Up Close & Personal: Aeneas Hawkins

Every recruiting class has its share of leaders, but once in a while, Penn State signs a player who stands out from the rest.

In 2013, tight end Adam Breneman and quarterback Christian Hackenberg won over Penn State fans before they ever hit the field. Injuries and other factors affected their eventual on-field productivity, but the pair will always be remembered for sticking with the program despite everything that was going on around it. Their confidence helped pave the way for players like defensive end Shane Simmons and quarterback Sean Clifford, both of which emerged as clear leaders in the following classes.

In 2018, Penn State’s coaching staff assembled another excellent group of prospects, a few of whom could hold the title of captain down the road. But if there’s one player in the Class of 2018 who stands out, it’s defensive tackle Aeneas Hawkins. His high school coach, John Rodenberg, said the four-star prospect is a natural leader, adding that there’s one trait in particular that makes him effective in that capacity.

“He just knows how to bring guys together,” Rodenberg said. “For our team, he knew how to communicate with not just the upperclassmen, not just the starters and the guys he’s been playing with since his freshman season, but also the guys that weren’t getting as much playing time. He always uplifted those around him, no matter what their role was. He helped make sure that everyone not only understood their role, but knew how important they were to the team.”

A native of Cincinnati, the 6-foot-2, 280-pound Hawkins attended Ohio high school football powerhouse Archbishop Moeller, which belongs to the ultra-competitive Greater Catholic League South. How competitive, you ask? Well, in 2016, MaxPreps.com ranked the conference second-toughest in the country.

The numbers back up that assertion.

Looking only at the four years Hawkins attended Moeller, 13 of his teammates went on to sign with schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision. When you include the other three teams in the south division, 39 prospects went on to play at college football’s highest level, one of whom was Clifford, a graduate of rival St. Xavier.

It was because of his team’s depth that Hawkins, the son of former Cincinnati Bengals defensive back Artrell Hawkins, didn’t start for the varsity until his junior season. He went on to record 70 tackles and eight sacks that year, earning first-team All-Conference and second-team All-District honors.

He planned on following up that season with an even better senior campaign, but it never came to be. During preseason practice last August, Hawkins learned that he had a stress fracture in his foot. He ended up sitting out the entire season.

“It was definitely tough missing my senior year with my teammates,” Hawkins said. “I worked really hard with those guys for four years. But I made the best of the situation and used it as a learning experience. I was still a captain this year, so I had to find ways to lead without having a way to back it up on the field.

“Fortunately, my coach put me in a good position to still have an impact on the team. I led the prayer session before kickoff, so that allowed me to speak with the team before the game. I put my heart into that.”

Hawkins’ personality also grabbed the attention of some of the Penn State staff’s top remaining recruits. Naturally, he gravitated toward the players who were being pursued to join defensive line coach Sean Spencer’s “Wild Dogs.”

“With me being a defensive lineman, I mainly built relationships with the other D-linemen who were being recruited,” Hawkins said. “Guys like Jayson Oweh, Micah Parsons and P.J. Mustipher.

"Even before I committed, when I kind of already knew I was going to Penn State, I would reach out to P.J. before he was about to commit. At the time, he was still torn between Penn State and Maryland. I did what I could to reach out to those guys periodically. I reached out to Jayson about once a week, but I talked to Micah all the time.”

Of course, all three ended up signing with the Nittany Lions this past December. Hawkins would never take credit for the staff’s accomplishments on the recruiting trail, but he went about his work just as James Franklin does.

“Just like my teammates at Moeller, I always wanted to really get to know the guys who were going to be my future teammates,” Hawkins said. “I remember when recruits from other teams would try to talk to me. So many of them would just talk about recruiting or football. That’s not the way to go about it. The main thing I would do is just relate guys and get to know them. That’s what it’s all about with me. It’s about building those relationships before you get to the field. That’s what really builds football teams. Obviously, talent is important, but when you have a really close group of guys, that’s what takes teams to the next level. That’s what I try to do. I try to bring guys together.

“Honestly, that’s why I believe Coach Franklin has had so much success in recruiting and then on the field. He relates to guys and he finds guys who fit this mold that he’s looking for. Our class is the perfect example. A lot of us are already really good friends. That’s just going to make us better when our time comes.”