Hazen’s Campbell persists

FAYETTEVILLE — Nate Campbell figures he always appreciated attending Vanderbilt on a football scholarship and playing for the Commodores.

But Campbell, a fifth year senior linebacker from Hazen,appreciates it even more now that he’s back on the team after being dismissed from school in 2009 for disciplinary reasons.

“I don’t want to say I took anything for granted before, but maybe I didn’t realize what all I had until it was taken from me,” Campbell said. “Now that I’ve got it back, I’m definitely going to take advantage of everything that’s been given to me.

“I’m living a dream. It’s amazing, really. I’m just glad everyone here welcomed me back.”

Campbell, who will start against Arkansas today, is on schedule to graduate this spring with an economics degree. He’s also working on minors in corporate strategy and art and is considering attending architectural school.

“He’s bounced back and is doing an outstanding job,” Vanderbilt Coach Robbie Caldwell said. “He’s doing well in school. He’s been a great asset for us [at linebacker], because we’re very thin there.

“We’re tickled to have Nate back.”

The reason for Campbell’s dismissal hasn’t been publicly disclosed.

“I’d rather keep that within the family,” Campbell said. “It’s a mistake I made, and I regret it.”

Caldwell said Campbell “had some issues that we disciplined him for and he stayed here, worked through it, met all the requirements and when he did that ... we put him back in school and on the team.”

Campbell was reinstated in July after being dismissed last October.

“Not being able to play football is part of it, but when you pretty much spend 365 days a year with all your teammates, it’s like being taken away from your family,” he said. “That hurt a lot.

“But my teammates were really supportive. They were all like, ‘Nate, you can’t leave,’ so I stayed here and did everything to make sure I got back in school.”

Campbell got a job with a moving company in Nashville, Tenn., sometimes working from 6 a.m. to midnight moving furniture.

That job helped him stay in shape, as well as working out at a local gym. He wasn’t allowed to go on Vanderbilt’s campus without permission.

“I had to e-mail a guy if I even wanted to watch my teammates play football,” Campbell said. “It was very tough. But I was allowed to go to all the home games.

“I wanted to be there at the stadium to support the team, but having to watch was heartbreaking.”

Campbell, 6-2, 230 pounds, missed this season’s opener against Northwestern because of a hamstring injury, but since then he has been contributing at linebacker and on special teams. In six games, he has 15 tackles, including 4 for 7 yards in losses, and has forced a fumble.

“It took him a little while to get his football legs back under him, but he did, and he’s worked hard at it,” Caldwell said. “He brings a tough mentality.

“He’s not the biggest guy in the world, but he’s a very physical guy. He finds the ball,and he will hit you.”

Campbell played linebacker and quarterback at Hazen, running the Veer offense.

“We tried to tell him, ‘As a quarterback you can’t run the ball like a linebacker,’ but that’s what he did,” said Hazen Coach Joe Besancon, who was the team’s defensive coordinator when Campbell played there. “He wasn’t worried about running around anybody or putting a move on them. He was going to lower his shoulder and run over them.

“As a linebacker, he was a dominating player for us. If you were the opposing team, you had to know where Nate lined up.”

Campbell narrowed his recruiting choices to Vanderbilt and Mississippi State.

“I liked Mississippi State,” he said. “But I came from a really rural town, so I was excited to experience living in a big city like Nashville, and I really wanted to go to school with Vanderbilt’s academics.”

Today’s game marks the only time Campbell will play in Arkansas as a collegian. It’s the Commodores first visit to Reynolds Razorback Stadium since 2005, when Campbell was a senior at Hazen.

“Oh man, is he thrilled,” Caldwell said. “He’ll make Arkansas a lot of money just putting a bunch of people in the seats.”

Campbell said he’ll have about 20 family members and friends at the game, which is homecoming for Arkansas.

“Hopefully, it will be a good homecoming for me, too,” Campbell said. “I know we’re going to give it our best shot.”Campbell at a glance SCHOOL Vanderbilt POSITION Linebacker CLASS Redshirt senior HT/WT 6-2, 230 pounds HOMETOWN/HS Hazen NOTEWORTHY Has 15 tackles, including 4 for losses totaling 7 yards, in 6 games this season. Had his first career forced fumble against South Carolina last week. ... Missed the opener against Northwestern because of a hamstring injury, but now is starting. ... Was out of school last year for an undisclosed disciplinary reason, but was reinstated in July. ... On schedule to graduate this spring with an economics degree.