Hartung happy to be back on football field at BYU
PROVO, Utah — After a four-year absence, Nate Hartung is back on a football field.
The 2005 Butler graduate was a preferred walk-on at Brigham Young University as an offensive lineman this summer and made the Cougars' roster.
Because he served his Mormon mission in New Zealand after graduation, Hartung hasn't played football since 2004.
"It feels good just to be a part of things again,"Hartung said. "And I know this is the right place for me."
Hartung is listed at 6-foot-2, 360 pounds on the BYUroster. He weighed more than 400 pounds at one point during his years away from football.
"I know they want him to get down around 330 or so, but I know he's really happy there and he's doing well,"said Elizabeth-Forward High School football coach Garry Cathell, who was Hartung's coach at Butler.
As a preferred walk-on, Hartung was one of the 105 players in Brigham Young's preseason camp from the start.
"A number of Division I schools offered me preferred walk-on status," Hartung said. "This is the place where I felt the most comfortable."
Bronco Mendenhall is in his fourth year as head coach at BYU, which has Division I's longest current winning streak of 12 games.
Hartung does not know if he will be redshirted this season.
"Coach Mendenhall has a policy on redshirts,"Hartung said. "Nothing is a given that way. Your status on this team has to be earned all the time."
While Hartung was a giant among players in high school, he's just one of the crowd at Brigham Young.
The Cougars' starting offensive line averages 6-6, 326.4 pounds. Senior Travis Bright is 6-5, 313, and a team captain who broke the school's bench-press record by recording 540 pounds.
In an article that appeared in the Provo area media, Bright was quoted as saying Hartung eventually will break that record.
"Nate didn't take long to impress people with his strength out there,"Cathell said. "Physically, he's in great shape. He's been working out vigorously since returning from his mission.
"I imagine he's a little rusty football-wise, that's all."
Another senior offensive lineman, Dallas Reynolds, has started 38 consecutive games. At 6-5, 320, Reynolds is considered a candidate for the Outland Trophy as the nation's best offensive lineman.
"I'm benefiting from being associated with such talented athletes like those guys,"Hartung said. "My goal is to keep learning from them."
BYU is two-time defending Mountain West Conference champion and is 16-0 in league play over the past two seasons.
The Cougars have won 22 of 26 games over the past two years, including a 17-16 victory over UCLAin the Pioneer Bowl last year.
Mendenhall was 6-6 during his first year at BYUin 2005, but has since elevated the team into a consistent top-20 program. The Cougars, who are off to a 2-0 start, were ranked 17th by The Associated Press at the end of last season.
"Nate is going to make a career for himself there,"Cathell said. "It's a good match for him and he'll do what they ask him to do."
