Kansas gives Christien Hawks his first Power Five offer

Christien Hawks got a message the Kansas coaches wanted to do a call with him. He didn’t know what it was going to be about because he had been on calls with the staff in the past.

This one proved to be different.

“Coach Dearmon told me they wanted to do a call,” Hawks said. “I was surprised to hear that Les Miles was on the call.”

During the conversation Miles went back in the archives and told Hawks he reminded him of a talented offensive lineman he coached at Michigan.

“I was excited about how he talked about me,” Hawks said. “He started off with how he said he was watching my film and said that I looked really good and was really fast. He compared me to a player he had from Michigan State that he coached that I think went to the NFL. He told me I was taller and faster than him (past player).”

And then the good news finally came out. Miles told Hawks he had an offer from the Jayhawks. What Miles said right after that, wasn’t heard by Hawks.

“I don't think Coach Miles heard me, but I put my phone down on my bed, I went into the other room and I just celebrated,” Hawks said. “I yelled as loud as I could. I was so happy. I came back and I put the phone on my ear, and he was going over specifics and everything, so I asked him again about everything he was offering me.”

Dearmon and offensive line coach Luke Meadows have been showing interest in Hawks. They watched a clip of him running in the Sharp Combine and that helped them in their evaluations. Hawks said after watching video of him performing it helped his case for the offer.

Hawks has been getting interest and has picked up early offers from Air Force, Eastern Michigan, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, and others. He admitted the offer from Kansas stands out because it is his first Power Five offer and it came from a local school.

“It's very important to me because finally I have a school from my home state that came in on me and saying, ‘Hey we want you’”, Hawks said. “It's really awesome because it's nice having the Power Five offer from Kansas. I'd prefer to stay in the state and not so far away from my family. I honestly could go anywhere, but it means a lot to get the offer from Kansas. I could definitely see myself going to KU and playing football as a Jayhawk.”