Q and A With Tom Gulyas & Kyle Huber

By Bill Ford
Sports Information Intern
Washington University in St. Louis

TOM GULYAS

After leading the team in receptions the past two seasons, Washington University in St. Louis senior wideout Tom Gulyas is back to again highlight the Bears’ receiving corps in 2010.

Gulyas had a team-best 30 catches for 375 yards and three touchdowns during his junior season to earn honorable mention all-University Athletic Association (UAA) honors. With 1,150 career receiving yards to his credit, Gulyas needs just 15 catches and 227 yards during his senior campaign to put this name in the Washington U. record book in both categories.

During his offseason, the Medina, Ohio, native stayed connected to football through his internship with Rawlings. Gulyas was instrumental in helping the sporting goods company develop a new football helmet.

After his football career comes to a close, Gulyas still has his senior track and field season to look forward to. Last year, he earned all-UAA honors after helping the Bears’ 4x100-meter relay team to a second place finish at the conference meet.

Talk about being selected as a team captain. What does that role mean to you?

TOM GULYAS: I take it as a tremendous honor to be selected a captain because the coaches don’t have a say on who gets chosen — everyone was picked by their teammates. So to know that I am someone that the team looks up to and models their skills and work ethic after was a great feeling for me. I think the role for me will be to keep everyone focused every play. We have a whole lot of returning starters — people who’ve been starting two to three years — so we’ll have people in every position who know what they’re doing and do it very well. We just need to get the maximum out of every player on every play. When our offense is struggling and we go in to watch the films on Sunday, almost every time it’s 10 people executing their jobs and one person who makes a mistake. Then the next play it’s the same thing but a different person who missed an assignment. When we get all 11 people firing on all cylinders, this team is a lot of fun to play on.

After leading the team in receiving yards last season, what kind of personal expectations do you have for yourself this year?

TOM GULYAS: Last year was a big step down for me numbers-wise from my sophomore year. I think I made a greater impact playing on multiple special teams as well as the offense, but I still want to get back to the 500-600 yards range at the very least. I am also around 200 yards and 20 catches off of the (Washington University) top-10 list for receiving yards and receptions so I will hopefully be on those lists before the bye week this year.

What kind of expectations do you have for the team during your senior season?

TOM GULYAS: This year is all about winning the UAA. It’s been entirely too long since our last conference championship for football. This team definitely has the talent to win the UAA, and anything less than that would be a disappointment.

What has been your most memorable moment on the gridiron thus far and why does this moment stick out to you?

TOM GULYAS: I think the Wittenberg victory two years ago was the most memorable. Personally, it gave me basically all the confidence I have when I play today. Before that game I was timid, still fairly young, with not a whole lot of experience and wasn’t too sure of the offense and all the plays. But spending most of the game playing against a pre-season All-America corner and beating him several times, now I feel I can play against anyone in the country. And from a team perspective, it was a huge victory that moved us to 3-0 on the year. We were getting votes to be a top-25 ranked team. This past season Wittenberg finished in the final eight so the victory showed us as a team we can play with anyone in the country as well.

As a two-sport athlete, how has running track helped your football development and vice versa?

TOM GULYAS: I think doing two sports has helped me a whole lot, and I recommend it to anyone out there who is trying to decide between sports — just do both. Doing both sports kept me in the good shape and kept me focused on my schoolwork. During the two weeks I had off between football and track, it was amazing how often one game of Mario Kart turned into four-hour Mario Kart marathons. With sports you can’t do that. You have practice to worry about so you have to get your work done whenever you have the time. Running track also is getting me more and more motivated to win the UAA in football. Our track team has won the last three UAA meets by some pretty phenomenal margins of victory, so now I want to get one for football. The happiest I’ve been in sports was celebrating our first UAA track title and I can only hope to try and convey just how amazing it is to the rest of the team so we can get one this fall.

Talk a little bit about your internship with Rawlings. What did you do with them?

TOM GULYAS: Working for Rawlings this summer was an awesome experience. They are coming out with their first football helmet since the 80’s and I can tell from wearing it and the test results that it will be the best on the market. I did a lot of fit testing, going to high schools and bringing the helmet to our workouts so people could try on the prototype and a competitor’s helmet and tell us what they like and dislike about ours comparatively. I got to run a bunch of different tests in the lab to see the helmet’s limits when being struck by a horizontal battering ram, a shot put or dropped from five feet in the air at extremely high temperatures, extremely low temperatures and every temperature in between. I designed the padding configuration and sizing chart for the youth line of helmets, and got to work with a high-speed camera to see what really is happening to the helmet, facemask, pads, etc., milliseconds after impact. I am meeting with some professors shortly about doing some independent research about concussion prevention using the helmets and test facilities at Rawlings to get class credit, so I should still be really involved for another semester or so.

KYLE HUBER

Senior linebacker Kyle Huber has made a habit of getting to the ball during his last three years at Washington University in St. Louis.

Last season, he led the Bears in total tackles (73) and tackles for a loss (six), earning second-team all-University Athletic Association (UAA) honors. As a junior, Huber posted a career-best 11 tackles against both Wabash College and the College of Wooster.

A native of O’Fallon, Mo., Huber has had the luxury of playing college football in front of friends and family the past three years, and said he looks forward to finishing his career close to home.

You led the team in tackles last year. What has been the key for you to be able to get to the ball so consistently?

KYLE HUBER: The coaches do a great job every week scouting the opposing teams and finding their offense’s tendencies. Because of this they are able to create a game plan that puts us in the right positions to make plays and I was fortunate enough to have plenty of opportunities to make plays.

What does it mean for you and your family to be able to play football so close to home?

KYLE HUBER: We are very grateful. I am able to see my parents every other weekend or so, and they really enjoy the game day atmosphere. My dad went so far as to make a football shaped barbeque grill, and he helps cook the food for the tailgate party before the games.

What kind of expectations do you have for the team during your senior season?

KYLE HUBER: The team is looking really good so far. I can see everyone has put in a lot of hard work this offseason. I believe we have the ability to do some remarkable things this year.

What has been your most memorable moment on the gridiron thus far and why does this moment stick out to you?

KYLE HUBER: My most memorable moment was the win my freshman year against North Central College. They had a good team and we were able to come from behind and score a late touchdown in the game to put us ahead. The amount of energy and excitement from the team was amazing.

I understand you considered a few schools before deciding to come to Washington University. What was ultimately the deciding factor for you?

KYLE HUBER: I ultimately decided on Washington U. because I saw it as an opportunity to get a great education and play a sport that I love.

Talk a little bit about your internship over the summer. Where was it and how do you anticipate it helping your professional development?

KYLE HUBER: I interned with a company in Hazelwood, Mo., called Confluence Solar. It is a new company, so it is very small which allowed me to become more hands on in many different areas. I was able to work closely with talented people and, in addition, experience many of the business aspects involved in an engineer’s daily routine.