021
After the Senior Bowl in Mobile and his time in Pensacola with EXOS, Hubert is headed home to prepare for his K-State Pro Day, an already important event that's become essential in 2021.
COVID-19 wiped out in-person workouts at the NFL Combine this year, typically the gold standard when it comes to pre-draft measurables.
That leaves the Senior Bowl and K-State Pro Day in Manhattan as the only opportunities for Hubert to showcase his body of work and the progress he's made throughout the spring.
In a strange season, one of the most important chapters of Hubert's pre-draft process will bring him right back to K-State and the stadium where he spent three seasons building a legacy.
"When I was in middle school and high school, I looked up to the players who have done that. I saw a lot of guys do amazing things and saw them have success at what they do," Hubert said. "I chased that same thing."
His Pro Day next week will be Hubert's final time stepping on a football field in Manhattan. The chance to do that with NFL scouts watching his every move?
College football doesn't get much more full circle than that.
"I put in so much hard work with Kansas State to keep it a great program, to keep the culture and the camaraderie of the program high," Hubert said. "Even though I'm not at Kansas State anymore, I hope I left a foundation for the people and the players there to keep that going."
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