Meet Phil Haynes, a junior and one of the stars of the Deacon football’s offensive line.
photo courtesy of Dean Shore
HC: Where are you from?
PH: Raleigh, North Carolina
HC: What are you major and minors?
PH: I’m a Communications major with entrepreneurship and philosophy minors. It’s a pretty common combo for athletes but I have my own little thing with philosophy.
HC: How old were you when you started playing football?
PH: Senior year of high school
HC: Wow that’s impressive. What made you want to play in college?
PH: I played basketball before, but with football I just believed in myself and the coaches saw potential in me so I just wanted to give football a try. I think it’s worked well so far.
HC: What position do you play?
PH: Offensive line. I play right guard.
HC: Football is unique from other sports in that the teams have a lot more players. Does that change the dynamic at all?
PH: No not really, I feel like our team at least is pretty closely knit. We have a lot of great guys on the team who care about each other, and it creates a real family atmosphere. If you have a small team, you get to know your teammates better but we also have position groups, and I think mine is the biggest with just 13. So I’ve gotten to know those guys really well.
HC: What are some of the team’s goals for the season?
PH: Just to go and play the best we can play. We have a motto: Go 1-0 for the week. That’s what we always try and do when we step on the field.
HC: Do you have any personal goals?
PH: I always want to be better than last week. I know that can be really hard to do but I want bettering myself to be my goal for as long as I play football. If you’re constantly making small improvements, there’s no way you can’t reach those bigger goals.
HC: Everyone on campus has been really excited about the success of the team so far this season. How has the team been feeling about that?
PH: Honestly, we kind of expected to improve this year. We’ve put in a lot of work during the off season, and we knew the hard work would pay off sooner or later. We only need one more game to be bowl eligible- it’s pretty exciting.
HC: Do you live with your teammates?
PH: I live in a suite with all football players. It’s pretty cool having everyone on the same schedule. We’re usually up at 5:30 for practice.
photo courtesy of Erika Reiter
HC: Aside from football, what else do you do outside of class?
PH: I’m involved in a program called Athletes in Action. It’s like a Christian athletic group. We meet every Tuesday and every Thursday for Bible study.
HC: What are your favorite places to eat on and off campus?
PH: On campus has to be Zick’s for sure. Off campus, I really like Fratelli’s.
HC: Do you have a favorite football memory?
PH: Beating Duke at Duke this past year was pretty cool. It was my second ACC win but it was the first one of the season. I’m from the area so beating Duke at Duke was great.
HC: What’s something you love about Wake?
PH: They always say Wake is very family orientated because of its size. I think that’s especially true for me because I just have so many people in my life that I feel like I can relate to on a personal level.
HC: As a junior, do you have any advice for the underclassmen?
PH: I think we have the smallest campus in the ACC, so take advantage of that and get close with the people around you because there are some pretty awesome people at this school.
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